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Chris Dodd (Democrat)

Senator Dodd has focused much of his campaign on foreign affairs as well as restoring the Constitution by protecting citizens against governmental intrusions such as warrantless surveillance. Labor and education are also major themes in his campaign, and as such frame many of his positions on issues of science and technology.

Competitiveness & Innovation

Dodd has stated that tax and budgetary policy should promote growth "so that America can continue to lead the world in innovation, job creation, and economic security." Inasmuch, he supports permanent extension of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit. He also plans an American Business Abroad Initiative, which he will focus on high growth sectors such as biotechnology to stimulate new, high-wage jobs in areas that are likely to be major exports for the new economy. The goal of this program to provide more low-cost loans to American businesses that employ American workers to further expand their ability to produce goods for export.

STEM Education & Workforce

Dodd has emphasized providing a technical education curriculum which would bolster the fields needed to support the future of energy-efficient goods, such as automobile mechanics, electricians and construction workers. He stresses the importance of continued education in maintaining a workforce prepared for the current global economy, which he believes can be done by providing:

Universal opportunity to attend community college for free.
Tax incentives that encourage employers to support efforts by employees who wish to improve their professional and technical skills.

Dodd's education plan also includes:

Universal pre-kindergarten education.
Incentives for experienced teachers to teach in high-need schools.
Reforming No Child Left Behind such that states are able to use multiple measures to calculate student achievement and schools have more choice in targeting the use of funds.
Raising Pell Grants and reducing the cost of college student loans.

Better Health for Americans

Dodd has stated that as president he would pass legislation providing health care for all Americans. He is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions as well as chairman of the Subcommittee on Children and Families and authored the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act, which allows workers to take time off without pay to care for a sick child or family member. His health plan includes:

Creating a health insurance marketplace called Universal HealthMart that is based on, and parallel to, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP). The system would allow people and businesses to opt to keep their existing insurance arrangements.
Sharing responsibility between individuals and businesses and allowing them to participate based on their ability to pay
Making sure insurance purchased in Universal HealthMart will follow individuals regardless of their employment situation

Dodd supports embryonic stem cell research in cases when the embryos used would otherwise be destroyed or discarded, but hopes research will make embryonic stem cell research unnecessary. He has supported measures to ban human cloning.

Energy & Environment

Dodd advocates a carbon tax on corporations in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which his plans would halve by 2050. The revenue from these taxes would go to R&D of energy efficient technologies to create new jobs in the sustainable energy sector. Dodd advocates expanded investment in renewable energy technology as a way to end American and world reliance on oil. His plan includes:

Using cap-and-trade legislation to reduce U.S. emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, of which 15 percent must be accomplished by 2020 and two-thirds by 2040.
Enacting a Corporate Carbon Tax.
Raising fuel economy standards in automobiles to 50 mpg.
Requiring all new coal plants capture and sequester CO2.
Increasing the renewable electricity standard to 20 percent by 2020.
Making the Production Tax Credit permanent for clean and renewable sources of energy.
Providing incentives and tax rebates to make high-efficiency automobiles affordable.
Increasing access to affordable and convenient mass transit systems.
Ending American dependence on oil from the Middle East by 2015.
Providing tax breaks and other incentives for taxpayers who conserve energy.

National & Homeland Security

Dodd advocates expanded investment in renewable energy technology as a way to end American and world reliance on oil, and hopes to export technologies to other countries to end "alliances of necessity with dictators from oil-producing nations like Venezuela and Iran." He also plans to expand R&D in advanced manufacturing technologies through the Department of Defense program MANTECH, as he believes it ensures national security.

Link to Candidate's Official Site

http://chrisdodd.com/


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