Another hat in the ring? Financial analyst Warren Mosler considers U.S. Senate run

By Daniela Altimari

Feb. 26 — Mosler, a Manchester native who holds an economics degree from UConn, is currently living in the U.S. Virgin Islands. But he intends to return to Connecticut tomorrow, to start a “listening tour” as he weighs a run for the seat currently held by Chris Dodd, who is retiring.

Mosler says he was planning to run for president in 2012 but has been prodded by people in Connecticut to enter the senate race. If he runs, he’ll do it as a Democrat — joining a field that already includes Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Mystic businessman Merrick Alpert.

“It looks more than intriguing,” Mosler said. “If it makes sense, I’ll announce…I have a specific agenda for economic development I’m pushing.”

He says he’s motivated by his conscience, adding “I know I can turn the U.S. economy around in 90 days.”

Mosler’s agenda includes three main proposals: a full payroll tax holiday, a $500 per-capita distribution from the federal government to each state and a federal jobs program that would provide an $8-an-hour position to any unemployed person willing to work. (That’s the thumbnail version of his platform. More details can be found on his website.)

Mosler, 60, grew up in Manchester in the 1950s and ’60s and worked in Hartford before leaving for a job on Wall Street. He started his own hedge fund in 1982 and turned most of it over to partners in the late 1990s. He is currently on a government-sponsored project to promote economic development in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to his website, Mosler recently spoke to tea party activists in Dallas. That’s not normally a place you’d expect to find a Democratic office-seeker, but he says many of his views are in line with tea party values.

“I look at the tea party and I see a lot of concerned citizens who are unhappy, who believe the government has supported the elites,” he said. “They see their tax money going to AIG and the banks while they’re getting squeezed.”

If he runs, Mosler will pour some of his own money into his campaign but he won’t exclusively self-fund. He said he views campaign contributions as a measure of support. “Broad-based support is important,” he said. “I’m not talking to hear myself talk.”