It’s campaign season and Democrats in the Fourth Congressional District are pleased to acknowledge Dr. Wynne Legrow, a retired physician from Emporia, Virginia who is stepping up to challenge incumbent Randy Forbes.  We spoke to Dr. Legrow to discuss his position on some salient issues on everyone’s mind nowadays.  Here’s how our conversation went:

CDC:  Can you give us a brief overview of what drove you to run for Congress and what you can bring to the effort?

Legrow:There are two main problems facing our country today which must be dealt with in order to prevent serious problems for future generations. I decided to run for Congress because I did not feel that either problem was being adequately addressed.

First, there is no doubt in my mind that global climate change is real and that human activity in the form of burning fossil fuels is contributing to it. Those who deny this either do not understand the science or are refusing to look at it. We must have the political will to face this problem head on. Laws of nature do not respond to half measures.

Second, our country has a national debt of greater than $13 trillion, a problem compounded by a troubling trade deficit. This becomes worse daily because it is necessary for us to import the majority of the oil that we use in this country. In addition, many of the manufacturing jobs in this country have gone overseas. As we are all aware, many of the products that we buy every day are produced in China. This further contributes to our national debt. If we do not reverse this trend, our entire economic infrastructure will be threatened.

CDC: Can you give us your feelings about what is the most important thing that needs to be accomplished by Congress with regard to the following issues:

CDC: The environment?

Legrow: As I mentioned above, the environment must be treated with respect or we will imperil the future of our country and our planet. The burning of fossil fuels continues to pollute our air. As we have recently seen in the Gulf of Mexico, extracting fossil fuels from the earth can pollute our water, kill our wildlife, compromise our fishing industry and threaten the way of life of an entire region. I would favor tax breaks and stimulus money to go to companies using clean renewable energy. I support Congress passing a national renewable-electricity standard. This would require utilities to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable sources.

CDC: Defense spending?

Legrow: A strong defense is obviously needed as a deterrent to aggression and as a base from which to respond appropriately to threats. However, the appropriateness of the defense spending needs to be justified. Currently, the United States operates more than 700 military installations in more than 60 countries.

There have been situations in which expensive military appropriations have been continued even when the Defense Department no longer felt they were needed. This was done because they were bringing income to many states and congressional districts. I feel that defense spending could be appropriately cut and continue to adequately defend our country. We must be prepared to foresee challenges in the future. We cannot continue to fight the last war.

CDC: Healthcare?

Legrow: I favored passage of the recent health care law. It has a number of positive features including the fact that it will prevent insurance companies from rejecting people because of previous medical conditions. It could be strengthened in a number of areas however, particularly areas which would decrease spending. A public option would encourage competition and lower healthcare costs. Removing antitrust exemptions would also encourage competition. Further education on end-of-life care would decrease suffering and medical spending.

CDC: The Economy?

Legrow: When President Clinton left office, there was a budget surplus. President George W. Bush and the Republicans supported a tax cut for the wealthy while starting two unfunded wars in the Mideast and passing an unfunded Medicare prescription drug plan. This produced a huge deficit which was further complicated by the recession.

I feel that the recent recession could have been avoided if we had appropriate regulations which were adequately enforced. The selling of subprime mortgages resulted in the housing bubble which in turn brought on the recession. I am hopeful that the new finance reform law will prevent future Wall Street firms from being deemed “too big to fail”. Without those regulations in place in 2008, it was necessary to bail out the banks to prevent the Great Recession from becoming the second Great Depression. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has resulted in the creation or preservation of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 jobs nationally including many in the Fourth District. These include jobs for teachers, policemen and firemen – jobs which would have been sorely missed if eliminated.

CDC: Immigration?

Legrow: Concerning immigration, I do not feel that anyone can reasonably expect the 11,000,000 to 20,000,000 undocumented aliens to be sent back to their country of origin. Solving this problem requires that we first do a better job of controlling our borders to prevent the influx of more undocumented aliens. After this has been accomplished, those undocumented aliens in this country could apply for citizenship. This would require paying a fine, learning English, taking classes and waiting a number of years to achieve citizenship. In addition to these measures, we need to have tougher enforcement of employment laws in this country and work with other countries to improve the living conditions and wages in less developed countries.

This time in the history of our nation, there is no more opportune time to be politically active.  Why?

Each and every day, your daily life is affected by the decision a politician made at the city, state, or federal level.  The traffic you face, the roads you drive on, the water you drink and use, the wage you earn, the taxes you pay, the house you live in and the community that you are a part of are all directly affected by politicians on all levels.

So, the invite is out.  Come out to our meetings at the Chesapeake Democratic Committee.  Get involved in our specific committees.  Work on our elections.  Become a part of the momentum as we seek to widen our tent and stand in solidarity in shaping politics at the local level.