Pegasus News election survey: Thomas Love, candidate for U.S. House of Rep. - District 24

Pegasus: What drew you to run for office?

Love: When I see people losing their jobs, when I see people losing their homes, when I see people losing hope in the American Dream, I cannot help but feel repulsion towards what has been done to my home state and my country. I believe in the hopes outlined in our Constitution, and I believe in our need to have people who truly represent the People our Constitution has always protected. I want to help to bring back those hopes and dreams upon which our country was born from and our country should truly represent.

Pegasus: What are the platforms of your campaign?

Love: Economic solidity and security. We should never have been brought to the point of bailing out lending institutions. What caused our current problem should have been seen from the bail out of the Savings and Loans, by George Herbert Walker Bush. Bad mortgage loans brought the Savings and Loans and the current crisis to a head. There was a belief that no regulations over such loans should be followed. Clearly, we should have learned from the past, and is emphasized by the present -- minimum regulations are needed. By “minimum” I do not mean the least amount of regulations. I mean there should be floor of minimum requirements for such loans, and those minimum levels should be watched carefully. The failure of such has brought us to the point that even the Wall Street Journal calls as almost as desperate as what precipitated the Great Depression. To do less is irresponsible.

Health Care. With over 45 million people without any insurance, and with over 45 million more people with less than minimal health care coverage, and with America ranking at the bottom of the list of industrialized nations in health care, there is a major problem. Every American deserves the right to necessary health care, whether it be medical procedures or necessary prescriptions. To do less is immoral.

Energy independence. We have the current technology to make America free from oil imports. Why have our Representatives not enforced such items as increased miles per hour for new vehicles? Why have our representatives not supported alternative energy resources which are both clean and renewable? We should leave our country free of debt to other countries. To do less is bad stewardship.

Public Education. We need to teach our children how to use data, rather than just regurgitate data without comprehension. No Child Left Behind demands all school children regurgitate data. We need to return our public schools to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic -- with comprehension. To do less is to betray the hopes of our parents, the dreams of our children. To do less is immoral.

There are numerous other areas that need to be addressed. Please feel free to go to my web-site to see my ideas about these. www.tomlovefortexas.com

Pegasus: What are the concerns of the people in your community that you represent?

Love:The major concern of the working people of my community is that they want job security, the realistic potential to own their own homes, the education of their children that will make them competitive, and that a major health care problem will not make them lose everything.

Pegasus: What are the sources of conflict in your election contest?

Love: Conflict denotes response from two sides. My opponent will not debate me on any issue since he knows that his record of rubber stamping anything George W. Bush and Carl Rove concoct can not stand the test of day light. But he cannot hide within the shadows from the voters. He may have the money, but I have the truth.

Pegasus: How do you differ from your opponent?

Love: I do not have a multi-million dollar campaign war chest. I have to believe that the truth will set us all free. I believe that voters will see through flowery rhetoric the emptiness of campaign slogans promised then forgotten once the election is over. I believe, growing up in east Texas, that the value of a person is the truth of his word.

Pegasus: Do you have a favorite Presidential candidate?

Love: My selection is Barack Obama. And my prayers are with him.

Pegasus: How do you feel about the following newsy issues from the area?

*Convention center hotel.

Love: This is a local issue. Dallas residents. However, I do not approve of the local government operating an operation that private corporations already cover.

*Switching freeways from free to toll-based.

Love: If the revenues go back to the maintenance of freeways, then maybe. Each case should be considered singularly. If the revenues go to a private corporation -- never. Public funds built the freeways, and that should mean the revenues should go back to the public.

*HOV lanes

Love:Past due. New highway constructions should incorporate such when possible.

*DART rail

Love: I am for public transportation. Such would be a better expenditure of Federal funds than many others currently employed.

*Barnett Shell drilling

Love: The current limits of 300 to 600 feet between the gas well and existing structures (like day care center and schools) seem far too short. Also the current technology of only being able to recover 70 % of the water used to “frac” a well is not acceptable in a region prone to draught. The issue needs to be revisited.

*Cell phone use in cars

Love: Accident statistics show that cell phone use and driving while intoxicated are roughly comparable. I would prefer for local governmental entities to handle this issue since they will be charged enforcement.

*Open internet access in Public Libraries

Love: The crucial term is “Public.” We need for now filters that allow adults to research such topics as they desire, for example “breast cancer” rather than filters that would exclude sites that contain the word “breast.” Ultimately, “Adult Only” sites should be tagged with a suffix address, such as Dot Adult.

*“Green” buildings

Love: How nice it would be to believe that the current Cowboy Stadium being built in Arlington would be 100 % “green.”! Concrete from kilns that are pollution free would be a health benefit to all of North Texas. However, such has not been the truth. I would propose that all public buildings be as “green” as possible, or they would not receive any Federal funds.

Pegasus: How do you feel about the following national issues:

*War in Iraq

Love: We should never have gone into Iraq under the spurious arguments offered by the Bush White House; however, we find ourselves involved within a sectarian conflict there. First, we need to return our National Guard home. Then we need to make the current elected Iraqi officials understand there is no free lunch. They either get up and do what is necessary -- like providing for their own police and military forces -- or they suffer the consequences.

*Immigration

Love: We must first understand one fundamental principle. All of us are immigrants. Either our ancestors or we came here for freedom. We came for freedom from debt or oppression. We came for freedom from religious persecution or economic enslavement. Those who have come illegally should have to pay a price. A fine would be acceptable, since such is used for other offenses against the law. Yet those undocumented refugees who have established themselves within our culture, by either forming family units or creating businesses, should be given a second chance. They should have a possible pathway to full citizenship.

*Energy sources (oil vs. wind or solar)

Love: Texas could become a member of OPEC with its solar energy capacity alone. Add to that the potential of wind and bio-mass, and Texas could perhaps lead the world as an energy exporter. What amazes me is how reticent Texas has been to fulfill its rightful destiny in these areas. We definitely need a change.