Rob Russell for Congress

What do you make of the current financial crisis and do you see anything that stands out as part of the solution?

I remember Phil Gramm, John McCain’s chief economic advisor, calling Americans whiners for worrying about the economy. He looks pretty bad right now, doesn’t he? It was his bill, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act back in 1999 that really opened the floodgates for all this financial services industry mess today.

It’s frustrating that the family that loses their house doesn’t get bailed out. The guy who loses his Pizza Hut business doesn’t get bailed out. But in the last few years, these giant financial behemoths have been created, and if they start going down, then something’s got to be done or the whole economy might collapse.

The next Congress and the next administration are going to be faced with the question of how to adjust to this new financial world. How do we adjust to the global market that looks nothing like anything we’ve ever seen? There need to be new regulations set in place, obviously. We can’t rely on the financial services industry to police itself anymore. There has to be something in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

With the White House, Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department seriously contemplating a possible $1.1 trillion dollar bail-out of Wall Street after unsuccessful attempts to “correct” the market with billion-dollar bail outs of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG, it appears that the next congress will have yet another economic burden to deal with when it convenes in January, 2009: paying the bill for the greatest single corporate welfare pay-out in American history.

Do East Tennesseans have a voice in any of this? One thing is for sure, we won’t be invited to speak at a share holders’ meeting at AIG, even though our government will have a controlling interest in the nation's largest insurer.

What we do have is a choice — and the power of our votes. We can decide who will be sitting in the House of Representatives in January. Will it be the representative of the party in power: the same party who gave us the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, finally tearing down all of the protections FDR had put in place after the depression to keep this kind of total market collapse from happening?
Will it be a representative whose only on-the-record economic policy is “spend less than you take in” and who seems to be entirely ignorant of the fact that his party’s policy of lowering taxes for the wealthiest Americans and expecting the money to fall out of the sky to pay for corporate welfare, endless war and an unfair but still ludicrously expensive healthcare system has driven the American economy to the brink of collapse?

Or will it be the representative of hard-working East Tennesseans, someone who believes that family economic security trumps corporate profit — every time.

The priorities set by the new Congress, and the values reflected in them, are something that the people of East Tennessee do have control over. Real change requires new ideas, not just new faces on old ones.

How will you ensure that quality healthcare is affordable and accessible for all?

Currently, quality healthcare is not affordable and accessible for all. Of 31 industrialized nations, we are the only one that does not consider healthcare a basic right of citizenship. However, we spend nearly twice as much, per person, on healthcare as the next biggest per capita spender, Sweden. Americans spend $7600 per person, or 16% of our gross domestic product, on healthcare.

Healthcare costs are continuing to rise dramatically, affecting the security of families and the competitiveness of businesses. We have an estimated 48 million uninsured Americans, including over nearly 9 million children. This leads not only to an infant mortalit rate that is the highest among the world's eight wealthiest countries, but to an unmatched rate of bankruptcy due to healthcare costs – some estimate that at least 700,000 Americans go bankrupt each year solely due to medical bills. Should a hard-working American family have to lose their home because they have a child sick with cancer? Most of us would automatically answer “no,” but it happens every day.

Experts agree that our health care system is riddled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, and inappropriate care, waste and fraud. Whether it’s a single-payer plan (as exiting Welmont CEO Dr. Richard Salluzzo endorses – and, according to him, 50% of doctors and hospital administrators support this idea), or establishing an apolitical entity to broker coverage or regulate the out-of-control insurance industry, I'm open to considering any plan as long as it 1) guarantees an affordable option for quality healthcare to all Americans, 2) lowers insurance costs for business and individuals currently covered, and 3) promotes overall efficiency in healthcare delivery.

Do you support a single-payer health care plan for all American citizens?  If not, what is the answer to the high cost of health care for both employers and employees? 

Healthcare reform is not just about covering the uninsured, it is also about having a US healthcare framework that supports family security and global competitiveness. Roughly a million Americans file for bankruptcy due to unexpected medical costs every year, and American businesses that provide health benefits are forced to either pay skyrocketing insurance premiums, or lower or drop coverage for their workers entirely.

Workers are now paying $1400 more yearly for premiums than we were in 2000; in 2007, premiums increased at nearly double the rate of inflation. And these costs are passed on to consumers.

It is estimated that $2,000 of the price of every new American-made car goes to pay for worker’s health benefits, while in Japan (a country with universal healthcare), about $600 is earmarked for healthcare. Our inability to deal with healthcare rationally is hurting us in the global marketplace.

A single-payer plan, like the one proposed by HR 676, would certainly be an efficient, simple, and fair means of providing universal coverage for all Americans. However, I’m open to considering other plans, as long as they meet the criteria above.

What is your position on No Child Left Behind?  Do you have a better plan?

While the intent of NCLB was admirable, its implementation, and the "teaching for the test" mentality it reinforced, has marred its promise. The purpose of the US Department of Education is to enhance and improve US education, not to tell states what and how to teach. When I am in Congress, I will fight to make sure that federal aid for K-12 education is focused on helping public schools 1) offer smaller teacher to student ratios, 2) train, recruit and retain the best teachers possible, and 3) build or renovate classrooms so that they are safe and technologically current environments for learning. Funding that has been based solely on performance should also be based on need, and the effectiveness of how the funding is used.

What programs would you put in place to ensure that America’s young people remain competitive in math, science and engineering?

The real question is how can we regain our standing in these areas, since we currently lag far behind other wealthy nations in the areas of math and science? I really don’t think that more programs are the answer. What is the answer is hiring the best teachers and equipping our schools to handle the challenges of 21^st century education. How do we do this? I think that we should look at what the rest of the world recognizes as one of American’s greatest strengths: the world’s best higher education system. When Ithink about so-called “failing” schools, I can’t help but think of the hundreds and thousands of students who come from all over the world to study at American colleges and university.

Bill Gates recently complained that the reason he established a new MS campus in Canada was that the US had a limit on H-1B visas, so that he couldn’t hire all of the best graduates from the best computer science programs – where, he said, 80% of the graduates are foreign-born. This might sound like an immigration problem, but it isn’t. It is an education problem.

Where our educational system is best is, obviously, at the university level, where students are challenged to solve problems, look for creative solutions and apply critical thinking as well as fundamental knowledge. Education on the graduate level is typified by small class sizes, access to 21^st century tools, and faculty who are teacher/researchers, engaged in continuous learning and rewarded for their abilities. This model – which would allow more students to learn at their own pace (slower or faster), follow their gifts and interests, and reward exceptional faculty – should be encouraged at the K-12 level, and federal funding geared to that goal.

Will you work to secure Social Security for the future? 

Securing Social Security for today and for future generations is the government's duty – the Social Security program is a promise that Americans make to themselves every time they earn a paycheck. With so many companies dropping their pension obligations while the cost of living continues to rise, Social Security has become even more important to our seniors and to those working men and women who've been unable to set aside money for retirement during these trying economic times. The best strategy for securing Social Security is to raise the maximum amount of earnings covered by the Social Security tax: currently, that amount is $97,500. When in Congress, I will work with the President in the best interests of East Tennesseans to create a payroll tax reform plan that will be fair to American workers and preserve Social Security for generations to come.

What specific steps would you take to improve our energy independence and to reduce the strain of high prices on consumers? 

Now is the time for us to make tough choices when it comes to energy: we can choose to leave behind a legacy of waste and short-sightedness, or instead provide a safer, cleaner and above all more secure America for our children's children.

There is no such thing as a “magic bullet” when it comes to solving our energy dilemma; it’s more likely to be “magic buckshot” – a multiplicity of approaches that will help us both control costs, meet our energy needs, and find and efficiently utilize new solutions. As T. Boone Pickens has said, "we can't drill our way out of this."

Right now, America must invest in new energy technologies that

1) take advantage of renewable resources (solar, water, wind, biofuels), and

2) create safer, cleaner and more efficient ways to use the non-renewable sources of energy on which we currently rely.

Only by doing both can we wean ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil and non-renewable fossil fuels.

Doing this will also help Tennessee by producing "green collar jobs"; more drilling, whether off the coast or in ANWR, will not help Tennesseans in the least. Not only does that oil go into the global market, but they provide no jobs for East Tennesseans. Renewable energy solutions will provide East Tennesseans with jobs as we begin producing more energy for ourselves, right in our own backyard.

In order to reduce the strain of high fuel prices in the short term, we must roll back Bush's wealth-fare (tax cuts for the wealthy) and substantially reduce working and middle-class tax rates to give working folks the ability to pay for gas, pay for groceries, and pay for heat. Long-term relief for high energy costs-- and their effect on many other sectors of our economy -- must be offered in a way that prepares us for the transition to a non carbon-based energy future. Oil company subsidies that have kept gas prices in the US artificially low for decades must be rolled back, and that revenue re-invested in renewable sources. We should also reward, through tax credits, energy companies (oil included) who help make the switch to greener, American-based, renewable sources. The tax credit for drivers who choose to purchase more fuel-efficient gas or hybrid vehicles should be increased, as well.

How would you balance energy independence with the need to protect the environment? 

As for balancing energy self-sufficiency with environmental stewardship, I believe that part of the beauty of nature is what it gives us both spiritually and materially – water, air, wood for our homes, marble to create beautiful monuments, and the fossil fuels that helped create an industrial revolution. But just because nature gives doesn't mean it should be taken for granted, wasted, or abused. Because of the bounty provided in the natural world God has given us, environmental stewardship is a moral obligation, and one whose benefits our children's children will be able to reap long into the future. I would much rather have ours remembered as a generation that recognized, at a critical moment, the importance of treating the earth responsibly than as a generation that contributed, through wasted and apathy more greatly than any others before to the demise of the planet.

What can Congress do to help the U.S. economy recover from the present downturn? 

What we've seen in the last seven years is wealth redistribution -- from the middle class to the super-rich. I am campaigning to restore economic security and confidence to regular folks: hard-working Americans who have seen the American dream slipping away, and are especially struggling during these shaky economic times. We can start this restoration by rolling back George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and providing major tax breaks for the majority of working Americans. I support a slight increase in capital gains and corporate taxes (as well as the elimination of loop-holes that currently allow many corporations to avoid paying their fair share) in order to offset tax breaks for the majority of working Americans.

Two essential components for achieving the American dream are education and home ownership. With college tuitions rising 5-7% yearly and an uncertain housing market, these vital steps in the "pursuit of happiness" are becoming harder and harder to achieve. I support a doubling of the higher education tax credit for students and an automatic mortgage deduction tax credit of 10% to offer relief to homeowners.

Should there be a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who work, pay fines and back taxes and learn the English language? Explain.

It is estimated that there are currently 11-12 million illegal aliens living, and working, in the US today. Something must be done to correct this situation, but it must be done in a rational manner, bearing in mind economic realities and a concern for human dignity. The economic realities are these: many illegal immigrants are gainfully employed in agriculture, service, or construction, and these industries would suffer greatly without immigrant labor. Most illegal immigrants even pay taxes, although under false or stolen social security numbers.

In addition, the money and manpower to locate and arrest all of them is not available, and the civil unrest and economic turmoil that would ensue if all were seized and deported would create domestic chaos in much of the country, not to mention a human rights nightmare. In terms of human rights, we must bear in mind that we are all God's children, and while illegal immigration is a crime, illegal immigrants are human beings and deserve humane treatment. Children should not be left without parents, and we should avoid, whenever possible, breaking up family units, especially when the head of household and main breadwinner is illegal -- deportation proceedings must take these issues into account. 

So, what is the solution? I believe that it comes in three parts: border enforcement, employer responsibility, and fair trade.

Some current legislation, such as the SAVE Act, sponsored by NC Rep. Heath Shuler, addresses many necessary aspects of immigration reform: increased border security, required identity verification by employers (using E-verify), and harsher penalties for those who knowingly hire illegals. I think that this is a good start, but we must also address the trade and economic inequalities that promote illegal immigration if we are serious about curbing this problem. "Giving" a citizenship path to illegals is unfair to those who entered the country legally, but those who have no criminal record and are willing to meet requirements like paying back taxes might be considered for temporary guest worker programs, and might eventually be permitted to apply for citizenship.

Does the U.S. have a clearly defined foreign policy? What would you do differently?

While our role as the world's greatest democracy requires us to play a part in protecting freedom and preventing atrocities such as genocide world-wide, our immediate priority when it comes to foreign relations must be to end the war in Iraq and repair the damage it has done to our diplomatic standing, military strength, and domestic economy. When it comes to international policy, the US must regain its moral high ground by promoting smart solutions, not smart bombs. Diplomacy and coalition-building, not unilateral, pre-emptive action, should always be our first choice.

Should the U.S. set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq? Explain.

I believe that our troops’ job is done – it was done years ago when Saddam was deposed. Right now, we are spending billions on infrastructure improvements, peace-keeping and civil services that should be handled by the Iraqis themselves: it is time for America to take care of America first.

Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-MalikiAs declared that he'd like to see a timetable for the withdrawal of US combat troops, and even went so far as to endorse Barak Obama's 16-month plan for re-deployment. Essentially, it will be up to the military and the Commander-in-Chief to make that decision, and I trust they will develop a strategy that will allow our troops to leave as soon as it would be safe and prudent to do so.

Has the war in Iraq distracted the U.S. from the war on terror? Explain.

Absolutely. Recently, Willie Nelson said, "When I get hit I look to around and see who did it before I start swinging at everybody in the room. And that's kind of what we've been doing."  I would say that it has not only distracted from the war on terror, it has help fuel the flames of terrorism and middle east discord. We've lost sight of who the perpetrators of 9/11 were, who their leader is, and how he manages to recruit more and more to his cause every day. The Taliban -- who promote, train, equip, and hide terrorists, including bin-Laden and all of the 9/11 terrorists -- are returning to strength in southern Afghanistan, and as a result of our misguided focus on Iraq, we have allowed that to happen.

One of the greatest disasters to result from 9/11, after the tragic loss of life and the ill-advised war in Iraq, was the loss of many of our civil liberties. Our country's leadership, who had declared "an end to Big Government," transformed Big Government into Big Brother, tapping our phones and reading our emails without warrants, treating the average American like a criminal.

In addition, we should seriously re-evaluate our relationships in the middle east. The US should hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country -- these states include "allies" like Saudi Arabia (where the 9/11 hijackers came from) and Pakistan, not just Iran and Iraq.