Fighting for You: Doug Bugie, Democrat for US Congress

Doug believes in the right of every person to have control over their own bodies, and that a decision as important and life-changing as having an abortion is a woman’s personal decision. The belief as to when life begins is based on one's religious beliefs many times, but surely, whatever one’s belief, the state should have no role in this most private of decisions. And we all should show respect for the weightiness of the decision whether we support pro-choice or not.

He has supported women's rights since university. While in student government, he established the Rape Crisis Center at Bowling Green State University and backed the Equal Rights Amendment, equal pay for equal work. He marched in Washington when running for Congress in 1992– and is the only candidate to do so.

Doug has been a gun owner for most of his life. He passed the conceal and carry license test to become a gun owner. But he wonders, why can’t owning a gun be like having a driver’s license?

Doug supported Congressman Feighan when he got the Brady Bill passed, which established a 7-day waiting period after President Reagan and Jim Brady were shot.

‍Our nation has jumped from 10,000 deaths a year from gun violence in the 1980’s, to 50,000 deaths a year from gun violence today. Mass killings happen so often today, that we have become dulled to this crisis. It’s out of control and a major point of separation between Doug and the Republican Party.

Doug believes that people know this issue goes above politics- this is about saving lives. They know we must change the laws and enforce the red flag laws we have now to protect our communities.

Doug believes that immigrants are the lifeblood and have made America the greatest nation. Immigration fights real labor shortages at all levels; immigrants create one of every two jobs, and immigrants run 50% of Fortune 500 companies. He believes our country needs to increase legal immigration to record levels, and he has supported this for many years through his service on the Global Cleveland board.

Doug also believes we need to close the southern border entirely and swiftly using all means necessary but ensure we do so humanely. He believes there should be legal immigration into our country only- and that we need to use the National Guard and advances in technology to make this happen. Doug believes that we need to work deeply with countries where they are coming from to make it more attractive for them to stay. He believes that legal immigrants who do arrive need to be steeped in civics, government, and citizenship.

The damage that Fentanyl and other drugs have done to our communities is abhorrent, and we need a strong representative to put strong policies in place to ensure we are tackling this issue head-on. Doug aims to be the representative our community needs to get the job done.

Doug wants to make trafficking in drugs really hurt – one strike, you’re out, not three, for drug dealers and traffickers. He wants life sentences, no parole, and solitary confinement for offenders. He advocates using military and National Guard use land, sea and air and all available technologies to make this happen, including very hard-nosed actions for China and Mexico to participate.

Doug believes in honoring our heroes and has a strong commitment to the men and women who have dedicated their lives in service to our great nation.

Veterans currently have the highest rate of suicide, joblessness, and homelessness in America- and it is a disgrace. Doug believes we must stop with the cliches and “well wishes” and take concerted action to make a difference and support those who need help.

Doug believes in free speech and the benefits of communication and connection but also believes in protecting our privacy from big tech companies.

He wants to continue investigating platforms such as TikTok for foreign surveillance; work with META to establish a large program to combat hacking, ID theft, tracking, and bullying; and aggressively prosecute individual offenders at the executive level in these businesses.

Doug believes that both can be done. He believes that we have got to stop making it an either/or issue. Energy independence is a must and a matter of national security. Doug believes it will come from fossil fuels for the next period in history, but also that we must push relentlessly for cleaner energy. Doug believes the earth is warming, and we have a threat not thousands of years from now, more like low hundreds, even less.

Doug wants to make it a norm and exciting for youth, particularly and adults generally, to give back to society and the world, as he believes the best American power is ‘soft power’ in the long run. He supports incentives with credits for college or tech schools in a gap year right after high school before university or tech schools with the aim that every young person finds a way to do this, meaning hundreds of thousands, even millions, over time.

The twin vehicles to accomplish this are AmeriCorps here and the Peace Corps abroad. Doug believes it would be beneficial for society, even the world, and for the young adults themselves, to want to do this, feel proud to do this, and be incentivized to do this. Young adults can serve in cities, the countryside/ small towns, and big cities, support older people, the inner city, people with low incomes, the hungry, and schools, and find the vets and help them get care and safety. They can do the same overseas, as can adults. Make it a national mission.

Doug lived in London during many bombings and when the IRA stopped bombing and buried their weapons. Inspired leadership from all sides led to peace. Peace is hard, but it can be achieved. Let’s not give up on peace, as difficult as it is to imagine now, even in the face of the atrocities brought on by Hamas, with blood on Iran’s hands.

Doug’s heart breaks for Israel, it breaks for innocent Palestinian civilians. He believes we must back Israel to finish Hamas and rebuild the region afterward with an eventual two-state solution and security for Israel and Palestinians.

We can’t harden our hearts to the death and injury of innocents on both sides, we must accept that this is a war that Hamas started with ghastly atrocities, and with Iran’s support. Israel is fighting for its very existence. Israel can and will win, and after all, we all should help rebuild Israel itself, if it comes to that, and support Palestinian civilians and establish their own state with security for Israel...but without Hamas, with no Hamas in existence.

If you find yourself wavering, remember what Hamas did on the day of the invasion. Opinion is rapidly rising against Israel from all quarters as they seek to defeat Hamas, especially as the ground war intensifies. Hamas is using Palestinians, the hostages, as a gigantic, embedded human shield. Many thousand more innocents will die after the cease-fire.

As a footnote, Doug has worked extensively in 40 countries, many times with Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindi, Buddhists, and others who count as friends and colleagues. He studied comparative religions at university and he is truly a "big church" kind of person. Let’s not succumb to this "war of civilizations." This would be a road to ruin for the world.

So, too, does Doug support finding a pathway to peace between Russia and Ukraine. There is a high probability this could go nuclear. Russia took Ukraine’s land. Hundreds of thousands have died. Putin’s hands are linked with our sworn enemies, but NATO has been encircling Russia for years, forcing them ever more into a corner. Doug believes more far-sighted leadership could have prevented this.

He has 40 years of experience working in more than 40 countries, including China and Russia, and has lived in London for more than 10 years. Doug has more experience in dealing with people around the world at a high level than most members of Congress. We must remember—as Sting’s song goes, “Russian Mothers have Children Too”, as do Israeli, Ukrainian and Palestinian mothers.

There are many thousands of good apples for every bad apple. Doug backs the police, and salutes what they do for us every day. Ranks are shrinking in Cleveland and America, and police need help in recruiting. He applauds what Mayor Bibb is doing to turn this around. As a board member of the Cleveland Police Foundation, he witnessed up close the inner workings of the police department, including pay, working conditions, risks, duties, racial makeup, and most of all, the countless good acts for the communities they serve. He has a rather good grasp of their hearts and minds. He also became aware of something we could bring back to both Cleveland and the surrounding areas, including District Seven–neighborhood policing, defined as when police become a visible partner in the community vs. somehow, the enemy. This is where tax dollars can work.

The police are the thin blue line between society and disorder. Public welfare and safety are undermined when kids no longer believe that being in the police is an honor. And although District 7 lies outside of Cleveland’s borders, public safety in Cleveland affects our District and the great things that Cleveland offers the region.

We helped Europe and Asia after WW II, to turn enemies into allies and, in so doing, lifted the world economy as never before, just as Lincoln and Grant led the Reconstruction after the Civil War. Doug believes we must do the same for our cities. We need this broad, far-reaching thinking and action in America and right here in Cleveland. Like it or not, as goes Cleveland, so goes the region and this is true nationwide. Cities are becoming islands of desperation, hopelessness, and poverty. Policing them will end up looking like the movie Robocop. Even given the tremendous strides forward here, we remain, by some indicators, the 2nd poorest city in America, particularly evidenced by rising gun crime and gun violence even in high schools.