Continuing in the series on 2014 Primary candidates, I had an opportunity to sit and chat with Dr. Brian Babin. Dr. Babin is one of the dozen candidates running in CD-36 to replace Rep. Steve Stockman, who decided at the last minute to run for U.S. Senate.
Dr. Babin grew up in Beaumont and received his undergraduate degree from Lamar University. He was an airborne artilleryman in the U.S. Army Reserve before following in his father’s footsteps and enrolling in the University of Texas Dental School in Houston. After completing dental school, he served in the U.S. Air Force. After his stint in the U.S. Air Force, he and his wife Roxanne settled in Woodville, where they raised their five children. As the picture above shows, Dr. Babin has nine grandchildren – all the reason he needs to run for Congress.
He has a long history in politics but the reason he entered the political world has to do with a similar situation as the country faces today – a weak president. While stationed overseas in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Babin told me he saw first hand how a weak president demoralized our troops. When he returned to the U.S. and settled in Woodville, one of the first things he did was to work for Ronald Reagan’s campaign as the county and then regional coordinator. Deep East Texas was heavily Democratic at the time and he was instrumental in turning the tide toward Reagan and towards Republicans in general.
Dr. Babin is heavily involved in Texas water issues, having served on the Lower Neches Valley Authority since being appointed by then Gov. George W. Bush in 1999. Although East Texas is generally perceived as having escaped the worst of the recent Texas drought, Dr. Babin told me that they were within days of shutting the water supply to the petrochemical industry in the Golden Triangle area, which would have been a crippling blow to the economy in that region.
The biggest issue for the East Texas part of the district, if not the district as a whole, is Obamacare and the devastation it is having on healthcare. He is the only healthcare professional in the twelve person race and says that the district is losing doctors at the same time that residents are losing their insurance policies, creating a dire situation. He told me that few young people are entering medicine because of the continued cuts in remuneration and the nightmare regulations are a disincentive – our brightest people can be better compensated in other fields of study. Add in the difficulty of dealing with the IRS now that they have so much power over healthcare and Dr Babin sees a bleak future if we cannot overturn Obamacare.
He cites immigration reform as the second biggest issue. He told me that citizens across the district are tired of going to work every day, sweating to eek out a living and pay their bills, and then seeing illegals getting benefits from these hard working taxpayers, who get none.
Dr. Babin also believes strongly in the Christian work ethic and the concept of if you don’t work, you don’t eat, if you are able to work. He also told me that out of wedlock births and the destruction of the family unit are things that must be turned around if we are to once again be a great country.
Dr. Babin stressed that he is not a professional politician and that he believes in term limits. He is tired of a Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. that vacillates and doesn’t stand up to President Obama. He pointed out to me that the issues we face today are much the same as when he ran in 1996 and 1998 – back then the debt was $5.4 trillion, we were fighting against HillaryCare, and that taxes are too high and the tax code too complex. He lamented the fact that when Republicans held the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, they did not cut a single federal program.
He has quite a few high profile endorsements in the East Texas portion of the district and has a good chance of being in the runoff because of his high name recognition in that area.
Find out more about Dr. Brian Babin:
Website: BabinForCongress.com
Facebook: BabinForCongress
Twitter: @Babin4Congress
Dr. Babin has my vote. I heard him speak at a candidate forum in Seabrook and he was far and away the best candidate of the bunch. I think he’ll be a great rep for our district