Latest / Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania / Alan Bradstock for Congress (D)

Transcript

Alan Bradstock for Congress (D) · Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And welcome to Meet the Candidate, designed to give you
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to hear directly from the people asking for
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: your vote. No endorsement, no debate, just a conversation about
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the candidate, the issues, and where they stand, so you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: can make up your own mind. Today, we're talking with
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Alan Bradstock, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District. Alan,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: thank you for coming to Meet the Candidate.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Well, thanks for having me.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: So, is there one thing you want voters to understand
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: about your campaign, and what is that?
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is I want people to
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: know that I'm focused on we need to get back
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: together and be unified. We've gotten way too divided over time.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: And so we need to get back to working together
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and have a worker-centered economy. So those are two big
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: things that I'm focused on.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Okay. Well, speaking of that, what is your biggest thing?
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: What is the single biggest thing Washington can do to
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: help Pennsylvania businesses grow, create good-paying jobs, and keep people working?
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: I think increasing the funding for infrastructure, especially in my district,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: the Monongahela River Valley, a lot of the old mining
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: towns that need to be revitalized. And so with the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: aging infrastructure, And getting more good trade jobs and increasing
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the union apprenticeship programs are two ways that I want
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: to focus on. Okay. Can you dig a little deeper?
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And what are some of your specific plans that you
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: would recommend? Well, I think that the trade apprenticeship program
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: is a really big one. I know Penn State Fayette
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: campus is going to be closing sometime soon. And I
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: think that would be an awesome opportunity to bring in
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: many trade schools to Fayette County because that's at the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: heart of the district. and it would be money well spent.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: And it's AI-proof type of jobs. People are feeling the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: pressure of the grocery store. In fact, affordability is the buzzword. Housing, healthcare,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and what would you do in Congress to help lower
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: costs for Pennsylvania families?
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Well, the first easy answer is vote to stop the war.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: My opponent has voted six times to support the war
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: And it's causing these high fuel costs that are going
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: to resonate throughout the economy. And between the fertilizer increases
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and the fuel increases, groceries are going to get more expensive.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: So we need to stop the war first and foremost.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: And we also need to help with some of the
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: subsidies for the ACA for health insurance, because now a
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: lot of people are unable to afford it and are
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: dropping coverage. So those are two of the main focal
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: points of mine.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: How has the rise in health care affected Pennsylvanians? And
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: how do you think that will affect maybe the political outcome?
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: And how do you think that would play into your advantage?
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Right. I believe over 200,000 Pennsylvanians dropped coverage because of
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: the rise in premiums. And so it's having a big impact.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And part of the big beautiful bills cut to Medicaid
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: was designed to take effect after the midterm. So there's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: going to be a big drop to Medicaid revenue. coverage
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: coming real soon. So those are the two I'm mostly
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: worried about.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: You've spent much of your life in public service, from
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: serving the Army during Desert Storm to spending 20 years
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: with the FBI. How have those experiences shaped the kind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of congressman you believe you would be?
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Well, first is because I've just realized how important service
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: was to me, and that's why I want to get
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: back because I'm 62 years old, and I now realize
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: that I have skills that could be put to good
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: use in Congress. I get people to work together that
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: usually don't work together. I'm really good at identifying and
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: working on strategies. And so I think that it's that
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: that I want to bring to Congress because it's sorely lacking.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: So tell me more about your background.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, when I was in the FBI, you know,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I think the last two-thirds of it after when I
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: was in, you know, after 9-11 and when I got
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: into counterterrorism, that's when I really got into the intelligence integration.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: And that's what I found that I was really good at.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: It was a complicated problem that I was able to
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: solve by getting people to work together. And that's what
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I realized over the course of my career that I
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: was really good at is we need different perspectives to
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: solve problems and you can't just have one perspective. So
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that's why it's so important that we actually listen to
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: each other to solve these common problems.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Well, I know you've talked quite a bit about restoring
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: trust and integrity in government. What specifically needs to change
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: in Washington, D.C.? Well, the big thing is working together.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: That's how I think the voters and the public will
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: actually regain trust when the two parties are able to
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: work together. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: going to focus on. And I think it's going to
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: happen after this administration. There's going to be a window
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: to do that. And there's an aching for the public
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: to actually work together and come together because this divide
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: is just hurting people in their heart and their gut.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Well, Washington is incredibly divided. What is the one issue
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: where you believe Republicans and Democrats can work together?
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's recreating that working-centered economy because the
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: percentage of wages has gone down. Since 1970, it was 52%,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: and now it's down to 42%. the average CEO to
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: worker ratio was 20 to one back in the mid fifties.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: And now it's more like 284 to one. So we're
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: out of whack and we need to get back. And
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I think that's where the base of both parties can
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: get behind.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: What are some of your frequently asked questions and how
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: do you address those?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Right. It's really like, how do we protect social security?
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Because my district is very you know, heavily weighted for
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: over 65. And so we need to have a really
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: strong bipartisan commission in order to make sure that it's
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: viable moving forward and that there aren't the automatic cuts
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: that are projected to happen in six years. And so
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the easy, the first answer would be to try to
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: raise the wage cap. But I think there's going to
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: be multiple things we're going to need to do, and
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: we need to do it on a bipartisan basis.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: So how do you think you'll be able to accomplish that.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Well, I believe it's still the third rail of politics
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: because it's so important. Because like my grandmothers, both of
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: them were dependent on it when I was young. And
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: so many people are in the same boat. And so
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: it's going to behoove both parties to actually figure it out.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: And so I believe that we will. It'll take some effort,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: but it's going to happen.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: You get the last word, Alan. What do you want
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: voters to know before we wrap things up?
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: You know, I want them to know that I'm from
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: the district. I have deep roots in Donora and that,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: you know, I went off to serve multiple times. I
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: came back. And so because I'm from the district, I
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: have the deep roots. I understand the district and it's
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: because I care about the district. And I think my opponent,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: because he's not from the district and rarely comes back,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: just tells me that he doesn't care. And so I
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: think that's the key differential.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Alan, thank you so much for your time and good luck.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Thank you.