Latest / The Town Square Podcast / Jonathan Chavez on Healthcare, Immigration, and Georgia’s 13th District—Episode 104

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Jonathan Chavez on Healthcare, Immigration, and Georgia’s 13th District—Episode 104 · The Town Square Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to the Town Square podcast where local advocates for a better community bring their different perspectives into the messy middle to have a conversation where aim is unity and not uniformity.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: I get nervous.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think you're going to put me on the spot with that man.
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, I'm a chance to pose it one day.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: I was actually watching an episode recently where it was on the hundredth episode.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's like I went to you.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did I?
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do I do?
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: You were like, uh,
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: But then you had to display it afterwards.
• 0:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: I did.
• 0:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think I sometimes on the first post that man.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was like, this and sometimes the brain does weird things.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, man.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, for folks watching, we are in our candidate conversation series.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: the primary season back in March April, May was the guys you guys who were watching, man, you'd made this such a mess.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: It was awesome.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know, because we can't do it.
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, we can do it.
• 0:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: But if they're not watching, what's the point?
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: So the fact that they're watching you guys are watching, made it so amazing.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I hope it was edutainment.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think it was a little educational and maybe attaining.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it was.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: But anyway, so we're now coming up to November 3rd is the general election.
• 1:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
• 1:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Tuesday, November 3rd.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, right.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, right.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: OK, all right.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And today, we are joined in the studio, bye.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: a U.S. congressional candidate for Georgia district 13 and I'd like to introduce everyone to Jonathan Chavez.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hello.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for having me.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is this Chavez or Chavez?
• 1:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Chavez.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Chavez.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm still saying it wrong.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, that's okay.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Down here in Georgia, I never expect anyone to get here right.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to say anything.
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm from originally from the Midwest.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to say anything to hurt my Georgia fans, listeners, feelings.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: But it can be an adventure sometimes.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: They can't.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the worst pronunciation I heard is one time I was checking him for a restaurant, and they said, Chaves.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Chaves?
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I was there and they're like, Chaves party and Ford.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, and after a while, I said, do you mean Chavez?
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Chaves.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hey.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, Chaves like that stuff.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, I have to always be on the ear for, you know, to see how my name is going to be pronounced, but it's fine.
• 2:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I understand.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's good.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I will do my very best with my red neck.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: So there is no reason.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're not going to get the chaves.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think you're going to get that far.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: I knew it was Chavez or Chavez or somewhere.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's right.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: You are in C. Yes.
• 2:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you are running for congressional seat district 13 Georgia district 13 in the U.S. Congress.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: I need to sometimes remind people what all it means.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: That means like in Washington, D.C.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: And if people are here watching and they're hearing your name for the first time, correctly or incorrectly, who are you?
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: And what part of the district do you live in?
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: Do you live in the district?
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: And why do you call it home?
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: buying the home is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: The good news is you don't have to navigate the process alone.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: United Bank mortgage services offers a variety of mortgage solutions to help make home ownership possible.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you're a first time home buyer, our home possible mortgage program may provide the flexible financing that you need.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: Through our community first program, eligible buyers can access down payment and closing cost assistance designed to help make home ownership more affordable.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: So whether you have questions about down payments, loan programs, or how much home you can afford, our experienced mortgage lenders will help you find a solution that fits your needs and budget.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll explain the process in plain language and to your questions and guide you from application to closing.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: So stop by the United Bank office in Covington or visit accessunited.com to learn more.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're here to help turn your dream of owning a home into a reality.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: United Bank mortgage services, local guidance, local decisions, a place to call home starts here.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Member FDIC equal housing lender, NMLS number 413-054.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I live in the district.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I live in actually, Kanye's rock deal is always what I call home.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: North Georgia to us, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I will start the very top of rock deal, too.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So almost at the right at the line.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the reason why I came here is actually my wife's grandmother and grandfather and some of her family.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: live her in Corners as well.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 4:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's what drew me back here.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I was originally born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from there.
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's where I met my wife.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: We moved up to Boston, Massachusetts.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: We lived up there for about eight, nine years or so.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's too cold up there though, right?
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so going from New Mexico to Boston, what a pleasure shot exactly.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And far beyond for me, when I first get there.
• 4:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the big winter we're going to have, it's snowing.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm at work at I'm at the hospital.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: This was Boston Medical and they're telling me, yeah, make sure you snow blow tonight and in the morning and I thought, oh, that's stupid.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why not just do it all in the morning?
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: No.
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm thinking, yeah, why trust that people who've lived here are the right to drive to drive through, right?
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I wait to the morning and sure enough, it's feet of snow.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the first two feet are almost solid ice.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm trying to get it all that off, but I can't get the last two feet because it's so hard to, I'm like, chipping away at it.
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you had to have done it the night before, which is just so.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: with a soft and fluffy that's when you get it and then in the morning you do it again so that way you have an easier time in the morning.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to show my ignorance on the word.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did you say snowboat snowblows?
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: No blow, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snowblows, snow
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm from the braskers, so I know all about them.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: No shelter.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: No shelter.
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have no blower machine.
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what now?
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: I can start there.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because this stuff we get here is not that.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's not that.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: So New Mexico, Boston Medical, you're in Boston for a few years, and then you come to Georgia?
• 6:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then I came to Georgia.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when I left Boston, so it was right in the middle of the pandemic, that's when we decided, you know, that's the best time to leave.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we're trying to plan that because, you know, that's the best time to change jobs.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's the best time to leave.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I had two job offers.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had one in Florida.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I can't even remember where now, but it's right right on the coast, which is I wanted to be right next to the water.
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then here in Corniers, where my wife is family is from.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm telling her, well I got the job offer in Florida.
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she said, well, what about Coniors?
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I said, well, I haven't heard from them yet.
• 6:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So let me give them a call.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: So then I called them and they said, yeah, we're going to, we were just preparing the offer.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we'll go ahead and extend you the offer as well.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So then I asked her, and of course, and he went out there, you know, you're not going to...
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think something that's going to make your life upset, so that's why I came to corner.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And actually, I really love it.
• 7:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love the open spaces.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: We live on our house has three acres.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's a nice, yeah, I have deer that kind of roam through the yard.
• 7:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's very, so people, some people listen and they're going, that's rockdale county.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I thought there was, you know, 115,000 people's pushed into the smallest county on the state.
• 7:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what you might think hearing some people talk.
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: But it's not that way.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, some parts are actually kind of spacious.
• 7:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: My hand.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: How about that?
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, good for you.
• 7:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you enjoy Connure's rock gallery.
• 7:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, great.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Very much so.
• 7:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: So your grandfather, you're talking about, or your wife's.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Your wife's family was from Conor's.
• 7:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
• 7:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but y'all met in New Mexico.
• 7:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: New Mexico.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: She was a traveling ultrasound tech.
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's how we met.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 7:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, I hear those people make good money.
• 7:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, they do.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, they do.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, they do.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Sorry.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's that's rude.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, I mean, it's a good permission.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: It can be a good profession.
• 8:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you like the travel, if you like health care.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
• 8:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 8:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then you might meet me.
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: You might meet me in the middle of your life.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love it.
• 8:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: You grandfather came to this country from Mexico, and supported 13 children.
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I had 13 aunts and uncles.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm down to two.
• 8:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: My father passed away about 12, 13 years ago or so.
• 8:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I never actually met my grandfather.
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: An interesting story with that is, so when my dad was going to Vietnam,
• 8:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So back then, it was customary to go to St. 20 or to the Chimao, which is a little chapel out there.
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: You go there to pray for safe protection.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you go in on your knees, so you walk in, you go in on your knees.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And my father heard, my grandfather say, God, please protect my son.
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you have to take anybody, please take me.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when that night, he died peacefully and asleep in a hearted heart attack.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And because my dad was going to Vietnam they gave him three days for bereavement before he had to go to Vietnam.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they delayed his deployment for that three days so unbelievable.
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is quite a story.
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I never met him and my grandmother on my dad's side.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: She died when I was only eight months.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: But my father was the one who really instilled in me that.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: anybody can come to this country and they can make a good life for themselves.
• 9:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is what my dad did.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: He went to college, he went into the Air National Guard, went civil service.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in the Air National Guard, he rose all the way up to Lieutenant Colonel.
• 9:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, when he retired for 10 years before he passed away, but he always went out and was growing up and said, never, never let anybody tell it.
• 9:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: tell you that you can't do anything right it's up to you and what's in your mind and how bad you want it so if you want it that bad
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: then you will get it.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there would be times how would, you know, apply for something or, oh, Dad, I didn't get it.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I started feeling sorry for myself.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he said, that's because you didn't try hard enough.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: You needed to work harder.
• 10:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's how I got that spirit.
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when I was actually 13, a friend of mine and I had our own little lawn mowing business as well.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we go mullons to get money.
• 10:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we could put you stuff.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And from there, I actually started
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the time, if you were breaking a bad fan, that's the car wash, the breaking box.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did they buy that, that they bought?
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm a big fan.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can do it.
• 10:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I could jump them back fans and cross the street, and that's where that car wash was.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's how close I lived to that car wash.
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like I would go there when I was like 13 years old.
• 10:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'd work there on a work permit, drying cars, out in the hot sun.
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think that's a good thing.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's really, really neat to drive the car.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's got a dam in a little bit.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's still back a wait five minutes.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: All good.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's pretty awesome.
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you feel like?
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: It kind of feels like a self-explanatory thing, but I ask you anyway, what were some of the lessons that rubbed off on you watching your father, then you'd learning work and that work ethic at such a young age?
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: How did that continue to sustain you going forward?
• 11:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: So anytime I had a goal, I would either get a picture of it, write it down, I put it in my bathroom mirror, I would put it somewhere.
• 11:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that way anytime I get depressed or anything like that, when I'm getting ready in the morning, I would see that and I'd remember, that's what's driving me, right now it's my family.
• 11:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I wake up every day and there.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hear the yelling, the screaming.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to be a picture of me.
• 11:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't hear the screaming.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: our priorities shift a little bit.
• 11:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So now it's more what can I do best for my family?
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: What can I do for my kids?
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: How can I show them how to succeed and show those qualities that we're instilled in me as a young age to make sure that they grow up and they have that same work ethic.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you talk about family, you know, your husband, your father, or four, I believe.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: What would you say beyond just the campaign and the biography?
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: What would you say they would, how would they describe you?
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, like, what would they say you're like at home?
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So at home, I'm very detailed oriented.
• 12:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would say, so some, I work all day, then I come home.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And my wife is always the one that, okay, you guys, put the dishes away, load the dishwasher.
• 12:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then I see the dishwasher and drives me crazy because it's not perfect.
• 12:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: So.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm rearranging the dishwasher and the kids are, you know, especially the 12 and the nine-year-old are upset.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dad, we just loaded that.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you do this, you'll get more dishes in.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 13:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: You sound like my wife, actually.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is her M.O.
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, see, I tell you, like, you must have been a Tetris champion or something because the way she knows how to pack things and
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: But that's pretty, that's pretty awesome.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: But she's very particular about that as well.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she homeschools are for for kids too.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: She's around the mall day.
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when when I come home, basically that's my job is as soon as I come in, it's they have a song that's that they play called Daddy Does the Dishes.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because I'm very start off.
• 13:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: life is cooking and I'm doing the dishes so they can make more dishes so I can watch more and then I try to and then after that that's when they do family anime time.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not a big anime fan.
• 13:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, but so they do the anime and then that's when I work on campaign stuff social media stuff if I can you know any kind of campaign stuff.
• 13:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: When anyone who's been on a campaign trail or campaign for anything and have a family like that is a big deal.
• 14:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: I got a burning question, though, can I go ahead and ask the question on the dishwasher right you get the little at the top rack here's the spokes obviously can't put it like this right no one does that but do you put it here are you put it here I put it right in the middle to make sure it doesn't wobble back and forth okay and then I turn
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would turn this so it it's flush up against that little metal spoke.
• 14:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so that way it doesn't turn either.
• 14:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is compelling stuff for you.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like because that's exactly how I do it.
• 14:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to say, why do I feel like this is settling the argument.
• 14:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing with you and your wife.
• 14:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to go home and watch the podcast because
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to tell you what happens in the you all the time.
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did you hear how he led into that?
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: Anyone who has a wife knows, he doesn't write.
• 14:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: He doesn't write.
• 14:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't have it.
• 14:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm just asking.
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: He did it.
• 14:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be a professional.
• 14:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And once my wife loaded the dishwasher, and once I went back and fixed it once, only once.
• 14:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I learned my lesson after that.
• 14:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 15:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: All right, so you're family man, a professional in the medical field, but you spent 23 years in the Air Force, is that right?
• 15:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I started off in the Air Force.
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I did six years active duty that I went into the Air National Guard and then the reserves.
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: For those who don't know, Air National Guard reserves is one week in a month, two weeks in the summer.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Difference between the National Guard and the reserves is National Guard a state.
• 15:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: reserves is federal and the national guard you can still be called up by the president but actually in the national guard you're more so called up by the governor for local disasters where for the reserves you can and that's when I got deployed is so when we went to Iraq I was called up by the president.
• 15:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: in order to serve other did you do medical stuff there like what was that so I first went in and radiology that was my okay so I've been in radiology ever since got you so that's what I started in when I was deployed I went in that capacity when you go and you're deployed in Iraq you're kind of multifaceted you can be a field medic or you can be a radiology tech just kind of wherever they need you to be so when I was deployed actually the first thing I get
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: off the plane from Qatar.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's early in the morning.
• 16:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was four or 45 five in the morning.
• 16:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: The commander comes to meet me and says, All right.
• 16:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Go ahead and eat.
• 16:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Get some rest.
• 16:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to be leading the team in a few hours.
• 16:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to go like it's like five thirty six.
• 16:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's like, go ahead and sleep for a little bit, report at eight.
• 16:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that's the military, right?
• 16:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's the military.
• 16:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 16:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, get right to it.
• 16:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: And so did you like, so anybody that I ran into this been in the military, especially when they've been deployed, I just I loved ask, what was there any person or a vent or it's like, what do you, what would you take from that?
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: service that you've probably still used a day.
• 16:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: It molded you in some kind of way.
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you always pick little bits and pieces from all your leaders.
• 17:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the most defining moment was early in my career.
• 17:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in the medical field, what we would go is we would do mass casualty exercises.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they would give us a scenario and we would have a team and it would be a doctor nurse and some texts and they would give us coordinate points and we would trade off being the team leaders.
• 17:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they would give us a point we would go treat the patient, determine what needs to be done, carry the patient back and then go on to the next point.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when it was my turn, we came to this one point where the casualty and usually they're actors.
• 17:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: was laying on top of a live grenade.
• 17:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when we do our assessment, they said, well, we feel something.
• 17:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: We think it's grenade, the laying on it.
• 17:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can't turn them because then that didn't, that could possibly detonate the grenade because it could be, you know, sometimes they do that.
• 17:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So with casualties, they'll pull the pin, set it underneath so that way when the medical team comes, they take out the medical team as well.
• 17:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So
• 17:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: they're asking me and then so you got to imagine there's like simulated life fire going on and bond going off and then so and then instructors yelling at me what are you going to do you need to make a decision what are you going to do so and I have to team saying we need to treat them we don't leave anyone behind another saying no we we got to move on so I made the decision that no what we're going to do is we're going to move on we're going to call this into EOD we're going to give them the coordinates we're going to go on to the next patient.
• 18:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So and then other team members were like one guy got in my face with like no, we don't leave anybody behind And I had to grab I said no, I'm later we're going we're going to the next patient now So we moved on so after that for the debrief You know, we're kind of hanging out and I see the instructor that was the one that was yelling at me And before we do the actual debrief I wanted to know I said how did I do during my scenario and he said
• 18:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Your scenario was one of those that we always tell that we do we provide the best training for, but we don't train you for every single scenario.
• 19:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: The training is to so you can pick out the decisions you need to make.
• 19:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: The worst decision is to not make a decision at all.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 19:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: You said you did actually make the right decision because if you try and treat that patient,
• 19:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: and that grenade goes off.
• 19:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then the all the other patients down the line could possibly die because the medical team has been taken out.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: You said, but you didn't freeze, you you stood your ground, you made a decision and you moved forward with it.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we want you to do.
• 19:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So from then on and I forged everything like that.
• 19:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: that I need to get the best information, the best data.
• 19:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I need to surround myself with not just yes people.
• 19:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
• 19:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I need to surround myself by somebody who gives me that opposition, respectful opposition, but someone who challenges me, which is what I've done recently, where I work at the hospital.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I actually hired somebody who actually is the person that says, I don't think we should do that.
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, that's the one I want.
• 20:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they said, why?
• 20:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, because they're thinking from a different perspective that I'm not thinking about.
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're thinking outside the box.
• 20:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you surround yourself with people who are like-minded thinkers, and then your result comes out, and it's not what you wanted, and you're wondering, well, why didn't come out the way we wanted?
• 20:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's because you didn't have someone else to say, you didn't look at it from this angle.
• 20:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I want is people who do that for me.
• 20:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I love that.
• 20:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love that.
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, sir.
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's sharpens.
• 20:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's sharpens.
• 20:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love that.
• 20:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: But when I'm in class, it sparks sparks.
• 20:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: It sparks sparks.
• 20:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: And the sparks are not always bad.
• 20:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think this is interesting that your education, your career, all of it kind of sit in this intersection of medicine and healthcare and administration and finance and business, like all of this.
• 20:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It poses the question, like, what problems you feel like you've solved in the context of all that?
• 21:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: That best represents what you feel like you can bring into this space that you're running for.
• 21:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when I came in, what they were looking for is they were looking for a problem solver.
• 21:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I've only been in my position all here locally for about a year and a half now.
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: just at this position.
• 21:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've done this meant for throughout the years.
• 21:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, they were looking at some bringing in someone from the outside who can solve problems and they saw that right off the bat.
• 21:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So one of the things that they had was with their MRI in patients, their turnaround times were 22 to 24 hours.
• 21:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Meaning from the time the order to the time the patient was known was 22 to 24 hours So we need that to come down to at least 16 to 18 hours.
• 21:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I worked on it for a few months I got it to 10 to 12 hours Which is actually good since we don't run 24-7 we run over night so even if the order won at 10 o'clock at night It's not gonna get done to the next day.
• 21:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that is a reasonable time frame Those are the types of things that they always look at me to solve
• 22:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Other issues are, how can we do what's best for the patients?
• 22:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I'm trying to do now is I wrote actually a business case for our hospital that East of Atlanta.
• 22:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have really too much good quality cardiac care in cardiac imaging So I've actually written a business case where we can actually Make our hospital more of a forefront for cardiac imaging so that way we can have pet CT cardiac and also cardiac CTA
• 22:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just found out recently that my hospital was picked based on the business case that we're going to move forward with that and we're going to make our hospital, one of the primary areas for cardiac and I'm constructing that now.
• 22:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm moving forward with the workflow.
• 22:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those are the types of things that I try to solve.
• 22:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what's best for the community.
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I kind of look at what what does the community need?
• 22:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: and then how can I solve that?
• 22:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And how is the best way I can solve those issues?
• 22:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm, that's good.
• 22:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome.
• 22:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: So when you're trying to solve these issues in, you know, Congress, certainly, you know, we met with a lot of opposition as well.
• 23:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: Almost like when you were talking about the simulation, when you were intranet.
• 23:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: But so you've met opposition before, you've run ran for, uh, well, before the district was redistricted.
• 23:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: It was district four, I believe.
• 23:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: You ran in in Iran when it was district 13 and now you're running again.
• 23:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: And, uh, primarily, let's just say it was, I don't remember no the exact number, but 70% Democrat or something like that, probably.
• 23:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
• 23:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you're definitely the underdog, you're, you're reading the opposition, but you've been gained in on it, too.
• 23:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: You've gotten the last, uh, last election at 28% I think against, they've Scott.
• 23:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: So what would you learn from the last two that you're doing maybe differently this time or or just, you know, just keep going, keep plugging at it, like that hard work ethic.
• 23:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: This just just keep going and set the goal.
• 23:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the first time I ran, I was very new to the idea and I was more confrontational than anything else.
• 24:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: After about a month of doing that, I realized that is not the way to solve things.
• 24:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: What we need is we need more people that can meet in the middle, basically.
• 24:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's cool.
• 24:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: That, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that
• 24:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: driving up their base, meaning they get their base angry so that way they vote and they keep voting on an office.
• 24:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, that doesn't do anything for the American people.
• 24:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't do anything for their district.
• 24:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: When we have people that say, I will fight Trump on every bill and I will do everything against Trump.
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's not really helping anything.
• 24:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: What they should be doing is, I don't like this, but let's see where we can meet somewhere where we can have an agreement
• 24:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's the kind of attitude I want to bring to Congress and that's what I'm trying to bring to Congress is that we all need to talk about these issues.
• 25:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have your ideas, you have, and I have mine, but what's best for the people and how can we solve what's best for the people?
• 25:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I like to think that more.
• 25:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: politicians are slowly, maybe not slowly, let's say, gradually coming into that mine frame.
• 25:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I like to think that.
• 25:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, maybe we've just been exposed to folks who come here.
• 25:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, with you saying that, this kind of is a quintessential messy middle question.
• 25:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: how would you feel like or what do you think is the most glaring difference I guess between you and the democratic nominee.
• 25:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then also on the flip side, what do you feel like there's maybe something you all have in common or that you share or that you agree with, you know.
• 25:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: So because like you said, sometimes all you hear is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong on the other side.
• 25:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it makes me wonder sometimes, is there anything that's
• 25:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, do you both agree that the sky is blue like I mean, is there anything that you drew it so you know Where do y'all differ but then also maybe what's the point?
• 26:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's something that you guys maybe have some common ground in So I'll ring this up because a lot of Republicans shy away from this but abortion so she is very pro abortion.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very anti-abortion
• 26:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The reason why is because if you look at it, the Church of Satan, the Satanic temple, actually has fought to fight legislation in several states in order to protect abortion.
• 26:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason why they used is they wanted to protect their religious tenant that they used that in their religious practice.
• 26:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, they'd even set up
• 26:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: tell a abortion services centered around their religious practice.
• 26:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So as someone's having an abortion, they're actually practicing their satanic worship at the same time that someone's having a abortion sacrifice.
• 26:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Exactly.
• 26:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: So.
• 27:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: with that, people need to make that decision, which side you lie on.
• 27:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you are for abortion, then know that you're protecting and you're fighting for what the Satanic temple and the Satanist are fighting for as well.
• 27:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or do you align on protecting human life, which is what God really wants us to do?
• 27:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's, I think, the biggest difference that we have between the two of us is that she is very pro abortion embryo and Thai.
• 27:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: where we lie in the middle or where we kind of agree on this, I actually used to be a Democrat.
• 27:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Before I met my wife, I was a very hard-core Democrat.
• 27:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Really?
• 27:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: My wife was very hard-core Republican.
• 27:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: How we got together?
• 27:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now that is a story.
• 27:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a podcast episode in a number seven.
• 27:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a week of talk for an hour.
• 27:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not just alone.
• 27:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I like you, but you're my man.
• 27:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's wrong with the way you think?
• 27:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know it.
• 27:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's just say we had some interesting conversation with him.
• 27:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll get a little heated sometimes, and how she kind of converted me is, so she would say, okay, well, you think on a science level, you think on a data level, here's a question, research and fun, and see what the answer is.
• 28:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'd say, okay, fine, I'm going to prove you wrong, and I could not prove her wrong all the time.
• 28:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there is something that we could kind of come to the middle about, but most of the
• 28:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would say, yeah, actually you were actually right on this, um, don't hold it against me.
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, um, that's why every time she's talking about something, I'm like, wait, hold on, I got her for this week, and I think that's where my competitor, Jasmine, and I would, because I don't see, yes, I've had, I've met with her on forums,
• 28:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she does say that she would fight Trump, but I do actually see something in her that says that she does want to do what's best for the people and those are the those are the qualities I think
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to be me because one of us is going to get in the seat, but maybe another congressman can bring that out and say, hey, right, like, let's do what's best.
• 29:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's work on this bill.
• 29:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I see that you want to do something, maybe around vaccines because she's science-based or any type of science-based proposition like that.
• 29:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's see what we can work on that's best for everybody.
• 29:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think those are the types of issues that I think she would be willing to work on.
• 29:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: as completely unreasonable, like there are some Democrats out there.
• 29:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think she does pander to her base a little bit, but I do think she really truly wants to do what's best for the American people.
• 29:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: We just have two different ways that we're going to go about it.
• 29:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think my ways better, of course, and she has her ways, but I think she would be amenable to actually maybe hopefully listen to the other side.
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's good.
• 29:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is good.
• 29:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's interesting.
• 29:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's something we always hear.
• 29:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
• 29:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was trying to look at the best in this.
• 29:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 29:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to bring out the best in people because whether, so if I don't get the seat, which looking at this statistics more than likely, I won't.
• 30:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if she gets in, I want her to know that, hey,
• 30:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's do something for both sizes instead of just one side.
• 30:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You still have to find yourself working for a person or with a person, you know, that kind of thing.
• 30:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: And when you represent, when you're elected, even if you're elected by 70% or 52%.
• 30:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: You still have to represent the entire 100% of that district.
• 30:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, you got to be able to hear the other sides.
• 30:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, affordability is like the buzz word these days.
• 30:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
• 30:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think we here and we have people come in here from local politics to, you know, Washington.
• 30:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: And everyone's saying this word affordability.
• 30:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: How exactly does Congress like how can what does a way in which Congress could help
• 30:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: alleviate the affordability issues or and it's everything like I'll give you just a smorkers board of things to choose from here, but from groceries to housing insurance, child care, utility costs like what's the role of Congress and where can you really not get into the economic development and local game?
• 31:13
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• 31:17
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• 31:21
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• 31:27
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• 31:33
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• 31:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: So whether you have questions about down payments, loan programs, or how much home you can afford, our experienced mortgage lenders will help you find a solution that fits your needs and budget.
• 31:52
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• 31:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: So stop by the United Bank office in Covington or visit accessunited.com to learn more.
• 32:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're here to help turn your dream of owning a home into a reality.
• 32:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: United Bank Mortgage Services Local Guidance Local Decisions A place to call home starts here.
• 32:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Member FDIC equal housing lender, NMLS number 413-054.
• 32:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, that's where it's got to stay mainly on the federal level.
• 32:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the things that needs to be focused on is the low income housing credit, that needs to be expanded on.
• 32:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: A bill will be able to expand that tax credit to people who need it, so they can afford to buy houses.
• 32:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's where we need to focus on a lot.
• 32:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you look at the stats,
• 32:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: from the BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 21 to 24.
• 32:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: We saw the CPI, the Consumer Price Index Club by 21.5%.
• 32:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: As you know, from inflation, nothing ever repels back.
• 32:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So once that inflation hits, once those prices are there.
• 33:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I noticed it, when I went to go by a 12 pack of coke, and I noticed it was about 10 bucks.
• 33:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I remember when it was three for 12, and now it's $10,000 for what?
• 33:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Almost a dollar a can.
• 33:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like good lord, yeah.
• 33:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's not going to go back.
• 33:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to go back to the price that was before.
• 33:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's why we don't have the prices from the 50s.
• 33:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: So what we have to deal with now is making sure that CPI doesn't creep up past that two or three percent rate.
• 33:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's where we need to focus on looking at low-income tax credits, looking at regulations around housing.
• 33:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then also regulations around businesses, one of the things that I hear about from business owners is how hard it is to operate a business either in Rockdale or Newton because of the regulation.
• 33:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 33:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if we look at that regulation and maybe ease it up and actually give small businesses, actually some sort of credit or some sort of support system, then we can have more small businesses that are going to employ more people, which will drive the economy a little bit better.
• 34:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's get it as good, you know, you talk about this idea of replacing federal income payroll corporate state tax with a 23% national sales tax and monthly pre-bait.
• 34:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you kind of take us, can you take us through like,
• 34:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: what does that look like mean for a typical working family like we just talked about when they going to buy the coke at the grocery store when they're trying to get a car when they're trying to buy home just was reporting this morning on the news about how you know mortgage rates are pointing upward again wouldn't walk us through what that looks like in that context.
• 34:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that comes actually from Fertax.org.
• 34:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's something that the founders actually approached me about.
• 34:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I thought was very interesting.
• 34:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's something that needs to be researched a little bit more.
• 34:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you go on their website, it says Olivier's the IRS, but I don't think it will do that.
• 35:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So basically what it is is a consumption tax.
• 35:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the pre-bate is you get a pre-bate up to the poverty income level.
• 35:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So a family of four could get possibly up to close to $900 a month check.
• 35:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: that'll cover some groceries, utilities, stuff like that.
• 35:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, where you're going to pay is the 23% is on luxury items like cars, jewelry, clothes, anything like that.
• 35:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: When I did a little bit more research, that's more equitable than anything else because people who don't have a lot of money, they're not going to buy a lot of luxury items.
• 35:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, more people who are affluent, who have the money, who buy the fancy cars and the jewelry, they're going to be taxed on that.
• 35:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there is no escaping that.
• 35:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether you're a drug dealer, you're going to buy something.
• 35:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're going to be taxed on that.
• 35:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Where most people get the misconception is, is they think that all they're
• 36:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: All their items are going to be up 23%, however, those producers, those people who build the materials, they're going to have no payroll tax, they're not going to have the income tax.
• 36:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in a fair market society to be competitive, they're going to lower the price of their consumer goods in order to be competitive.
• 36:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So not everything is going to go necessarily up 23%.
• 36:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 36:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're looking at maybe more of like a 12 to 10 to 14% increase in some of your goods and
• 36:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: you're not going to have to pay a federal income tax anymore.
• 36:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're going to get that monthly back plus your pre your pre bait as well.
• 36:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: And you qualify for the pre bait based on your income levels, which are saying, right, okay, got you.
• 36:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why the IRS won't go away, it would probably be rebranded as something else because you stop to have a corporate, or you have to have a government entity that gives those pre-beats that looks at their qualifications and where they lie on the street.
• 36:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm letting you explain that because when I was thinking, I don't know what a pre-bait was.
• 37:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: So it's literally funds ahead of the time that help you pay the increase, the increased sales tax essentially or consumption tax.
• 37:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what it is is so people who have very low income, they kind of forward groceries, right, they're not, they're gonna still be taxed on those groceries, but actually they have that money to actually afford groceries and their utilities.
• 37:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: That idea, I think, has been one of the best ideas I've seen, like everything it needs to be worked out and it needs to be hashed out a little bit more, but there is other congressmen who are actually on board with that as well.
• 37:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that would really work for
• 37:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Americans.
• 37:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and that's where it's different than the flat tax.
• 37:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
• 37:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: So the flat tax is just everyone pays the same flat rate.
• 37:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't include pre-bates necessarily, and it's not necessarily on specific goods, right?
• 37:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: This is fair tax named appropriately, I guess, that it's trying to create that equitable solution, because I think we all, I don't know we all.
• 38:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Many of us would love for the taxes to go down, right?
• 38:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: We have to pay less taxes, but really what we're saying is we want to bring home more money.
• 38:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's what we're really saying.
• 38:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: So if there was a way to do that, we're just trying to say, how do we get from here to there?
• 38:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it?
• 38:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I'm going to look into the fair tax.
• 38:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
• 38:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that doesn't qualify for rent.
• 38:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't qualify for new used vehicles or use goods.
• 38:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So people could buy used clothing.
• 38:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: They could buy used cars and that third batch one be attached to that It's only new goods and services that that would be attached to that.
• 38:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: That creates even a new market right potentially or increases a market That's already there, but that increases that viability that market and people now would be selling their own things right like I mean
• 38:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: which is what my life is doing now because we have a ton of baby stuff and so she's getting ready for the baby stuff that's coming up in the fall.
• 38:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's like a trip for my kids too because they love like they get to go out and pick a toy because it's you know basically used toys so they'll go out all of them get to pick out a toy but then my wife sells a lot of stuff we don't need anymore and then you know so her actually gets income and she's like yeah
• 39:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my girls participate in this app and I don't know the name of it, but it's something where they sell their clothes online So it's an app where you can sell your clothes online and of course then you can shop for clothes online Yeah, that's what's happening.
• 39:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, they're like man.
• 39:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: I sold on I'm constantly shipping these things Right, and I'm going I don't where's the money coming in and I like how will we bought we buy yeah 12 more things The money is gone We bought some stuff.
• 39:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's in the closet
• 39:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: trading.
• 39:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
• 39:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
• 39:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 39:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 39:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I sold $50 and closed, but I bought $125.
• 39:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
• 39:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to offend anybody, but that's growing math.
• 39:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's definitely a government.
• 39:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's actually called a government.
• 39:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 39:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: You have daughters.
• 39:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: You're qualified to say that.
• 39:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, indeed.
• 39:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, indeed.
• 39:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, your issues page, you know, calls for moving of some of the failed aspects of, you know, Obamacare.
• 40:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then.
• 40:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: you have an FAQ section that talks about, you know, supported, expanded health care options, including Medicaid expansion.
• 40:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: So just curious, what parts of that current law, like, would you want to keep?
• 40:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: What parts would you want to replace?
• 40:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, how do you, you know, and how do you kind of reconcile that?
• 40:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: and that is something that I kind of leave ambiguous so that way people can specifically ask me those types of questions.
• 40:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason why is because working in healthcare as an administrator I've seen the billing portions of it and what I see as far as expanding the Medicaid Medicare is so in 1972,
• 40:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: the ESRD, the end-stage regional disease, was actually incorporated into Medicaid Medicare.
• 40:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So anybody of any age that was diagnosed with end-stage regional disease was actually rolled into the Medicaid Medicare program, Part Z and B.
• 40:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, and it was completely covered by the government, where I'm proposing and expanding on that is taking our 13 preexisting conditions like cancer, cardiac issues, neurological issues, and rolling that into the same program.
• 41:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: how it expanded a little bit more is it would cost around 220 to 360 billion, but also it's not Medicare for all, but actually it's covering the most expensive parts of what a healthcare has to pay for.
• 41:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So with that, if you tell the insurance companies, hey, we're taking on your most expensive patients.
• 41:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 41:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now we're expecting you to lower your your premiums and then at the same time
• 41:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Most Republicans are just right off about say I hate Obamacare actually I thought Obamacare was a good idea because That was the first time that preexisting conditions actually could be carried on from insurance to insurance I thought that was great because actually that helped me when I was younger as well Wow, and
• 42:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I think Obamacare was good.
• 42:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, it could be worked on a little bit better in where Obamacare failed is the fact that insurance companies can only practice in the licensed incorporated states that they're incorporated.
• 42:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you expand it, so they can practice federally, but have a floor coverage saying, you can be based out of California, but you can operate in any other state.
• 42:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, you have to meet a minimum coverage of you have to cover these basic services.
• 42:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: then it'll reduce the overhead that the insurance companies have to pay.
• 42:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, then with the reduction in overhead, you open it up to a free market society where these insurance companies are going to be competing for your business.
• 42:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: So then they're going to offer the lowest rates.
• 42:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they're going to have more insurance companies popping up.
• 42:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then when these new more insurance companies pop up, then it's going to be more competitive.
• 42:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: and they're going to try and get the best rate.
• 42:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the best coverage quality of care for the best rate.
• 43:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's one of the things that I'm proposing and what I've seen, I've never seen anybody propose anything like that before.
• 43:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm telling you, I haven't.
• 43:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: No, I'm sitting here going all the way in.
• 43:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hang on.
• 43:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's all in there, the dust is here.
• 43:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, a little different.
• 43:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: But then it's like, okay, so then is the health care provider also interest interstate.
• 43:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can cross-state lines too.
• 43:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they can be, and that would be something that could be looked at, but right now they so it would be interesting and it would have to be studied a little bit more because
• 43:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: then you would have providers that would open up all these health care clinics all over the country, but live in Georgia.
• 43:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in order to make sure that the quality of care stays the same, I would say the providers still have to be licensed in that state.
• 43:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the insurance companies would have a little bit more freedom in order to incorporate and practice and deliver services and multifaceted area.
• 43:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's interesting, especially with, you know, a lot of things going telehealth and there is an increasing demand even for that, but you still have to go to a doctor for certain stuff right and so to have somebody based in a state.
• 44:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: This is where you add the things over my head like the question mark and all the things I'm like yeah, because I'm thinking through it's like, man, I can work, but I can't think of work.
• 44:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that would be the groundwork and then from there you work out all the other intricacies.
• 44:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, do we offer that a doctor and telehealth can treat somebody and, you know, Montana whalming.
• 44:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But just not be able to open up another clinic there, but able to treat and then you could put that into that as well.
• 44:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, and I think that would be the best option where you cover the most amount of people because, like I said, cancer, cardiac, neurological mental health.
• 44:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Those are some of the most expensive things and that's what drives up our premiums.
• 44:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: When these subsidies come out and what Congress does is every year they pass the subsidies, all that subsidy does is it goes to the insurance companies with the hope that they don't raise the premiums.
• 45:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's it.
• 45:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's not really a viable option.
• 45:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think this is more of a viable option where you're forcing them to be more competitive in a free market society.
• 45:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 45:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is interesting.
• 45:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You give me something.
• 45:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: You give me something.
• 45:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Voter, and you're in this world as a world that you live in, you see the billing side of it.
• 45:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you see, you know, that part of you see the interest side of it, and then of course you're dealing with patients.
• 45:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: So like that's the part and it just gets so confusing.
• 45:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's another thing that differences me from myself and Jasmine is, you know, she's a PhD researcher, which is very admirable, but however I've been in the weeds, I've been dealing with the patients.
• 46:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hear their stories when they can't cover their co-payments.
• 46:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: you know, the reasons why because I have to look through why did they cancel?
• 46:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why did they know show 70% of the time?
• 46:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's because they can't afford the copayments.
• 46:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So how can we cover some of these services and make it affordable for everybody?
• 46:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So as a researcher, you can look and you can dive into the research, but however, when you've actually talked to people, you know the stories and you've had to deal and fix some of these issues, I think that's why I stand out a little bit better, especially when it comes to healthcare.
• 46:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would have, I hate the Jasmine Court couldn't have been on here.
• 46:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because they would have been a fun conversation.
• 46:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: I would have been in the same world or different parts of the same world.
• 46:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, man, that would have been fun.
• 46:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: We got to make some of those happen, man.
• 46:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: We got to come in.
• 46:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm excited about it.
• 46:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, me too.
• 46:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, indeed.
• 46:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You talk about education?
• 46:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, you talk about it.
• 46:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because that's your wheelhouse, baby.
• 47:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's your wheelhouse, man.
• 47:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: When I see things like parental, control, school choice.
• 47:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: you know as a public education guy get a little nervous.
• 47:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm just like where where are you when that's also from your FAQ page or your policy page.
• 47:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 47:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: So just help me understand where is education a state and local issue and where the federal government needs to have any kind of say in it.
• 47:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the federal government basically what they should be focusing on is expanding the titles title 1, 2 and 3.
• 47:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So title 1 for poverty students, title 2 for the educators, and then title 3 for the immigrants.
• 47:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have a different standpoint, especially because of my background that we should also expand title 3 because if we have people coming here to this country, we should help them
• 47:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I see the federal government what I would like to see is all the federal dollars being distributed on a state level.
• 48:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So then the states and the districts figure out what's best for them.
• 48:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have a cousin back in or back in New Mexico.
• 48:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: She was a teacher and mainly what she would do back when she was teaching is she had to teach in order for them to pass the test.
• 48:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So then the school would get the federal money.
• 48:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: what we need to do is we need to have we need to we need to reward on opportunity and actually how much how much better the students do.
• 48:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So do a test to get the baseline.
• 48:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if that student improves 10, 15, 20% then they're on an upward track, not they have to reach this level if they don't reach this level.
• 48:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, see where the baselines at, so might be up here, this might be down here.
• 48:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: measuring progress is running rather than like and then as the the test again and if they get better, they improve then you the school gets rewarded as that.
• 49:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, if the students are declining, then give them more resources, tutoring help any type of
• 49:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: resources that they can help to in order to get these students back on the upper trajectory.
• 49:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I would like to see happen.
• 49:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: I want to see you in the state house.
• 49:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: school because people are struggling, right?
• 49:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: You help them so they don't struggle.
• 49:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
• 49:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then you affirm the ones that are excelling, so they can continue to excel.
• 49:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: So that's really, and the title one in title two.
• 49:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know your wife's school board member too, but
• 49:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: the title one, you know, being for the poverty part of it.
• 49:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: If the federal government is helping with that part, that's super helpful and not punishing, like you're saying, not punishing because they didn't do well, but they give them more resources.
• 49:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: But the title two is super important as well, which is, you said the teacher is it's like the, the, the, um, continuing education for teachers is the professional development is things that help them become better teachers because, you know, look, I'm married to a retired, I sell myself to a teacher.
• 50:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I know how difficult it is, like boots on the ground.
• 50:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
• 50:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: But not every teacher is created equal.
• 50:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: I like it.
• 50:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: And when you're in a teacher's shortage, and you're getting whatever you can get and helping them, they need that title to develop the kind of funds.
• 50:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then also expanding on.
• 50:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we know that my wife homeschools are children.
• 50:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's basically our choice.
• 50:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that's not going to be an option for a lot of people.
• 50:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 50:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: The school system's never going to go away.
• 50:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even see a decreasing, but I see also helping homeschoolers with some funds and resources as well.
• 50:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: So right now, we pay for everything out of pocket, as far as, you know, if we go to Seaton or the good and the beautiful.
• 50:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because we want to institute religious education as well as science and math and everything else.
• 50:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So my wife is the one who kind of controls that.
• 50:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, and that happened because it's COVID.
• 51:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 51:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 51:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 51:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: The world changed.
• 51:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's COVID-19.
• 51:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 51:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we still feel it today.
• 51:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm curious about this.
• 51:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: When you say, secure the border, what does that mean for you?
• 51:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you agree with?
• 51:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you not agree with?
• 51:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: What legislation do you support in enforcement?
• 51:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Strength of enforcement?
• 51:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, where does that lie for you?
• 51:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
• 51:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Chavez, that's why it intrigues just, you know, because of the background, how how do you, how do you reconcile all of that?
• 51:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 51:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we have Republicans.
• 51:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have Democrats.
• 51:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we have Democrats to say everybody should be allowed in.
• 51:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have Republicans.
• 51:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: You say kick everybody out.
• 51:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: However,
• 51:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I say, if you've been here 20 years and you're a contributing member to society, we should actually see about ways we can make you a citizen, not just, I'll be hurlingly, let's kick you out, even though you've been a contributing member to society, you've been great, you know, 20 years never gotten in trouble.
• 52:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're still going to kick you out just because you're illegal.
• 52:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think those people, and I know some of these people in Corners, that they should be helped with a pathway in order to become citizens.
• 52:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: What happened and where kind of got messed up is when the borders were open and we saw all these alligals coming in and some within the various reasons as far as drugs, child trafficking.
• 52:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: We saw all that coming to our country.
• 52:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, you have the legal people coming from Mexico legally that say, hey, they're jumping online in front of me because I'm trying to do it the legal way and they're jumping ahead of me.
• 52:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, if they get caught and as long as they're not hardcore criminals, they would just want to come here for a better society, say, you know what?
• 52:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's take you to the back of the line.
• 52:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're not going to completely kick you up, but let's take you to the back of the line and we'll give you a chance to come back in the legal way.
• 53:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And because as a man of God to, I believe we should help everybody.
• 53:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: If they're in a bad situation, I believe it's our duty to help people.
• 53:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if they're living here because where it is back home and it's bad, that's why we need to also fix our legal system as well because it's very slow, it's very funky.
• 53:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: If we can fix that, give some resources to that.
• 53:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that way we can vet these people a little bit faster.
• 53:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then I don't think people want to come here illegally.
• 53:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if we fix that system, and people will say, well, if I come to the legal way, it's not as long as it used to be.
• 53:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I can get legal citizenship.
• 53:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can get a being card.
• 53:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can be an alien.
• 53:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I can eventually become a citizen.
• 53:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think more people will come that way rather than the illegal way.
• 53:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: such a messy mental kind of thing.
• 53:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you're like, you're living it.
• 53:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's just a view for real, which kind of stack ways into this question, because I'm sure there would probably be some who would get their feathers little wrinkled by that answer.
• 54:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: You talk about how political division is probably this nation's biggest Achilles heel right now.
• 54:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is another kind of messy middle question, you know, talking about compromise.
• 54:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: You actually discussed a lot of that with some of the perspectives that you shared.
• 54:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: What would you say is an issue that you would actually break from your party with?
• 54:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, not come like, renounce your but just say, I'm Republican, they're Republican, but I don't agree with this.
• 54:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, where would that be for you?
• 54:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the previous answer is probably one of them is where I definitely stand because just because with me and my family I've seen my grandfather came here, he was brought over to work on the fields.
• 54:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
• 54:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a immigrant.
• 54:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.
• 54:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: And because of that, and that was basically just for cheap labor, but then when he can work anymore, then it's just kind of okay you're on your own.
• 55:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 55:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, that's where because I've had to live that experience, I know exactly what it's like.
• 55:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's where that kind of differentiates me from my party, as well as the Obamacare where you have people that just flat out say like no to Obamacare and it's like no.
• 55:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a start.
• 55:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's see what we can do to make it better.
• 55:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's see what we can do to improve it.
• 55:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the ideas I brought forward that I discussed.
• 55:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think are a way to improve it.
• 55:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: That way we just don't say let's just cut it all together.
• 55:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think that that is something that we can work in the middle on.
• 55:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is, you know what, I can't help but just I had this piece here because you mentioned both the borders, the situation and the Obamacare.
• 55:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Both of these you have personal experiences and I feel like
• 55:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: one of the things that I think sometimes gets overlooked which creates some of our political chasm as we don't honor people's personal experiences and stuff, then how they can shape, you know, the way that you see a thing, the way that you believe about something.
• 56:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would venture to say, and I'm not trying to be as too receptive, but
• 56:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: At least in my experiences, there are people who maybe take a hard line stance against something that I believe in and when we get to talking about it, I realize that the common denominator or the non-coma denominator is lived experience.
• 56:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have never seen this side of it before.
• 56:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have.
• 56:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then I've seen those situations where when we get to talk about those experiences,
• 56:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: they may not fully come over to my side of agreement, but at least it gives them another perspective like, oh, I didn't think about it.
• 56:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're not at that conversation.
• 56:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're about stuff like that, you know?
• 56:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll share a thing, or you'll share anything like, oh, okay, I didn't really think about that before.
• 56:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Is there a way in your perspective to inculcate more of that into our political discourse?
• 57:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I think if we did, it could be a game changer for some of the division that we see.
• 57:08
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• 57:12
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• 57:16
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• 57:28
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• 57:37
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• 57:48
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• 57:54
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• 58:00
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• 58:04
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• 58:10
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• 58:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think what it has to do with is look at who you're voting for.
• 58:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: If the person you're voting for is extremely hard, right, or hard left, then you should probably not vote that person in office.
• 58:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you have a person that's willing to talk to the other side, I think those are the only ways we're going to fix and correct things within our country because we need people to talk.
• 58:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need people for social media cloud trust to try to get them elected what's best for them.
• 58:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: We need what people who are going to do what's best for the American people.
• 58:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the only way you're going to do that is by electing people that say, you know what?
• 58:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is where I stand.
• 58:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, I'm willing to listen to the other side, so we can come to an agreement together.
• 58:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, and that's the only way we can do it.
• 59:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I see going on in our country is that we've drifted so far from the tenants of God.
• 59:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: that we're seeing so many people that denounce God, that are pretty much basically sacrilegious.
• 59:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can do that, that is your right.
• 59:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, our country was based, and our laws are based around the ten commandments.
• 59:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the laws and the tenants of Moses, that's what our laws were built around.
• 59:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think people understand that.
• 59:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is basically a Christian society.
• 59:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't mean that we're going to exclude anybody.
• 59:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't mean that we're going to denounce anybody.
• 59:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: My purpose actually running for Congress is actually to go out to the church's.
• 59:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I wanted to talk to a lot of people about abortion, try and change their mind, and actually try and bring them back to God.
• 59:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's one of the things I really want to do.
• 59:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know in this district it's going to be hard and there's not going to be a lot of people, but I've actually had people who've listened to me and listened to my viewpoints and said, you know, you do make a good point.
• 1:00:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not that they're going to change their mind overnight, but it's going to plant that seed where, hey, I'm going to think about this and see if.
• 1:00:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: you know what if I'm doing something wrong but basically I would like to see us come back to where we have prayer in school.
• 1:00:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would like to see and you know whether or not you want to participate that that's up to you.
• 1:00:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: People can do as they want, they can pray as they want but we need to remember that this was built on Christian principles and we need to keep it that way.
• 1:00:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you said a lot right there and I appreciate that.
• 1:00:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: I know we'll have some viewers who may have issue with that and that's great too.
• 1:00:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's the messy middle that we wanted to discuss and and you obviously a religious person.
• 1:00:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's, when you were talking about abortion, and it does feel, you, you, you like and being a difficult conversation, maybe this one that you're having, and this is a region you ran and all, but you're district, you were talking about, and if it's a, you know, majority Democrat.
• 1:01:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I just, I'm wondering if there is a resurgence or revival in, that's the wrong word, so don't take offense anybody, this is a Democrat, don't take
• 1:01:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: Plenty of, you know, Democrats that held to a no abortion policy for up to just 10, 15 years ago.
• 1:01:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
• 1:01:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: I wonder if there are more of those coming back out again saying, I understand this might be a democratic policy.
• 1:01:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: But in women's health rights.
• 1:01:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: But I just wonder if there's, I don't know, are you seeing any of that?
• 1:01:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you live in breathing in the blood church.
• 1:01:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, I think we probably don't have a ton of time that it would take to talk about this.
• 1:02:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I also find it to say this.
• 1:02:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've always,
• 1:02:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, my parents growing up were Democrats, hard-blind Democrats.
• 1:02:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: I grew up thinking I was a Democrat because it was all I saw and I was like, oh, who are you?
• 1:02:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a Democrat.
• 1:02:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I don't know.
• 1:02:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: My independent right now, um, but I've always said this, my parents don't believe in abortion.
• 1:02:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
• 1:02:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you would think, oh, you're a Democrat because they don't, they don't believe in abortion.
• 1:02:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 1:02:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a, I'm not a proponent, but, but I think things get lost because, oh, how can I say this?
• 1:02:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: What I see is,
• 1:02:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Democrats may not fall in line with abortion support.
• 1:02:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: But for them, and I'm not trying to speak for all, they're just saying for those that I know there are other issues that they say,
• 1:03:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: This really matters to me.
• 1:03:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Gotcha.
• 1:03:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't support abortion.
• 1:03:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: But this matters just as much.
• 1:03:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: It may be if not more to me.
• 1:03:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to hold my nose, right?
• 1:03:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to vote this because I see how this actually will impact my kids and my livelihood and blah, blah, blah.
• 1:03:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: not that I want to bullshit and I think sometimes what we do because we don't always we lack nuance sometimes is to see me check a box it says Democrat and then you are automatically breaking me a beeline to everything that's the full you know staunch polarized version of it believes we don't have the two party
• 1:03:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: you know, predominant sea of our political structure does not really allow for a lot of new wants.
• 1:03:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of times what you're seeing is even if they are voting for a pro abortion person is not because they are pro abortion is because you only give me two choices.
• 1:04:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: So so I got to if I voted for this person okay well they think about abortion the same way I do but there's
• 1:04:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they don't that they think that I don't believe in whereas over here is only eight of the things that they think that I don't believe in.
• 1:04:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm gonna hold my nose and shoot that's like that's what I see and I don't know if that makes sense what I'm saying.
• 1:04:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: But that's what I see and the Republican party's no different right there's
• 1:04:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: There is plenty of pro abortion folks in the Republican Party.
• 1:04:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's not like it's like it's not homogenous like this this group in this group, but I guess maybe I'm asking the question because that's where I've been trained to think that way, right?
• 1:04:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: Right, right, right, right, just not the case.
• 1:04:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: I do think that there are
• 1:04:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: more Democrats that are willing to say, yeah, I don't, yeah.
• 1:04:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think because some of the ways that abortion is getting couched and it's getting pushed, I think some people are looking at that like, yeah, that's, that's not, that's even if I
• 1:05:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: thought and believe women's choice, whatever.
• 1:05:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a little extreme.
• 1:05:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, though.
• 1:05:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think you're seeing more of that.
• 1:05:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't know.
• 1:05:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I see it.
• 1:05:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's expanding more and more.
• 1:05:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you look in the 2000s, Hillary Clinton was even saying it should be safe, legal, and rare.
• 1:05:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then the mid 2010s, it's okay.
• 1:05:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody should be able to have this access.
• 1:05:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then now what we're seeing in Massachusetts is now it's legal all the way up to the moment of birth.
• 1:05:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: So just five minutes before someone's going to give birth, they could actually avoid the basically kill the kid.
• 1:05:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's when I met when I was talking about I think some you see more now because some of it is getting so extreme that it's like, okay, even if I am pro abortion or women's choice or whatever you want to call it,
• 1:05:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how I can actually justify this and not call it murder or not call with it and that's just I'm speaking that based on what I'm seeing from other people you know so yeah and that's why I want to rain it back before it gets too far outside that those lines because I'm even hearing talks now that there's people are talking about legislation is if a woman
• 1:06:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: had to fail abortion and the baby is born that the baby will be born and then the woman and the doctor can talk about what is going to happen to that baby which I think is a very dangerous path to go because now we're talking about essentially murder.
• 1:06:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 1:06:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So.
• 1:06:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's how I see is the progression of what was in the slippery slope, I guess.
• 1:06:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I want to say, no, we need to ring this back and we need to not keep pushing the boundaries and we need.
• 1:06:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we need to go back and look at exactly what we're doing.
• 1:06:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I see that is because we're strained away further and away from God.
• 1:06:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're not believing in the godly principles that we used to.
• 1:06:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's why it's more accepted in Massachusetts where I live for like 19 years.
• 1:06:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I just want to make a point that you being here today is, again, proof that there is nuance in all the different parties and for anyone who's listening to me, when you go to vote, just realize not everyone, just because there's a D or an R behind someone's name, but doesn't mean they're like lock step with every single whatever you think, whatever you think to policy platforms are for that party actually take the time to understand who you're voting
• 1:07:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: And maybe watch a lot of our podcasts, I'm on.
• 1:07:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: watch an hour of your friendly and county podcast and you can find out the nuance that you may not have, yeah, no one was there just by looking at an issue sheet or something of that nature.
• 1:07:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let me ask this question as we wrap up, you know, for an undecided voter, I might be listening to you, listening to this wonderful podcast of ours, you know, they're comparing you
• 1:07:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I would say look at the past 25 years if you haven't liked what's going on with not in just in the country, but within this district where where you live, if you don't like what's been going on, maybe look at maybe a different choice because for the longest time it's been Democrat rule.
• 1:08:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if you want something different, it's always going to take that leap of faith to make a change in order to look at something different,
• 1:08:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: We run every two years.
• 1:08:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So even if I got elected in I have two years and if you don't like what I do You can vote me out.
• 1:08:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: God take that.
• 1:08:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: You will be there 25 years like no, no, no Inter fact, you know because of my background like all I want is three to four if even if I got in
• 1:08:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: three to four terms and that's it.
• 1:08:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't believe in having a and we were talking about that it was Thomas Jefferson that said that if you have someone who's going to be a career politician that's only going to breathe more corruption.
• 1:09:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 1:09:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we're seeing now is you're seeing a lot of these long term call Congress people or politicians and then all you're going to hear about all this stuff that's coming out.
• 1:09:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's because they've been in so long.
• 1:09:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've made the secret handshakes, deals, okay, I did this for you, you do this for me, and that's what happens.
• 1:09:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you have fresh blood coming in every few years, you don't have time to make those connections.
• 1:09:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And even when they do, hopefully they get out.
• 1:09:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: All right.
• 1:09:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: So folks wanted to find out more information about Jonathan Chavez.
• 1:09:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: What do you got website, does your cell phone, what do you, what do you want to give it to I have this for Congress, F.O.R.
• 1:09:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: not the number four for the Japanese for Congress.
• 1:09:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's where you can find me.
• 1:09:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm on Facebook, Jonathan Chavez for Congress.
• 1:09:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: uh... my email is j chavis at jonathan chavis for car stop it's a little bit of it you go to my website if you go to my website there's a link to send me any all right so that's the best way to shavis for congress dot com right i'm not the best at social media so facebook and uh... twitter uh... ex uh... you know i may respond to you in a week or two that's all
• 1:10:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, we appreciate you being here on the candidate conversations on the Timescore podcast.
• 1:10:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's been a great pleasure to meet you and have this conversation.
• 1:10:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: You get to know you better and to really, it warms my heart to know that you're a part of the messy middle to do so.
• 1:10:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for being here.
• 1:10:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for having me.
• 1:10:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
• 1:10:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much.
• 1:10:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.