Latest / Coconut Justice / CJP #46: Yen Bailey ( FL-2 )

Transcript

CJP #46: Yen Bailey ( FL-2 ) · Coconut Justice

• Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, what's good? Yen Bailey was born and raised in North Florida. She went on to become a lawyer and served as a senior attorney with the Guardian Ad Litem Program, advocating for abused and neglected children, and later spent more than 13 years as an ethics attorney with the Florida Bar. And I know what you're thinking, ethics in Florida? Hey everybody. ⁓ I told you I wanted to fix Florida. I told you I am hell bent on fixing Florida. That's why I wanted to introduce you guys to someone who's running for Florida's second congressional district. Everybody welcome Yen Bailey. Hi Yen. How's it going? Yen Bailey: Hi, thanks for having me. It's going pretty well. Yeah. It is actually a beautiful day today. Yeah, it's nice and sunny and ⁓ kind of cool. So yeah, it's a nice day. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. How's Florida? And that's why Yen is running for Congress to represent the good people of Florida's second district. This is my conversation with Yen Bailey. Before we get into it, remember to go to coconutjustice.com to get you some clothes that I think would look good on you. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. And you're in the second district. So that's up by Tallahassee. Yeah. And that's where the Capitol is to like give everyone a nice clear picture of where you're living and where you want to represent. It's by Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. Yen Bailey: Yes, yes. I actually, Right, exactly, yes. ⁓ Tallahassee is kind of in the center of this district. It's a pretty large district, so it's 16 counties. And ⁓ it spreads, it's kind of the center of the Florida panhandle. And so it has Tallahassee, and then it kind of spreads in both directions. ⁓ And it ⁓ just goes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Wow. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: straight up and down, I guess, in that middle section of the panhandle. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. What's life like there? So let me give you an understanding, a breakdown of how I think Florida is, and then you just fix me, okay? South Florida is nothing but immigrants, Cubans, and stuff like that. Middle is the people that get tired of living down south and they get older, so they move in the middle. And then the North part where you live is nothing but hillbillies and rednecks. Yen Bailey: Alright. ⁓ Well, ⁓ I mean, there it is a very rural area, definitely. Well, and I say actually this district is it's it's pretty diverse, actually, as far as the population goes. So Tallahassee, like you mentioned, it's ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hahahaha ⁓ Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: kind of in the center here and Tallahassee and all of Leon County is very blue ⁓ because it is right here at the Capitol. ⁓ And then we have another county, Gadsden County, which is ⁓ rural, but it's actually the bluest county in all of Florida. It's a ⁓ predominantly black population there. ⁓ And then the rest of the district is a lot of very rural counties, much more sparsely populated, and those are more red. so, and then a lot of coastal areas, towns where really the livelihood is, there's a lot of oyster and fishing. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. ⁓ wow. Yen Bailey: those types of things. ⁓ So there's a lot of farming in this area. We grow a lot of soybeans, types of things. So there's, and then a lot of timber. just a lot of different communities in this district. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, that's interesting because I never thought I'd never thought of Florida as like ⁓ a hub for timber. That's cool. ⁓ I guess the Everglades and stuff, huh? Yen Bailey: Yes. Yeah, well, so this is, I mean, not the Everglades, but we had just a lot of pine forests. Yes, and we had, yeah, so a lot of pine, a lot of, you know, there used to be, you know, one of the counties, a paper mill was their main source of industry there and it shut down and that really has affected that county a lot. But yeah, just a lot of timbering and... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay, that makes sense. Mm-hmm. That's pretty cool. Yen Bailey: that industry's related to the timber. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. ⁓ What was your focus before you decided to run for Congress? What was your focus? Like, what did you go to school for? Yen Bailey: Sure. Yeah, so I'm a lawyer and I've spent most of my career just in public service. I worked for the Guardian of Light and Program for a while. ⁓ That's basically a program where ⁓ we advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children that are in the dependency program. know, families that have ⁓ gotten involved with the Department of Children and Families. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: ⁓ so I did that for a while and, ⁓ then, you know, it was, it was just a very, ⁓ it was very rewarding, but also very difficult, you know, having, you know, just, just dealing with all these very, ⁓ difficult situations all the time. And, so I did switch focuses and I spent, I've spent most of my career, ⁓ doing legal ethics work. I worked for the Florida bar as an ethics lawyer. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I can only imagine. Yen Bailey: And then, ⁓ yeah, and then about. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So I'm gonna assume, I'm gonna assume. I live in California, so I'm gonna take my shots. I'm gonna take my shots. Ethics. Yen Bailey: Hahaha Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ it I don't know how to say this nicely. And I don't mean to, I don't mean to be a jerk or anything like that. When I poke fun, it's for that reason. I don't wanna, I have a lot of my family, most of my family now officially lives in Florida. So when I talk like this, it's more like making fun of them. ⁓ Ethics, but yet you have a representative from Florida. Yen Bailey: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): who is a senator who got busted for the biggest healthcare scheme ever. You guys have given us a Department of Justice. ⁓ What's what's the, whatever, the top lawyer for America. You guys gave us Pam Bondi. You guys gave us, well, now he relocated. Yen Bailey: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm, Pam Bondi, yep. Yep. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): He relocated, but the president of the United States, he was a Florida man when he stole all these records. You guys have given a like. Yen Bailey: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What is it about Florida ethics? Yen Bailey: Yeah, so many things, Yeah, so many things. Florida, we lead the way on so we've given the country so many things. We've birthplace of Moms for Liberty and a lot of the MAGA movement. know, it just, yes, yes. So. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: a lot of these things started here. I'm not sure exactly why that is. I think, yeah, Florida has just over the years, you know, I feel like, know, I say to some people, it kind of has become what California is for liberals, you know, like it's like like a Mecca for Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I think. Yen Bailey: people who, or it's just more and more, know, we've been having a lot, and I think it has a lot to do with ⁓ our tax system, you know, ⁓ things that I guess are just ⁓ attractive to certain people, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. a certain, yeah, with a certain, yeah, proclivity. ⁓ The one saving grace, I will say, is this group of people. ⁓ It's more like ⁓ a gang met up in Florida and then they started doing all their planning and stuff. And then, And then this was their home, but Florida was their home base. And then they went out because we know that all of these people are connected. We know that Trump and bondi have been connected for a very long time. and Stephen, whatever, not Miller, but the other one, the, short hairy one that's always talking trash. Yeah. Steve Bannon. Yeah. So it's almost like that. It's like Florida. Yen Bailey: Bannon? Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'd like to think that Florida is getting a bad rap because a group of bad people decided to set up shop there. Yen Bailey: Right, right. And you know, I love Florida. I was born in Florida. I have lived in Florida ⁓ my entire life except for college. I went away for four years to Louisiana ⁓ and then came back home. I loved Louisiana, New Orleans specifically. And it was just, it was a wonderful place to go to school. And I love the culture in New Orleans. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Me too. How'd you like Louisiana? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: But know, Florida will always be home. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): New Orleans is a fantastic place. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I've been to Mardi Gras and all the things. And before people get all crazy, cell phones have ruined Mardi Gras. I mean, the weird things that you do in Mardi Gras, cell phones have officially ruined that. You can go and party and drink and do whatever, just keep your pants on. Yen Bailey: Hahaha ⁓ yeah. ⁓ Right, yeah. Yeah, you know, I don't think I have done like Mardi Gras really since, yeah, since cell phones. So, yeah, I do, I bet it is very different now. I'm sure people are much more careful. Right? Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you're trying to run for office, you can't be out there doing those things. What parts of Florida did you live in or have you lived in? Yen Bailey: Yeah, well, so really I have lived in North Florida pretty much the whole time. So I was I was born ⁓ in Fort Walton Beach, which is also in the Panhandle, but a little further west. It's not actually in the second district. It's right across the edge, actually. ⁓ Really just like 10 miles from the edge of the the boundary of District two. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: And yeah, I grew up in Destin, which is the town right next door. It's a little beach town and a lot of tourists now. It's grown a lot since since I grew up there. And ⁓ yeah, so not too far away from here. And then I lived in Tallahassee, you know, I came here for law school and then I just stayed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Okay. Yeah. What's it like living in Tallahassee? ⁓ What's... kind of what's the difference between living in Tallahassee and living everywhere else in Florida? Yen Bailey: Yeah, so Tallahassee is, ⁓ you know, it's ⁓ a mid-size town. You know, a lot of people, I think, ⁓ they imagine the capital of Florida, and ⁓ especially people who, ⁓ like, have not spent a lot of time in Florida. And I've heard stories from so many people who... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yen Bailey: decided to come to school here or who took jobs here without visiting first and they just imagined, well, it's the capital of Florida. So it must be some big, huge city. They imagine like Atlanta or something like that. And Tallahassee is not. It is much smaller. But we've got a really great culture here. It's just... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: but it's... I mean, a lot of, you know, it's a nice place to live. You know, there are a lot of beautiful oak trees and, you know, these canopy roads. ⁓ And, you know, you can get, you know, it's, will feel, it does feel more suburban, I think, to a lot of people who are used to like a real city. You know, it's not, I don't know that you would really consider it like a city. It's a very small city. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yeah. Nothing like Miami. Yen Bailey: No, it is not like Miami or Orlando or Tampa or Jacksonville. It is much, much smaller. ⁓ But the pace of life is nice here. I feel like it has been a good place to raise our family. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: And there are two large universities here. Actually, there are three large universities here. So we have Florida State and FAMU. And then we have Tallahassee State College, which used to be a community college. Now it's a state college. But actually, it's very large. There's a huge population that attends school there as well. So there a lot of students here. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): One thing I appreciate about people from Florida is they're very passionate about college sports. Yen Bailey: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Which is ironic. coming from a place that bans books. Yen Bailey: Right. Yes, is, you know, yeah, FSU football here is a huge, huge thing. Also, FAMU football, you know, it is, yes, football is definitely just ⁓ a part of our culture here. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Is it just football? Well, yeah. Yen Bailey: ⁓ yeah, yeah, it's it's yeah, it really is just football. I mean, we have some great some other teams, other sports here that are excellent. You know, we have a women's soccer team that has won the national championship several times, a women's softball team that also has won. ⁓ But yeah, they they do not get nearly as much. ⁓ attention as any, you know, none of the other sports really get as much attention as the football. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): attention. Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: I think it's just a southern thing, really. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, mean, yeah, because ⁓ football is huge in Texas. Football is huge in Alabama. Football is huge in Georgia, Florida. Yeah, I can see that. I can see that. The thing is... Having school pride when it comes to sports is fantastic, but we need to figure out how we can have school pride with smart people. Yen Bailey: ⁓ yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I agree with you a hundred percent. Yes. ⁓ And yeah, well, ⁓ yes, you know, I mean, I feel like ⁓ more and more, you know, the, there seems to be almost a disdain for academics. ⁓ Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this is bigger than Florida. This is almost like young people culture right now. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm, right. Yes, it is, is. I think there is this messaging out there coming from... this administration and coming from a lot of the people, you know, from a certain party that sometimes it's, ⁓ that not only is education not necessary, that it's only for elites ⁓ and that it is, yeah, it is just, it's something that, It's kind of baffling to me because I always grew up with that being such a focus. You my parents always encouraged education as a way of making a better life for yourself. You know, that was always one thing that was... available and it was like a sure path to trying to reach something better. And not to say that ⁓ our higher education system, there are so many flaws. ⁓ It is becoming so expensive. ⁓ You know, I have a son who is a senior in high school, actually, and he is ⁓ applying to colleges right now, trying to figure out what he wants to do next. And yeah, it is just so outrageously expensive. know, ⁓ fortunately here in Florida, we do have... ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Nice. Nice. Yen Bailey: certain things in place. You know, we have a bright futures scholarship program where if you make certain grades and you meet certain requirements, ⁓ you can pretty much get almost all of your tuition covered and more. ⁓ But that's... That's not available in a lot of states, from what I understand. And it makes such a huge difference for us because he was looking at some state schools, in other states, public universities, where he would still have to take out almost $200,000 in loans. And it does make it very difficult. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Damn. No Louisiana for him. Yen Bailey: Yeah, yeah, fortunately, I think we have him convinced that ⁓ the better decision is to stay in Florida and go to one of our in-state schools. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's my, here's my, my suggested, ⁓ I don't know what you're coaching, I guess, or my tip for your son that he can take care of or leave it. Look, you want to be far enough away from your parents where it, they work. It has to be a chore for them to come see you, but you don't want to be so far. Yen Bailey: you you You Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that they can't come see you and bring you groceries and help. There, that's my tip. Yen Bailey: Hahaha Yeah, yeah, I, hey, I am, I am 100 % with you there. I, I wish, so he actually has already gotten his acceptance to FSU. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Nice. Yen Bailey: He does not want to go there because he wants to move away. ⁓ He, think, is hoping to go to the University of Florida, which is not too far away. That's three hours away. Like you said, hey, it's far enough away that we can't just drive up every single day and bother him. But close enough that, you know, he needs to come home and do Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Pop over. Yeah. Yen Bailey: or buy some more groceries or just, you know, he can come home and we can stop in when we need to. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. That's a good move. Cause yeah, especially for young men, they need to be away from the house. I was able to join the military, so I was able to, it was, it was life changing to the nth degree, but being able to transition into having the space to transition into being my own person, my own adult was so important. So don't be afraid to get out of the house, but don't be afraid to stay somewhat close. Yen Bailey: That's right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): um Staying on the education thing. Explain to me how and why folks out there think that banning books is a good idea. Yen Bailey: ⁓ Yeah, mean, I- banning books, I think, is ⁓ certainly something that I'm very opposed to. ⁓ You know, I- I believe in allowing people to, especially, know, okay, so I can see maybe at certain ages, maybe having like, you know, making sure that the parents are involved and maybe having, still having access. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: but making sure that, you know, maybe having them in the library, maybe not having them like on like just the classroom bookshelves or, you know. But there are so many things that I was able to learn through reading and through just that I was not exposed to, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): both good and bad. Yeah. Yen Bailey: good and bad, you know? And it opened my mind up to so many different things that, you know, that, I think that's just a part of growing up, you know, is just. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: taking in those new ideas and we really are just hampering our children when we limit and not just limit, I mean just totally cutting off their access ⁓ to these books. And I mean especially, you know, I grew up in a very, I was, we grew up very poor, my parents were refugees and the library really. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Me too, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. When I told you we have a lot in common, we have a lot in common. Yen Bailey: I can't wait to talk about yes, I mean just you know we so you understand you know what it's like to have limited resources and the library really was just a lifeline for me growing up, you know? Yeah, and there were so many things that my parents didn't know about, you know, not coming from this country, that they would have had no idea how to teach me about, that I was able to learn because of the library. And I just can't imagine, you know, books that and some of the books like it just baffled me, like ⁓ Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret was one of the books that I loved as a kid and that's one that, you know, I that I see on some of these banned book lists, you know? I'm like, I wouldn't have learned about some of these things if it was not for this book. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. And then, know, like one of the books that I grew up with, mandatory reading, was the Bible. And there are things in the Bible that I don't want my kids to know about. And there are things, you know. Yen Bailey: You Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You have to be careful, blindly. Yen Bailey: Absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): banning books. And I'm not saying that all the books, like what you were getting to, not all the books are going to be good or bad, but at least it's up for debate. Those ideas are up for debate. And that's what democracy is supposed to be. A bunch of smart people figuring out rules to make life better. And it doesn't have to do with taking things away all the time. Yen Bailey: Right, right. And I guess the other part of it is... ⁓ A lot of times it seems like... they are trying to ban books based on certain ideology, religious or political ideology and who it's gonna bring it, right. And it's just who gets to make those decisions. ⁓ Yeah, it is, I feel like. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and who it's going to trigger. Right. And this is coming from the group. This is coming from the group that does not see the comments being made by the president on January 6th, the same group that's banning books and trying to limit your education and trying to limit your speech and trying to do, they don't see a problem with what the president said on January 6th. Yen Bailey: Right. Yeah? Yes. Right. The irony, indeed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): The irony. Yeah, so. Is it your new position when you take your new position? Is there any influence that you have ⁓ that you can like pressure local politics, local politicians to maybe unbanning some books? Yen Bailey: I certainly would use my platform, definitely, for that. ⁓ I definitely believe in... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: creating those relationships and partnerships with local leaders as well, you know, to influence, you know, not just federal legislation. ⁓ no, I think I just lost you. Did I lose you? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hi. Sorry about that. Yen Bailey: Hi! I don't know. Yeah, I think a little bit before that, your face, like, your image froze, but I could still hear you, and then you were just gone, so I don't know when... Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. We can pick it back up. ⁓ I'll be able to edit that part out. So we were just talking about banning books and you're able to leverage your new position to improve local politics, right? All right, cool. Yen Bailey: Okay. Okay. Yes, yes. And yes, I mean, that is something ⁓ that I would certainly advocate for. is trying to change some of those policies. I mean, it's actually something that I do now. I I do a lot of just local and statewide advocacy as well, even though that's not part of this campaign. I it's not part of my, I guess, job as a federal candidate. Those are just issues that, you know, I feel strongly about and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: I get involved at all different levels of politics, just on a personal level. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. And that's cool. I think that connection to the community is what some of these... more well-funded candidates. ⁓ I've heard so many, I've heard so many ⁓ nightmare stories about candidates who are running for an office like this, but they live in some other place or they're just not connected to the community at all. And they're not tapped into the community. So when I hear someone like you who's in grassroots efforts and you're helping locally, and especially helping families and stuff like that, it's so refreshing to hear someone say, we're going to help the people because that's my job, rather than I'm really going to try really hard to get the Dow up. Yen Bailey: Right. Yes. mean, it just, you know, I really, you know, this to me, you know, I'm not doing this because it was my lifelong dream to be in Congress or any political office, really. I never thought I would ever do anything in politics. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: I just, these are just issues that I believe in, that I feel strongly about, and ⁓ I just wanted to make a difference, you know? ⁓ And so, yeah, know, sometimes I do show up at things. ⁓ Recently, I was up at the state capitol, ⁓ and ⁓ I was helping to advocate on a state. ⁓ statute that was being passed. And I ran into this lobbyist that I had met, like through campaigning for, you know, for my campaign. And ⁓ he was like, what are you doing here? You're he's like, are you why are you in the state capital campaigning? And I'm like, I'm I'm not like, was like, I am I'm just here as a citizen. Just just ⁓ and I, you know, I I do find it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Yeah. Wanna hear, get my voice heard? Yen Bailey: kind of interesting when I don't see other candidates. ⁓ I guess involved in state or local issues. ⁓ I don't know, it just kind of surprises me. And I'm like, well, do you really believe in these issues? Are these things really important to you? ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. or are you looking to take advantage of the insider trading that's happening? What are you here for? Yen Bailey: Right. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, what are some of the issues that are happening in Florida 2? What are some of the things that you see as a problem and ⁓ and how do you think that you'll be able to change? Yen Bailey: Yeah, I mean, as far as ⁓ just state issues in particular, ⁓ know, the homeowners insurance or not, well, homeowners insurance is a huge issue here. ⁓ You know, it is, I mean, it is very specific to Florida, but, you know, it is now becoming an issue, you know, all across the country as well, but especially here in Florida ⁓ because of ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Yen Bailey: we are, we have, ⁓ we're prone to natural disasters that ⁓ destroy a lot of property. And so ⁓ that is definitely an issue that Florida has been struggling with for a long time. ⁓ It's something that a lot of people do view as more of a state issue, although I do hope that ⁓ I can help, I can help alleviate some of those ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha Yen Bailey: some of the issues with that on a federal level as well. ⁓ You know, that will take buy-in from a lot of other people. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And how would that work? that just, would that, would something like that be, let's walk down that path, right? ⁓ So if I wanted to move to Florida and I wanted to buy a house, the house itself, the prices are skyrocketing. Yen Bailey: But that is the only one. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then the property insurance is going to be sky high because of hurricanes and stuff. ⁓ Would it being able to alleviate that bump in the road? Is it just as as going to Washington and asking for money? And then that goes to subsidize the insurance. Yen Bailey: I mean, I don't know that it's quite just asking for money. mean, one of the things that... my campaign has been advocating for is setting up a reinsurance program, like a risk pool that would ⁓ basically make it less risky for some of these insurance companies. ⁓ So that because one of the issues now is that a lot of insurance companies just don't even want to go into Florida. They don't want to serve this market anymore because there is such a large risk for them. ⁓ So that's something that could alleviate some of those problems is to just set up that kind of ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: insurance for them basically. But I mean really I think those are really things that will help more in the short term. I mean really what needs to happen is that we need to start building better infrastructure. We need to make sure that the new structures that are being built, new homes that are being built are built up to a certain code where they are less prone to being damaged from these storms. So that we don't have all this damage to begin with. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: that create the big claims ⁓ and also just doing things about climate change that cause all the storms to begin with. ⁓ Those are all things that will really fix the problem in the long term. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. That's one of the more frustrating things I've been on scientific vessels and all that stuff. I, I, I puked all over the side of their boat and everything. It was, it was horrendous, but I've been with scientists who have been in the ocean, who have been studying and looking and doing all the things. And it's ridiculous to have so many educated people learning about the environment and letting us know that You know, we're adding acid to the ocean. We're running out of fresh, clean water. And then we decide to get these data, data buildings and stuff that now we're learning that we're using up all even more of the fresh water that we've been struggling with. Yen Bailey: right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then when you go to, whether it be Congress or you go back to your constituents in Florida and you're like, look, climate change is real. We apologize. We call that global warming. We're sorry. The climate is changing and we understand that it's going to change, but we need to understand what we're doing to escalate it. Yen Bailey: All right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And if we address climate change, maybe just maybe your property insurance will go down. And then people say, no, it's fake, la la. Like, how do we break through? Yen Bailey: you Right, right. Yeah, and I mean, I think it's, you know, I do think that when we are talking to certain groups, you know, I do try to point out more of those things, things that, you know, if, ⁓ that will appeal to people on a more practical level, you know, if they don't really care about saving the earth or the environment, but they do care about making sure their house doesn't flood. ⁓ That their house will still be standing ⁓ when a hurricane passes. just making sure the hurricanes don't develop and are not as strong. ⁓ Talking more about their pocketbook maybe, because those are things that they do understand. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. And again, it's frustrating because we're talking to people in a state that They banned books. They enjoy scholastic sports. They might not like the educational part of scholastics. I don't know. I don't know. But there's a lot happening to the planet that we're doing to it. And people are seeing it. People in LA caught fire. I bet you they believe in climate change now. And I don't know how many, don't, just because it's water instead of fire, it's still doing damage to you and it's still affecting your life in a negative way. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. great. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I can only imagine having a report and then Florida's like, nah, ban that report. Yen Bailey: Right. you know, climate change is just that is certainly a huge part of it. There are also other just environmental considerations that that people don't think about, you know, like what as far as development, you know, just the. the way that we develop also really contributes a lot to how these properties are affected when storms do come through. When we are building, ⁓ there are these natural coastal barriers that shield a lot of the shoreline from storms that are getting destroyed from the way that we develop our coastal properties. or coastal or. in a lot of these areas, you we're getting so much more flooding now because of the way that we build things out to the where there is so much concrete that the water has no place to go. so even with you don't even need a full hurricane, you know, now just with certain heavy rainstorms, we have areas that are flooding and, you know, people say, ⁓ you're just anti development. You don't care about, know, it's it's like, well, you have Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: to think about these. It's not just trying to protect the earth ⁓ and our natural resources. It's also, hey, if you want to protect your investment, you also need to think about these things. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah, because the climate is going to change. We get that. But we need to, like to your point, we need to build accordingly. We can't, we can't. And I went to Florida International University for a couple quarters and I learned a lot about the, what's it called? The study of rocks. ⁓ I took a class and I learned all about the water table and building. in Florida. You can't just build, you know, you can't build a house with a basement necessarily because of the water table kind of stuff. Whereas I'm from Chicago, every house has a basement. So you can't have the same approach. You just can't. So understanding that some of these places do flood a little more easily. And now we have to come up with considerations for Yen Bailey: Yes. you Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): building more affordable housing and just more housing in general. You're not gonna be able to do that in the Everglades without actually doing the science and the studying behind building things in the Everglades. Yen Bailey: Right. Right. Yes. mean, these are things that, you know, we have to take into consideration where we're building. yeah, and ⁓ it's not, you there are real practical considerations as well. And, you know, it's not, ⁓ you know, it's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: We're not just out there being tree huggers and just, you know, that's all just, those things are important too. Yes. Yes. You know, ⁓ yeah, there is, there are real practical reasons to consider these things as well. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, some of us also like money. We like to do cool things. Yeah, when I go to Florida, there's a certain, there's certain things I like to do when I go to Florida. Beaches, eating and going, you know, ⁓ jumping on one of those four wheelers and going through mud, shit like that. I love Florida and there are certain things I like to do when I go to Florida. ⁓ If you guys ruin it, I'm going to be upset. Yen Bailey: I'm Me too! Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What was it about Florida that made your parents are from? Yen Bailey: Vietnam. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What was it about Florida that made them want to move from Vietnam to Florida? Humidity might be the only reason. Yen Bailey: Well, so actually it's Yeah, no, I mean, it really wasn't a choice, actually. I don't know that they actually chose Florida. They might have. So my parents were refugees and they left Vietnam right at the end of the Vietnam War during the fall of Saigon. actually, you my dad actually just, ⁓ he was a pilot in the South Vietnamese Air Force. And during the fall of Saigon, he actually just took his plane and, and got a few dozen other Vietnamese soldiers and civilians that, know, that they were able to pack on their plane as well. And they just, they just took off and ⁓ yeah, yeah, it was. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That is so cool. Your dad, your dad is a badass. Yen Bailey: Yeah, I mean it really is just ⁓ Nutty, mean the whole story it's like something out of a movie but yeah, you know and he did he took off and I think they they got to Thailand first and Then to Guam and I think in Guam he did say that they were given like somewhat of a choice of where to go in the US ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: I don't know that he actually knew. Right? mean, ⁓ my gosh. And well, my mom escaped on a fishing boat. Yeah, yeah. And there, you know, there was... ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That'd be a really cool movie. Have your dad call me, please, because this would be a cool movie. ⁓ Jesus, even worse. Yen Bailey: They actually, one of the other boats in the water close by had a bomb dropped on it and was destroyed. Yeah, so I mean, it just, you know, they did go through a lot to get here and they just happened. They actually met here at the refugee camp. Yeah. So, you know, I do say sometimes like the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What? Yeah. Were they together in Vietnam or did they meet here? That's cool. That's cool. Yen Bailey: I wouldn't have been here had it not been for the Vietnam War, you know. Right? Yeah, you know, wow. Yeah, so, you know, it's like these were terrible things, I guess, that happened in our countries. But there's something good, I guess. Good for me anyways, and you, as existing. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Fidel Castro. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, and it's not even, you can't even, I've been trying to figure out how to make it all make sense in my head, right? Because especially like during Thanksgiving's and family get togethers and stuff, ⁓ I get to listen to stories, whether it's mom's side or dad's side. Mom's side gives me the story from the Dominican Republic point of view, and dad gives it to me. from the Cuban point of view. And listening to all of the dramatic and super exciting things that they went through just to get here. I mean, it wasn't as cool as like taking a plane with a bunch of family members. That is so cool. But you have to look at it as that's something that they had to do. It's a cool story. I'm glad they made it through. You know, good, bad and different. You know, I don't know. I'm glad I didn't have to do that. Yen Bailey: Yeah. Yeah. Right, Yeah, yeah, it is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know, that's tough. How's, how's Thanksgiving? Like, does your mom look at your dad and say, I had a fishing boat, you had a whole plane. Yen Bailey: Yeah, I mean, you know, so my mom has passed away a few years ago, but she, you know, it's interesting, growing up, my parents didn't really talk about it that much. you know, the stories that they would tell about Vietnam were really ⁓ more about Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm sorry to hear. Yen Bailey: I guess just the happier times, know, like things, the fun things that they can remember from their childhoods, things like that. I really only got snippets of war stories, you know, ⁓ even though obviously there was a lot of that, you know, they just didn't. ⁓ And really a lot of those stories I've gotten from Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: my other relatives have told me about what my parents went through. ⁓ And yeah, so it's just, ⁓ I guess it's kind of, maybe it's the trauma, ⁓ that kind of thing. But yeah, I didn't really get a ton of that from them specifically. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. It took me a long time to get any kind of information. I don't know what it is about that generation. They like to keep secrets and they like to keep everything in a vault. You're like, will you just tell me please? Now that we're older, now the information is slowly but surely like leaking out. So we're getting more, more of the stories. ⁓ Yeah. This last. Yen Bailey: Right? Wow. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): This last Thanksgiving was my grandmother, my dad's mom's 100th birthday. And so we got to hang out all together. And it was the first time in my whole life that I was around the entire, this entire group. And I was able to listen to my, have, my dad has an older brother that was in the Cuban military. And he was explaining how he learned where the American base was. And he, Yen Bailey: ⁓ wow. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): told the story about he knew that that one star right there, if you just follow that star and drop down, that's where the American base is. Yeah. It's crazy to hear, but it took me 50 some odd years to get to the truth. Yen Bailey: Wow. Wow. Yeah, think a lot of the story, yeah, I was at a wedding, I think recently, and people were just talking then, and I heard a of those stories then too. Yeah, but it just, yeah, it seems like it doesn't really. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: It wasn't like they talked about it every day, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. If you get enough ⁓ beer and rum going and my family, the stories start flowing. Let me go get you another ⁓ piña colada. I want to hear the rest of the story. Yen Bailey: Right. Right. Yes. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Do you think hearing those stories and... ⁓ Hearing those stories has affected your decision making process as far as being a congressperson. Yen Bailey: I mean, you know, I think it has, it definitely gives me a real appreciation for, you know, Like what they've been through and what a lot of immigrants go through to get here. ⁓ And ⁓ how, I guess how ⁓ America really is a place that people from so many other, know, the rest of the world really does, you know, it's a place that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: My parents, they said in Vietnam, the way people talked about America, it was like a place out of a fairy tale. They talked about it like, oh, everyone in America drives a fancy car and lives in a mansion. And yeah, it's like this dream world that people just, everyone wants to come to America. And it really does give you an appreciation for what we have here. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. Right. Yen Bailey: You know, America definitely has a lot of ⁓ issues, certainly. ⁓ But it's still worth, I feel like it makes it that much more, it's worth fighting for, you know? And I want to make that true for people, you know? I wanna make the American dream a reality. And I don't think it is for a lot of people these days. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Right. Yeah, especially immigrants. I'd have to constantly remind people, my people are fresh off the boat. I'm the first generation on my dad's side. I'm the first generation American on my dad's side. Second on my mom's side. So you can't, when we see these knuckleheads on TV talking the way that they do. I'm like, and what's funny is most of them, most of the people talking smack on TV these days haven't even served the country. Not even the way that you serve the country and not even the way that I serve the country. You serving the country, being a lawyer and helping families and doing all that stuff and me actually defending your right to do and say whatever the hell it is that you want to do and say. These folks. Yen Bailey: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): haven't even tapped into, haven't even invested into the country the way, the same way we have. Yen Bailey: right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But then they want to say that they have the keys to the bus. Yen Bailey: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Isn't that frustrating? Yen Bailey: It's so frustrating. It is so frustrating. yeah, I mean, way that immigrants are getting such a bad rap these days, yeah, abuse, abuse. I mean, it is just horrific. And, you know, I... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're getting such abuse. Yen Bailey: My parents are some of the most patriotic people you would ever meet. know, my dad, when, so they're both... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: Well, you my mom is passed away now, but they were both renaturalized and became American citizens and they voted in every election and were so proud. You know, my dad actually collected all of his I voted stickers and he had this little display in the house. Yeah, you know, he yeah, like they they just love. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ sweet. Yen Bailey: America so much and that really, you that has influenced me a lot too and wanting to run for a congress. Just, ⁓ they truly believe in America and the American dream and you know what this country stands for and I feel like a lot of people have forgotten, yeah, what America is all about or what it should be about. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I know growing up, ⁓ there was and still, know, in my older days, there's still some hurdles and stuff like that. What was it like being a young Vietnamese person of Vietnamese descent? Because you're American, you were born here. ⁓ What was it like being a Vietnam ⁓ descendant of someone from Vietnam? Yen Bailey: Yeah, well, I think especially growing up in Destin. ⁓ So there are not a lot of ⁓ not a lot of Vietnamese people there, not a lot of Asians there. ⁓ I mean, really not. Growing up, I mean, it was was pretty just predominantly white population there. ⁓ And so there were not a lot of people who who looked like me or spoke. ⁓ I had my same culture and so it could, it was isolating at times. So yeah, it was... I think it's... it has... it definitely gave me like... I guess a different perspective. it really taught me to, you know, I can empathize, I think, with a lot of groups that ⁓ are, you know, minority populations, you know, disadvantaged and yeah, you know, just a lot ⁓ of... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: ⁓ you know, it was not always easy, I guess, growing up, ⁓ and, and very poor as well, you know. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Do you Do you feel that the way you brought, you were brought up and have gone through all the challenges that you have, have you developed thick skin to be able to, cause I can only imagine, like once you take office, I can only imagine. how mean people can get or be or whatever. And this is, this is anybody in office. Like people get vicious. Do you think, are you, are you going through your childhood and all of those challenges? Do you think, are you ready to see yourself up on, I don't know, Fox news and people talking about how you don't look American? Yen Bailey: Hahaha Mm-hmm. Hahaha ⁓ yeah, I mean, yes, this is something that ⁓ I have grown up with my entire life. ⁓ You know, insults just kind of just roll off of me. I don't really... It does not bother me at all. You know, it's... I don't... Yeah, those types of things... Yeah. It doesn't bother me at all. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. I like to hear that. the other side of this argument, it seems like they just don't care. They're trying to change reality and they're trying to change the narrative of reality. We can see it clearly, but they don't care. And that's why you get the Boebert's and the... Yen Bailey: You Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): MGK's or whatever the hell her name is. ⁓ MTG. Yeah, MTG and all those guys and how they're just. Yen Bailey: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How immature when I see them doing their questioning and stuff like that and they're having the banter between each other to me it's immature. Yen Bailey: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So you thinking you're bringing a little maturity to the position? Yen Bailey: Yes. Yes. I mean, I, you know, I, I deal with people who are immature all the time or I have, you know, um, I mean, I don't need to trade those types of, um, verbal. We don't need to play those kinds of verbal games, but, um, you know, I also. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. But can you kick it up a notch when it's time? Yen Bailey: So. I can. You know? ⁓ Yeah. So I don't need, ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I can't wait to see like Lauren Boebert say something and then you start taking off your ear. He's like, ⁓ hell no, it's about to go down now. ⁓ Yen Bailey: Right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm gonna let myself get pushed around either. So, yeah. You know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): good. Yeah, because I think I think the other side needs to understand that even though we care and we want to make the place a better place. If it's time to knuckle up, it's time to knuckle. Yen Bailey: Absolutely. Yeah, you know, I feel like there's a time to, you know, I hear like different things from ⁓ voters as I'm out. You know, some people are like, we need more civility, we need to get along more, we need to be able to talk to everyone. And I'm like, yes, absolutely. I agree with that. You know, I wish I would love to see Congress get to a point where Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I think they have a missing Mm. Yen Bailey: we can all work together. can, you know, where we can have like bipartisan support for things and get to a point where all of the bills that are coming out are things that have been negotiated and all of those things, you know, where government should work the way it should. You know what, I would love to get to that point. And, you know, I was trained as a mediator. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: and I love that. love trying to get people to a point where everyone comes away happy, ⁓ from a negotiation. That's ideal, right? but you know, you also need to know who you're working with, you know, and if you have parties who are not willing to negotiate at all, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: ⁓ then you need to know when it's time to, to walk away and try a different tactic, because there are certain times when no amount of negotiating is going to be effective. And so then you need to try something else, different tactics. and I think a lot of that is missing right now in Congress. ⁓ I think people. are ⁓ trying to negotiate things the traditional way, ⁓ you know, trying to work within a system that is not, you know, we're, yeah, we cannot, we can't use our regular tactics when the rules are not, they're not in play, like, you know, we... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): or even if they're in place, people are ignoring them. Yen Bailey: They're playing, the other side's playing and people are ignoring them. You know, the other side is playing a completely different game. and yeah, it can't just be business as usual, you know, these are extraordinary times. ⁓ I think, ⁓ and so we get so many people who are just like, well, there's nothing we can do because we don't have the votes. They have all the power. ⁓ And it's like, well, yeah, in this game that they are playing, why don't you try some new things? Why don't you flood them with legislation so that they're not going to listen to anything that you say that make their work less effective? File bills anyways, even if you don't have even if you're not gonna get all the votes. That way you get them on the record. You know, just... Use tools that you have available to you, whatever you have. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): holding up signs isn't gonna, like tonight is the State of the Union. Holding up signs isn't enough. Like, I appreciate the effort, but we need, you know what I mean? Yen Bailey: Right. Right, right, more than just optics. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Kente Cloth was… no, that's dumb. We need you to put bills through. ⁓ has running for office. ⁓ Yen Bailey: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm trying to figure out the question that I want to ask that pertains to running for office against the incumbent. Is your incumbent a Republican? Yen Bailey: Yes. So my incumbent is a Republican. Now he actually has, he's announced that he's not going to run again. He's, he's one of those. ⁓ So what's that? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is he an older guy? Is he an older guy? Yen Bailey: He is well, mean, I think he is I think he's like 73. But he so I mean, there actually have been rumors lately that he might not only just retire that he might even resign early because of health issues. His office just yesterday just announced again that those rumors are not true. So who knows? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Yen Bailey: So for now, is just going to not run again. So we already know that. But yeah, it might be just possibly because of health reasons, but I don't know. don't know his real, well, he said his stated reasons for not running again was to spend more time with his family. Which I, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Yeah. If I was 73 running in and I was in office and the things that were happening were happening, I would, I would look to retire early too. And it's just, that's just me. I'm not, well, I'm not a big fan of this administration to begin with. So I can only imagine like if you're trying to be, if you're trying to be a legitimate business person. Yen Bailey: Right, yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And all of this stuff is happening in the back room. you're, you have to be looking at, at everybody else saying, I don't know. I don't know. And not for anything, but if this, if this dude is trying to make all the decisions, it makes your job useless. You just, you just got rendered useless. Yen Bailey: Great. Right. Yes, yeah, ⁓ yeah, for this entire ⁓ administration, ⁓ Congress has been useless, really. I mean, on both sides. I mean, there is nothing that has come out of Congress that really is their decision. It's all coming from the top. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to ask how, how different is your running for office when you first started and everything that you've learned along the way. And if there are any very well-funded people that you are running against. So basically like the citizens United and all that stuff. Yen Bailey: Hahaha ⁓ yeah, yeah. So, ⁓ I mean, as far as ⁓ very well-funded, ⁓ certainly on the other side, ⁓ you know, there are some very well-funded Republicans who are running. You ever since Neil Dunn ⁓ said he was not going to run again, I think there are now six people. who have jumped in the race and no, no, from, yeah, just on the Republican side. If there are six Republicans who have filed, yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): from both sides or all three sides actually. Just Republic, six people are. I can only imagine that they are well funded. Okay. Yen Bailey: Yes, ⁓ so yes. know, is, now Neil Dunn, he never really tried very hard to fundraise at all, I think because he just... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you got three rich friends why you need six broke ones. Yen Bailey: raised raised. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, I think, you know, I mean, he, I think he at the time that he stepped out, I think he had raised like, I mean, $800,000, which is a lot of money, you know, like by my standards. But I think for Republicans, know, Republican standards, I don't know that that was a ton. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No, that's, yeah, no. I've talked to enough people that know that 800,000 is a nice drop in the bucket, but there's people that are rolling out with way more Yen Bailey: Yeah, but yeah, yeah, I can. Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, yeah, I think, you know, for, yeah, by, by Republican incumbent standards, ⁓ you know, but I don't know that he really was, was trying very hard. I'm sure if he needed the extra money, it would have come. Yeah. And I mean, I'm hearing now, you know, all of this is all rumor and hearsay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: you know, that, um, cause there was talk about him wanting to resign early and, there were news articles about Republican leadership talking to him and, um, trying to make sure that he doesn't retire early. And, you know, I'm hearing that they're willing to, to fly him on private jets, like between, between home and DC. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to hockey games in Italy. Yen Bailey: ⁓ you know, to make it so that he will not have to retire early, you know, that they will, ⁓ they will make his, his travel as comfortable as possible, you know, whatever it takes to just keep him there. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How many Democrats are running against you? know? Yen Bailey: So there are two other Democrats in the primary. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Okay. How well funded are they? Because I like to point this out. There's shenanigans on both sides, right? So when there's people that come out and say, ⁓ we're not gonna make any change, it's a two-party system, blah, blah. But then we have grassroots candidates and independent candidates that are trying to make something positive happen so we can break this two-party system. We're learning that it's both sides. Yen Bailey: Yes. right. Yeah, ⁓ yeah, absolutely. Yes. ⁓ And I mean, I think the money in politics, ⁓ I think is what has really is what is hurting the Democratic Party the most. I mean, I think, yeah, I think Citizens United really has ruined, ⁓ has really ruined the Democratic Party. ⁓ I think it's the reason why ⁓ we don't have good messaging anymore or that our messaging is so muddled, you know, that we are not really the party of working people anymore, which was really what, you know, what was at the core ⁓ of the Democratic Party's messaging. ⁓ And yeah, I think it is because of Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: ⁓ There are these people who are already in Congress who want to stay there and ⁓ don't want to upset their big donors, you know, and who don't think they are going to be able to compete with the other side if they don't keep their big donors, which, you know, the way politics is now. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: There is so much money there that you probably, it is very hard to do it as a grassroots candidate when the other side is pouring millions of dollars into the race. so, but yeah, in my race, I mean, there certainly are, Between the three candidates, the fundraising has been fairly even. ⁓ There's certainly, I think, ⁓ as far as establishment, ⁓ there's certainly a candidate who gets more of the local establishment dollars. ⁓ It's not me. yeah, so, and you know, I think our, our, I think our messaging styles are very different. ⁓ you know, I, I tend to, ⁓ I do tend to speak out about things like, you know, accountability is really at the center of my campaign, you know, overturning citizens united, ⁓ term limits. Making sure that Congress people can't trade stocks in Congress, know, banning stock trading in Congress, which is huge. ⁓ Making sure that ⁓ you can't just turn around right after you leave office and become a lobbyist. You know, strike these kind of sweetheart deals. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That one's so big. Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: You know, making sure that the Supreme Court has an enforceable code of ethics. You these are all things that I think we need to put in place. You know, I don't believe we can really fix a lot of the problems that we need to fix until we actually have a government that works for people. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: ⁓ And so yeah, these are the things that we need to work on first is getting that money and power out of politics. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I've been talking to a lot of people that say, let's do away with Citizens United. What would that look like? Now that I'm speaking to a lawyer, can you in in a schoolhouse rock, can you explain how how that process would happen? Yen Bailey: Hahaha Yeah. Yeah, sure. Well, I mean, so to truly get rid, know, to truly overturn Citizens United, you know, you would need to either get it overturned in the Supreme Court, you know, make sure there would have to be another decision or there would have to be a change at the constitutional level, which would be difficult. ⁓ But there are still other things that ⁓ you know, that's where you could, what we would have to do is truly overturn it, is a constitutional amendment. ⁓ Because you know, there is a Supreme Court decision now. But there is other legislation ⁓ which could be put in place that could still ⁓ put limits, ⁓ you know, more guardrails in place. on this unlimited money in politics. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And again, this is one of the things I keep saying the word frustrating, but it's it might be because I get to talk to a lot of you guys and and I'm trying to get normal people to pay attention to, you know, they say, ⁓ all the politicians are crooked. Well, yeah, but if you took money out of politics. But then they don't want to vote for anyone that's going to get money out of politics. Yen Bailey: Right. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know, like it would be way easier. It would fix everything. You know, the commercials with all the, know, like all of a sudden ⁓ politicians want to show that they have a family and dog and all that stuff. All that stuff. If we took money out of politics, all of that stuff would be mitigated. It would be, they wouldn't have the money to continue to hound you. Yen Bailey: right. Right. Yeah. Right. Yes. Yeah. I mean, it's just ⁓ Yeah, I mean, and I do believe that, I'm not saying that everyone in politics is bad or has bad intentions and is only there for the money and power, but the thing is trying to get that temptation out of the way, you know? There are people with good intentions who, you know, when you have the right opportunities and the right temptations or the right, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: right things presented to them, it's very easy to rationalize things, you know? And to think that you are doing the wrong thing but for the right reasons, you know? ⁓ And hey, why don't we just take those temptations out of the way so that's not a problem for anybody, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that way we get to see everybody for who they are, right? And give someone a bunch of money. They're gonna go get plastic surgery. They're gonna go do all the things to make this, but then there's just this empty shell of a person who doesn't really care. And we have plenty of people here in this country who are willing to do this work and they don't need the million dollar bonuses that these corporations are giving them. Yen Bailey: right. right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to get in the way of progress. Yen Bailey: Right. Yeah. You know? And that, you know, that public service, that's, you know, that shouldn't be what it's about. You You're not going there to get rich. You know? That is, that's, or to get power, you know? That's not the point. It shouldn't be. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yeah, think of it like whenever people get a jury duty summons, they get all upset. But I know people that are very excited to get jury duty summons because they like doing their civil duty. There's people out there for, you might think that they're crazy, but I like that crazy. I like the crazy where they want to do the job given the proper salary. Give you guys a proper salary so you guys don't, you know, we're not trying to have a bunch of people in Congress that are hungry and disheveled. We don't want that. But we also don't need you, I don't need you, if you're representing me and you're showing up in a private jet, Yen Bailey: Yeah. Hahaha. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's not representing me. I'm not connected to you. Yen Bailey: Right? Yeah, I mean, and I'm not saying that someone who is, you know, a billionaire can't ever understand a normal person, but ⁓ I think having normal people in Congress, ⁓ certainly there would be a higher likelihood that they have experienced some of the same things that you have. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. If you're a billionaire and you're killing it over in that arena, do it over there. But how lazy is it? And this is, again, I get frustrated with the rich, successful people. If you were that, if you were all that and a bag of chips where your vice president and all the people over there at your corporation, they're kissing your ass and they're making you feel any kind of way. If you were that kind of special. Yen Bailey: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and you were that kind of intelligent, there wouldn't be more people struggling than people having a job. If you were a true American, you wouldn't be shipping off jobs to different places. Yen Bailey: right. right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): If you're that smart and successful and you're America first and all that stuff, all that silly stuff that they say, then why are you exporting jobs? Why are you letting this administration run rough shot all over us? Yen Bailey: Hahaha Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're jacking up, they're jacking up, they're killing Americans and they're beating up and killing immigrants. At what point does that make you a good American? Yen Bailey: Right. Right. Yeah. And violating our rights while they're doing it. You know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): constantly violating our rights. And not for anything, but corporations have more rights than Americans do. So how can you say America first? Yen Bailey: Right. Yeah. You know, it is just, ⁓ my gosh, you know, just with ⁓ the things that are happening with immigration right now, you know, there are so many just horrible, horrible things that are happening. And on top of that, just to see all of these corporations that are profiting from it, it's just, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): then again they refuse to pay taxes that then improve your life. Yen Bailey: second. Yeah, right, right. ⁓ goodness. Yeah. So all these loopholes that, I mean, we, this one big, beautiful bill, you know, we, we can't afford, so we can't afford healthcare and, and food assistance for people. ⁓ But we need to give these tax breaks. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's right there. Yen Bailey: to these corporations and for the wealthy? Like, all of this so that we could keep these ridiculous tax breaks. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And for what? What's the excuse? Right. And why do they need tax breaks? Yen Bailey: Right. Right. And I mean, I guess, you know, there's, guess that story about, you know, that they've been trying to sell for so long about, if we help out the people at the top, it'll trickle down to the rest of us. And it has been proven over and over that that never happens. It does not work. You know, the money just stays at the top. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It doesn't. Let me tell you. Yeah. Let me tell you. Let me tell you what rich people tell me have told me throughout my time here on earth. You can't be rich. You cannot be rich if you give it away. Yen Bailey: you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So you mean to tell me that that segment of the population believes in trickle down. Yen Bailey: Right? Yeah. I mean, it just... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They don't even believe in trickle-down. That's the trick that they're giving you to make you feel better about them keeping the money. Yen Bailey: Right. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it just... Yeah, it just... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And we're seeing trickle down. We're seeing the effects of trickle down. We're waiting this ballroom. Yen Bailey: Yeah, it's like, okay, but where are you? Yeah, it never does. It never does trickle down. just, you know, it is, ⁓ it just stays. It goes from the bottom up, you know? So yeah, you know, it is, ⁓ it's very frustrating. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Right. Yen Bailey: It's like with these tariffs, you know? These tariffs that finally, we've all been screaming for the last year that they were unconstitutional. Finally, it's like, oh yeah, okay, the court agrees. You weren't allowed to do this all along. And so now all of these companies are going to get refunds, you know? And... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and they're not gonna give us the money. We don't get a coupon, we don't get. Yen Bailey: They're not gonna know. We're not gonna know. That is, the consumers are not going to get see a penny of that, I'm sure. ⁓ All this time, these companies, they didn't just absorb those tariffs, they raised the prices for consumers. ⁓ So you would think, okay, now. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. And I bet you those prices, not only are they gonna keep the money from the tariffs, but I bet you those prices are just gonna stay stable. Yen Bailey: Right, right. Yeah, they're not going to go back to the pre-tariff prices. Why would they? You know, why would they? It's just like what happened after COVID, you know? ⁓ A lot of things changed during COVID, you know? They did not go back to the way they were pre-COVID, you know? A lot of these, yeah, because they figured, ⁓ well, hey, consumers. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Why would they? We're still. Yeah. Right. Yen Bailey: are okay with paying these prices. ⁓ Consumers are okay with not getting as much service. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're okay with getting a smaller package with less things in it. Yeah. Yen Bailey: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they're, they're like, well, why go back to the way the things were if people are willing to accept what we're giving them and what we're charging them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it's not even that people are willing is that people get suckered into it. Yen Bailey: Right, right, because then really, I what other choices did we have? Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and they don't realize that they're getting suckered into it. Yen Bailey: right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ price fluctuations. Okay. Well, now beef is 25 bucks. Last week it was 15 and the week before that it was 10. Well, looks like just beef is expensive now. And then they go and they, you know, save money somewhere else, which again, the quality, it's not even just the amount, but also the quality of the products that you guys are getting. It's dwindling down. And people are like, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that works. Vote for that. ⁓ Yen Bailey: Yeah. Right. Yeah. I mean, it is just... Yeah, I think it's, and I do know, have, I have heard from people as I have been out, um, campaigning, there are a lot of people who are starting to see it, you know, who are starting to have regrets. Um, there needs to be more, but yeah, there are, there are definitely people out there who, um, who, you know, I have talked to people who voted for Trump. who are now regretting their decision, who don't think he's such a great guy, such a great president anymore. I mean, I don't know that they are all ready to vote for a Democrat ⁓ or switch parties or any of that, but ⁓ they may not be willing to. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: they might just not vote or yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. And this is my thing with Trump. I've never voted for him, but in the beginning I was like, fine. Government hasn't really ever worked for me properly. I've always struggled. We've always struggled. We've always, we've always had to figure it out for ourselves. And then I look at different populations and I'm like, they don't. have to work nearly as hard as we do. Or they have access to things or, or, or, right? Or even something as simple as people underestimating our abilities. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So when Trump first took office and there's videos out there where I'm saying, we're going to be fine. We're going to be fine. You know, ⁓ and I was, I was excited at the beginning when he started breaking things. Cause I was like, good, let's fix it. Find ways, break it. And then let's fix it. Let's get the right people. But. Yen Bailey: Hmm? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It got to be a slippery slope. He's breaking things and then he kept breaking things and then he kept taking things and then he kept breaking things and taking things. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So for MAGA, like I was never full MAGA, never none of that stuff. ⁓ because that's just a mentality that doesn't click, but I was excited for the outsider and all that stuff. When it came to that part, I was like, yeah, let's do it. Let's see what, let's see what happens. Let's turn on the lights and let's watch the roaches run. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know, it is interesting how there is a lot of ⁓ ideological overlap, I think, ⁓ between a lot of the MAGA people and a lot of the very far left people, you know? Like, they agree on a lot of things, really, if you really, like, ⁓ boil down to, like, some of the root issues. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: You know, this whole idea that ⁓ the government doesn't work for people, that there's so much corruption, that the establishment is not there for, it's only there to help itself. they're in on, yeah, all of those things. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're in on the joke. Yeah. Yen Bailey: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it's just, yeah. And I think that Democrats also have to own a lot of why we're here, you know? Why we're in this situation. Because, yeah, I think a lot of people stopped believing that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. Yen Bailey: Democrats could help them. then, know, MAGA came in and promised all of these things. And they're like, well, you know, let's see. Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, can't hurt. And exactly like Trump said, what do you have to lose? Yen Bailey: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And you're like, well, that side didn't do anything for me. This side, at least they're promising change. I get it. I get it. Yen Bailey: Yeah, yeah, no, I do too. I have seen, there are so many people out there who really are just work so hard and are just still struggling. And they just, and they don't believe that government is gonna help them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. And let me break the fever dream that is run America like a corporation. People that say run America like a corporation have not worked in corporations long enough. Because it's all there. The crony capitalism, all of the stealing money, hiding money, moving money, all of the like Hollywood alone will show you the techniques that ⁓ Epstein and those guys use for you to find success. You know what I mean? Those things, all of those things, we have to get away from all of those things. Corporate America is not the answer. The government, this is the way I think I should, talking to you guys, this is the way that I think it should be, if not explained, at least worked. America, the government of the United States should focus on making incredible Americans that qualify for all the jobs and that are very smart and all the things. And then, corporate America can take over. That's super simple. Yen Bailey: Yeah, you know, yeah, so I, right, yeah, you know, I am, so, you know, I'm not against capitalism or, you know, like, ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yen Bailey: that for businesses earn a profit and I'm not against people making a good living. ⁓ So there are certain things in society where you can rely on capitalism and the free market to take care of itself. There's certainly things where that can create a profit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. Yen Bailey: I think where there is just, ⁓ but there are certain things that you cannot private, that the government cannot privatize. There are certain things where you need the government to step in. that is where we, there are certain things where we do, where things like, okay, well, look at our prison system and ⁓ like what's happening with these detention centers, you know, those things are, you know, when you are dealing with human lives, ⁓ those are not things that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right? Yen Bailey: that should ever be privatized because those are things that you shouldn't try to make a profit off of. You I worked in the dependency system, like I said, you know, with the Guardian Abitum program. ⁓ And, you know, when I first started working there, Florida had just switched to this privatization system ⁓ for the dependency system ⁓ where you had these private companies ⁓ providing services for families that got into the dependency system. And it was a disaster. I think it's still a disaster. It's just ⁓ where a family say needs these services, counseling or whatever, right? ⁓ It is never going to be in this private company's benefit. It's not going to be in their interest to provide this family with as much counseling services as the family needs. know? So you have these competing interests ⁓ and the family is always going to lose out because that company Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: is a for-profit company and it needs to look out for its bottom line and its investors. know? And so, yeah, if they can like cut off your services early, if they can, you know, they're always gonna try to do that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. And isn't it strange that a country that right now is so almost addicted to its own culture, but you're not teaching people how to be a part of the culture. That's what these folks do. When we talk about therapy and we talk about counseling and we talk about those things, it's to try to, it means that part of the United States culture doesn't fully make sense to you, so we kind of have to make it make sense or help it make sense to you. That's what counseling is. And then if it escalates, obviously, the culture doesn't make sense to you, so we have to put you in jail, give you a timeout type of thing, right? A place that is so addicted to its own culture refuses to teach the people about the culture so then they fit in. It's, and then you get upset and then some folks get upset when the culture doesn't make sense to you and you start to break the rules. Now they want to put you in a for-profit prison, stamping out license plates, and then they get to forget about you. It's just not fair. It's not it's it doesn't work. The way we've been doing things does not work. Yen Bailey: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yen Bailey. We're coming close to the end of this episode. So I want to ask you one last time, and then you can finish up with, ⁓ letting people know how they can find you on the internet and everything, take however long it takes to explain to people how you're going to help us. Right. ship and fix everything. Yen Bailey: Yeah, well, you know, I think, ⁓ like we discussed, I think it starts at trying to build a government that works for people, you know, for the people it's supposed to serve and not for the special interests. And I think we do that by by getting the money and power out of politics. ⁓ so that the people who are there in office, they're in, the only incentives that they have are to serve the people. ⁓ And so, and I think until we get to that place, we're not gonna be able to solve a lot of these other problems that we have. As long as we have all of these other special interests, ⁓ like speaking into all of these politicians ears and trying to guide things in a certain direction, know, people talk about, you know, like healthcare is one thing that ⁓ I would love for us to get to a point where we have ⁓ single payer universal healthcare. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: I think that would be wonderful. I don't talk about that as being like one of the things on my platform because I don't believe I can promise that. ⁓ Not anytime soon because we are not, our country is not at a place where anyone is going to make that happen anytime soon because until we get the, you know, the insurance industry has such a stranglehold. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yen Bailey: ⁓ on everything, you know? ⁓ until we can fix their, you know, all the power that they have, ⁓ we're not gonna be able to... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yen Bailey: fix, we're not going be able to fix our healthcare system in that dramatic a way. You know, I can help you. ⁓ You know, I'll fight for the ACA subsidies. I will fight to make incremental changes within our system. Like I can, I can certainly, ⁓ and hopefully we can get there once we make these other changes, you know, ⁓ because yeah, we just, ⁓ There are so many, and healthcare is not the only issue, it's just there are so many issues that we have people outside of the government ⁓ so deeply involved ⁓ in our decision-making process. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): so deeply influencing. Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: that we need to get it so that we have a truly working system first. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, I, I 100 % agree. And the healthcare debate, again, making healthcare affordable for everyone will help specifically Floridians. If you can have affordable healthcare and you have some money left over, now you can start looking at that, that house insurance that you can't afford. or you can fix the flooding that just happened. So it's a part of the bigger puzzle, but it's an important part. Yen Bailey: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It is. It is. It's so important. mean, health care is just, I mean, we truly do have a health care crisis right now. And, you know, there are so many things that need to be fixed within that system. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We can go to, the quality of food affects your health. Your health affects, you're going to the hospital, your hospital affects how much money you have, how much money you have affects what house you have, the house I have affects the insurance you need. Yen Bailey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I mean, it's a whole, it is, it is. And I mean, the way we currently have our system set up, it is so tied with your employment. ⁓ And that really affects, ⁓ you know, what jobs people take, where people live, you know, all of these things that, ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's a holistic approach. Yeah. Yen Bailey: It affects so many other decisions in people's lives. And yeah, I would love to see us get to a point where we have a completely different healthcare system. yeah, that is one huge issue. That there are a lot of... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): For real. Yen Bailey: There are lot of different parts and it is so, is like, it's so many different, so many different industries, so many different issues are affected by it. you know that. We're not gonna have like a dramatic change for a long time, know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): As far as that, yeah, have a lot of chipping away to do as people that are trying to be do-gooders. Yen Bailey: Yes, that's yes. Yes, yes, and I am committed to chipping away at that system. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I love it. Go ahead and tell everybody where they can find you online and where they can follow up and learn more about you and your platform. Yen Bailey: Yeah, my website is yenbaileyforcongress.com. and you can go there and read all about me. It'll give you a link to all of the different social media platforms that I'm on. ⁓ Definitely like and follow and ⁓ share. That's always like the, I always tell people that's one of the easiest ways that you can help support the campaign is just share the social media, get the word out. That's one very simple thing. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yen Bailey: link of course on my website. It's totally grassroots campaign. Every dollar helps. Well, I mean I think it's been, and like I said, know, I don't know if I even mentioned, I ran in 2024 for three months, you know, so, and then I think Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Every bit helps. How long have you been running your campaign? Yen Bailey: I think I filed again in January of last year. So yeah, it has been, it has been a long, a long, long process. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. Hopefully this time will be your last time because you'll get the job. ⁓ We got to get way more people that ⁓ in Congress that actually look at the world in the way that you do through the human experience and making it better for humans to do human things. And that's the only way we're going to make the world the country a better place. And with the United States being a better place, it makes the world a better place. Yen Bailey: Absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. All right. It's been lovely meeting you, ⁓ everybody. I hope you enjoyed this conversation. And with that, we're out. Yen Bailey: All right. Thank you so much. It was so great.