WEBVTT 00:00:00.546 --> 00:00:10.828 - Well, it looks to me as if we have hit the 10 o'clock a.m. mark. And so I will begin with a little bit 00:00:10.828 --> 00:00:21.210 - of introduction to the process for our candidate forum today. I am Sonya Learcamp. I go by my nickname, 00:00:21.210 --> 00:00:23.806 - Sunny, and I will be your 00:00:23.970 --> 00:00:32.631 - I am honored to be your moderator today. I'm vice president of the Brown County League of Women Voters. 00:00:32.631 --> 00:00:40.958 - The start time has been set previously for 10 o'clock. If you are not a candidate, I would ask that 00:00:40.958 --> 00:00:47.454 - you please mute your audio. If you wish to ask a question of the legislators, 00:00:47.650 --> 00:00:59.094 - please send a direct message in the chat to one question moderator and just put in, I have a question. 00:00:59.094 --> 00:01:10.427 - We will begin the questions in the order that they are received. Next slide. We want everyone to know 00:01:10.427 --> 00:01:16.094 - that all of the Democrat and Republican candidates 00:01:16.354 --> 00:01:25.718 - for this particular forum for Congressional District 9 have been invited to this forum. Aaron Houchin 00:01:25.718 --> 00:01:35.265 - did not respond to our invitation. Tim Peck has a schedule conflict, and he is here, however, and plans 00:01:35.265 --> 00:01:44.812 - to make a one-minute statement at the beginning of the forum. We are pleased to welcome also candidates 00:01:44.812 --> 00:01:45.822 - Jim Graham 00:01:45.954 --> 00:01:55.516 - and Brad Meyer. We are also hopeful that Kyle Rorick is going to join us. He did indicate that he would 00:01:55.516 --> 00:02:04.801 - be joining us today. He may be just running a little bit late. We want everyone to remember how this 00:02:04.801 --> 00:02:14.271 - works. This is an informative meeting, not a debate. We ask everyone to please be civil and respectful 00:02:14.271 --> 00:02:15.742 - to one another. 00:02:15.874 --> 00:02:24.031 - We will begin with a one-minute opening statement from each candidate. The participants will then present 00:02:24.031 --> 00:02:31.803 - questions for the candidate. Again, I remind you to just type into addressing one question moderator 00:02:31.803 --> 00:02:39.806 - that you have a question and you will be called upon in the order that your question has been received. 00:02:40.034 --> 00:02:48.781 - If time permits, we certainly try to give individuals an opportunity to ask additional questions. The 00:02:48.781 --> 00:02:57.357 - order in which the candidates will respond will rotate. The response time for each question will be 00:02:57.357 --> 00:03:06.018 - 90 seconds unless I set a different limit. We will conclude with a one-minute closing statement from 00:03:06.018 --> 00:03:07.390 - each candidate. 00:03:08.098 --> 00:03:18.610 - Time will be moderated to facilitate participation of as many people as possible. The Community Access 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:26.366 - Television Services is recording this session, including the questions. So, 00:03:26.498 --> 00:03:34.746 - We are ready to begin, and we're going to start. Tim Peck does have a conflict, and he will not be able 00:03:34.746 --> 00:03:43.232 - to stay for the rest of the forum. And we give individuals in that situation one minute to make an opening 00:03:43.232 --> 00:03:51.242 - statement, either themselves or a representative. And Tim has chosen to be here and make a statement 00:03:51.242 --> 00:03:54.494 - for himself. So Tim, I would turn it up. 00:03:54.914 --> 00:04:02.458 - platform over to you and ask that you make your one minute statement. Can you hear me okay? Yes, I believe 00:04:02.458 --> 00:04:09.649 - so. Wonderful. Thank you. So I'm Tim Peck running for United States Congress. I'm an emergency doctor 00:04:09.649 --> 00:04:16.699 - and was working overnight last night and I'm working again overnight tonight. So definitely need to 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:23.326 - have some sleep today. But in the morning right now, I'm seeing you from my kids T ball game. 00:04:23.426 --> 00:04:29.305 - here in small town America and then after that we have a day of action where we are knocking doors in 00:04:29.305 --> 00:04:35.415 - three different towns across district at once and that's the thing I would like to get across that people 00:04:35.415 --> 00:04:36.510 - are falling behind 00:04:36.802 --> 00:04:43.018 - It costs too much to work in this country and our rights are being infringed. We are here to bring forward 00:04:43.018 --> 00:04:48.886 - our message that all of that can change and we need a new way forward. And we are doing that through 00:04:48.886 --> 00:04:54.753 - a very organized campaign throughout the district. I have one minute here. So just want to stop with 00:04:54.753 --> 00:05:00.679 - just saying so thank you so much for having me today. I wish I could be here for the whole thing, but 00:05:00.679 --> 00:05:02.654 - the schedule just didn't line up. 00:05:03.010 --> 00:05:10.523 - And thank you for your support. If you'd like to join the campaign, please go to our website, take a 00:05:10.523 --> 00:05:17.962 - look at our positions, and then sign up to volunteer. Thank you so much. Thank you, Tim. All right. 00:05:17.962 --> 00:05:25.550 - All right. Now we are going to turn to opening statements from the remaining candidates. And I'm glad 00:05:25.550 --> 00:05:32.766 - to see that Kyle was able to join us and he is here as well. I'm going to start with Jim Graham. 00:05:34.114 --> 00:05:40.857 - Thank you, Sonny. I grew up in southern Indiana. I studied engineering. I worked as an engineer with 00:05:40.857 --> 00:05:47.933 - General Motors for about five years. I did graduate study at Purdue and then taught engineering at Purdue 00:05:47.933 --> 00:05:52.606 - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and at the University of Louisville. 00:05:54.370 --> 00:06:00.943 - In talking with voters about this election, the key concern that comes to my attention is economic conditions 00:06:00.943 --> 00:06:07.038 - in the ninth district. People are working extremely hard and just barely making ends meet. And if you 00:06:07.038 --> 00:06:13.432 - take a look at my website, Jim Graham for congress.com, you will see that's the major part of my platform, 00:06:13.432 --> 00:06:19.408 - together with common sense things like securing social security and Medicare and restoring the cuts 00:06:19.408 --> 00:06:21.918 - that have been made to veterans programs. 00:06:22.146 --> 00:06:28.668 - I look forward to this debate and telling you more about what I believe in and why I think I'm the best 00:06:28.668 --> 00:06:35.002 - candidate for the job. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Brad, we will turn to you next. Thank you. Hi, I'm 00:06:35.002 --> 00:06:41.462 - Brad Meyer. I'm running for the US House of Representatives. The work you guys do embodies the promise 00:06:41.462 --> 00:06:47.733 - that this country should work for everybody. But that promise is under attack right now. And that's 00:06:47.733 --> 00:06:51.998 - why I quit my job a year shy of early retirement to run for office. 00:06:52.322 --> 00:06:58.697 - Some people think the only way that we can get back into power to make a difference is to be moderate, 00:06:58.697 --> 00:07:05.319 - to think small, and offer timid changes. This is only going to lead to managed decline. I'm a progressive. 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:11.941 - For the last 100 years, we fought for food safety, women's rights, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, 00:07:11.941 --> 00:07:18.316 - civil rights, and the right to choose. None of those victories came from playing it safe. It came from 00:07:18.316 --> 00:07:21.534 - people who stood up and fought for a better future. 00:07:21.666 --> 00:07:29.189 - And now it's our turn. If you want to learn more about my campaign, you can get information at bradmeyer.org. 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:36.233 - Thank you. Thank you, Brad. Kyle will now turn to you to give your one minute opening statement. Yeah, 00:07:36.233 --> 00:07:43.277 - there's background noise there. I was just going to say there are individuals on this who do not, they 00:07:43.277 --> 00:07:50.526 - are not muted and we're getting some background noise. Could you please check to make sure you are muted? 00:07:52.322 --> 00:08:00.290 - Thank you. You may go ahead, Kyle. OK. OK. Yeah. So hi, everyone. Good morning. My name is Kyle Rourke, 00:08:00.290 --> 00:08:08.258 - and I'm running as a candidate in this ninth congressional district. I'm a former UAW semi-line worker, 00:08:08.258 --> 00:08:16.302 - Navy officer, father of four, Christian, and a former educator at Ivy Tech. And I'm deeply worried about 00:08:16.302 --> 00:08:20.286 - the American dream. And essentially, I'm running to 00:08:20.738 --> 00:08:27.792 - create jobs and create opportunity for folks in the ninth congressional. You know, our folks are under 00:08:27.792 --> 00:08:34.777 - a lot of pressure, financial pressure, you know, either through gas prices, grocery prices, you know, 00:08:34.777 --> 00:08:41.625 - housing prices, rent prices and the like, everybody's feeling it. So my platform is essentially the 00:08:41.625 --> 00:08:48.542 - economy, the economy, the economy, educational access, as well as a government oversight, of course. 00:08:49.410 --> 00:08:56.456 - Relative to the war, I'm still not convinced we need to be doing the war right now, but we're in it. 00:08:56.456 --> 00:09:04.060 - So we have to deal with it at this particular point in time. But we do need to pass a War Powers Resolution, 00:09:04.060 --> 00:09:11.036 - which Congress has abdicated its responsibility to do that. I'm a proponent of providing a check on 00:09:11.036 --> 00:09:16.478 - the executive. And appreciate if you could vote for me and look at my record. 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:26.880 - HTTPSCowork.com. Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you. That's okay. Okay. I think we are ready now to get 00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:37.048 - started with some of the questions. And I don't see that anyone has indicated that they're ready to 00:09:37.048 --> 00:09:38.878 - be called on yet. 00:09:39.170 --> 00:09:48.589 - But I'm going to encourage everyone, you need to be putting your name into the chat box, direct it to 00:09:48.589 --> 00:09:57.915 - one question moderator so that she can let me know if there is somebody ready. Yes, we do, because I 00:09:57.915 --> 00:10:08.350 - wasn't paying attention here. Tracy, face it. If you would unmute and ask your question, please. Tracy, face it. 00:10:08.674 --> 00:10:16.904 - Sorry, I didn't know I had to come off mute and I just scrambled. So my question is to all the candidates, 00:10:16.904 --> 00:10:25.287 - what is your plan for tackling the healthcare crisis and how did your plan differ from the other candidates? 00:10:25.287 --> 00:10:33.209 - Thank you, Tracy. We will start with Brad Meyer. So I'm advocating for universal nonprofit healthcare, 00:10:33.209 --> 00:10:36.670 - which is Medicare for all. I'll let my other 00:10:36.802 --> 00:10:48.220 - Opponents speak to their plan, but we need this because people are going broke just trying to stay alive. 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:59.423 - The current system is not working for us and we need a big change. Thank you, Brad. Next, I will direct 00:10:59.423 --> 00:11:02.654 - that question to Kyle Rorick. 00:11:07.234 --> 00:11:15.019 - Yeah, I mean, I'm a proponent of keeping your private health care policy where plausible and implementing 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:22.583 - a universal health care policy as a supplement. That's kind of my platform. But primarily, I think the 00:11:22.583 --> 00:11:30.220 - best path forward is to reinstitute the subsidies for the ACA that expired. That's something that could 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:36.830 - happen pretty quickly as soon as I'm sworn in as the congressional rep here in the ninth. 00:11:37.410 --> 00:11:45.429 - Because assuming we have full control of both houses and Senate, we should be able to do that very quickly. 00:11:45.429 --> 00:11:52.558 - And that would have meaningful impact to a lot of folks here who have ACA coverage in the ninth 00:11:52.558 --> 00:12:00.206 - congressional. Relative to my opponents in this space, relative to health care plans, I think Medicare 00:12:00.206 --> 00:12:04.958 - for all is a pipe dream. I just don't think it's going to work. 00:12:05.058 --> 00:12:13.842 - for a couple of reasons. One is we have doctor shortage right now. Two, it requires a large tax increase. 00:12:13.842 --> 00:12:22.295 - And then obviously, what are the operational efficiencies? And thirdly, I just don't see that getting 00:12:22.295 --> 00:12:30.913 - done unless we get back 60 plus votes on the Senate side. I just don't see it happening, unfortunately. 00:12:30.913 --> 00:12:34.974 - Medicare for all or universal health care policy 00:12:35.522 --> 00:12:43.005 - Japan has that in place, but places like that have different institutional structures to make that work. 00:12:43.005 --> 00:12:50.275 - So we can go into that later. Thank you. Thank you, Kyle. Jim, would you like to answer that question 00:12:50.275 --> 00:12:56.190 - now, please? Yes. I'm in favor of expanding and improving the Affordable Care Act. 00:12:56.674 --> 00:13:04.040 - I think that a public option should be included as part of that plan. Clearly, as Kyle said, one of 00:13:04.040 --> 00:13:11.406 - the first steps is reinstituting the subsidies for insurance coverage through the exchanges. That's 00:13:11.406 --> 00:13:18.919 - greatly increased the expenses for a lot of people in our district this year. And I have to point out 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:24.222 - that obviously our current Congresswoman voted against those subsidies. 00:13:24.546 --> 00:13:33.033 - So I think that I'm primarily in favor of the improving the healthcare system that we have. And I think 00:13:33.033 --> 00:13:41.356 - there's plenty of things that we can do to do that. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will now go to 00:13:41.356 --> 00:13:46.334 - the next individual in the queue. I believe there's only one 00:13:46.434 --> 00:13:54.377 - person in the queue right now. So all of you need to be putting your question, your desire to ask questions 00:13:54.377 --> 00:14:02.026 - in by addressing one question moderator. I would now call upon Maria Douglas to ask her question, which 00:14:02.026 --> 00:14:04.894 - will be directed first to Kyle Rourke. 00:14:06.178 --> 00:14:15.853 - Thank you so much. Thank you so much to the league and to the candidates for this time and this opportunity 00:14:15.853 --> 00:14:25.528 - to have this conversation. I am curious about your thoughts on our Monroe County Sheriff and his litigation 00:14:25.528 --> 00:14:30.814 - against the Secretary of State. And I'm curious about your 00:14:31.106 --> 00:14:39.740 - Um, thoughts, feelings, plans to keep all Monroe County, uh, community members safe. Okay. Kyle. Well, 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:48.206 - I'm going to be real honest with you. Um, I'm that type of leader where if I don't know enough about 00:14:48.206 --> 00:14:57.175 - the context and the litigation, I'll just tell you, and I don't know enough about the litigation actually, 00:14:57.175 --> 00:14:59.774 - but I will tell you about, um, 00:15:00.994 --> 00:15:10.399 - community policing, I do think we need to hire potentially more police officers where needed. We need 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:19.803 - to have good recruiting, but we also at the same time need to have body cameras. We need to have good 00:15:19.803 --> 00:15:28.286 - police methodologies where police officers follow their tactics, techniques and procedures. 00:15:28.770 --> 00:15:37.944 - and they're following the rules. So everybody has fair justice. And also from a judicial perspective, 00:15:37.944 --> 00:15:47.658 - we need to continue to look at alternatives to criminal justice, such as reducing cash bail for non-violent 00:15:47.658 --> 00:15:57.822 - offenders, additional probation opportunities for those non-violent offenders, and things of that nature to help 00:15:58.754 --> 00:16:06.944 - People rehabilitate, right? We also need to look at our prison systems relative to early release for 00:16:06.944 --> 00:16:15.053 - nonviolent offenders who are getting the right training so they can be released and have a vocation 00:16:15.053 --> 00:16:23.325 - to get out and be a productive member of society for nonviolent offenders. Yep, thank you. Thank you, 00:16:23.325 --> 00:16:28.190 - Kyle. I would next direct that question to Jim Graham. Yes. 00:16:28.354 --> 00:16:35.929 - like Kyle, I have to start by saying I'm not familiar with the specific litigation that the questioner 00:16:35.929 --> 00:16:42.989 - referenced. I will say that I certainly support the police. I think they protect and defend us. 00:16:42.989 --> 00:16:50.344 - As Kyle says, they should be properly trained, properly supervised, or should be civilian review. I 00:16:50.344 --> 00:16:55.198 - often say that I support the police as long as they obey the law. 00:16:55.810 --> 00:17:02.869 - and I support protestors as long as they obey the law. I think both are important to our parts of society. 00:17:02.869 --> 00:17:09.599 - And I just feel like that sometimes people forget that just how important police are when you have an 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:16.328 - emergency and you have to call them at 3 a.m. to come to your house. So I'm supportive of the police, 00:17:16.328 --> 00:17:21.342 - unfortunately not familiar with the litigation in Monroe County. Thank you. 00:17:23.074 --> 00:17:31.591 - Thank you, Jim. Brad, we will now turn to you to answer that question. Thank you. I think that that 00:17:31.591 --> 00:17:40.108 - lawsuit is about ICE. And I'll say this, that one of the first things that I did in my campaign was 00:17:40.108 --> 00:17:48.709 - I held a protest at Camp Atterbury against the use of that for ICE detention. What we have right now 00:17:48.709 --> 00:17:52.542 - in immigration is a situation that really is 00:17:52.770 --> 00:18:00.500 - an unfair system. We need an immigration system that is helpful to American citizens economically, but 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:08.606 - also respects the dignity of the people coming in to work and be part of our communities. I also think that 00:18:09.058 --> 00:18:17.135 - There are other things you talk about just general safety We need to free up police to do things to 00:18:17.135 --> 00:18:25.374 - protect us So I think we should legalize marijuana and get that out of the way of the legal system so 00:18:25.374 --> 00:18:31.998 - that police can spend more time Protecting us against violent crime. Hi Thank you 00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:40.369 - And we need to be looking at effective rehabilitation. Right now, 70% of people coming out of our jail 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:48.528 - system re-offend within three years. So what we're doing is we're housing people and we're not giving 00:18:48.528 --> 00:18:57.247 - them a path forward. Thank you, Brad. Very good. Next, we have a question that Penny Giffins has a question. 00:18:57.247 --> 00:19:01.566 - Sorry, I'm getting a little tongue tied this morning. 00:19:01.666 --> 00:19:08.846 - Penny Giffins, I would call upon you to unmute and ask your question, directing it first to Jim Graham. 00:19:08.846 --> 00:19:15.818 - Well, good morning all and thank you all for being here. I feel like there's a crisis with regard to 00:19:15.818 --> 00:19:22.791 - mental health and substance use disorders in our community. I think that that taps into a little bit 00:19:22.791 --> 00:19:29.694 - of what Brad was just referring to also with the number of people that we have incarcerated because 00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:38.002 - We have far too many people ending up in our carceral system with mental health issues and substance 00:19:38.002 --> 00:19:46.034 - use disorder issues. So what kind of programming would you propose to address that? Yes, Jim, would 00:19:46.034 --> 00:19:53.022 - you like to answer that first, please? Yes. Thank you, Penny, for that great question. 00:19:53.410 --> 00:20:00.851 - And that is a major problem in our society today. It shows up in prison populations. It shows up in 00:20:00.851 --> 00:20:08.366 - the homeless population. Many, many families are dealing with the problems of mental issues within a 00:20:08.366 --> 00:20:12.830 - family member. And there's just not enough support totally. 00:20:13.058 --> 00:20:18.890 - So definitely that's one of the priorities I think that we need to have. I don't know exactly the best 00:20:18.890 --> 00:20:24.552 - way to address it. We have many facilities and programs both at the state level and at the national 00:20:24.552 --> 00:20:30.554 - level. To some extent, I think we need to coordinate those better. And certainly that's one of the things 00:20:30.554 --> 00:20:36.330 - that congressional representatives do is make available information about where you can get resources 00:20:36.330 --> 00:20:42.558 - from the government. And that would be a priority for my staff to answer those types of questions. Thank you. 00:20:44.386 --> 00:20:53.288 - Thank you, Jim. Brad, we would now turn to you to respond to that question. So Indiana spends about 00:20:53.288 --> 00:21:02.280 - $4 billion a year on treatment or the effects of a mental illness that's not covered. We need to get 00:21:02.280 --> 00:21:07.710 - more resources into schools to help with early intervention. 00:21:07.842 --> 00:21:14.653 - with children that are having troubles and struggles. We need to address, as I mentioned before, the 00:21:14.653 --> 00:21:21.397 - mental health crisis of people in prisons so that when they come out they can be productive members 00:21:21.397 --> 00:21:26.590 - of society. Mental illness untreated is a significant cause of homelessness. 00:21:26.754 --> 00:21:33.710 - And it's very difficult. We need to hire more social workers. We need to invest in the pipeline for 00:21:33.710 --> 00:21:40.735 - education and training for people. And it's a very difficult job. There's a lot of people carrying a 00:21:40.735 --> 00:21:47.900 - hard load and supporting people that need help. And they need to be paid more, and it needs to be part 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:51.934 - of a universal healthcare system that I've advocated for. 00:21:53.858 --> 00:22:03.529 - Thank you, Brad, or excuse me, Kyle, we would now turn to you for your response. Yeah, I mean, relative 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:13.014 - to my role as a US House representative, we have funding. So we have Medicare, Medicaid, we have CHIP 00:22:13.014 --> 00:22:21.662 - to help support funding for mental health services. We have the standards that practitioners 00:22:22.210 --> 00:22:30.384 - and mental health practitioners are supposed to adhere to relative to licensing and adhering to the 00:22:30.384 --> 00:22:38.721 - best practices for supporting those services. We also have research that we can count on to best deal 00:22:38.721 --> 00:22:47.058 - with folks who have bipolar, schizophrenia, different mental health or PTSD as a veteran. And then we 00:22:47.058 --> 00:22:51.390 - also have integration policies that can help support 00:22:51.522 --> 00:22:58.354 - between federal and state policies for mental health services. And then lastly is the protection part. 00:22:58.354 --> 00:23:05.252 - You know, folks with mental health issues, you know, for example, in Floyd County, we have the Veterans 00:23:05.252 --> 00:23:12.084 - Court. Different protections from a federal perspective could be used to support folks who have mental 00:23:12.084 --> 00:23:18.849 - illness to keep their job and to provide those services so folks can rehabilitate and get back in the 00:23:18.849 --> 00:23:20.574 - workforce pretty quickly. 00:23:21.090 --> 00:23:29.801 - So I know I threw out a lot there, but hopefully I answered your question. But there's a lot there that 00:23:29.801 --> 00:23:38.344 - the federal government can supply in terms of support for those who have mental illnesses. Thank you. 00:23:38.344 --> 00:23:46.888 - I would now turn to Michael Starks to ask his question, directing it first to Brad Meyer. Michael, if 00:23:46.888 --> 00:23:50.238 - you would unmute and ask your question. 00:23:51.298 --> 00:24:01.649 - Thank you. I appreciate you all taking the time out of your busy schedules to participate in this forum. 00:24:01.649 --> 00:24:11.506 - My question is, do you support overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision about funding 00:24:11.506 --> 00:24:19.294 - of political campaigns? Brad, would you like to respond to that first, please? 00:24:19.746 --> 00:24:26.982 - Absolutely, absolutely. I would like to overturn Citizens United. I'm struggling a little bit on how 00:24:26.982 --> 00:24:34.218 - we can do that from the federal level, given that it was a Supreme Court. There are some interesting 00:24:34.218 --> 00:24:41.669 - things. I think it's Wyoming or another state has come up with a thing at the state level that can help 00:24:41.669 --> 00:24:43.102 - to ameliorate that. 00:24:43.266 --> 00:24:51.621 - But the impact of money in elections is corrosive, and we can see the effects, and it's just gotten 00:24:51.621 --> 00:25:00.561 - worse since Citizens United. They're estimating that for a Democrat to win, we're going to need $3 million 00:25:00.561 --> 00:25:09.918 - over the next six months. So it is really unfortunate that raising money is a huge part of running an election. 00:25:13.122 --> 00:25:20.423 - Thank you, Brad. We would now direct that question to Kyle Rorick. Yeah, I would definitely agree. Citizens 00:25:20.423 --> 00:25:27.184 - United needs to be overturned. But the reality is, since it came from the Supreme Court, you really 00:25:27.184 --> 00:25:34.080 - can't do much in it. The Supreme Court has spoken on that issue. The only way to deal with that issue 00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:41.246 - effectively is a constitutional amendment. There needs to be a campaign finance constitutional amendment. 00:25:41.442 --> 00:25:49.763 - That would effectively weaken or basically override the Citizens United case. But we all know how hard 00:25:49.763 --> 00:25:57.275 - it is to get our congressional friends to agree. It's very hard to see that changing anytime 00:25:57.275 --> 00:26:05.596 - soon. Unfortunately, we'd have to get 66 or 67 votes obviously in the Senate, plus the majority in the 00:26:05.596 --> 00:26:07.454 - House. But I do agree. 00:26:08.546 --> 00:26:15.539 - The campaign, the amount of money going into these campaigns is unbelievable. It's corrosive. I mean, 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:22.396 - I just saw John Corning going against Mr. Paxton down there in Texas. I think there was $70 million 00:26:22.396 --> 00:26:29.663 - spent just in a primary. It's just unbelievable the amount of money that's coming in. And it's definitely 00:26:29.663 --> 00:26:36.725 - corrosive to democracy. It's not good. A constitutional amendment is the only path forward and we have 00:26:36.725 --> 00:26:37.822 - to get it done. 00:26:38.466 --> 00:26:46.351 - Thank you. Thank you, Kyle. Jim, would you like to respond to that question now, please? Yes, a number 00:26:46.351 --> 00:26:54.084 - of people have asked me, what have I learned in this one-year campaign that I've been involved with? 00:26:54.084 --> 00:27:01.893 - And one of the things is I've got a very close-up look at why our government is so dysfunctional. And 00:27:01.893 --> 00:27:08.094 - unlimited amounts of dark money going into campaigns is at the top of that list. 00:27:08.578 --> 00:27:17.071 - difficult to run against incumbents because of that purpose. And it just really makes no sense. Recently, 00:27:17.071 --> 00:27:25.563 - Elon Musk put $10 million into a senatorial campaign in Kentucky, which is ridiculous. He's not a citizen 00:27:25.563 --> 00:27:33.895 - of Kentucky, has very little business dealings in Kentucky. Why should he have that much influence over 00:27:33.895 --> 00:27:38.462 - who's going to end up representing Kentucky in Congress? 00:27:38.818 --> 00:27:45.864 - And unfortunately, we see the ads every day down here in this part of the world. So it was a very poor 00:27:45.864 --> 00:27:52.772 - decision. It will probably go down in history as one of the worst decisions of the Supreme Court. It 00:27:52.772 --> 00:27:59.134 - needs to be overturned. Unfortunately, it's going to be a constitutional amendment to do it. 00:28:01.602 --> 00:28:09.674 - All right, thank you for asking those questions or answering those questions. The next individual in 00:28:09.674 --> 00:28:17.825 - the queue is Jeff Richardson. Jeff, I would ask you to unmute and direct your question, first of all, 00:28:17.825 --> 00:28:21.182 - to Kyle Rorick. Yes, thank you very much. 00:28:21.506 --> 00:28:29.400 - I am interested in your position or positions on how to achieve affordable housing. And I know perhaps 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:37.753 - a separate question is how to deal with the homeless situation. So depending on the nature of your response, 00:28:37.753 --> 00:28:45.647 - you can incorporate the homelessness into your response or just focus on affordable housing. And thank 00:28:45.647 --> 00:28:50.782 - you so much. Well, affordable housing obviously is a major concern 00:28:50.882 --> 00:28:58.782 - without question, and it really comes, at the end of the day, it comes back to supply, supply of affordable 00:28:58.782 --> 00:29:06.315 - housing. So from a federal perspective, we need to look at the cost of construction, you know, all the 00:29:06.315 --> 00:29:13.849 - inputs to the cost of construction materials, building materials, nails, wood, shingles, and the like, 00:29:13.849 --> 00:29:18.238 - right? We also need to look at providing financial capital. 00:29:18.562 --> 00:29:27.721 - or low-interest subsidies to developers who have an interest in providing affordable housing. And then 00:29:27.721 --> 00:29:36.703 - we also need to look at tax incentives for development in general for developers who want to develop 00:29:36.703 --> 00:29:42.750 - a maybe 20, 30-acre piece of property and provide housing that way. 00:29:43.842 --> 00:29:51.382 - And then we also need to look at regulatory reform. What are some of the regulatory issues that are 00:29:51.382 --> 00:29:58.922 - causing a barrier to entry for developers? Environmental, now obviously we don't want to reduce our 00:29:58.922 --> 00:30:06.538 - environmental regulations, but there's got to be some other regulatory reforms we can put forward to 00:30:06.538 --> 00:30:08.574 - help developers get access 00:30:09.090 --> 00:30:16.912 - to that development and get it done in a timely fashion. So we can drop the price of these housing units 00:30:16.912 --> 00:30:24.510 - so folks can buy a house and get in a house very quickly. It's literally out of reach. I mean, since, 00:30:24.510 --> 00:30:28.830 - what, 2000? Time. OK, my time's up. All right, thank you. 00:30:29.250 --> 00:30:37.016 - I will tell the candidates when she says time. I believe you still have 10 seconds to finish your sentence 00:30:37.016 --> 00:30:44.782 - if you're in the middle of a sentence. We would go to Jim Graham next on that question. Yes. In my opening 00:30:44.782 --> 00:30:51.459 - statement, I spoke about people working tremendously hard and just barely making ends meet. 00:30:51.459 --> 00:30:57.918 - In some cases, not making ends meet and continuing to rack up unlivable amounts of debt. 00:30:58.210 --> 00:31:04.756 - And a big part of that is the cost of housing. If housing is scarce, rents are going to be more expensive. 00:31:04.756 --> 00:31:10.935 - And so we definitely, that's something we definitely need to work on. It's a problem that's a joint, 00:31:10.935 --> 00:31:17.603 - local, state, and federal. And I will point out that there are a bunch of federal programs already available 00:31:17.603 --> 00:31:20.478 - to improve housing and make housing available. 00:31:20.578 --> 00:31:27.272 - I think a lot of the work needs to be done at the local level on regulatory form zoning and other things 00:31:27.272 --> 00:31:33.965 - that cause the cost of housing to be so expensive. So I don't I think that, again, I think Congressional 00:31:33.965 --> 00:31:40.468 - Office needs to be a good clearinghouse to help developers find out what sort of low interest housing 00:31:40.468 --> 00:31:46.014 - information is available and funding is available to support their efforts. Thank you. 00:31:47.714 --> 00:31:55.852 - Thank you, Jim. Brad, would you like to answer that question now, please? Absolutely. So there's a couple 00:31:55.852 --> 00:32:03.683 - of things. First, you look at single-family homes, which I think is what mostly the other people were 00:32:03.683 --> 00:32:11.283 - talking about. We have to stop speculation by out-of-state companies. It's not appropriate. Sorry, 00:32:11.283 --> 00:32:16.350 - say again? Jeff Richardson and Sue Medlin, would you please mute? 00:32:16.834 --> 00:32:24.348 - your thank you. Thank you very much. You can go ahead, Brad. Thank you, ma'am. So we have to 00:32:24.348 --> 00:32:32.428 - stop speculation. Tariffs have driven up the cost of materials. So building new homes is expensive. 00:32:32.428 --> 00:32:35.902 - There's been federal policies that I won't 00:32:36.386 --> 00:32:43.583 - that don't incentivize people to build new homes. When you're talking about developers and we had that 00:32:43.583 --> 00:32:50.779 - in the past and it was very effective. And the other thing is earnings. Earnings have not kept up with 00:32:50.779 --> 00:32:57.976 - inflation and the average wage for an 18 to 34 year old in real terms has dropped by about 20%. That's 00:32:57.976 --> 00:33:05.662 - part of why they can't get into a new house. So we need to help first time buyers get in. But also, you know, 00:33:05.762 --> 00:33:13.207 - You talk about homelessness, it's not, although we have a massive housing shortage, mental illness needs 00:33:13.207 --> 00:33:20.369 - to be addressed. There are issues that even if we had lots of homes would still need to be addressed 00:33:20.369 --> 00:33:27.814 - to help with homelessness. Thank you, Brad. We have a couple of individuals in the queue who have second 00:33:27.814 --> 00:33:32.990 - questions. But I think before I do that, we had some questions submitted 00:33:33.122 --> 00:33:42.600 - by the Brown County high school students in the political science class of Emily Llewellyn. And I thought 00:33:42.600 --> 00:33:51.810 - we might sneak one of their questions in here. First of all, the question is, in what ways do you plan 00:33:51.810 --> 00:33:59.678 - to support rural public education? And I would direct that question first to Jim Grant, 00:34:04.578 --> 00:34:13.410 - education really is the source of the commonality that we are largely at all share in this country, 00:34:13.410 --> 00:34:22.595 - which has worked so well for 250 years. And it's now under stress. It's under stress from a whole bunch 00:34:22.595 --> 00:34:32.222 - of things from giving vouchers to non non public schools, from cutting budgets to schools, and to, you know, 00:34:32.482 --> 00:34:40.540 - an insufficient salaries for teachers. So public education, I feel, is so important to what makes this 00:34:40.540 --> 00:34:48.989 - country work that it needs to be a priority both in rural counties and in the urban areas. There's problems 00:34:48.989 --> 00:34:57.047 - both in both ways. And so I just think I'm very much against this proposal to eliminate the Department 00:34:57.047 --> 00:34:58.142 - of Education. 00:34:58.466 --> 00:35:05.100 - I think it does important things in terms of support for student loans. It does important things for 00:35:05.100 --> 00:35:11.734 - researching new educational methods and for also for tracking the performance of educational schools 00:35:11.734 --> 00:35:18.434 - with high schools and other schools within the country. So I think it would be a mistake to eliminate 00:35:18.434 --> 00:35:25.790 - that department. So that's my response. Thank you, Jim. I'd now turn to Brad Meyer to respond to that question. 00:35:31.234 --> 00:35:38.808 - You need to unmute Brad. Sorry, ma'am. Thank you. So about 90% of education funding and policy comes 00:35:38.808 --> 00:35:46.832 - from the state and constitutionally, that's what's required. The federal government through the Department 00:35:46.832 --> 00:35:54.407 - of Education does several things. One of them is they act as an important scorekeeper to let parents 00:35:54.407 --> 00:35:59.806 - know whether the education system is meeting the needs of the children. 00:35:59.938 --> 00:36:08.308 - There are also, and in the case of special needs kids, especially in rural communities, the federal 00:36:08.308 --> 00:36:16.844 - government supplies additional funding to help because local communities just don't have enough money 00:36:16.844 --> 00:36:26.302 - to provide education for special needs. That's primarily the bounds of federal policy on local education, but at 00:36:26.658 --> 00:36:34.966 - The state level, we also need to be helping with student loans, and we need to be trying to nudge the 00:36:34.966 --> 00:36:42.622 - states into getting back to their primary responsibilities for funding schools, which they've 00:36:42.622 --> 00:36:50.849 - been underfunding. Universities, only about 15% of funding comes from the state, and that's limiting 00:36:50.849 --> 00:36:56.062 - opportunity for people. Thank you, Brad. I now ask Kyle Rorick. 00:36:56.162 --> 00:37:02.994 - to respond to that question? Yeah, sure. So public education, I mean, let's just start with the big, 00:37:02.994 --> 00:37:10.164 - beautiful disaster of a bill taking, you know, cutting 13 billion over the next 10 years between Medicaid 00:37:10.164 --> 00:37:15.102 - and SNAP benefits. Obviously, I would want to repeal and replace the big 00:37:15.362 --> 00:37:21.804 - beautiful disaster of a bill and reinstate those SNAP benefits because those SNAP benefits are used 00:37:21.804 --> 00:37:28.826 - for elementary kids and middle school kids to help subsidize those meals. Obviously from a STEM perspective, 00:37:28.826 --> 00:37:35.332 - we need to pay teachers more. Can't get enough teachers in the STEM community, whether they're math, 00:37:35.332 --> 00:37:41.839 - engineering, or physicists to come and teach, we need to pay them more. Student loan forgiveness, we 00:37:41.839 --> 00:37:44.158 - need to continue to try to do that. 00:37:44.738 --> 00:37:51.686 - for folks who wanna go into teaching and support, and they work in a school for 10 years, they should 00:37:51.686 --> 00:37:58.635 - get student loan forgiveness. And then TAs, my wife is a teacher and I've discovered that through her 00:37:58.635 --> 00:38:05.515 - work that there's not enough teacher assistance, and especially in elementary schools that need that 00:38:05.515 --> 00:38:09.534 - additional support. And another thing just on a side note, 00:38:09.634 --> 00:38:17.116 - They've shown over time, over the last 16 years, the scores have been going in the negative direction. 00:38:17.116 --> 00:38:24.381 - And a lot of that is because we have too much digital technology in school. So I would advocate for 00:38:24.381 --> 00:38:31.645 - a no iPhone policy for schools. And I know I'll probably get lynched on that comment, but the truth 00:38:31.645 --> 00:38:38.910 - is there's too many distractions with these iPhones in these schools, middle school to high school. 00:38:39.554 --> 00:38:48.676 - Yeah, we need to continue to look at that as a policy. And I would advocate for no iPhones in public 00:38:48.676 --> 00:38:57.799 - high schools. Thank you. OK. Thank you very much. We now turn to the next individual in the queue. I 00:38:57.799 --> 00:39:07.102 - believe that Tracy Fawcett has another question. Tracy, I'd ask that you unmute and ask your question. 00:39:10.466 --> 00:39:19.187 - Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. So yesterday, excuse me, Trump said everyone who came within 200 feet of 00:39:19.187 --> 00:39:28.080 - the Oval Office will be fully pardoned for any crimes committed. So do you support Trump's impeachment 00:39:28.080 --> 00:39:37.232 - and any other means to ensure those in power get punished for the crimes they've committed? Hey, I direct 00:39:37.232 --> 00:39:40.254 - that question first to Brad Meyer. 00:39:43.298 --> 00:39:52.532 - So, yes, I'm in favor of impeaching Trump. The biggest thing for me is, I mean, there's a lot of reasons 00:39:52.532 --> 00:40:01.677 - to impeach him, but the fact is the Iran war is completely unconstitutional. The American people needed 00:40:01.677 --> 00:40:10.999 - an opportunity to weigh in of whether this was a war that we wanted done in our name, and he's completely 00:40:10.999 --> 00:40:12.318 - bypassed that. 00:40:12.418 --> 00:40:21.598 - bypassed other laws and usurped the responsibility of Congress, and Congress hasn't done their job. 00:40:21.598 --> 00:40:30.869 - So we need to impeach, we need to start having hearings, we need to hold these people accountable if 00:40:30.869 --> 00:40:41.150 - we're going to preserve our democracy. Thank you, Brad. I now direct that question to Kyle Rorick. Yes, I mean, 00:40:42.850 --> 00:40:50.602 - where do you start? I mean, he's been impeached twice. We all knew going in, he's going to be impeached 00:40:50.602 --> 00:40:58.056 - again and again. I mean, the American people, you know, we voted for this. I hate to say it, but we 00:40:58.056 --> 00:41:05.660 - voted for this. I mean, we all knew he was a convicted felon, legally a convicted felon. We knew this 00:41:05.660 --> 00:41:10.654 - was going to happen and it's happening. So, but what we can do to, 00:41:10.850 --> 00:41:19.141 - you know, deal with this situation and try for impeachment again, and hold those accountable where possible. 00:41:19.141 --> 00:41:27.128 - Now, he did say he's going to try to pardon all his underlings, and that probably will happen. And we'll 00:41:27.128 --> 00:41:34.430 - have to deal with that, and that's unfortunate. But as of right now, here's what we can do now. 00:41:35.330 --> 00:41:43.235 - If the Democratic Party takes back control, we can start impeaching the secretary of war. Well, we were 00:41:43.235 --> 00:41:51.064 - talking about impeaching Miss Bondi, but she got fired. But any of his undersecretaries that are doing 00:41:51.064 --> 00:41:59.121 - all the work, that are doing some shady things, we need to start investigating those folks and impeaching 00:41:59.121 --> 00:42:02.846 - those folks because he hasn't pardoned them yet. 00:42:04.002 --> 00:42:11.208 - He hasn't pardoned them yet. So we need to take a proactive approach to start to hold those folks accountable 00:42:11.208 --> 00:42:17.956 - now, effectively in January. That needs to be top priority because once he gets ready to leave office, 00:42:17.956 --> 00:42:24.507 - they'll be all pardoned. And then you can't hold them accountable after that. Thank you. Thank you, 00:42:24.507 --> 00:42:31.582 - Kyle. Jim, we'd now turn to you to answer that question. Thank you. And thank you, Tracy, for the question. 00:42:31.842 --> 00:42:39.777 - I think it points to a bigger issue of the need for government reform. There are tremendous ethics issues 00:42:39.777 --> 00:42:47.262 - within the Congress of individual members trading individual stocks. There's issues about needs for 00:42:47.262 --> 00:42:55.122 - ethics reform of the Supreme Court in terms of acceptance of gifts and conflict of interest. And there's 00:42:55.122 --> 00:43:00.062 - a big conflict of interest that goes forth in the pardon process. 00:43:00.226 --> 00:43:08.605 - This was really a holdover from the era of kings. And unfortunately, our framers never thought we would 00:43:08.605 --> 00:43:16.742 - elect somebody as malignant as Donald Trump. It was a failure of their imagination. But I think that 00:43:16.742 --> 00:43:24.638 - the pardon policy has been abused both by Democratic and Republican presidents over recent years. 00:43:24.770 --> 00:43:33.170 - Trump has just taken it to a new level, pardoning a convicted middle American drug lord, pardoning people 00:43:33.170 --> 00:43:41.173 - that has business ties to himself, of all things pardoning the people that rioted at the Capitol and 00:43:41.173 --> 00:43:49.336 - actually led to the death of police officers. That's just beyond the pale. There's certainly currently 00:43:49.336 --> 00:43:53.694 - something in Congress called the Pardon Integrity Act, 00:43:54.114 --> 00:44:02.351 - And I would certainly support that as a congressman. I think it's long overdue. Thank you, Tracy, for 00:44:02.351 --> 00:44:10.669 - your question. Thank you, Jim. And we would now turn to the next individual waiting to ask a question. 00:44:10.669 --> 00:44:14.142 - But I also want to remind everyone, please 00:44:14.338 --> 00:44:23.489 - Get your name in the queue if you have a question. There are a lot of important issues out there for 00:44:23.489 --> 00:44:33.456 - these individuals here to give you their opinions and impressions on, so don't hold back. The next individual 00:44:33.456 --> 00:44:36.990 - I would call upon is Kelton O'Connell. 00:44:37.090 --> 00:44:44.053 - Kelton, if you would unmute and ask your question, directing it first to Kyle Rourke. Thank you. I'm 00:44:44.053 --> 00:44:51.567 - a student at Bloomington High School North. I heard about the idea of banning cell phones in K-12 education. 00:44:51.567 --> 00:44:59.081 - Indiana passed Senate Bill 78, which bans phones entirely at schools. But I'm wondering what the candidates' 00:44:59.081 --> 00:45:05.630 - positions are on the underlying issue, which is social media companies and how they manipulate 00:45:05.986 --> 00:45:14.960 - youth and how that can affect our mental health. So what are candidates' positions on social media platforms 00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:23.522 - and how maybe that can be regulated more? Thanks. Thank you for that question, Kelton. And again, Kyle, 00:45:23.522 --> 00:45:32.084 - could you respond first? Yeah, you know, just recently I did see that there was a decision passed down. 00:45:32.084 --> 00:45:34.718 - I think Metta was getting sued. 00:45:34.850 --> 00:45:49.924 - for 400 million civil case. Well, it might not be just meta, but I think Google was in there as well 00:45:49.924 --> 00:45:59.774 - about meta. Oh, Kyle has frozen. While we wait to see if Kyle can 00:46:00.034 --> 00:46:08.117 - reengage. Why don't we turn to Jim Graham? Would you please respond to Kelton's question? Yes. 00:46:08.117 --> 00:46:16.711 - Thank you, Kelton, for that question. I think we've all become aware that social media and certainly 00:46:16.711 --> 00:46:19.774 - social media in conjunction with AI 00:46:19.970 --> 00:46:27.081 - poses a great risk to our youth. And it's a big oversight that we haven't addressed this more forcefully 00:46:27.081 --> 00:46:34.193 - before now. I, like Kyle, was happy to see the decision against Meta and Google for not providing better 00:46:34.193 --> 00:46:41.101 - safeguards for minors in terms of use of their technology. And it's certainly something that Congress 00:46:41.101 --> 00:46:44.894 - is going to have to investigate in depth going forward. 00:46:45.218 --> 00:46:53.880 - I think that we've kind of let the people in Silicon Valley get away with harmful activities too long 00:46:53.880 --> 00:47:03.051 - with AI coming on. It doesn't even work in a lot of cases. It has these solution nations where it generates 00:47:03.051 --> 00:47:10.014 - completely false returns. And so to not have guardrails on the development of AI, 00:47:10.178 --> 00:47:18.088 - would be a tremendous mistake and has to be addressed by the next Congress. I would be a person that 00:47:18.088 --> 00:47:26.311 - could do that. Thank you for that response, Jim. Until Kyle comes back, I will stay in this order. Brad, 00:47:26.311 --> 00:47:34.455 - would you like to answer that question, please? Yes. There are great benefits to social media for young 00:47:34.455 --> 00:47:37.118 - people, and there are also risks. 00:47:38.210 --> 00:47:47.286 - As they grow from youth to young adults into adulthood, we need to provide increasing or decreasing 00:47:47.286 --> 00:47:56.816 - controls. But the younger you are, the more protections you need. And there are some predatory behaviors 00:47:56.816 --> 00:48:05.438 - that social media has to bring in business that really need to be reviewed under antitrust and 00:48:05.538 --> 00:48:13.745 - the predatory nature of some of these practices have shown been really dangerous and causing a lot of 00:48:13.745 --> 00:48:22.192 - distress for young people and a lot of anxiety for parents. Other countries, Australia has, and European 00:48:22.192 --> 00:48:30.238 - countries have digital rights that we do not, and those companies operate under those successfully. 00:48:30.338 --> 00:48:38.675 - So they can do it here as well. They just choose not to and Congress doesn't hold them to the standard 00:48:38.675 --> 00:48:47.013 - that they should. Thank you very much for that response. We will now be turning to the next individual 00:48:47.013 --> 00:48:55.269 - in the queue, which is Maria Douglas has another question and she is the last one we have in line. So 00:48:55.269 --> 00:49:00.126 - please make sure to get in line if you have some questions. 00:49:00.290 --> 00:49:09.058 - Maria, if you would like to unmute and ask your question and direct it first of all to Jim Graham. Again, 00:49:09.058 --> 00:49:17.743 - thank you so much. A couple comments first. Kelton, pride of Bloomington North. Great question and thank 00:49:17.743 --> 00:49:26.098 - you for pointing out that our state legislature, which ended in February, had passed that cell phone 00:49:26.098 --> 00:49:28.414 - ban. I'm also happy to hear 00:49:28.514 --> 00:49:37.616 - that we are not condemning social media entirely because I've heard several of you talk about education 00:49:37.616 --> 00:49:46.368 - being important. And one of the reasons why we have a high dropout rate is because education is not 00:49:46.368 --> 00:49:55.119 - keeping up with keeping students engaged. Okay, so my question is, I am more interested in systemic 00:49:55.119 --> 00:49:58.270 - change. It is high time, past time. 00:49:58.370 --> 00:50:06.893 - None of these issues, housing, healthcare, things like that, none of these challenges happened overnight. 00:50:06.893 --> 00:50:15.014 - So I am curious about your thoughts and plans, not thoughts. I would be curious about your plans for 00:50:15.014 --> 00:50:22.734 - systemic change, and then I'd also be curious to know what your theory of change is. Thank you. 00:50:22.734 --> 00:50:25.950 - All right. Thank you for that question. 00:50:26.082 --> 00:50:34.818 - We turn first of all to Jim Graham. Yeah. And I was going to ask if Maria could repeat the last part 00:50:34.818 --> 00:50:43.726 - of her question. I didn't get it. You're interested in what my plans are for systemic change and what? 00:50:43.726 --> 00:50:52.376 - Yes. Thank you. What your theory of change is. Oh, my theory of change. OK. Very good. So this is a 00:50:52.376 --> 00:50:55.230 - good political science question. 00:50:55.522 --> 00:51:02.524 - You know, I'm an engineer, so I'm not as knowledgeable as possibly I should be in that area. You do 00:51:02.524 --> 00:51:09.597 - bring up an important issue, and that is, you know, what we can do as young legislators. We're going 00:51:09.597 --> 00:51:16.739 - to be first time there. We're kind of at the bottom of the queue. There's, you know, I think it's one 00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:18.910 - of the important things is for 00:51:22.562 --> 00:51:29.250 - is for us to get to know the other legislators on both sides of the party and start to work together 00:51:29.250 --> 00:51:36.070 - for common sense solutions to our problems. I think that that's the best way that we're actually going 00:51:36.070 --> 00:51:42.890 - to move forward. It used to be, I can remember when others, even sides of the party could really argue 00:51:42.890 --> 00:51:48.254 - about a point, but then could come together and come up with workable solutions. 00:51:48.354 --> 00:51:54.091 - We've forgotten that because a few years ago, a group of people ran for Congress on the thing that they 00:51:54.091 --> 00:51:59.717 - would not compromise with the other side. And that's one of the worst, that's beside Citizens United, 00:51:59.717 --> 00:52:03.358 - that's one of the worst things that's happened to our government. 00:52:03.458 --> 00:52:09.879 - because compromise is not a dirty word, it's how things get done. And if I were elected to Congress, 00:52:09.879 --> 00:52:16.236 - that would be one of my key things is to try to find places where we can have win-win solutions and 00:52:16.236 --> 00:52:22.783 - start attacking some of these critical problems we have such as immigration, such as secure and social 00:52:22.783 --> 00:52:29.585 - security and Medicare, such as affordable housing. So to me, that's the answer is the return to reasonable 00:52:29.585 --> 00:52:32.446 - bipartisan discussion and finding solutions. 00:52:32.674 --> 00:52:41.136 - for everybody. OK. Thank you very much for that response, Jim. I'm going to ask Brad Meyer to respond 00:52:41.136 --> 00:52:50.013 - to this question. And then Maria, I'm going to ask you to repeat the question since Kyle has just rejoined 00:52:50.013 --> 00:52:58.558 - us. And then he can have an opportunity to respond as well. Brad, would you please give your response? 00:52:59.202 --> 00:53:08.545 - Thank you, Maria. This is a wonderful question. And it's the heart of the question of electability here 00:53:08.545 --> 00:53:17.438 - in southern Indiana. My position is that we need to actually be fighting for systemic change. When 00:53:17.698 --> 00:53:24.057 - And I'm not against bipartisanship. I'm not against compromise. But the fact is we need to stand firm 00:53:24.057 --> 00:53:30.915 - on what we believe and what our values are. We need to be working for these changes. We need to be advocating 00:53:30.915 --> 00:53:37.274 - for these changes. And if we start out by saying, we're going to run to the middle and we're going to 00:53:37.274 --> 00:53:43.633 - try to snuggle up next to the other side, that isn't the beginning of a bargain. That's the beginning 00:53:43.633 --> 00:53:46.750 - of capitulation. So my theory is, and my plan is, 00:53:47.106 --> 00:53:54.324 - is to reach out to voters from the other side and show them that our ways are better and in their best 00:53:54.324 --> 00:54:01.752 - interest and get them to come over and vote for us instead of trying to be softer and soften and undercut 00:54:01.752 --> 00:54:09.110 - our own positions. For systemic change, I'm advocating for not just universal healthcare, I'm advocating 00:54:09.110 --> 00:54:14.366 - for a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right of healthcare for 00:54:14.498 --> 00:54:21.772 - federal budgeting, I'm advocating for a balanced budget amendment that forces Congress and the government 00:54:21.772 --> 00:54:28.977 - to act responsibly. And I'm advocating for an immigration policy that changes immigration to an economic 00:54:28.977 --> 00:54:36.388 - question so that we can begin to deal or communicate with the other side of why it's in their best interest 00:54:36.388 --> 00:54:40.574 - to allow controlled immigration. We need to be reaching out. 00:54:42.626 --> 00:54:51.577 - Thank you very much, Brad. And welcome back, Kyle. I'm going to have Maria repeat her questions so that 00:54:51.577 --> 00:54:58.462 - you have an opportunity to respond. Oh, man, I hope I remember what I said. OK. 00:55:00.098 --> 00:55:08.988 - So I don't know if Kyle was on when Kelton pointed out that the cell phone, that our state legislature 00:55:08.988 --> 00:55:17.706 - already passed a cell phone ban in the legislature that ended in February. So, Kel, I know you don't 00:55:17.706 --> 00:55:26.424 - have to worry necessarily about that anymore. Also, my question was that I am interested in systemic 00:55:26.424 --> 00:55:29.790 - change, housing crisis, mental health, 00:55:30.114 --> 00:55:38.379 - uh, healthcare has not, these challenges have not happened overnight. And so, like I said, I'm interested 00:55:38.379 --> 00:55:46.643 - in systemic change. And so I'm curious about what your plans are for systemic change and what your theory 00:55:46.643 --> 00:55:54.596 - of change is. Kyle, yes. Systemic change. Okay. What, in which area, um, are we, are we talking about 00:55:54.596 --> 00:55:59.742 - mental health? Are we talking about childcare? Are we talking to, 00:56:00.002 --> 00:56:07.917 - Can you be more a little bit more specific in what in an area? I'm not sure that I need to be specific 00:56:07.917 --> 00:56:15.754 - in in a in an area. Just overall systemic change would maybe think about what what that means to you. 00:56:15.754 --> 00:56:23.669 - What how you're going to address what your plans are to to and so you could pick you could choose what 00:56:23.669 --> 00:56:29.278 - what area you want to be specific about if you would like. Yeah, OK, so. 00:56:29.538 --> 00:56:38.039 - I'll just start with issue identification of the constituents here in the night. So it's obviously 00:56:38.039 --> 00:56:46.970 - affordability, educational access, governmental oversight, right? So if you just go to those top three, 00:56:46.970 --> 00:56:55.386 - my goal is to figure out from an economic perspective how to ease the pressure on grocery prices, 00:56:55.386 --> 00:56:57.790 - gas prices, housing prices. 00:56:58.498 --> 00:57:06.270 - And I talked a little bit earlier about the housing issue, but basically we have a supply issue with 00:57:06.270 --> 00:57:14.273 - housing. We need to provide housing subsidies to encourage folks, developers to get access to basically 00:57:14.273 --> 00:57:22.275 - develop property at a reasonable price at a reasonable cost. So that's kind of a tidbit on the housing. 00:57:22.275 --> 00:57:26.046 - And then obviously wages, wages have to come up. 00:57:26.594 --> 00:57:34.983 - It's $7.25, they need to go up north of 15, maybe even $18 an hour. I'm a pragmatist, we'd probably 00:57:34.983 --> 00:57:43.874 - land at 15. But with all these issues I'm talking about, it really comes down to developing relationships 00:57:43.874 --> 00:57:52.263 - once you get in office and trying to build legislation. So for example, Congressman Baruch develops 00:57:52.263 --> 00:57:55.870 - a piece of legislation, I author it, boom. 00:57:56.322 --> 00:58:02.730 - I have to go around and work with all the other House of Representatives to get them to buy onto the 00:58:02.730 --> 00:58:09.137 - bill. They will co-sponsor the bill and build those relationships to build that support. That has to 00:58:09.137 --> 00:58:15.481 - be passed. And then of course the Senate has to debate the legislation. They have to pass. And then 00:58:15.481 --> 00:58:22.206 - obviously it will go to the president for signing. But that's the job about change. You have to have that 00:58:23.074 --> 00:58:30.124 - that personality, that relationship skill set to be able to build those relationships. And if you don't 00:58:30.124 --> 00:58:36.903 - have that skill set, you're not gonna be able to build relationships to get things done. That's the 00:58:36.903 --> 00:58:43.682 - job. So hopefully I've helped explain my change theory and how I present myself in that role. Okay, 00:58:43.682 --> 00:58:47.614 - thank you very much for responding back to that question. 00:58:47.778 --> 00:58:56.570 - I have had a request from Jim Graham to do another round on this question. We don't normally do that, 00:58:56.570 --> 00:59:05.275 - but if all three candidates would like to have another minute to expound on this particular topic, I 00:59:05.275 --> 00:59:14.153 - will do that. Otherwise, we'll move on to the next question. Do either Kyle or Brad wish to answer any 00:59:14.153 --> 00:59:17.342 - further on this particular question? 00:59:20.258 --> 00:59:29.347 - I mean, sure. I mean, I can expound a little bit more. I mean, though, it all comes back to those top 00:59:29.347 --> 00:59:38.881 - three, affordability, educational access. I think I hit on affordability a little bit. Educational access. 00:59:38.881 --> 00:59:48.058 - We really need to provide subsidies for Ivy Tech, for example, folks who want to go to be electrician, 00:59:48.058 --> 00:59:49.662 - be a pipe fitter. 00:59:49.794 --> 00:59:56.866 - be a plumber. We need to make those educational tuition benefit, those prices a little bit lower through 00:59:56.866 --> 01:00:03.602 - subsidies. So because I think that's critical. So folks can get access to that educational program. 01:00:03.602 --> 01:00:10.607 - They can come out of that. They'll secure a degree and get a high paying skill trades job. Okay. That's 01:00:10.607 --> 01:00:17.342 - important. Another program. Say you want to go be a phlebotomist, you know, a medical tech program. 01:00:17.730 --> 01:00:24.682 - you know, at IU and Columbus, right? And you get a two-year degree. You have a hard time paying that 01:00:24.682 --> 01:00:31.840 - tuition. And the government comes in and says, listen, this is a high-demand area. Skill trades is high 01:00:31.840 --> 01:00:38.792 - demand. So is medical. We're going to help subsidize that program to get you access to that program. 01:00:38.792 --> 01:00:45.950 - So when you graduate, you can get that high-paying medical position. So I'd advocate for those policies 01:00:46.370 --> 01:00:53.689 - that help folks get into that next level of income of wages that'll help support their families. 01:00:53.689 --> 01:01:01.612 - Thank you. Okay. Jim, what did you want to add to your response to this question? Yes, thank you, Sonny. 01:01:01.612 --> 01:01:09.610 - To me, this brings up the key issue of electability. We've lost this race eight times. Many of the things 01:01:09.610 --> 01:01:14.590 - that have been mentioned today have been brought up and rejected. 01:01:14.690 --> 01:01:21.068 - by the voters soundly, eight times. I think it's time for a new playbook. And I think the answer is 01:01:21.068 --> 01:01:27.446 - that we work, that we focus on bipartisanship, on solving our problems together, rather than hoping 01:01:27.446 --> 01:01:33.377 - that people are gonna change their mind after voting eight times against a lot of the things 01:01:33.377 --> 01:01:40.201 - we're suggesting. So I think we gotta be reasonable and get off of fantasy island and get back to actually 01:01:40.201 --> 01:01:43.390 - talking about things that appeal to independence, 01:01:43.554 --> 01:01:49.574 - appeal to a fraction of the Republicans because that's the only way you're going to get a plurality 01:01:49.574 --> 01:01:55.595 - of the votes in this district. It's been proven time and time again. I feel sometimes like we're on 01:01:55.595 --> 01:02:01.856 - Groundhog's Day only without the happy ending. Thank you. Jim, thank you. Brad, would you like to weigh 01:02:01.856 --> 01:02:08.117 - in with a little more information on this topic? I would very much like to weigh in on this topic. This 01:02:08.117 --> 01:02:12.030 - is the heart of the difference that has to be picked on May 5th. 01:02:12.322 --> 01:02:19.103 - So there are people who should go nameless, Jim, that are explicitly saying that we need to approach 01:02:19.103 --> 01:02:26.086 - it one way and I'm saying we are not. We have been losing for a long time. We've been losing for a long 01:02:26.086 --> 01:02:33.068 - time because Democrats have really good ideas and frankly do a crappy job of selling it because we talk 01:02:33.068 --> 01:02:40.118 - about it out of our feelings and how we feel about it and our sense of morality instead of talking about 01:02:40.118 --> 01:02:41.662 - it from self-interest. 01:02:41.794 --> 01:02:47.521 - the self-interest of the voters, why it's important to them, how it's important to them. And all of 01:02:47.521 --> 01:02:52.846 - these arguments about we can't do this and we can't do that, they said it about food safety, 01:02:52.846 --> 01:02:58.687 - women's rights, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, civil rights, and the right to choose. All of 01:02:58.687 --> 01:03:04.586 - these things we had to fight for. And we're not fighting near hard enough. And the reason we're losing 01:03:04.586 --> 01:03:10.942 - isn't because we aren't fighting, it's because we think fighting is a strongly written letter to the Congress. 01:03:11.074 --> 01:03:18.841 - from Congress to the president. We need to stand up for our rights because we're never going to press 01:03:18.841 --> 01:03:26.532 - forward if we don't. The systemic change that Maria's talking about is what we need in this country, 01:03:26.532 --> 01:03:34.146 - and it's going to attract voters. Voters want courage. Thank all three of you for your responses on 01:03:34.146 --> 01:03:36.126 - that particular question. 01:03:36.418 --> 01:03:42.023 - Can't make any more exceptions, Kyle, sorry. I didn't get a chance to weigh in on the electability part. 01:03:42.023 --> 01:03:43.838 - That's the only thing I'm saying. 01:03:44.098 --> 01:03:52.308 - Well, you can perhaps address that in your final remarks. We're going to move on to the next questioner, 01:03:52.308 --> 01:04:00.283 - who is Pat Slabach. I will advise everyone that he is the last individual that's in the queue at this 01:04:00.283 --> 01:04:08.258 - point in time. We just have about 26 minutes left. If you have a question to ask, make sure to get in 01:04:08.258 --> 01:04:09.118 - the queue. 01:04:09.730 --> 01:04:17.487 - Excuse me, Pat, I will ask you to unmute and ask your question, directing it first of all to Brad Meyer. 01:04:17.487 --> 01:04:19.038 - Hi, can you hear me? 01:04:20.066 --> 01:04:27.329 - Yes. Yes, I can hear you. Great. I think you've already said something that I was asking that the District 01:04:27.329 --> 01:04:34.660 - 9 has not elected a Democrat for eight election cycles, which is very discouraging to me. I'm a progressive 01:04:34.660 --> 01:04:41.584 - Democrat and I'm looking for change. So why are you the best candidate who can actually win? And what 01:04:41.584 --> 01:04:47.422 - are you doing to assure that? Thank you for that question. Go ahead, Brad. I'm sorry. 01:04:47.778 --> 01:04:54.086 - This comes down to the question of electability. And years ago when Trump was first running. I was talking 01:04:54.086 --> 01:05:00.217 - to a guy, complete stranger and he said you know he said I don't know whether I want to vote for Bernie 01:05:00.217 --> 01:05:06.112 - Sanders or Donald Trump, but I want, and I said you know they're diametrically opposed he said yeah 01:05:06.112 --> 01:05:07.998 - but I want something different. 01:05:08.258 --> 01:05:14.972 - alternatives to what people are seeing. The people that are struggling don't want our sympathy. They 01:05:14.972 --> 01:05:21.952 - want their problems fixed. We need to be advocating for a $20 an hour minimum wage and the first $20,000 01:05:21.952 --> 01:05:28.600 - free and universal health care, Medicare for all, that's going to really make a concrete difference 01:05:28.600 --> 01:05:33.054 - in people's lives. That's what electability is going to be because 01:05:33.506 --> 01:05:40.718 - You know, the meek may inherit the earth, but they're never going to take back the house. We need to 01:05:40.718 --> 01:05:47.716 - show courage and we need to stand up for our values and our priorities. And we're not doing that. 01:05:47.716 --> 01:05:54.927 - Thank you, Brad. I'd now turn to Kyle and ask you to unmute and respond to the question. Yeah, yeah. 01:05:54.927 --> 01:06:02.782 - So there's two issues here that have led to the last seven, eight election cycles, us getting beat, handling. 01:06:03.522 --> 01:06:11.788 - One, the Republican party is really, really good at labeling, and it's kind of our fault too, labeling 01:06:11.788 --> 01:06:19.813 - the candidate that we put up as woke or too progressive or too liberal, right? They're very good at 01:06:19.813 --> 01:06:28.159 - that, right? Okay, maybe it's justified, maybe it's not. Okay, fair. Two, the economy. The economy has, 01:06:28.159 --> 01:06:33.054 - it's kind of like, you don't have any lock on the front door 01:06:33.154 --> 01:06:38.597 - until somebody breaks into your house and then you decide to put a lock on. That's what's happening 01:06:38.597 --> 01:06:44.040 - with the Republican folks. They have like, whoa, I got to wake up. My gas prices are up. My housing 01:06:44.040 --> 01:06:49.537 - prices are up. My gas, all these different pricing issues are impacting them. So now they're looking 01:06:49.537 --> 01:06:55.198 - for a reason to vote for Democrat, but it has to be the right reason, the right Democrat, that centrist 01:06:55.198 --> 01:07:01.022 - Democrat who wants to put more money in their pockets. Period. It's that simple. They don't want to think, 01:07:01.186 --> 01:07:09.477 - As soon as we start talking about being progressive or Medicare for all or other issues that are on 01:07:09.477 --> 01:07:18.101 - centrist to put more money in pockets, you lose that Republican voter. You lose that independent voter. 01:07:18.101 --> 01:07:26.475 - They wanna know what you're gonna do for them right now. I believe that is the central issue between 01:07:26.475 --> 01:07:30.206 - deciding my candidacy or Brad or potentially 01:07:30.306 --> 01:07:37.090 - I feel I'm the best person, obviously, to bring that message home in the general. And I believe I'm 01:07:37.090 --> 01:07:43.942 - the only one, you know, between myself and Jim, Jim and I are pretty close on a lot of these issues, 01:07:43.942 --> 01:07:50.930 - but definitely we're big golf between, you know, myself and the other and Brad. Brad's a good man, but 01:07:50.930 --> 01:07:54.526 - we just have a difference there. And I truly believe 01:07:55.074 --> 01:08:01.009 - The Republican and an independent, that's what they're looking for. They're looking for that centrist 01:08:01.009 --> 01:08:06.827 - voter in that background like myself, who's I worked on assembly line. I put myself through college 01:08:06.827 --> 01:08:12.762 - eight, nine years. I was in the Navy for 11 years. So I'm that person. It's focused, hyper-focused on 01:08:12.762 --> 01:08:18.930 - the economy and trying to provide more money in people's pockets, period. It's that simple. And I believe 01:08:18.930 --> 01:08:23.934 - I can bring home that message and bring home those independent and Republican voters. 01:08:25.474 --> 01:08:32.149 - Thank you, Kyle. Jim, would you like to respond to that question now? Yes, I think I'm the best candidate 01:08:32.149 --> 01:08:38.762 - because I've lived over half my life in this district. I spent over two years traveling around, visiting 01:08:38.762 --> 01:08:45.689 - with people in the district before I decided to actually enter this race. In those hundreds of conversations, 01:08:45.689 --> 01:08:52.112 - the thing that came up loud and strong was the economics, the personal economics. I'm struggling, but 01:08:52.112 --> 01:08:55.198 - my family's not making it. There's no jobs here. 01:08:55.426 --> 01:09:02.017 - in this community for my kids. My kids are gonna have to go someplace else. And I agree with Kyle 100% 01:09:02.017 --> 01:09:08.608 - that the message is economics. The other thing I think is that we have to, I'll repeat myself, we have 01:09:08.608 --> 01:09:15.007 - to have a message that's gonna be accepted to independents and some Republicans. And those hundreds 01:09:15.007 --> 01:09:21.406 - of conversations, I did not have one person indicate that they felt we needed universal healthcare. 01:09:21.922 --> 01:09:27.524 - If I brought up the issue of health care and would you support universal health care, maybe one in 10 01:09:27.524 --> 01:09:33.015 - said, well, maybe the rest felt like it was a government overreach, a government takeover of health 01:09:33.015 --> 01:09:38.617 - care that they would be worried about and would not support. And I don't think we ought to be turning 01:09:38.617 --> 01:09:44.218 - away potential voters right off the bat. So I think we got to get realistic about working and finding 01:09:44.218 --> 01:09:49.710 - those independents and finding those Republicans, not what we think everybody should want, but what 01:09:49.710 --> 01:09:51.742 - the voters actually want. Thank you. 01:09:53.922 --> 01:10:02.632 - Thank you very much, Jim. Well, there does not appear to be anyone in the queue at this point in time. 01:10:02.632 --> 01:10:11.088 - So I'm going to pick another question from the list of questions submitted by the Brown County High 01:10:11.088 --> 01:10:19.713 - School political science class. Please give an example of how you have worked with people on opposing 01:10:19.713 --> 01:10:22.334 - sides to accomplish something. 01:10:23.618 --> 01:10:32.673 - So I would direct that question first to Kyle. Oh, boy. Woo. That's a great question. I was in the military 01:10:32.673 --> 01:10:41.392 - for 11 years. I've been in the private sector for 20 plus years, 25 plus years. I would say the biggest 01:10:41.392 --> 01:10:50.112 - example is when I was in the military. I mean, you always have competing views on providing a solution. 01:10:50.112 --> 01:10:53.214 - I'm an electrical engineer by trade. 01:10:54.530 --> 01:11:00.936 - So it was always in situations where we want to build something faster, quickly and under cost. Um, 01:11:00.936 --> 01:11:07.343 - and you want it to work over five to 10 years without bad things happening at breaking and causing, 01:11:07.343 --> 01:11:14.133 - uh, harm to somebody. So there was always a competing views on different things on how we should approach 01:11:14.133 --> 01:11:20.988 - a problem, how we should solve the problem, how we should providing me meaningful solution to that problem 01:11:20.988 --> 01:11:22.974 - and who's going to pay for it. 01:11:23.458 --> 01:11:29.727 - And so I really think what you have to do is everybody's got their own personal perspective on how to 01:11:29.727 --> 01:11:36.241 - solve a problem. But you have to have empathy. I think that is the key as a congressional representative. 01:11:36.241 --> 01:11:42.817 - You have to be able to put yourself in that other person's shoes and understand their perspective. Because 01:11:42.817 --> 01:11:49.086 - if you can't understand the perspective, you're not going to build that rapport in that relationship. 01:11:49.218 --> 01:11:56.296 - that is gonna bring them on board with a piece of legislation you wanna put forward to get it passed. 01:11:56.296 --> 01:12:03.304 - And if you understand empathy, I think you can build those relationships and you can bring that best 01:12:03.304 --> 01:12:10.312 - solution to that problem to bear. I think the problem in Congress a lot of times is pride. Everybody 01:12:10.312 --> 01:12:18.014 - thinks they know everything about everything. And the reality is, is nobody knows everything about everything. 01:12:18.146 --> 01:12:25.975 - You have to find the solution to the problem, figure it out quickly, and help people's lives, make things 01:12:25.975 --> 01:12:33.435 - better for them. And that's it the other day. That's what your goal is to do, improve people's lives 01:12:33.435 --> 01:12:40.822 - in our congressional district. Thank you. Thank you, Kyle. I would next direct that question to Jim 01:12:40.822 --> 01:12:44.958 - Graham. Yes, that's what I spent most of my life doing. 01:12:45.346 --> 01:12:52.354 - is working with people, strong-willed people with disparate views and coming together for solutions. 01:12:52.354 --> 01:12:59.432 - I did that when I was a process engineer with General Motors, trying to get the UAW to accept changes 01:12:59.432 --> 01:13:06.718 - in the way things were produced in the plant. I did that when I was a department chair at the University 01:13:06.718 --> 01:13:12.894 - of Louisville and dealing with 22 PhDs, all of whom had egos. And in all of these cases, 01:13:12.994 --> 01:13:21.084 - I was able to come up with solutions that actually worked. I think that bipartisanship, working together 01:13:21.084 --> 01:13:28.866 - with solving problems, has to be our way forward in this country. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. I would 01:13:28.866 --> 01:13:31.486 - now direct that question to Brad. 01:13:31.874 --> 01:13:38.640 - All three of us have had long careers. I spent 25 years in manufacturing leadership roles, and I spent 01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:45.668 - nine years as a subject matter expert as a civilian for the Navy. And you always run into these situations 01:13:45.668 --> 01:13:52.894 - where there are competing interests. Different organizations or subgroups always have different perspectives, 01:13:52.894 --> 01:13:59.462 - and they're trying to maximize the good for them, and they sometimes forget that they're needing to 01:13:59.462 --> 01:14:01.630 - maximize the good for everybody. 01:14:01.826 --> 01:14:09.950 - And my approach in general is when things start to get heated and there's conflict, I stop talking and 01:14:09.950 --> 01:14:18.310 - I listen. And I've been listening. I've had two universal healthcare forums, five round table discussions 01:14:18.310 --> 01:14:26.275 - with experts and 15 town halls to listen to what people are thinking and what they're worried about. 01:14:26.275 --> 01:14:27.774 - And Kyle is right. 01:14:28.098 --> 01:14:35.894 - that empathy is important, but you have to understand where they're coming from and then help them understand 01:14:35.894 --> 01:14:43.477 - that we're trying to maximize the overall good, not just the good for one or another group. And eventually 01:14:43.477 --> 01:14:51.202 - people come to the table and work it out. And that's the heart of compromise. So I'm talking about fighting, 01:14:51.202 --> 01:14:52.478 - but it's not just 01:14:52.770 --> 01:15:01.366 - yelling at each other. It's about advocating for a position and helping to find that common ground that 01:15:01.366 --> 01:15:09.631 - both sides can live with that makes a difference and moves the ball forward. That's what leadership 01:15:09.631 --> 01:15:17.566 - is about. Great question. Thank you, Brad. We do have a question that was posted in chat by MW. 01:15:17.762 --> 01:15:27.143 - And that individual asked if I could address this question to the three of you. What is your view of 01:15:27.143 --> 01:15:36.709 - the growing incarceration system, such as seen currently with detention camps? And I would direct that 01:15:36.709 --> 01:15:47.390 - question first to Jim. Yeah. Thank you, Sunny. And so the United States has one of the highest incarceration rates 01:15:47.746 --> 01:15:54.716 - of any developed nation. And I think that has not served us well. We've already had the issue about 01:15:54.716 --> 01:16:01.756 - repeat offenders and that people are not getting the education and the skills they need so that they 01:16:01.756 --> 01:16:08.935 - can make it in the outside world. I think that the idea that private industry or private organizations 01:16:08.935 --> 01:16:16.114 - can run prisons better well than the government, I don't think that's been proven. I think it's mainly 01:16:16.114 --> 01:16:17.438 - put a lot of money 01:16:17.666 --> 01:16:27.733 - in a lot of pockets. And so I think that we certainly need to restudy our imprisonment system. I'm totally 01:16:27.733 --> 01:16:37.329 - against the mass imprisonment under ICE. I think that arresting people that have simply come here for 01:16:37.329 --> 01:16:46.078 - a better life and have lived here peacefully, again, is not serving us well. It's making us, 01:16:46.722 --> 01:16:54.407 - look bad in the world. And I just think that it's unfair, and it's against my personal Christian values. 01:16:54.407 --> 01:17:02.239 - So I'm definitely 100% opposed to the ICE incarceration, high incarceration. You know, elect the criminal, 01:17:02.239 --> 01:17:09.777 - I mean, arrest the criminals, but don't incarcerate the rest of the people. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. 01:17:09.777 --> 01:17:14.974 - And I appreciate that you covered both privatization of incarceration, 01:17:15.106 --> 01:17:23.118 - plus the immigration aspect of detentions, because I do believe the questioner wanted to have both of 01:17:23.118 --> 01:17:31.287 - those issues addressed. And I say that for clarification as I turn to Brad to answer the question next. 01:17:31.287 --> 01:17:39.535 - Thank you. One of the first things I did in my campaign, and I mentioned this before, is I led a protest 01:17:39.535 --> 01:17:41.342 - against Camp Atterbury 01:17:41.474 --> 01:17:50.152 - not against Camp Atterbury, but against the policy of using Camp Atterbury. And we had 500 people there. 01:17:50.152 --> 01:17:58.996 - We got national press with Rachel Maddow. We need, and that's only a small part of the, it's an expression 01:17:58.996 --> 01:18:03.294 - of a bad immigration policy that needs to be fixed. 01:18:03.906 --> 01:18:11.282 - We need to work on not just the symptom, which is the detention, we need to work on the overall policy 01:18:11.282 --> 01:18:19.016 - and break this 40-year logjam on immigration. There's a way forward. And it's on my website, bradmeyer.org. 01:18:19.016 --> 01:18:23.742 - The second thing is, again, 75% of the people that are in prisons 01:18:23.842 --> 01:18:31.477 - going to get out, and 50% of those reoffend. So we're clearly not addressing recidivism, which is an 01:18:31.477 --> 01:18:39.036 - important aspect, and the answer isn't making a profit off of people that are being incarcerated. I 01:18:39.036 --> 01:18:46.142 - don't think that if you're trying to make a profit, I don't think your interest is in helping 01:18:46.818 --> 01:18:54.717 - find a way for these people to become productive members of society. I think it's to minimize cost and 01:18:54.717 --> 01:19:02.692 - maximize profit while they're in your control, not care. So I think we've got real problems to address. 01:19:02.692 --> 01:19:10.361 - And when I get in Congress, I'm going to be working on that. Thank you, Brad. We'd now turn to Kyle 01:19:10.361 --> 01:19:15.422 - for his response. Yeah, so relative to the private incarceration, 01:19:15.682 --> 01:19:24.217 - Um, you know, I'm a proponent of alternatives, uh, to, uh, private incarcerate alternatives to, to do 01:19:24.217 --> 01:19:32.585 - judicial punishment basically for nonviolent offenders. Um, so we talked a little bit earlier about 01:19:32.585 --> 01:19:41.205 - probation. We've talked, uh, about reducing, um, uh, cash bail opportunities for nonviolent offenders. 01:19:41.205 --> 01:19:43.966 - We've talked about house arrest. 01:19:44.514 --> 01:19:53.921 - You know, there's other forms of providing relief to incarceration for folks who, instead of going to 01:19:53.921 --> 01:20:03.144 - jail, basically, these are some things they can do to provide correction. I see that as a necessary 01:20:03.144 --> 01:20:13.566 - thing to, you know, to deal with the recidivism issue. Also, we need to look at folks who actually get sentenced 01:20:13.890 --> 01:20:21.903 - What are we doing in jail, right? Are we providing trades, trades training, any kind of training to 01:20:21.903 --> 01:20:30.476 - help them so when they leave the judicial system, the prison system, that they can actually make a living. 01:20:30.476 --> 01:20:38.649 - They can get out and get a job and provide some kind of meaningful income. In terms of the ICE piece, 01:20:38.649 --> 01:20:41.534 - I really think it all comes down to 01:20:41.730 --> 01:20:49.349 - E-Verify, that's why we have the problem we have now. E-Verify is a system where it basically requires 01:20:49.349 --> 01:20:57.116 - tracking of your immigration status while you're in this country. And it requires employers to basically 01:20:57.116 --> 01:21:04.588 - sign you up and requires you to pay taxes. And if you don't pay your taxes and you don't track these 01:21:04.588 --> 01:21:09.470 - employees who are actually here working, then you will get fined. 01:21:09.890 --> 01:21:16.572 - you would get fined. The government would come in and, you know, for example, if you're a meat packing 01:21:16.572 --> 01:21:23.189 - plant, you would get fined for not having all these employees have an e-verified number. And I really 01:21:23.189 --> 01:21:29.936 - think it all comes back to money. We could really get our immigration system under control if we really 01:21:29.936 --> 01:21:36.683 - stuck to the e-verified system because it goes after the actual employer who employs illegal immigrants 01:21:36.683 --> 01:21:38.110 - who come here to work 01:21:38.306 --> 01:21:45.542 - And that's fine, they can come here and work, but we have to have a guest worker program that tracks 01:21:45.542 --> 01:21:52.778 - their status here in the US. And so, because the reality is, is we need ICE to do national security, 01:21:52.778 --> 01:22:00.229 - right? We have a lot of folks in this, you know, from other countries, China, Russia, and Latin America 01:22:00.229 --> 01:22:07.966 - who want to come and harm us, right? Cartels, for example. So we have to deal with those hardened criminals 01:22:08.514 --> 01:22:16.756 - So sometimes it's just justified. I mean, ICE was created after 9-11, and we cannot defund 01:22:16.756 --> 01:22:26.084 - these organizations because if we do, we jeopardize our national security. So thank you. Thank you for 01:22:26.084 --> 01:22:35.322 - that response, Kyle. I don't believe I have any other individuals in the queue at this point in time. 01:22:35.322 --> 01:22:36.862 - If I'm mistaken, 01:22:37.090 --> 01:22:45.553 - Let me just break in to say that our one question moderator got knocked off chat. So if anybody has 01:22:45.553 --> 01:22:54.185 - a question, I guess the thing to do would be to put it generally in chat or directly to Sunny. Either 01:22:54.185 --> 01:23:02.647 - one of those will work. There was actually a question in chat from Ellen. We've seen so much damage 01:23:02.647 --> 01:23:05.694 - done by the current administration. 01:23:06.242 --> 01:23:13.447 - Do you see that one, Sunny? I do. And I can read that. She has posted, we've seen so much damage done 01:23:13.447 --> 01:23:21.005 - by the current administration, not only to our internal affairs, but also damage to our foreign relations. 01:23:21.005 --> 01:23:24.254 - What are you going to tackle first to reverse 01:23:24.354 --> 01:23:31.186 - this damage. And this may need to be our last question, because we're going to need to leave time for 01:23:31.186 --> 01:23:37.884 - final remarks from each of the candidates. I would direct that question first to Brad Meyer. Do you 01:23:37.884 --> 01:23:44.649 - remember the question, Brad, or did you see it? I've got it right in front of me. OK, thank you. The 01:23:44.649 --> 01:23:51.414 - first thing that we need to do is we need to get our system of government back up and running again. 01:23:51.414 --> 01:23:53.022 - Congress has completely 01:23:53.186 --> 01:24:00.652 - abdicated their responsibilities. They have not done what they need to do for oversight. We need to 01:24:00.652 --> 01:24:08.117 - ensure accountability. Kyle mentioned, which is true, that we have impeached the president a couple 01:24:08.117 --> 01:24:15.658 - of times. And we still have to swing at that pitch. And we have to swing at the pitch of holding our 01:24:15.658 --> 01:24:22.974 - leaders accountable and at least going on record to say, this is not what our democracy is about. 01:24:25.186 --> 01:24:32.837 - This administration over the last eight years has done, or seven years, has done enormous damage to 01:24:32.837 --> 01:24:40.564 - our reputation internationally, and it's going to take decades to fix the problems. There is a basic 01:24:40.564 --> 01:24:48.215 - distrust of the American government at this point. Even if Trump is pulled out, they're afraid that 01:24:48.215 --> 01:24:52.958 - somebody new is going to come in. We're going to have to work 01:24:53.538 --> 01:25:01.229 - If we wanna talk about external, we're gonna have to start by working internal to help people understand 01:25:01.229 --> 01:25:08.847 - why international relations is tied to their life, why it's relevant to them so that they care, so that 01:25:08.847 --> 01:25:16.391 - we can overcome this poisonous isolationism and short-sighted isolationism that has gripped us and our 01:25:16.391 --> 01:25:19.614 - foreign policy. Until we can overcome that, 01:25:19.778 --> 01:25:27.080 - We are going to have a lot of trouble on the international front. And if we don't, it's going to hurt 01:25:27.080 --> 01:25:34.310 - us economically. We're 4% of the world's population and 33% of the world's wealth. And a lot of that 01:25:34.310 --> 01:25:41.540 - has to do with friends and allies abroad. And we need to get past this isolationist fever that we're 01:25:41.540 --> 01:25:48.126 - in right now. And in Congress, I'll do what I can to help with that. Thank you, Brad. Kyle. 01:25:48.322 --> 01:25:57.946 - I would ask you to weigh in on that question now. Yeah, unfortunately, we have a pay for play system 01:25:57.946 --> 01:26:08.046 - right now in the Trump administration. That's very apparent. It's very apparent. And our allies, I think, 01:26:08.046 --> 01:26:10.238 - have got that message. 01:26:10.466 --> 01:26:16.347 - Don't come knocking at the door unless you have something to offer Mr. Trump and his allies. 01:26:16.347 --> 01:26:22.923 - So, unfortunately, that's where we're at. Very corrupt administration by any account. I think everybody 01:26:22.923 --> 01:26:29.625 - sees it. It's out in the open. And unfortunately, nobody cares, especially on the Republican side. That's 01:26:29.625 --> 01:26:36.075 - what they do. No, not really. No, this is unprecedented what they're doing relative to, I mean, we've 01:26:36.075 --> 01:26:37.150 - all seen Trump's 01:26:37.922 --> 01:26:44.356 - net worth, I think it went from one billion, now it's up to seven billion, right? It keeps up and up 01:26:44.356 --> 01:26:51.172 - and up, right? So this is what we got. So it's going to be a massive cleanup, you know, when the Democrats 01:26:51.172 --> 01:26:57.733 - take control relative to investigations, impeachments and the like. But in 2028, there's going to have 01:26:57.733 --> 01:27:04.104 - to be a new presidential reform act relative to money on the politics, ethics and the like. But the 01:27:04.104 --> 01:27:06.142 - answer to the real question is, 01:27:06.498 --> 01:27:12.718 - How do we get along with our allies? I mean, it comes back to credibility and not criticizing them, 01:27:12.718 --> 01:27:19.001 - right? You know, treat others as if you'd want to be treated. Not wanting to go take over Greenland, 01:27:19.001 --> 01:27:25.470 - which is a sovereign country. You know, treating them with respect, not saying lewd and vulgar comments 01:27:25.470 --> 01:27:32.126 - to them. Treat them as if you would want to be treated. It's that simple. Because the more allies we have, 01:27:33.026 --> 01:27:39.561 - We don't need as many guns and bullets when we have to go to war and protect our interest. Thank you. 01:27:39.561 --> 01:27:45.967 - Thank you, Kyle. Jim, would you like to weigh in on that question for us, please? Yes, I would. And 01:27:45.967 --> 01:27:52.501 - I'll note that even though Brad and I disagree on a few things, we agree on a lot more things than we 01:27:52.501 --> 01:27:59.356 - disagree on. The statement that Congress has abdicated its responsibility, I agree with 100%. The question 01:27:59.356 --> 01:28:01.086 - is, what's going to happen 01:28:01.506 --> 01:28:08.427 - when the new Congress comes in. And I think there's a good chance that the Democrats will have control 01:28:08.427 --> 01:28:15.416 - of the House, maybe even a small majority in the Senate. However, it's not gonna be possible to impeach 01:28:15.416 --> 01:28:22.472 - the president. It's not gonna be possible to overcome presidential vetoes, to pass a lot of legislation. 01:28:22.472 --> 01:28:29.192 - My suggestion is, rather than start a whole bunch of investigations and try to bring people forward 01:28:29.192 --> 01:28:30.334 - and investigate, 01:28:30.466 --> 01:28:37.007 - that we make a deal with the Republican minority in Congress. That is, we won't impeach the president. 01:28:37.007 --> 01:28:43.358 - We won't waste your time doing that. Instead, let's work together to try to solve some of these big 01:28:43.358 --> 01:28:50.027 - problems we have. And here's some of our suggestions. And so I would take Brad's suggestion about trying 01:28:50.027 --> 01:28:56.441 - to work with others to try to do that, because if we just, if the Democrats just come in and start a 01:28:56.441 --> 01:28:59.934 - whole bunch of investigations and make a lot of noise, 01:29:00.098 --> 01:29:05.420 - we're not going to make any progress at all in the next two years. And the Democrats might well lose 01:29:05.420 --> 01:29:10.743 - the next race because the public will be fed up with the fact we didn't get anything done. So it's a 01:29:10.743 --> 01:29:12.798 - double-edged sword. That's all I have. 01:29:14.850 --> 01:29:25.428 - Thank you very much, Jim. I want to commend all three of the candidates who are present today for addressing 01:29:25.428 --> 01:29:35.619 - the questions in a straightforward but respectful manner. I think now we will turn to your final remarks 01:29:35.619 --> 01:29:44.062 - and we will start with Kyle Roark. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate your time this morning. 01:29:44.898 --> 01:29:50.285 - The reality is, is our constituents, assuming I get elected, they're gonna expect results. 01:29:50.285 --> 01:29:56.264 - Like Jim just said, they're gonna expect results. You can do some investigations, but you have to be 01:29:56.264 --> 01:30:02.657 - able to do that at the same time you gotta pass meaningful legislation that provides a meaningful financial 01:30:02.657 --> 01:30:08.755 - impact to our constituents. Meaning, what are we doing to lower gas prices? What are we doing to lower 01:30:08.755 --> 01:30:12.958 - grocery prices? What are we doing to lower housing costs, rent prices? 01:30:13.186 --> 01:30:20.122 - What are we doing to improve healthcare costs, right? They're gonna want results and we very well could 01:30:20.122 --> 01:30:26.991 - lose in two years if we don't provide some results. Show me the results. At the end of the day, that's 01:30:26.991 --> 01:30:33.660 - what has to happen. So if we can walk and chew gum at the same time with some investigations but at 01:30:33.660 --> 01:30:40.062 - the same time provide meaningful legislation, so be it. I don't know if that's possible or not. 01:30:40.706 --> 01:30:47.886 - But regarding my candidacy, obviously I believe I'm the most delectable here. I have the blue collar 01:30:47.886 --> 01:30:54.994 - background and military experience to understand DOD and what's happening during wartime. I've done 01:30:54.994 --> 01:31:02.102 - recruiting, I've done, I was a civil engineering officer in the Navy, and I'm a electrical engineer 01:31:02.102 --> 01:31:09.282 - by trade. And I feel like I can pull in those independent and those disenfranchised Republicans with 01:31:09.282 --> 01:31:10.206 - my financial 01:31:10.818 --> 01:31:19.915 - message that impacts them directly. And I have the experience of service. I spent 11 years in the Navy, 01:31:19.915 --> 01:31:29.275 - and I have that background to substantiate people who trust me. I have that background and that experience 01:31:29.275 --> 01:31:38.110 - to say, this guy actually put his name in a hat and signed up to be a Navy officer. Thank you, Kyle. 01:31:38.274 --> 01:31:45.295 - I did it for 11 years. All right. Thank you. Appreciate your support. No problem. Thank you so much. 01:31:45.295 --> 01:31:52.316 - I would turn next to Jim and ask him for his final remarks. Yes. When you decide who you're going to 01:31:52.316 --> 01:31:59.545 - vote for in the primary, you need to evaluate the candidates in two key areas, message and personality. 01:31:59.545 --> 01:32:05.662 - In terms of message, is it a clear and concise message that the candidate's delivering? 01:32:05.858 --> 01:32:13.867 - that's consistent with basic democratic principles, but can also appeal to independence in some Republicans. 01:32:13.867 --> 01:32:21.362 - This is a message that truly reflects the desires and the concerns of the people in the district, not 01:32:21.362 --> 01:32:29.003 - what we think their concerns ought to be. I very much think that winning message is economics. In terms 01:32:29.003 --> 01:32:35.102 - of personality, I think you have to ask yourself, can this person stand toe to toe 01:32:35.202 --> 01:32:42.224 - with the Republican opposition and not back down and call out the horse manure that she's going to throw 01:32:42.224 --> 01:32:49.045 - at us for exactly what it is, manure, OK? We're in a street fight for our democracy right now. I wish 01:32:49.045 --> 01:32:55.866 - it wasn't so. I wish we could get back to rational debate about high principles, but that's not going 01:32:55.866 --> 01:33:02.553 - to happen this time or in the near future. We need a fighter to fight for us. And so if that's what 01:33:02.553 --> 01:33:04.158 - you want, I'm your guy. 01:33:04.386 --> 01:33:12.900 - I think I'm the best candidate for the job, and I hope you don't vote for me on May the 5th. Thank you. 01:33:12.900 --> 01:33:21.578 - Thank you, Jim. Brad, your closing remarks. Maria's point about systemic change, I think, is fundamental. 01:33:21.578 --> 01:33:30.174 - This election isn't about one or two problems. It's about the future of our democracy, and our democracy 01:33:30.530 --> 01:33:36.729 - wasn't our inheritance. It was something that our forefathers gave to us in trust for the next generation 01:33:36.729 --> 01:33:42.577 - and how we leave it is going to be important. And it's clear that our systems aren't working for us 01:33:42.577 --> 01:33:48.776 - and we need to leave better for the future. Economics is important. And I'm not, I'm talking about making 01:33:48.776 --> 01:33:54.799 - systemic changes. I'm talking about making practical changes. I'm not talking about changing the color 01:33:54.799 --> 01:34:00.062 - of the overpasses. I'm talking about things that are make a difference in people's lives. 01:34:00.194 --> 01:34:08.202 - But we also have to remember that if we focus just on economics, if that's all we care about, then eventually 01:34:08.202 --> 01:34:15.701 - we will end up selling our democracy for a bowl of rice. We need to fight for our freedoms and we need 01:34:15.701 --> 01:34:23.272 - to fight for a better country and a better future. And fighting isn't just arguing, it's about changing 01:34:23.272 --> 01:34:27.422 - minds and convincing people that we have better answers. 01:34:27.586 --> 01:34:35.361 - And we do, as Democrats, have better answers. We tried running in the last election. Tim Peck ran as 01:34:35.361 --> 01:34:43.136 - a centrist, and he got beat. And he got beat 11 points worse than other Democrats that didn't run as 01:34:43.136 --> 01:34:50.911 - a centrist. The centrist message, Republicans don't cross over for Republican wannabe, and Democrats 01:34:50.911 --> 01:34:52.990 - don't turn out for a meet. 01:34:53.410 --> 01:35:01.053 - a Democrat that isn't a Democrat. If you look at my business card, it says Democrat for Congress. I'm 01:35:01.053 --> 01:35:08.770 - proud to be a Democrat, and I'm not going to hide my values and my priorities. Vote May 5th. Thank you 01:35:08.770 --> 01:35:16.863 - so much, Brad, for those closing remarks. We want to remind everyone that early voting has already started. 01:35:16.863 --> 01:35:22.782 - An election day, as a couple of candidates have already mentioned, is May 5th. 01:35:22.978 --> 01:35:31.649 - I want to, at this point in time, give a shout out not only to the candidates for participating, but 01:35:31.649 --> 01:35:41.007 - all of you who joined us to ask questions and hear answers. I also want to thank Community Access Television 01:35:41.007 --> 01:35:48.734 - Services for recording this forum. Our other partners include the League of Women Voters, 01:35:48.866 --> 01:35:57.418 - Bloomington, Monroe County, League of Women Voters for Brown County, and League of Women Voters for 01:35:57.418 --> 01:36:06.140 - Johnson County, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kappa Tau Omega Chapter, the Indiana University Political 01:36:06.140 --> 01:36:14.692 - and Civic Engagement, Monroe County Now, the NAACP of Monroe County, South Central Indiana Citizens 01:36:14.692 --> 01:36:17.086 - Climate Lobby, and the Unit 01:36:17.218 --> 01:36:25.628 - Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus. We thank all of them for joining us in sponsoring this. 01:36:25.628 --> 01:36:34.038 - Please make sure to direct people to vote 411 if they want to learn more about candidates in their area. 01:36:34.038 --> 01:36:40.766 - We wish everyone the best results possible on May 5th. Thank you. Thank you, Sunny.