Ep. 271: Dr. Alex Balekian, Candidate for Congress

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're a California conservative, a libertarian, a moderate Democrat, believe in common sense,

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: or just the sane person, this is the political podcast for you. It's the California Underground

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Podcast. What's going on everybody? Thanks for tuning

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_02]: in to another episode of the California Underground Podcast. I am your host Phil. And tonight

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_02]: we have a very special guest with us, Dr. Alex Balekian who is running for Congress

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_02]: in the 30th district here in California. I hate to use the Bugs Bunny line, but what's

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_02]: up doc? Thank you for being on the program. It was too tempting not to use your first doctor

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's been on the program. And believe it or not in the almost 18 months

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that we've been doing this, that's the first time anybody has ever asked me that question.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_02]: That's unbelievable. No one's ever said what's up doc. It's such a good opening.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_01]: That's why I'm laughing right now because the first time I've ever been asked that, believe

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_02]: it or not. Wow. Okay. So what's up doc? Thank you for being on the program. Why don't you

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_02]: tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, a little introduction and then we'll go

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: from there. Sure. My name is Alex Balekian. I am born and raised in Glendale, California.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm the proud son of Armenian immigrants and I am a practicing physician in the

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_01]: community and I'm running for office for Congress because I've reached my breaking point.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And similar to most of the people listening at home, I have been a lifelong Duke

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Majan Republican and if you've lived in California in the 80s, especially if you are

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Armenian, it was impossible for you not to be a Duke Majan Republican. And how I

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: describe myself is keep the streets safe and clean, stay out of my bank account,

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_01]: stay out of my family life. And those are the guiding principles that have formed

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the bedrock of my campaign, which is all about constitutional liberties. It's all

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_01]: about smaller government, lower taxation and really refocusing the center of power

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and decision-making authority back to the home, back to the family. So you've

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_02]: been a physician and a lot of people probably wouldn't think a physician

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_02]: wants to put this, you know, your job's already stressful enough. I'm an attorney,

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_02]: doctor's usually attorney is on the same level of stress. What made you decide my

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_02]: job in life is not stressful enough? Why don't I run for Congress?

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_01]: So my job, I'm an intensive care physician and it's quite stressful to begin with. So

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: this in comparison was not difficult to stressful at all. It was going to be

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: time consuming, but it was not stressful. I have always been politically engaged.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I've never missed an election. I've always voted via absentee ballot. I know who my

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_01]: senators, my representatives are, my state legislature representation. I keep

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: track of which propositions are up on the ballot. So I am engaged, but as

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: far as advocacy is concerned, I was never somebody who went to Sacramento or

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01]: called my representative and said, you know, please do this or please vote this

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_01]: way. So and in my line of work in the intensive care unit, I am in the

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: business of managing unrealistic expectations. I give people bad news every

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: day and I level with them. I don't say that everything's going to be okay. I

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: don't feed them these inspirational dreams. I say this is where we are.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what we can realistically achieve. Let's figure out the best way to get

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_01]: there and this is what we're going to do if we settle for disappointment. So for

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: that reason, because this seat, which is currently occupied by Adam Schiff has

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: been for the last 22 years and he is leaving. So when there is no incumbent

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: at is anybody's game and because of that, we were a total of 14 people

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: running. It was supposed to be a Dem on Dem match. As you know,

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_01]: California has an open primary. Everybody said this is a safely dem seat,

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: especially because there was this no name, never run Republican physician

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: running and lo and behold, we were never on anybody's bingo card. And then

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: we made it. So here we are. And that's because we are a scrappy team and we

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: have a message, a simple message that is really resonating with the average

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: voter who is disenfranchised, disengaged and frankly disappointed with

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: both extremes that we have right now.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm just going to jump right into that point about your seat. And you know,

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_02]: there we usually on this show kind of look at politicians, a little side

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_02]: eye who run in districts that are predominantly are solid blue. Because

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_02]: a lot of times we're looking at people who run in districts that are

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_02]: solid blue and you know, maybe they promise the world or I'm not going

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_02]: to name names. There's people run in like Maxine Waters District and

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_02]: try to run against Maxine Waters. And they're like, I'm going to beat

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Maxine Waters and you're like, no, you're not. But thanks for raising

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_02]: $10 million and spending on whatever. So I want to go at the heart of

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_02]: this and get your take on why you're a different candidate and why

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_02]: your message you think can resonate and flip this seat that is

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_02]: solidly Democrat.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: A few reasons. First, I will say my strengths and then I'll just go

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: ahead and I'll cover the weaknesses of my opponents. So I have been a

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: lifelong Democrat. I'm so lifelong Republican. Sorry. I'm from here.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm born and raised here. I am not a carpet bagger. I have never

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: run for office. I run my own business. I'm running my medical

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: practice while I run this campaign. So as far as having street cred

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: of being from the neighborhood, as far as having street cred of

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: having real world experiences, operating a business through a

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: pandemic through government mandated shutdowns. I have you

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: know that credibility under my name. As far as my platform, I

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: am a moderate Republican. I'm fiscally responsible and

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: socially sane. So I'm all for lower taxes, lower

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_01]: government spending, smaller governments. But I'm also for

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: staying out of our lives entirely and that means I don't

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: believe and I'm going to say this very loudly. I don't believe

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: it's the government's position to insert itself in anything

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: social. For example, gay marriage and abortion. I don't

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: think that is their role. And I think that is one of the

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_01]: largest reasons why Republicans in this state have not done

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: well because people don't want their private lives run as if

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: we're at a Sunday school. And I'll tell you, because I need to

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_01]: get more Democrats and independence to vote for me

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: rather than Republicans. And I have been going into

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Democrat territory and speaking with them and they said,

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: wow, your message resonates with me, but I need to know one

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: thing. How would you vote on abortion? And I say it is

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: not the government's place. I don't think anybody should

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_01]: insert themselves between a woman and her physician. And that

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: is I think that physicians, we should police ourselves and

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_01]: we should make, you know, a code of medical ethics that we

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: control ourselves. But otherwise, I don't think government

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: should be in there. And for that reason, we have been

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: refreshingly moderate that people have gravitated towards

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: us. Why are my opponents weak? Well, why don't we go

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_01]: through them? The biggest demon that we slayed was

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Anthony portentino State Center, Anthony portentino who

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_01]: authored SB 596. And for those who don't know, I am

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: from Glendale, the Glendale Unified Parents kicked

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_01]: off a melee in June of 2023, because they were protesting

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: all of the indoctrination, the, you know, gender affirming

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: teaching that was going on in their schools. And then

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Antifa showed up from out of town and started this riot.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, the Armenian dads just kind of put them

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: in their place. And in direct response to that, Anthony

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: portentino at the behest of the teachers unions

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: authored and introduced and passed SB 596, which was

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_01]: the parent silencing act. So that would punish with a

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: $1,000 misdemeanor fine any parent who alarmed, annoyed,

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: or emotionally distressed somebody in the school board.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm saying this exactly that's all the word

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_01]: anything that causes alarm annoyance or emotional

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: distress. It was a very low bar that was going to

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: slap them with a misdemeanor and $1,000 fine.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: It passed but Gavin Newsom vetoed it. So we used

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: that maneuver of his as his fatal flaw. And we went

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01]: to all the families and said, look, this man stood for

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: this. Do you want this? Or do you want somebody who

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: stands for parental rights like me? And that is how

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_01]: we handily beat him. You had another person school board

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: candidate, sorry, school board member from LAUSD, Nick

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Melvoin, right? LAUSD passed a vaccine mandate

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: for their teachers for their students. That was

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: not popular. The final boss that I have not yet

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_01]: beat is Laura Friedman. Gosh, Laura Friedman

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: authored a bill that would mandate the HPV vaccine on

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_01]: every California school girl ages eight to 11. She

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_01]: also called for a COVID vaccine mandate for all

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Glendale Unified teachers this at the time when

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: she possessed Pfizer stock. She has voted yes on

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_01]: AB 1955, which was which is the parent

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: silence, sorry, the parent secrecy act, which

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_01]: keeps private from parents if teachers socially

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_01]: transition their kids, change their pronouns, change

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: their assigned gender. And that teacher is allowed

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_01]: to keep it secret from the parents. She voted yes

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: on that. She also voted yes on Evan Lowe's bill

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_01]: from 2022, which muzzled physicians like me and

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_01]: said you cannot say anything different from the

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: state's policy on how to treat COVID for

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: fear of retribution of getting your medical

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_01]: license yanked. So when I had patients who had

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_01]: COVID and I was going to tell them exactly what

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought about Paxilivit, where it's absolute

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_01]: garbage that the side effects of Paxilivit, the

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_01]: nausea, the raging diarrhea are worse than the

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_01]: miniscule benefit that you get from taking it.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't allowed to say that as a physician for

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_01]: fear of getting my license yanked. So they got

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: between me and my patients. And so she voted

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: for that. So these are the kinds of things

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_01]: that we're reminding people of and that is

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_01]: precisely where we're going to win so long

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_01]: as we can get our word out. And I said, thank

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: you again for getting me on your platform because

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: this is how we're going to get the word out.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to go back to, I think you touched on

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_02]: something and we discussed before we hopped on

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_02]: anybody who's a fan of the show knows we started

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_02]: up basically Republicans who Republicanism for

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Californians. And this has always been

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_02]: something that I've said that my coach Camila

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_02]: said that California Republicans have to

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_02]: be different and specific to what Californians

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_02]: need and what is important to Californians.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So a Texas Republican or Oklahoma Republican

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_02]: would never win in California, but to your point

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_02]: there is an opening I think for Republicans in

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_02]: California to talk about those issues that

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_02]: are important to California voters. And the

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_02]: notion of well let's stay out of everyone's

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_02]: lives. Government shouldn't be in your personal

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_02]: lives and that includes issues like gay marriage

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_02]: or abortion where we're not trying to socially

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_02]: engineer your life where you have to fall in line

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_02]: and I feel like that is such a that's kind of like

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_02]: inherent to Californians right? Like Californians

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_02]: have this kind of you know wild west go west

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_02]: young man kind of entrepreneurial like we

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_02]: want to just do our thing be free spirits

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_02]: and we have a democratic machine here in

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_02]: California that is just so hell bent on

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_02]: doing every running your whole life nanny state

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: everything you can't do this you can't do that you

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: can't take this product you can't buy this product

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_02]: you can't go to this place you can't drive your car anymore

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_02]: can't drive your car anymore it's gonna be taxed

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_02]: you know you can't you know you can't have

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_02]: gas stoves anymore it's just such a become

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_02]: such a nanny state. So that's good to hear

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_02]: that you're trying this new message and it's

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_02]: resonating with voters who may have never looked at

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Republicans and said well that's actually a good

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_02]: message so I think you have an opportunity there

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_02]: to craft a different message outside of the

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_02]: normal national Republican platform and kind of

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_02]: make it more Californian is that sort of what

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_02]: you're seeing is making your Republican message

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_02]: more for Californians and seeing a positive result?

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It's funny they say that because I'm born and raised in California

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: this is all I've ever known this is all I've ever

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: this is how I've ever thought and so I it's funny

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not trying something for California I am California

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: this is who I've always been this is how I've thought

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was raised again I'm the son of immigrants

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: my mother was six months pregnant with me when

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_01]: she came over here my parents were refugees

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_01]: they they never looked back right so they opened up a

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: small business they built their American dream

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and that is those are the values that I'm

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_01]: espousing these immigrant values of hard work

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_01]: assimilate learn English adopt the culture build your

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: American dream and so long as the government provides

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: opportunities but then gets the hell out of my way

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_01]: will all be fine so that message has been

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: resonating with Latinos with Koreans with

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Armenians in the district and also it goes

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_01]: against the narrative that has been thrust upon

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: the Republican Party which is this party of old

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_01]: racist white guys who hate gays and immigrants

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and want to chain a woman's uterus to the wall

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: so I although I don't lead with identity politics

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I have no problem absolutely clobbering the Democrats

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and the far left progressives at their game of identity politics

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: again when I speak out and say look all this

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_01]: you know gender pronoun business that you are

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_01]: confusing the kids with right I'm not anti-gay

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a homophobe neither is my husband in fact

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: you know he and I were closeted gay students

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and we excelled in school because our teachers

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: focused not on affirming our identity they were

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: busy affirming our IQ and that is why we got this far

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and if you simply refocus the decision making

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and the authority back to the family and give them

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_01]: opportunities rather than guardrails of how they're supposed to act

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: that is what's going to bring our golden state back to its luster

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_02]: yeah it's the age old adage of rising tide lifts all boats

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean if California is doing great and America is doing great

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: everyone starts to do great and you know prosperity is colorblind in that sense

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_02]: where if everyone's doing well everyone gets lifted up

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_02]: and that's an important message to kind of convey to voters

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_02]: I think I should have gone back and asked this in the beginning

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_02]: for those who aren't familiar what area of California does

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_02]: your district encompass so that people have an idea of like who your voters are

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: so I am running for California's 30th district currently Adam Schiff is the representative

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: so if Adam Schiff has been on your ballot as a U.S. House

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: that's the seat that I'm running for I'm not running against him he's now going for the Senate

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: he's running against Steve Garvey so California District 30 is very large and very diverse

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_01]: there are almost 500,000 voters in the area it covers bedroom communities

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: such as Glendale, Burbank, Sunland, Tohunga it has more dense apartment living like Hollywood

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_01]: West Hollywood it also has areas like Hancock Park, Echo Park, Silver Lake that are considered

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: traditionally more blue but it's a large mishmash of communities oh and also has a little bit

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: of Pasadena so it's a very diverse group of people and as I've told people before it's not

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: one single message that's going to resonate with everybody it's not a sledgehammer

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: strategy it's more of a scalpel strategy that we're applying selectively throughout the district

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_02]: so focusing back on your opponent tell us a little bit about her background if you if you

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_02]: want to tell us a little bit about her background yeah so that way people know what you're up

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_01]: against and where she came from yeah so I'm running against Laura Friedman and Laura Friedman is

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_01]: the establishment she is the candidate for the machine she is a proud progressive she

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_01]: started the progressive caucus in the California State Assembly back in 2016 she is not from

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: California she came out here in 2000 to work in film and then just wasn't terribly successful and

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: ended up you know randomly in politics and of course politics you mooch off of other people's

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_01]: tax dollars and then you just work your way up the ladder by selling your soul which is

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: exactly what she's done so she is the anointed successor of Adam Schiff she is somebody who

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: harps on the environment and increasing gas taxes and making it difficult for people to

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: drive their car so that they are forced to ride their bicycles and if you have a bicycle lane

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_01]: in your community that has sprung up seemingly overnight and that has swallowed up lanes

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: of traffic this woman Laura Friedman is personally responsible for that because right now she is

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: ramming through a bill in California that's going to mandate bicycle lanes in every city

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and is also going to expedite the usual environmental hoops that it needs to go

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: through including public comments so that we get these quick build bike projects and her

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: reasoning is if more people ride their bikes then we can save the environment wouldn't we

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: all be so fortunate that our places of work and our residences were separated by a leisurely

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: 15-minute bicycle ride that it wouldn't be 98 degrees out and you're supposed to somehow

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: go on your bicycle to do your grocery shopping or else drop your kids off at school so she is

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_01]: full of these very unreasonable ideas that mean a lot to her but that are being rammed down

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_01]: our throats so that she can achieve her dream of this utopia that is all about social justice and

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_02]: somehow you know is saving the environment. You can get me started down here in San Diego Todd

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Gloria has been obsessed with bike lanes yeah I'm pretty sure that's the only thing he's

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_02]: accomplished is bike lanes um I rarely ever see anyone use them and then when bicyclists are

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_02]: on the road they're not using them anyway it's still driving traffic so don't get me started on that

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: homeless tents that are spilling out into those bicycle lanes oh yeah yeah they're they're a mess

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_02]: and we end up not being able to drive down the street and to your point up in LA or like in

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_02]: that area most people live hours away from their work anyway so there's no idea of like

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_02]: you're not going to ride your bicycle for a two hour drive to your work in LA or wherever

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_02]: you're going um it's just not practical at all uh and from a public safety stand and from a public

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_01]: safety standpoint I am a physician I work in the intensive care unit I take care of stroke patients

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: with strokes minutes matter and we have seen EMS vehicles ambulances fire trucks not be able to

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: navigate because people cannot move out because there are these concrete barriers separating

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_01]: the roads from the bicycle lanes so yes I'm so sorry Phil but your mother is going to be paralyzed

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: because of a stroke but at least you can bicycle to work right that's what's important and that's

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_02]: what the government really that's something I tweeted about a couple weeks ago is how the

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_02]: government is inherently bad at creating demand for something um where they will go well we think

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_02]: that there's a huge demand for bike lanes but where do you get that from well if we create bike

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_02]: lanes more people will use bike lanes well there's no evidence to show people use bike lanes a lot

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_02]: but we're going to try and create artificially create the demand for bike lanes um there so

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_02]: a saying I was looking at your site before we hopped on one of your sayings is progressivism

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_02]: isn't working yes um it's found on that for us a little bit and that saying yeah so right now this

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_01]: election this is no longer democrat versus republican it is progressive versus non-progressive

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_01]: it is the 80 percent of us in the moderate middle moderate republicans moderate democrats

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_01]: independence who do not want our government to apologize on behalf of criminals we want them

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: apprehended and prosecuted and punished we don't want you to apologize on behalf of homeless people

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and say it's not their fault we want to disband these 10 cities we want these homeless people

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to have their mental illness and their drug addiction get diagnosed and get treated we

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_01]: don't want to have to say oh we're bad people if we don't let in immigrants i'm the son of immigrants

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_01]: i get it we should recruit and retain skilled industrious immigrants who are going to contribute

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: productively to the society but there has to be a coherent way that we do it we have people again

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_01]: i'm a physician california just approved free medical insurance for 750 000 illegal immigrants

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: plus whoever crosses into the state since they did that but they didn't increase the number of

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_01]: doctors treating patients so necessarily that's going to increase the wait times for our own

[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_01]: citizens who are struggling to pay for that medical insurance but it's being given for free to

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_01]: illegal immigrants in addition to their debit cards with 600 loaded on it every month wouldn't

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_01]: we love to have you know wouldn't a family of four love to have those debit cards so

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_01]: those kinds of progressive ideas that you know really there's this emotional blackmail saying oh

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_01]: you're a bad person if you disagree with helping people no there's a way to do it there's an efficient

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_01]: way to do it and we should establish that goal and try to work towards it but not have to step over

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: people that are here people that are working hard um and having to pay for it all so that's

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_01]: where our campaign slogan progressive isn't working came from other slogans that we have ideas

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: over identity politics again i say this is not republican versus democrat we should not vote

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_01]: blindly for an r or a d we should vote for the person who has the best ideas we are menians

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_01]: in glendale we have fallen for this trap right if you see an ian or a yan at the back of somebody

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: does name 99 percent of the time they're going to be our menian and that is how our menians

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_01]: vote unfortunately we have been saddled with representatives city council members etc who

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: have been so completely far left woke in their thinking that they have voted for

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_01]: bills that have gone completely counter to what traditional Armenian immigrant values um are

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_01]: so that is where and it's been resonating we have billboards up uh on the freeway and people

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_01]: say i you know past your billboard i love what you're saying progressive isn't working i agree

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_01]: we've had these uh unexpected uh contributions on our website political contributions

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_01]: you know $50 hundred dollars from staunch democrats and when i call them and i say

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_01]: how did this happen they say i'm sick of it i'm sick of the homeless people i'm sick of the

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_01]: crime the pendulum has swung too far left we need to bring it in the middle and that is why

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_01]: i say i'm a center right individual and i'm going to be working with center left voters to bring

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_02]: this pendulum back to center uh going after going on the uh well i mean progressivism in california

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_02]: is definitely a nightmare or at least the foreboding tale for the rest of the country um one perfect

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_02]: example that has definitely taken over the news headlines of how far california has gotten

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_02]: is gotta be ab 1955 i think that has probably become such a hot button issue of how absolutely

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_02]: far and radical california has gone where california effectively or implicitly is now saying we are

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_02]: gonna co-parent with your children in public school by saying we also get to make a decision

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_02]: what you know about your kids um and we we get to because we're public school educators and we're

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_02]: the government we're sacramental we think that way you have no say in what goes on with your

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_02]: child at school um what are your thoughts on ab 1955 and how far radical this has gotten in california

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_01]: ab 1955 is a terrible law i'm just going to go out and say it i am absolutely against it i would

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_01]: like to work to repeal it and i think that we need to elect more reasonable center

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: representatives who are going to overturn ab 1955 the first big problem that i have with ab

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: 1955 is actually one of your assembly members right ward for down from there from san diego area

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_01]: has conflated gay and trans so me being a gay man so lesbian gay bisexual that is sexual orientation

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_01]: that is sexual preference that is not how you view yourself as gender so transit completely

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_01]: different topic um and what they've done is unfortunately said oh we don't want to out

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_01]: gay kids to their parents yeah i don't want to out gay kids to their parents either that is

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_01]: not what we're talking about right and you teachers shouldn't really be talking to a 14 year old

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_01]: about who they want to have sex with separate from their parents if it's not in a class that talks

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_01]: about sex education and safe sex so now going on to the trans side me as a physician if a child

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_01]: says i am questioning my gender i don't know i feel like i'm in the wrong body if that child

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: says that that child can be diagnosed diagnosed with gender dysphoria by definition gender dysphoria

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: is associated with a higher risk of self harm or suicide by definition that is a life threatening

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: condition who are you to withhold information about a life threatening condition from a parent

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_01]: if i as a physician did that that would be malpractice i would be liable for malpractice

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and again children don't have medical capacity when they're 12 years old they don't have decision

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_01]: making capabilities we need to go to their legal guardians who are their parents and also i so i

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_01]: am anti misdiagnosing these kids i am also anti shunting them down this pathway of irreversible

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_01]: hormone and surgical therapy when that has never been shown to be superior to basic talk therapy

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: when you look at outcomes of suicide self harm and quality of life i can say that definitively

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_01]: as a physician i can say that definitively as a health services researcher who writes clinical

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: practice guidelines who scours the medical literature to look for studies high quality

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: studies that examine different clinical questions so i have the credibility to say that this law is

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_01]: not based in anything except fear mongering from the far left progressives we had a

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_02]: an episode on this a couple weeks ago all about ab1955 and we had shown a video clip of a

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_02]: self-avowed progressive democrat teacher who went to sacramento and testified

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_02]: against ab1955 i saw her at yeah and and her her testimony was very powerful where she said look

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_02]: i am a self-avowed progressive democrat and she went into the whole thing about what happened

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_02]: with her son and how he had gender dysphoria and they worked through it on a personal family level

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_02]: and he no longer has gender dysphoria but her whole thing was we don't we don't want to be

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_02]: co-conspirators in hiding this information from parents we don't want to be involuntary

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_02]: co-could inspirators that's not our job the teachers already have enough to deal with and now they

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_02]: have to keep secrets about children's gender identity and then she also made the point

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_02]: to your point which is the same of their conflating sexual orientation to gender identity

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_02]: and they're not the same thing so chris ward is actually my assembly member so yay for me

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_02]: but yeah that's again it just it all comes back to sort of your messaging of even progressive

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_02]: democrats are going whoa hold on here we've we've we've lost we've kind of lost what's going

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_02]: on here we've lost the message we're kind of going way off the deep end and a lot of progressive

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_02]: democrats in california are going can we just come back a little bit to like the things that

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_02]: matter and we're just kind of getting a little too far off base now you're running for congress

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_02]: which obviously that that changes your scope of work on a national scale um you know i i

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_02]: could talk about california all night and there's a lot of things wrong with california and you

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_02]: also are here in california i want to get your take on some of your your priorities or

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_02]: you know outlook on national issues going into congress and how that how that can work or what

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_01]: you're you're going to do when you get there um yeah so from national issues again so this

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_01]: thing about ab 1955 so how can i impact that from congress i would say me as a physician who

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: practices evidence-based medicine and federal dollars are going to pay for things like medical

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_01]: that's going to pay for care for children um and we should not be giving federal dollars

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_01]: to hospitals or clinics that are not practicing evidence-based medicine and i again have that

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: credibility being a different breed of candidate republican candidate who can speak to that

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and say okay we will not be funding these treatments that have no data behind them

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that are not considered standard of care and in fact you know echoing what that teacher who

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_01]: testified in sacramento said we have zero high quality data comparing head to head

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_01]: medicines and surgery versus talk therapy but we actually have some data long term large

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_01]: scale data from germany and the netherlands to say that overwhelming majority 95 percent of

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_01]: children with gender dysphoria will outgrow it by the time they're 25 years old they all become

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: gay men and women and the ones with persistent gender dysphoria end up being lesbian women

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: with coexisting mental illness depression anxiety what have you um and so we definitely

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_01]: have data to support that teacher's assertion that with simple talk therapy this will go away on its

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_01]: own and for every one student who truly has gender dysphoria we will be misdiagnosing

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and irreversibly mistreating 19 gay kids by mislabeling them as trans and so from congress

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: i can say we will not devote federal dollars to state medicaid programs that are not practicing

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: evidence-based medicine um other things that i can do so again i'm the candidate of public safety

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_01]: my opponent laure freeman is the threat to public safety we talked about we talked about the safety

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_01]: to children let's talk about drug overdoses in 2022 an average of three high school students

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_01]: teens age 14 to 18 an average of three died per day from an unintentional fentanyl overdose when they

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_01]: did pills when they did marijuana that was laced with fentanyl that is we know produced in china

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and smuggled through mexico so from congress i will vote to secure the border prevent the

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_01]: influx of all of this fentanyl that is coming in illegally from the southern border and also

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_01]: from our marine ports when you stem the flow of fentanyl that will also help the homelessness

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_01]: crisis again i am the candidate of public safety my opponent laure freeman she is a threat to public

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_01]: safety rather than focusing on securing the border stemming the flow of illegal fentanyl that then

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: fuels these drug dens that then enables these homeless people's addictions and prevents them

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: from getting clean what did she do she authored a bill that would create state sponsored safe

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_01]: injection sites so i say eradicate the fentanyl she says enable the fentanyl use the it passed it

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_01]: had passed both james of congress uh in senate it was cosponsored by none other than scott weiner

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but then the idea was so bad that even gavin newson said i can't get behind this any vetoed

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_01]: so those two things um you know making sure that our federal dollars go to giving care that is

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_01]: evidence-based making sure that we secure our borders prevent the influx of illegal fentanyl

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and even things such as crime so here we have you know in california we have you know stealing

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_01]: nine hundred fifty dollars worth of merchandise and we have progressive district attorneys like

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_01]: george gascon and chesa budin in the bay area who refuse to enforce the laws and prosecute them

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_01]: from congress i can make it a federal offense to steal from a small business owner with fewer than

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_01]: 100 employees so if you are a business owner and you get robbed and george gascon or the da

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't want to prosecute that criminal you can then go to the fbi and the department of justice

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_01]: because it would be a federal crime and say please prosecute this and then you would still have your

[00:34:39] [SPEAKER_01]: day in court to punish those criminals i said i never really thought of that idea of making

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_02]: a federal crime because then it it creates the you know it takes it out of the hands of

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_02]: california da's who go well i don't want to prosecute this and they go okay well then we'll

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_02]: just go to the federal court intake precisely that's an interesting idea definitely for a lot of

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_02]: smaller smaller shops i i just got an idea and i want to play a hypothetical with you okay okay

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_02]: i love games we're gonna play we're gonna play a little game uh okay so rewind you are the

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_02]: sitting congress congressman from the 30th district in 2020 covid happens you are a practicing

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_02]: physician you are an expert you have medical expertise on this what what are some things that

[00:35:30] [SPEAKER_01]: if you were in congress at that time you would have done um so first i think that the more local

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_01]: control you give back to governments the better because one size will not fit all we are a

[00:35:43] [SPEAKER_01]: ginormous country we're like the european union we're a confederation of states you know france

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_01]: is different from spain is different from italy is different from germany so same thing california

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_01]: our california identity is different from texas different from florida we have different needs

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: we have different natural resources so one of the first thing that i would do is say okay let's try to

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01]: localize the response as best as possible let's give federal resources to help them execute it

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_01]: but have you know locally change things how they do that said government shutdowns in march

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_01]: that happened march of 2020 i don't fault anybody for their initial shutdown right we didn't

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_01]: know what was happening so i don't fault california texas whatever florida from shutting down that said

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_01]: after three months you say okay we have built up enough data let's go back and look let's see

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_01]: what are our rates can we safely open up do we need to sequester everybody or can we allow younger

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_01]: able-bodied individuals to go to work safely we can allow children to go back into the

[00:36:46] [SPEAKER_01]: classroom safely because they're not the ones dying but older people yes they should be sequestered

[00:36:53] [SPEAKER_01]: at home we should focus our efforts on them so that is how i would have done it um and i will

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_01]: actually tell you so i am an intensive care physician and my husband and i were watching

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_01]: this unfold in march of 2020 and i told him i said okay i was looking at the data from italy

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and in italy at that time yes people were dying nobody under 80 was dying there was the one physician

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_01]: an ophthalmologist in wuhan who initially described covid he died i think he was maybe in his early

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_01]: fifties and i told my husband well it looks like the old and frail are dying it looks like if you

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_01]: are genetically predispositioned to do poorly with this how are you going to change your

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_01]: genes so i said okay chances are nothing's gonna happen to me but if i hit the genetic lottery

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_01]: in the wrong way regardless of all these you know vaccines etc i said i'm not going to do well so

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_01]: what i do i i got a life insurance policy um and then i said okay let's work this so

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that is how i would have handled it again hindsight is 2020 but that's why i said the

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_01]: initial response in march of 2020 where everybody shut down i don't fault anybody for doing that we

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_01]: didn't know what we were dealing with but i think after three months or four months of experience

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_01]: of data and saying okay what happened who got sick who got hospitalized then i would have said

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_01]: okay can we just open up safely rather than shutting everything down and what i would have

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_01]: done is um i would have bolstered the healthcare system i would have you know tried to figure out

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_01]: a more efficient way to take care of the maximum number of patients rather than doing these mass

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_01]: shutdowns that were in hindsight as we found out more destructive than productive yeah just

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_02]: seeing that it going back obviously we didn't know what was going on we were seeing the images

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_02]: of from italy and you know the news was pumping up the images of what's going on in italy and

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_02]: hospitals being overrun um so yeah we can look back and say we shouldn't have done that um

[00:38:59] [SPEAKER_02]: but it was kind of terrifying when it happened i think the the issue that sticks with a lot

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_02]: of people is how long it kind of like dragged on and that was from like those in the federal

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_02]: government here in california it just seemed like the government took this opportunity too far

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_02]: you know it's almost like you gave them an inch the the whole government took a mile they were

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_02]: like okay well we have this emergency power we can tell you to uh don't go to thanksgiving

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_02]: with your family because that's a super spreader event don't go to christmas with your family

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_02]: that's a super spreader event you know it just got to the point where we weren't looking at the

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_02]: data or facts which a lot of people were looking at and it just it dragged on and it was kind of this

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_02]: dissonance of like the government was telling you one thing that you can't do anything but then

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_02]: you're looking at the numbers and that you know the mortality rate was incredibly low and people

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_02]: are going well what are we doing here like why why is there such a dissonance between the two

[00:39:58] [SPEAKER_01]: of them right well we we knew exactly why it dragged on right and let let's say it out in the

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_01]: open at the same time that this pandemic was folding it was also an election year and there was a

[00:40:08] [SPEAKER_01]: highly unpopular individual in the white house who a lot of people no longer wanted in the white

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_01]: house and they saw that this would be an excellent opportunity to drag down the one thing that makes

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_01]: a sitting president popular which is the economy so let's let's be honest with this right so which

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_01]: states remain closed the blue states california illinois new york those states remain closed

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_01]: you had the red states like texas and florida which remained open so this was unfortunately

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_01]: purely political so i am upset because my craft my profession of medicine was suddenly thrust

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_01]: in the spotlight and made political and everything that we did was no longer about what is best

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: for patients what is best for public health where you try to save the most lives by using

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the fewest resources and that unfortunately was was made political because a lot of people didn't

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_01]: want this unpopular sitting president to be reelected yeah and it got to the point where

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER_02]: it got so political that sometimes when it gets so political and heated to your point about

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_02]: moderate people and moderate people in the moderate positions is that you create these

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_02]: echo chambers of the extremes the extreme right and the extreme left where they're both

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_02]: expounding these salacious ideas that are not entirely based in reality but pushes their political

[00:41:35] [SPEAKER_02]: agenda and then it it drowns out experts like yourself or i mean here in california we had that

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_02]: the famous case of the two doctors who came forward and you know they got absolutely railroaded

[00:41:48] [SPEAKER_02]: right because they came out and said well here's the data we're two doctors and this is what

[00:41:52] [SPEAKER_02]: we found and now and then they were passing laws that you can't talk about cove it in different ways

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_02]: to treat it so um it kind of the noise just drowned out sensible people sensible physicians like

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_02]: yourself from even being able to have a voice in this in this arena right yeah and and also if

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_01]: if you're being skeptical about it i remember very well reading on my smartphone uh from the

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_01]: washington post and they would have articles about cove it and i remember it said this article is being

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_01]: provided to you for free meaning this alarm this alarmism is being provided to you for free because

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_01]: you know who owned the washington post jeff bezos who owned amazon jeff bezos and if the wash

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_01]: if papers like the washington post stoked alarmism and caused people to stay at home

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER_01]: they would more likely shop from amazon than they would from their brick and mortar stores

[00:42:54] [SPEAKER_01]: so again even if they say oh alex you're wearing a tinfoil hat the appearance of impropriety

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_01]: of a newspaper owned by the same guy who owns the largest shopping network where if you didn't

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_01]: leave your home you would still have everything that you needed that appearance of impropriety

[00:43:11] [SPEAKER_01]: then you know the uh exploitative nature of those who are able to profit

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_01]: that unfortunately also propagated the political hysteria that was there because people wanted to

[00:43:25] [SPEAKER_02]: hamstring donald trump yeah it was the i mean facts are facts it was the largest transfer of wealth

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_02]: in american history so yeah you know we saw the amount of money that went to huge corporations

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_02]: like amazon uh we got about 15 minutes left in the last couple minutes focusing again on national

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_02]: you're not the only californian looking to go to washington uh in this november

[00:43:47] [SPEAKER_02]: we now have a race between donald trump and camila harris um joe biden unceremoniously pushed out

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_02]: first time in my life i've ever seen a president pushed out and not able to run um what are your

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_02]: thoughts on the potential presidents that you could be working with in congress

[00:44:07] [SPEAKER_01]: so what i tell people is well first of all nobody had any of this on their bingo card right

[00:44:14] [SPEAKER_01]: mind being pushed out trump uh yeah at least the assassination attempt on trump and what i tell

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_01]: people is there's there's still 84 days until november a lot can still happen there can be

[00:44:24] [SPEAKER_01]: another assassination attempt camila harris could actually do an interview where she bombs

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and then the democratic party says well who are we going to replace her with and they you know

[00:44:34] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe bring up tim welts i'm not sure but what i remind people is i am running for congress that

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_01]: is the legislative branch the legislative branch writes the laws and the house even

[00:44:46] [SPEAKER_01]: write taxation tax bills come from the house so what i tell people is it doesn't matter who

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the president is i am going to be writing laws that are going to cater to my people

[00:44:58] [SPEAKER_01]: what is my as a single issue voter what is my issue it is a balanced budget so i will never vote for

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_01]: deficit spending if it's a republican or a democratic budget that comes up that is my personal red line

[00:45:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and so i'm going to you know if the president says i need you know spending to do x y z i want

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_01]: to increase the debt ceiling i will vote no so not that it's immaterial for me who the president

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_01]: is but i will be voting i will go there on a mandate of what is important to my people in

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_01]: district 30 and what is important for them is fiscal responsibility right we would all be better

[00:45:38] [SPEAKER_01]: off if we ran this country like we run our own households on a budget and with minimal interference

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_01]: from outside sources so you know we want responsible spending from the government we

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_01]: want spending cuts we don't want our tax dollars to go to fighting other people's wars we want

[00:45:52] [SPEAKER_01]: them to fight our homelessness you know how is our homeless veterans we want the criminals to be

[00:45:59] [SPEAKER_01]: punished so those are the kinds of uh law you know those are the kinds of laws that i will write

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and that is how i will vote and not that it's immaterial who the president is but

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_01]: whichever president is more for personal responsibility focusing on our citizens

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_01]: getting a stronger border stemming the inflow of fentanyl helping the homeless by diagnosing their

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_01]: mental illness and getting them reunited with their families who are going to keep them sober

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_01]: that is the kind of legislation i'm going to go for and so that's that's the kind of present

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_01]: that i'm hoping will sign off on our bill and not veto it yeah i love that idea i think the

[00:46:36] [SPEAKER_02]: federal government needs to be reigned in astronomically um i think it's a bloated

[00:46:41] [SPEAKER_02]: parasite at this point um and i love that you're saying if it raises deficit spending just

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_02]: it's an automatic no doesn't matter who it is right who proposed the bill uh is there any chance

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_02]: of i mean we we are so far in debt in this country um and the deficit is out of control but the

[00:47:02] [SPEAKER_02]: debt it's astronomical i don't think americans realize how bad the debt is and how much we are

[00:47:09] [SPEAKER_02]: responsible for personally everybody's personally responsible for everyone thinks it's this magic

[00:47:14] [SPEAKER_02]: number that we're not personally responsible for but somebody has to pay it eventually um

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_02]: tell us from your your input is there any hope on the federal government ever tackling this

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_01]: debt or or paying it down absolutely so i we need to prioritize what we're going to spend on

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_01]: right just because you have a lot of debt doesn't mean you're going to stop buying groceries

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_01]: it doesn't mean that you're going to stop paying your electricity bills and somehow live

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_01]: on the street right you tighten your belts but you say okay i don't need to get the manuka honey

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_01]: from Whole Foods i'm gonna go and get just the the regular i don't even know what manuka honey is

[00:47:50] [SPEAKER_01]: so that's new to me i don't know either but it was on an episode of uh broad city um and so it was

[00:47:55] [SPEAKER_01]: just it's just this really type of this fru fru expensive honey but a government should focus

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_01]: on the health wealth and security of its own citizens and it should do so as efficiently as

[00:48:08] [SPEAKER_01]: possible so health i think we should not cut i think we should keep and we should bolster something like

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_01]: medicare medicaid which is helpful for our own citizens wealth we shouldn't touch social

[00:48:20] [SPEAKER_01]: security right they're older people on fixed incomes their frail they can't expect to work until

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_01]: they're in their 80s so things like social security medicare don't touch those health wealth

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER_01]: security so we have a very large defense budget 60 percent of it is defense for our own shores

[00:48:37] [SPEAKER_01]: we shouldn't be sending hundreds of billions of dollars to nato countries to fund their defense

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_01]: especially countries like turkey which are blackmailing us for f-16 fighter jets which are

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_01]: telling us oh you know if you side with israel against palestine we will attack you what kind

[00:48:55] [SPEAKER_01]: of ally of ours is threatening to attack us especially when we're giving them hundreds of

[00:48:58] [SPEAKER_01]: billions of dollars right so we can so the first step is cut our spending prioritize the spending

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_01]: on things that are of benefit to us and then once we balance the budget that way then you can start

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_01]: cutting taxes starting with working class americans and then working your way up to you know higher

[00:49:20] [SPEAKER_01]: class americans as we pay down our debt more and more so that is how i would do it same as

[00:49:25] [SPEAKER_01]: how you would do it in your own home if you say okay we spent this much because we remodeled the house

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and then oh crap i just got laid off and now i have to go work at mcdonald's you know because that's

[00:49:36] [SPEAKER_01]: the only job that i could get on such short notice you say okay i have to tighten my belt because i

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_01]: have to pay for this we do it ourselves in our own homes we know how to do it and i think we

[00:49:44] [SPEAKER_02]: should just simply take that to the federal level i think uh you know when you get to congress

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_02]: i would if i were you i'd make a b-line over at thomas massie's office because it sounds like

[00:49:53] [SPEAKER_02]: you guys would probably get along on a lot of these issues when it comes to spending right um and for

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_02]: the federal government uh you know instead of buying your groceries at arowan maybe you buy

[00:50:04] [SPEAKER_02]: your groceries at ralph's from right here on out maybe you don't buy the and you maybe look in

[00:50:09] [SPEAKER_02]: the sales section or the clearance section or or you go to the mom and pop or you go to the mom

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and pop shop the uh the ethnic market where they have the fresh fruits and vegetables and you

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_01]: you know rather than going to the large corporate supermarkets you then you know go to the small

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_01]: businesses and that is how you keep the money within our our working middle class right right

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER_02]: um big fan of the mom and pops farmers markets stuff like that go check them out

[00:50:36] [SPEAKER_02]: um we got a couple minutes left uh i want to thank you again for coming on this has been

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_02]: a great conversation of course thank you for having me i feel like you and i could probably

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER_02]: talk about this for hours over drinks though next time over drinks um so in the last couple

[00:50:52] [SPEAKER_02]: minutes i want to get your opinion uh just a little bit more closing argument about yourself

[00:51:00] [SPEAKER_01]: why people should check you out and uh yeah so again uh so thank you phil for having me on i am

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_01]: dr alex belecchean born and raised in glendale uh lifelong california and i am running for congress

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_01]: because i have reached my breaking point this is a deeply blue district but this is not a suicide

[00:51:21] [SPEAKER_01]: mission because there is a palpable discontent with everyone out there who is disenfranchised

[00:51:28] [SPEAKER_01]: disgruntled with both extremes of the political spectrum this is no longer a democrat versus

[00:51:35] [SPEAKER_01]: republican contest this is progressive versus non-progressive these these are california values of

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_01]: rugged individualism and personal responsibility that we all abide by this is all about

[00:51:48] [SPEAKER_01]: opportunity and not necessarily equity of outcome the harder you work the more you will realize

[00:51:54] [SPEAKER_01]: your american dream and this is a unique and i'm saying a unique opportunity because this seat

[00:52:01] [SPEAKER_01]: has no incumbent for the first time in 22 years and i as the non-traditional candidate the man of the

[00:52:07] [SPEAKER_01]: people the civilian not the career politician i'm running and we have gotten this far we've beaten

[00:52:12] [SPEAKER_01]: everybody and we're at the last boss and this is why i want to underscore the importance of this

[00:52:20] [SPEAKER_01]: you know what we need are votes contributions introductions if you live in california 30

[00:52:25] [SPEAKER_01]: please be engaged if you know somebody who lives in california 30 those are glendale burbank

[00:52:30] [SPEAKER_01]: hollywood west hollywood sulland tahunga hankhawk park echo park silver lake tell those people to vote

[00:52:37] [SPEAKER_01]: as far as contributions you can contribute your money or you can even contribute your time we need

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_01]: people to do phone banking we have the lists of all the voters we would love for you to sign up on

[00:52:47] [SPEAKER_01]: our website alex4ca30.com or else alexbileckian.com you can sign up on our website and do telephone

[00:52:55] [SPEAKER_01]: calls and phone banking from your own home to help us out but i want to underscore the importance of us

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_01]: winning this because this will start a tidal wave it will start a ripple effect along the entirety

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER_01]: of state because this will be californians moderate reasonable middle of the road californians

[00:53:14] [SPEAKER_01]: doing the unthinkable which is winning this seat and snatching it from the political establishment

[00:53:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and bringing it back to the center where all of us are and making sure that the government works for

[00:53:27] [SPEAKER_01]: us and not for the well-connected few that are currently running it well i just want to say

[00:53:33] [SPEAKER_02]: we had discussed at the beginning of the episode how usually on our podcast for our listeners and

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_02]: people who tune in all the time we don't usually do this where we have people on who are

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_02]: running in districts that are solidly democrat because of x y and z but i would say alex might be

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_02]: the exception where you know he's made it through the through the primary um he's well spoken he knows

[00:53:59] [SPEAKER_02]: what he's talking about he's out there actually pushing the flesh and pressing the flesh and

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_02]: actually getting stuff done so this is one of those exceptions where if you can flip this

[00:54:09] [SPEAKER_02]: district alex is right it does it's a shot across the bow for california where all of a sudden they go

[00:54:16] [SPEAKER_02]: whoa how did we lose this district and if this is the blueprint and then the blueprint can be

[00:54:22] [SPEAKER_02]: replicated in other districts on state level local level federal level um this is how this is how it

[00:54:31] [SPEAKER_02]: starts this is if you want to turn california back this is how it starts you got to win this

[00:54:36] [SPEAKER_02]: race take that blueprint go to another race and keep winning and just building up those seats so

[00:54:42] [SPEAKER_02]: alex good job on on on you know taking on this herculean herculean effort of of running um best

[00:54:50] [SPEAKER_02]: of luck to you and again where can people go oh and you you were talking about you were

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_02]: disappointed you can't show off your shirt you want to show off the shirt real quick

[00:54:57] [SPEAKER_01]: so i'm going to do this i'm going to say vote alex beleccion for congress november 5th

[00:55:03] [SPEAKER_01]: so you can go to alex beleccion dot com or our website is alex for ca 30 dot com al ex

[00:55:11] [SPEAKER_01]: f or ca 30 dot com and you can find us there or on instagram and on on x great well alex thanks

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_02]: for coming on again best of luck in the race thank you we'll finish off every episode as we always

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_02]: do if you like this episode make sure you like share subscribe review all that stuff hit the

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_02]: notification bell um and the best thing you can do is to support this show that's 100% free

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_02]: is share with someone you know and especially someone in the 30th district who might want to

[00:55:41] [SPEAKER_02]: learn about alex so with that we'll see you all in the next one have a good night later thank you

[00:55:59] [SPEAKER_00]: for listening to another episode of california underground if you like what you heard remember

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_00]: to subscribe like and review it and follow california underground on social media for updates

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_00]: as to when new episodes are available