Brad Meyer, progressive candidate for Indiana's 9th Congressional District, holds his second virtual town hall answering questions from viewers on YouTube, Facebook Live, and ProgressiveIndiana.net. Meyer, who spent 25 years in manufacturing leadership and 9 years as a Navy civilian subject matter expert before quitting to run for office, argues Democrats need to stop playing it safe and being cautious—instead fighting boldly for progressive policies. The Democratic primary is on May 5th. Topics covered include opposition to the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, strong support for universal single-payer healthcare, addressing the affordability crisis through progressive taxation and worker power, publicly funding elections, paid family leave, affordable housing, congressional stock trading, making college affordable, and the situation in Gaza.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
3:24 - U.S.-ISRAEL ATTACKS ON IRAN
- Wildly inappropriate and undemocratic—president didn't go to Congress because he doesn't want to know what Americans think
- Trump sabotaged Obama's Iran nuclear deal 7 years ago, destroying diplomatic pathway and making force the only option
- Partners in West can't trust America to negotiate after experiencing political cost with no benefit
6:50 - HEALTHCARE (CHRISTINE ON YOUTUBE)
- Strong advocate for universal nonprofit single-payer healthcare
- Member of Physicians for National Health Program
- Americans die 4 years earlier, pay twice as much, double infant/maternal mortality, 80% with medical debt have insurance
9:00 - AFFORDABILITY CRISIS
- Root problem is inequality—wealth concentration at top while working people fall behind
- Need progressive taxation (wealth tax, higher income taxes on rich, close loopholes, corporate tax reform)
- Labor organizing key to giving workers bargaining power for fair wages
13:38 - WHAT DISTINGUISHES A PROGRESSIVE (KEVIN ON FACEBOOK)
- Progressive starts with "what does a just society look like?" and works from there to solutions
- Populist starts with "blame those people"—even if solutions end up same, process matters
- Example: 14 million families with food insecurity—progressive asks how to fix problem, solution happens to be taxing billionaires
16:02 - NEGOTIATING PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES (HOOSIERLEMON ON SUBSTACK)
- Strongly supports negotiating drug prices
- Current Medicare has gaps—doesn't address prescription prices, addiction, mental health, disabilities as well as needed
- March is Disabilities Awareness Month
18:00 - PUBLICLY FUNDING ELECTIONS (@FANTUSGREY ON YOUTUBE)
- Publicly funding elections is great idea in theory
- Concern: Current administration would undermine it—if federally controlled, Trump would find way to keep opponents from getting money
- Already attacking ActBlue to keep money out of pockets of people who oppose him
21:01 - PAID FAMILY LEAVE (HOOSIERLEMON ON SUBSTACK)
- Yes, supports paid family leave
- Every time government puts policy in place (like Americans with Disabilities Act), industry says it'll wreck economy, then it doesn't
- Open to good ideas and solutions on implementation—could be through insurance or government systems
23:01 - GAVIN NEWSOM AND "CULTURALLY NORMAL" COMMENT
- Newsom said Democrats need to be "culturally normal"—abandon identity politics, focus on kitchen table issues
- Brad: Challenge in Southern Indiana is explaining things to people with different priorities
- Need to do better job communicating why issues like LGBTQ rights, environment matter to everyone—not stop caring, but reach out and communicate in way that resonates
27:01 - TRANSGENDER IDS
- Yes, transgender individuals should be able to update government-issued IDs to match gender expression
- Purpose of ID is to identify who you are—picture/info needs to match what they see, not "what's covered by swimsuit"
- Kansas revoking transgender IDs is intentional attempt to control expression and stir up hate
29:11 - AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS (HOOSIERLEMON ON SUBSTACK)
- Would support banning sale of residential properties to private equity, but federal limits on intrastate commerce
- Biggest thing federal government can do: tax policy making it less attractive for private equity to buy residential properties
- Public housing has role—government did it well after WWII, need creative solutions for today, also need immigrants to build housing
34:04 - FIGHTING BACK AGAINST REPUBLICAN TACTICS (@FANTUSGREY ON YOUTUBE)
- Republicans used brute strength to stop Obama's Supreme Court appointment—are you willing to fight back or engage in such behavior if necessary?
- Brad: Wishes it weren't necessary, but it is—Reagan/Tip O'Neill era and Lee Hamilton age are gone
- No reliable partners on other side for reasoned debate—they're trying to steal land under our feet, must stand up and stop it
35:50 - PATH TO WINNING THIS DISTRICT (KEVIN ON FACEBOOK)
- District went 64-32 Republican last time—is path through moderate swing voters or motivating non-voters?
- Brad: Central issue of primary—need to give voters choice, not audition to be like Republicans
- Democrats have better answers—reach across aisle to take them by hand and explain why our solutions better, not snuggle up to them
- When Democrats play mild/soften, best they can offer is "next year will probably only suck about as much"—need to persuade with alternative vision
41:12 - DESCRIBE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN ONE OR TWO WORDS
- New York Times focus group: every Democrat preferred progressive to moderate, but described party unkindly
- Brad: "Rebuilding"—seeing it in Harrison County (200 Democrats at dinner party), Brown County, Jackson County, Ripley County, Jefferson County
42:27 - ELECTION SECURITY AND POLLING STATION INTERFERENCE (@FANTUSGREY ON YOUTUBE)
- What steps being taken against possible interference shenanigans? What can candidate/campaign do to secure vote?
- As candidate: help get out vote, help people understand limitations/risks, encourage voting
- Need message that inspires people to vote—Republicans counting on apathy, need to give something worth getting off couch for
44:25 - HAKEEM JEFFRIES FOR SPEAKER
- When Democrats retake House, would you vote for Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker?
- Jeffries has done good work with very difficult hand under current administration
- Hasn't thought much about who should be in leadership—not going to be him as freshman, will think seriously about it in December
46:42 - D.C. AND PUERTO RICO STATEHOOD
- Would you support making D.C. and/or Puerto Rico states to balance anti-democratic lean in Senate?
- Open to Puerto Rico statehood, but not from perspective of balancing Republican vs. Democrat
- Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, current Commonwealth status doesn't serve them well—if they want statehood, should be seriously considered
- On gerrymandering: could support federal law making it illegal as undemocratic principle
48:55 - CONGRESSIONAL STOCK TRADING BAN (HOOSIERLEMON ON SUBSTACK)
- Supports banning congressional stock trading (Trump brought up at State of the Union, Elizabeth Warren gave standing ovation)
- Mutual funds reasonable, but shouldn't be able to invest in individual stocks or even particular sectors
- Sectors could be manipulated through Congress—congressional members perform better than S&P, appears shady
50:15 - MAKING COLLEGE AFFORDABLE (KATY SHEFFLER ON FACEBOOK)
- Cost of college up 10x since 1970 (adjusted for inflation), debt load up 50% in last 20-30 years, starting salaries lower
- People hurt most: those who get year or two in, find it's not for them—all debt, none of benefit
- Make first year free for qualified students so they're not burdened if they decide college isn't for them
- Government used to invest in college like roads/bridges/water treatment—now treat as private good, hugely unfair burden previous generations didn't have
53:15 - PAC AND SUPER PAC DONATIONS (@FANTUSGREY ON YOUTUBE)
- Not taking donations from PACs/super PACs at this time
- Not against aligned organizations (like universal healthcare PAC) donating—won't take AIPAC money
- Would prefer small donations only, but Republicans have enormous war chest (50%+ of Houchens money from out of state)
- Can't afford to walk away from building war chest to make difference—if elected, would support laws limiting PAC donations
55:40 - IRAN AND GAZA (HOLLY ON FACEBOOK)
- Iran: Process issues with how attacks were done—illegal, doesn't bring American people in for buy-in
- Iranian government has been saying "death to America" for 45 years, supported Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis
- Gaza: Gut wrenching to see what's happening—only way past cycle of violence is two-state solution
- U.S. should advocate with ally Israel for two-state solution, but Netanyahu has no interest—his approach leads to cycles of violence and repression, not sustainable peace
CLOSING:
- Eight town halls completed, six more confirmed
- Website: bradmeyer.org
- Primary election: May 5th
