0:00

Welcome to Worst Year Ever, a production

0:02

of My Heart Radio Together

0:13

everything, So don't why

0:20

Hello, Welcome back to

0:23

the Worst Year Ever. My name

0:25

is Katie Still, that's wild. My

0:27

name isn't. I've got a different one and it is Cody

0:29

Johnston. Uh. Today we

0:31

are recording without Robert because

0:34

he needed the week off like I needed it

0:36

off last week. And that's just how we

0:38

roll sometimes. UM. Sophie's

0:40

here though, that's quite never leave, she

0:43

doesn't. UM. Today we

0:45

have something special for you, guys, and

0:48

that is an interview with David

0:50

Kim, who is running for California's

0:53

thirty four district. Uh.

0:55

He is wonderful. We

0:58

just had a very interesting

1:01

conversation with him about U B I, about

1:04

human centered economy UM,

1:07

and just challenging the

1:09

establishment and I

1:12

I found it inspiring. UM.

1:15

I think I won't speak for you guys.

1:17

Hey, I don't disagree. He doesn't

1:20

disagree. That's different than our

1:22

catchphrase on even

1:24

More News, which I don't disagree with you completely.

1:29

Yeah, it was great. It was a great conversation. UM,

1:32

and you're gonna listen to it. You're gonna

1:34

listen to it right now.

1:38

So today we are very

1:40

excited to be joined by

1:42

David Kim, who is running for California's

1:44

thirty four congressional district.

1:47

Hi David, Hi Katie,

1:49

thank you so much for having me. Oh, we're thrilled

1:52

to have you. How are you doing

1:54

We'll start off with an easy one. Maybe

1:57

that's not an easy question. Actually that's

1:59

hard to die Agraham and dissect. Yeah,

2:02

yeah, no, I'm I'm doing fine. I'm very grateful.

2:05

Um, definitely very one of the few fortunate

2:07

ones that get to work from

2:10

home and then also campaign as well.

2:12

So yeah, I'm very fortunate, and I think

2:14

right now the focus is just too how do

2:17

we help each other? How do we

2:19

do this in the short term immediately

2:21

right now, but then how do we do this long term

2:24

where we're not out doing our government and

2:26

helping each other? Yeah, um,

2:29

I want to I want to hear

2:31

a little bit about your background and

2:34

you know, how you decided to run

2:36

for office. I'm also curious

2:38

to know what campaigning

2:41

is like right now. You know,

2:44

we don't have the same traditional methods

2:46

of going out necessarily, I

2:48

think, and if you guys are going door to door

2:51

or anything like that. But yeah,

2:53

because that was a lot of questions wrapped into one

2:56

question background,

2:58

how did you decide to run? What does campaign?

3:01

So just like, what's up? How's it going? Yeah?

3:04

What's up? How's it going? So? Yeah? So my

3:06

name is David. I am currently an immigration

3:08

attorney. I live here in CD

3:11

thirty four. I moved to Los Angeles

3:13

in two thousand ten. I've lived

3:15

here for the past ten years. When

3:17

I graduated from law school, I started working at the

3:19

d a's office at l A County,

3:22

UH, and then the county went

3:24

on a firing hiring freeze,

3:26

and so I started working in labor

3:28

and employment litigation on the plaintiff side.

3:31

So I would sue employers for unpaid

3:34

wages, sexual harassment, those

3:36

types of cases. And shortly

3:38

thereafter, I then moved into the entertainment industry

3:41

because I felt that there was a need um

3:43

as a lot of my friends at the times who

3:46

were and even now, um,

3:48

I mean there's a lot less now, but back then there were a

3:50

lot of writer friends, director friends, acting

3:52

friends just being charged so

3:55

much with excessive high attorney

3:57

fees and so they would

3:59

be paying several thousand dollars

4:01

and retainers then get charged a percentage

4:04

and then be afraid to talk to them on the phone,

4:06

so they would ask me for help and I'm

4:09

and I'm a labor unemployment I mean, although

4:11

there are overlapping areas, I found

4:13

myself doing a lot of their legal counsel

4:15

work for free, which which is fine for me

4:17

and helping them, but it's like, why

4:19

are you afraid to talk to your a

4:21

thousand dollar in our attorneys, Like you should

4:23

be demanding them to do stuff

4:25

for you, but obviously they can't because

4:27

of the money and everything involved with that. So I

4:30

felt that there was a need there, so I

4:32

created the Hollywood Lawyer dot Com in

4:35

two thousand, fourteen October just

4:37

to fill in the need for Hey, we can't

4:39

be taking money

4:41

and taking an advantage of our creatives

4:44

because they gave up everything

4:46

to to do creative stuff for us

4:48

to be the thought thought provokers, to be the

4:51

thought creators, and we can't

4:53

be taking advantage of that. And so I saw a need

4:55

for creating affordable legal services

4:57

for a creative niche um serve

5:00

uses. And at the time, you

5:02

really couldn't get an attorney just to look

5:04

over a contract before you had to sign

5:06

it three days later or the next day. You

5:08

had to have paid a two thousand dollar retainer

5:10

first and then book them on appointment,

5:13

and so it's very inaccessible for

5:15

a lot of creatives. And so we filled

5:17

that void of creating flat fee services,

5:20

of providing very affordable flat

5:23

fee rates, contingency rates, uh,

5:26

and just kind of on the ghost things that you

5:28

can just really need, whether it be hey, I

5:30

need a red line written review of all

5:32

the things that need to be changing my contract. Can you give

5:34

me that in the next four eight hours. Yes, we can.

5:36

We'll help you. Do you want an oral consultation

5:38

on top of that, Okay, let's do it. So it's

5:40

it was making these services more affordable

5:42

and more accessible because a lot of our creatives

5:45

are being taken advantage of signing away

5:47

their rights, um signing away their options

5:49

without getting any value for that.

5:52

And so we did that, or I did that for

5:54

about four or five years. Um I sold

5:57

the Hollywood lawyer. At the time, there wasn't

5:59

any type of legal practice that

6:01

that was like ours. And so now you have Counsel

6:03

for Creators and all of these other smaller legal practices

6:06

that are that are providing those services. And so I

6:09

felt, Okay, I think I've reached my

6:11

time here in the industry, so

6:13

UM. To be honest, I I kind of wanted

6:16

to see what it was like to be on the other side. So

6:18

I applied to Sony Pictures

6:20

to be one of its legal counsels.

6:23

I ended up after so many

6:25

interviews, I ended up getting a job there director

6:27

of music Acquisitions for legal Um.

6:30

I spent my nine months there. If I

6:32

had stayed what several more

6:34

years, I could probablyly now start to pay

6:36

off my two thousand of law school loans

6:38

that I haven't been able to pay off for all

6:40

these years because I've I've, like

6:43

most of my I've I've I've worked that daily

6:45

grind and hustle life of working two to three

6:48

jobs. I remember there were so many days

6:50

where I'd worked free as an attorney and then drive

6:52

for Lift and Uber from seven pm to

6:54

three am every day, and

6:56

so so now it was like, yes, David,

6:59

like a sane mind would tell you

7:01

to just stay at Sony, don't quit

7:03

your job, and just pay off your law school

7:05

loans and do it. But in the reality

7:07

of my neighborhood and where I live, the

7:10

average rent here for one bedroom apartment

7:12

is two thousand a month, but the per capita income

7:14

is fifteen and so when you

7:16

have families living to to a bedroom

7:19

apartment, it's like, okay, I

7:21

I felt like I was living in two completely different

7:23

worlds, um kind

7:25

of. And it was just this,

7:27

this overall realization.

7:30

And this had started building up ever since I had

7:32

helped out on Kenneth Mahia's campaign in two thou

7:34

eighteen. So that's where I was really

7:36

activised politically because

7:38

I had missed the two thousand sixteen Bernie Our

7:41

Revolution moment. And so during

7:43

all of this time and these deeper realizations,

7:45

I thought, holy sh it, Like life isn't

7:47

supposed to be this hard or tough for anybody,

7:50

Like the struggle shouldn't be this real, Like

7:52

what's going on? Like we shouldn't be working

7:54

for the all of our lives until the last day

7:57

that we breathe. Like that's not what life

7:59

is supposed to be like. And so it hit me

8:01

on a deeper level. Um And during

8:03

all of this time while doing the Hollywood Lawyer, while

8:06

working at Sony, I was also a local neighborhood

8:08

council board member of MacArthur

8:10

Park Neighborhood Council. Although

8:12

um it could have a lot more power. It's at least

8:15

something that we as a community members as residents

8:17

can hold onto. Yeah, I wish

8:20

the neighborhood council system could do a lot

8:22

more. And so for those who are listening, Los

8:24

Angeles has ninety nine neighborhood councils,

8:26

and each neighborhood council serves forty residents.

8:29

And so what we have the power to do is to give

8:32

our opinion on any zoning

8:34

projects that come in any um

8:36

and so in a way we're able to stop

8:38

gentrification as much as possible so that

8:40

our community members aren't displaced and

8:43

so um. And so the

8:45

neighborhood council system allows us to actually

8:47

have a say to cling onto whatever

8:49

status quo is. Although we're not fond of

8:51

status quo. At least this is what

8:53

we know because we don't know if something worse is

8:55

going to come, because we've seen our families

8:58

and neighbors move an

9:00

hour or two hours away leaving Los

9:02

Angeles. And that's not the city that we

9:04

need to become. Because if we really

9:06

prioritize the people and find solutions

9:08

that actually work, then we can

9:10

all still be intact, still keep our community

9:13

safe. Um. But it's a matter of what

9:15

are our communities needs and concerns, And right

9:18

now, our communities are so financially

9:20

distressed. We have a thirty five plus year

9:23

income wage stagnation, ever

9:25

increasing widening wealth gap. We

9:27

have people that pre COVID

9:30

nineteen had two to three jobs to make ends

9:32

meet, and currently they have no jobs to make

9:34

ends meet, and they have no health insurance. And

9:36

yet are elected officials continue

9:39

to preach this message of oh,

9:41

universal health care. Oh now we're going to take

9:43

it out. Oh yeah, our d NC platform just

9:45

voted to not prioritize Medicare for all anymore

9:48

because we're not in that moment anymore. When

9:50

when we're all more ever in that

9:52

moment because nobody has health insurance.

9:55

And so so when you see like these

9:57

elected officials just preaching, oh,

9:59

well, we'll give you medicare for all or

10:01

health care for all, but then they're taking money from

10:03

pharmaceutical companies, healthcare companies.

10:06

They're saying free education for all, but then they're

10:08

taking money from student decollectors. In

10:10

a way, it's like, how crazy are we

10:13

to continue reelecting the same

10:15

officials two years after

10:17

two years after two years, it's like I

10:19

think it's on us now to realize, and it's

10:22

not in an accusatory or judgmental way,

10:24

but it's more of a hey, like they

10:27

they actually work for us, And it's kind of

10:29

really waking up and bringing out

10:31

that true perspective of they

10:33

actually work for us,

10:36

and if their job is to represent

10:39

the will of the people and they're

10:41

not doing it, all right, let's

10:43

vote for somebody else. And so that's why I'm

10:45

running. Yeah, which is actually very interesting

10:48

in terms of the trajectory of your career

10:50

that you've just laid out, because it's exactly what

10:52

you were doing with Hollywood. I mean, these

10:55

lawyers that you're talking about that

10:58

people were afraid to, you

11:00

know, push for the you know, push

11:03

back on the money issues and all of that stuff.

11:05

That they're supposed to work for people. But the system is

11:07

broken, or you may guess

11:10

that's the system is designed, how it's designed to work.

11:12

But like, you know, showing an alternative

11:15

path and what

11:17

you're everything you're saying really resonates with

11:19

me. I've been talking about this a lot

11:21

with people in my conversations. You

11:24

know, it's easy to say

11:26

to fall into this US versus them

11:28

mentality left versus right,

11:31

and sure I've got lots of complaints

11:33

about the right, but also

11:36

we need

11:38

to step up, we need to be accountable,

11:40

We need to try harder and keep pushing for

11:43

UH officials that actually

11:46

worked for us, as you're saying, because just

11:49

saying get the Democrat

11:51

in isn't cutting it. The

11:53

democrats, so many democrats,

11:56

the system, the establishment UM

11:59

is serving the same systems that

12:01

aren't working, you know, and they're they're ingrained.

12:04

So that's why I'm so so thrilled to

12:06

have candidates like you stepping up and

12:08

and talking about some

12:10

really dramatic, drastic things that need

12:12

to happen to actually be serving

12:15

the communities. UM.

12:19

You're running on a very progressive platform,

12:22

which is very exciting to us, even

12:24

endorsed by Andrew Yang and Marian Williamson.

12:26

Am I right, UM

12:29

your supporter of U B I met a care for all

12:31

green, new Deal homes guarantee

12:34

UM. And and I'd love to have

12:36

you walk us through some of

12:38

these issues and and

12:40

and talk about how you arrived on these

12:42

positions and everything, UM,

12:45

because we could start with you b I. It's it's

12:47

not a new concept, but it's it's

12:49

relatively new to many Americans. I think,

12:52

you know, Andrew Yang's campaign brought

12:54

it to the forefront of our conversations

12:57

this election cycle. Um.

12:59

And of course he exited the race before

13:02

the pandemic hit. But

13:04

now I think we're having these conversations under a new

13:06

lens. Um. You know, many

13:09

people have been pushing for U B I as something as

13:11

a response to the pandemic, and

13:14

and what we got was far short the

13:16

U b I um or,

13:19

you know, but now more than ever, something

13:21

like this is imperative

13:25

and were and when Andrew brought that up

13:27

during his campaign, people laughed at him, and now

13:30

everybody and now everybody's like, hm, hmmm,

13:32

what about that? But

13:34

could you I mean,

13:37

I think a lot of our listeners have a fairly good

13:39

grasp on UBI, but I'd love to have you walk

13:41

us through it. Um. I. Also,

13:43

I'm hoping that we all can have a takeaway

13:46

of of easy ways that we can talk

13:48

about it with our relatives and loved ones, you

13:50

know, moving forward, destigmatizing

13:53

things in a ways important

13:55

part of this conversation. But yeah, I'd love to hear

13:57

your thoughts. Yeah, for sure. Thank

13:59

you so much for asking that question. Katie.

14:02

Universal basic income is probably

14:04

one of the most progressive things out there,

14:07

and so for people to suddenly now

14:09

catch on, it's like, oh and

14:11

and and it's a it's a good thing because

14:13

it's not like, oh, why didn't you catch on sooner?

14:16

No, I'm glad and happy right

14:18

that you caught before. It was

14:20

cool kind of stuff, you

14:23

know, exactly. So it's like, why do we have even

14:25

have to go there? Like, I'm glad that you know about it

14:27

now, and and so let's talk about

14:30

ways that we can implement it. Um

14:32

but pulling back just for a sight before I go

14:34

back into there. For for our platform,

14:37

we're focused really on empowering

14:39

the American people in our communities again

14:41

because the focus has not been on

14:43

our people the past thirty forty years.

14:46

And so for us, it's like, okay, so, David,

14:48

what does putting the focus on the people look like?

14:51

And it's very basic elements of do

14:53

our people have access to good food?

14:56

Can they eat good food? Like? Can

14:58

they have it? Like? Is it hard to get it? Like?

15:00

Do they have access to good healthcare and education?

15:03

Do they have a room to sleep in with the roof over

15:05

their head? Are they able to pay for basic

15:08

expenses. And these are the very basic

15:10

things and

15:12

and and ensuring, because if a government

15:14

is one that is of the people, for the

15:16

people, and by the people, then it

15:18

should be taking care of the people. It's

15:20

not. It's not some radical

15:23

socialist or whatever crazy

15:26

idea you want to put on it. It's a very

15:28

basic practical result

15:31

of what a government, a representative government,

15:33

is supposed to be. And if we're paying

15:35

our tax and money into the system and we're

15:37

not seeing this, then we can demand

15:39

for something else. And so now

15:42

going back into the UBI parts, So the UBI

15:44

part takes care of the basic

15:46

expenses, but I think beyond that, what it really

15:48

represents is it

15:50

it starts addressing this thirty

15:53

forty plus year income wage stagnation

15:55

that's been happening, this widening wealth

15:57

gap, even before going to automation,

16:00

which is probably an

16:02

equally important area and reason, but

16:04

even before that, our people

16:06

are financially distressed and depressed

16:09

right now, and that affects them not just in

16:11

their finances, mentally emotionally

16:13

as well, and it contributes to

16:15

more unrest ease.

16:18

And and I come from

16:20

a child, and I'm

16:22

not gonna say I come from I come from as

16:24

a child from domestic violence, and my parents

16:27

fought mostly because of money. UM

16:29

and the fact that we're putting

16:31

the strain onto our families and our communities

16:33

and saying you deal with it without giving them bootstraps

16:36

or boots even is

16:39

is is the biggest evil that we

16:41

could be doing. UM is the biggest evil

16:43

that they could be doing to us. And I

16:45

think it's really our time to wake up and realize,

16:47

holy sh it, Like, yeah, we're talking about

16:49

it, but it just doesn't end here at talking where

16:51

it goes a lot further and so what a U

16:53

b I would really do? I mean

16:56

for those who also aren't aware of

16:58

you b I. Another good reason is for automation,

17:00

because we see a lot of our jobs being

17:02

automated, especially during now in COVID

17:04

nineteen, because there are a lot

17:06

of people who are afraid

17:09

to go ahead and risk their health and going out

17:11

and working a lot of restaurants. I I

17:14

forgot what restaurant they were showing a video

17:16

on CNN of how they have robot

17:18

cooks now and what and they're

17:20

cooking the food and so so it was

17:23

and I'll send you that link when I see it. But it's

17:25

just it's in the sense of everything

17:28

is being automated to the point of like

17:31

if you go to the warehouses and Amazon, or

17:33

if you go um like, you'll

17:35

see automation in your face happening.

17:37

And even from my legal industry, I know that the

17:39

co founders of legal Zoom, they've created something

17:41

else that will now be displacing even

17:44

more attorneys. Um who

17:46

And I get that we have this this automatic

17:48

bias against attorneys. But for those

17:51

who graduate in recent years with the legal economy

17:53

with ship like, they still have two hundred thousand

17:56

dollars loan that and they're unable

17:58

to pay it. Um. So I think there's a

18:00

different time and era for these

18:02

occupations. And even with that, like with law

18:04

schools pumping in students and pumping out and

18:08

there's so many areas that we can start

18:10

tackling and addressing in terms of

18:12

where, what are we doing and why are we not being

18:14

efficient in all of these ways. So the

18:16

idea of u b I is to help UH

18:19

kind of buffer the different

18:22

changes that could happen when automation occurs.

18:24

So that's the second reason. But on an overall

18:27

skill, U b I imagine

18:29

practically what it would do to an area in

18:31

our district where the per capita income is twelve

18:33

to fifteen thousand dollars, having a

18:36

ubi of even a thousand dollars a month would

18:38

double their income, would be able

18:40

to increase their ability to

18:42

not be strapped and chained

18:45

to their minimum wage jobs that they hate

18:47

or whatever other jobs with conditions

18:49

that they don't prefer, and

18:51

they would it would allow them to have the flexibility

18:54

and freedom and breathing room to actually

18:56

breathe now and to consciously

18:58

make choices, because we're always

19:00

making these choices in our reactive parasympathetic

19:04

state, being all in this freight fight or

19:06

freeze mode because of the conditions that we've created

19:08

our people to live in. And so if we

19:10

were able to give our people some breathing

19:12

space where now they have the ability to

19:15

go ahead and take a class, to go ahead and

19:17

transition into a different career, or

19:19

go ahead and be able to work for a

19:21

job that's part time and still have the

19:23

finances to be able to still pay for their basic

19:25

expenses. And there's the fungibility

19:27

aspect. What U Katie referenced earlier

19:30

is one of the big keys, not

19:32

just in terms of stigma. But in terms

19:34

of we as the people, we know best

19:37

what we need our money for. And

19:39

yes, I'm grateful our family lived

19:41

on safety net programs, but like

19:43

my my food assistance isn't

19:46

going to help me with paying my rent. There

19:48

are times that the food assistance like

19:50

it'll be so handy and so helpful,

19:53

but there are times where I could be using

19:55

assistance elsewhere. And so why

19:57

add all of the bureaucratic tape, the

19:59

extra government in between, the

20:01

all the extra means, testing and hurdles

20:04

to prove that I don't have money to pay rent

20:06

or poop food on the table. Why do we do

20:08

that extra unnecessary pain and suffering

20:10

to our people and then to ourselves

20:13

on our bandwidth wise, when we could actually putting

20:15

our focus on other things in terms

20:18

of creating an infrastructure for our

20:20

people, making sure that every community taken care

20:22

of, like this is where we could actually be

20:24

spending more of our time in. And so for

20:26

me, I think what got me

20:28

to go into the entertainment industry and I saw

20:30

that need and what got me to go here

20:32

was there are so many things in areas

20:35

that we could be cleaning up right now on just

20:37

a practical level, even putting party politics

20:39

aside, like it

20:42

doesn't make sense that we continue in our

20:44

imperialistic conquests around the world.

20:47

Although some might not think, oh

20:49

David was didn't imperialism ends, like

20:51

well, I don't know. We're still living

20:53

it out. And it's there's no need

20:55

for us to be pouring money into this and that

20:58

even in and of itself, isn't a party politics

21:00

thing. Everyone's doing, whether you're Republican or Democrat.

21:03

And so it's it's rethinking what

21:05

are we doing as a government, and how are we

21:07

holding our officials accountable and so

21:09

what I'm very grateful despite what people

21:12

may think of Bernie and oh he's traded

21:14

or whatnot, I'm still super grateful

21:16

that he let us out of our bird cage. I'm grateful

21:18

that Andrew did to Mary Anne, Tulsie, all

21:20

of these people did. I'm grateful that Ao

21:22

season office, Ilhano Mars in office,

21:25

Rashida as an office. Uh.

21:27

I'm sorry sorry that I'm saying by the first name. They're

21:29

just Dianna Pressley's in office.

21:31

But these people are what help

21:34

us. Are are

21:36

are are the people that empower

21:38

us to become our own true and

21:41

powerful selves and enable us

21:43

to walk out more in our truth and freedom where

21:45

now we have not just people and

21:48

a year ago, I never would have thought I'd be running

21:51

for office right now, but I am. But it's

21:53

it's it's breaking that whole

21:55

stereotype of oh, there's a certain image

21:57

that only runs for office, but no, a rep resenative

22:00

government looks like one that is made up

22:02

of from people from all different kinds of backgrounds,

22:05

occupations and facets of life.

22:07

And that's what we need to move towards and how do

22:09

we get there. And so that's the thing that we

22:11

need to be doing. I told my boyfriend, Hey,

22:14

babe, once we reached the six yeared Mike,

22:16

You're like, you're pulling me out and pull me yanked me

22:18

out because I'm just in and out, like

22:20

I really just want to see change and helps spark

22:22

that. So that's a really important point there.

22:25

I Mean, there's so much to impact on what you just said, but

22:27

touching on that first, Yeah,

22:29

we need people that come in and serve their time

22:32

and and you know, bring ideas.

22:35

And we also need people

22:37

do not grow old in office and to

22:39

get stuck in the same and

22:42

get used to having power over

22:44

people and society.

22:47

UM, it's like that, you know, power, power

22:49

corrupts, but not me, not well

22:57

together everything

23:05

UBI. I mean yeah, like I said, so many things

23:07

that you mentioned that really

23:09

stand out to me. Uh, the first

23:11

one being what you

23:13

suggested, like your background

23:16

or people having different sorts

23:18

of issues at home that on the surface

23:20

seem unrelated to money, but it can

23:22

all be traced back to money. And I think

23:24

people are palpably feeling this right

23:26

now as tensions are high, and they're

23:29

feeling their own mental health or stability,

23:31

uh, emotional well being

23:34

being fraid, as they're trying to figure out how

23:36

to meet make ends meet. UM.

23:38

And the other thing about UBI, and look, I

23:41

will admittedly say that even I've

23:43

always I've been interested in UBI for a

23:45

long time, and when we started having these

23:47

conversations, as exciting as it was, it

23:49

felt daunting. It felt like a

23:51

daunting task to tackle

23:54

at this point in time. But

23:56

at the same time, you know, you

23:59

look at Bernie's anders. Medicare for

24:01

all a while

24:03

back, wasn't something that people considered

24:05

a possibility, and now it is. You start

24:07

talking about it, you start destigmatizing

24:10

it, and you start

24:13

planting the seeds that this is actually not only

24:15

a possibility but a necessity.

24:17

Um And and changing the general perception

24:20

in this pandemic one

24:22

thing has exposed

24:24

all the cracks in this foundation. And

24:27

the other thing that I thought of as we were

24:29

talking is just the basic concept of that our

24:31

world is changing. Um.

24:34

And with all this turmoil, you

24:37

have a loss of freedom

24:40

to think outside the box.

24:42

You know, you're in this grind of trying to

24:44

make ends meet well, and how are people going

24:46

to come up with the next big idea? How

24:50

do we uh free ourselves

24:52

to continue to expand and solve the problems

24:55

that we're facing because we've got a lot of them.

24:57

And and you be I feels like

25:00

a very good start for for laying that

25:02

foundation and fixing our foundation. Um.

25:06

And it's possible. I don't

25:08

know how you go about making

25:10

it happen, but it is

25:12

possible. We've been giving out all this money

25:15

to the wrong people during this pandemic

25:18

when they could have authorized something

25:20

that is a monthly payment to

25:22

people to

25:25

make ends meet, to to say

25:27

that you're supported, that you know we're protecting

25:29

you during this time, and not

25:32

sending billions of dollars to you

25:34

know, huge corporations in in

25:36

in lawmakers anyway, yeah,

25:40

or the Pentagon, Yeah, they they

25:43

they allocated more funding for fighter jets.

25:45

Um, oh my god,

25:47

the relief. That's that's COVID

25:49

relief, right there, more fighter jets that we

25:52

don't need. Yeah. And

25:54

and and you make a very great point about

25:56

that, Katie. During that time where people

25:58

don't have money to buy food or

26:01

pay rent, like, you should give

26:03

the people money direct cash relief right

26:05

now. Um. Whether and

26:07

whether that looks like two thousand dollars a month

26:09

during the pandemic and then after a thousand a

26:11

month, because everybody will still be recuperating.

26:15

Um. And that's the way to get money into

26:17

the hands of people the fastest, because

26:19

once you do a whole means tested and

26:22

and go through all these departments, like

26:24

people still haven't gotten there one time

26:26

stimulus check from last time. And

26:29

it's it's this, it's this lack of realization

26:32

or deliberate ignorance and pushing

26:34

away or or not. I guess

26:36

ignorance can't be delivered. It could be ignorance

26:39

could be but

26:42

pushing away the fact the

26:45

fact that our people are the economy.

26:47

We are the economy. If we

26:49

don't have money, there's no economy, like

26:52

nothing will be running and so and so

26:55

the government they have their own separate economy,

26:57

which is the war industry, military industrial

27:00

complex economy that they're doing. But

27:02

it's it's a matter of realizing, like we

27:04

the people do matter on a collectively

27:06

on our own skill as well, but then on the

27:08

government side realizing, holy sh it,

27:10

like we need a conscious

27:13

check here, like and I hate to hate

27:15

to I'm not bringing any religion into it, but there needs

27:17

to be some sort of spiritual

27:20

or emotional or or a revolution

27:22

in our conscious that had needs to happen in

27:24

d C right now. And that's what Mary Anne

27:26

kept on driving on of we need to have

27:28

a revival of of actually humanity

27:31

and self. And that's where Andrew Yang brought his whole

27:33

humanity first element, and that's what a lot of these

27:35

candidates had in mind, was we need to remember

27:38

the human race, like we need to help

27:40

each other right now. Um, I'm getting passionate,

27:42

sim lifting, gesticulating

27:44

and so

27:48

so so in a way like and it's not it's

27:50

and it seems crazy at first because when

27:52

I remember when I heard UBI for the

27:54

first time, I thought what are you serious?

27:57

Nah, come on like you

28:00

know, like your Asian and you're saying that you do

28:02

the math and all of it. But because

28:04

I hadn't heard about UBI until first learning

28:06

about Andrew, which was a

28:08

while before the debates, a lot before that,

28:11

and once I started going down the rabbit hole, rabbit

28:13

hole, I found, holy crap. Martin Luther

28:16

King Jr. Was preaching about this in his

28:18

last book, Spooking Speaking Tour Where

28:20

Do We Go From Here around nineteen six nine

28:23

sixty nine when he was assassinated, and

28:25

that was one of the things he was proposing. He was

28:27

saying, we do all of these great things

28:29

to help the poor and to eradicate

28:31

poverty, and we we do all of these programs

28:34

and implementations, but when it comes to the implementation

28:37

of it all, we solve everything else first,

28:39

and then we come down last to poverty, and

28:41

it's never solved and it's always unaddressed.

28:43

And he says, the only way we can do it with is a basic

28:46

income, and so he had fought for that.

28:48

It almost it passed in the House, didn't

28:50

pass in the Senate, and that happened twice. I think

28:52

it was nineteen seventy one and another

28:55

year, and so this has happened

28:57

throughout history. Thomas Payne,

28:59

one of our four founding fathers, supported He

29:01

didn't. He thought it was absurd that a human

29:03

being could own land, let alone in American

29:06

because even before we came over, the

29:08

first Americans came over from from Great

29:11

Britain and from other countries. The Native

29:13

Americans were there, and they were

29:15

they were there too, but then before then, the land

29:17

was already there, and so it was this idea

29:19

of nobody can own land, and

29:22

so he created he was proposing creating

29:24

a lound Land Endowment Tax

29:26

Fund into which those over certain age

29:28

would pay a land tax and from their

29:30

basic income would be distributed. Unfortunately

29:33

that that didn't pass. But there's been

29:35

movements along the way in history, and

29:38

similarly, although it's not it's

29:40

it's different types of right. We have the civil rights

29:43

movement, the Women's movement, UH

29:45

and and different movements and suffrage

29:47

movements along the way. But now is a time

29:49

where we're in that process where

29:52

it's another revolution, another change,

29:54

another big series of change. That's point

29:56

that's about to happen, and and right

29:58

now we need to realize whole the crap, like we're

30:01

we've come this far and we need to continue more

30:03

because we do see it building before our

30:05

eyes. You, UM, I don't

30:07

know if you are aware. There's a party that just formed.

30:10

Um it's called for a People's Party, and they're

30:12

really trying to get on the ball and get

30:14

rolling. By two and

30:16

and we have probably a

30:18

record number of Downbell congressional candidates

30:21

running across the nation for their primary

30:23

races this selection cycle. We have many

30:26

more forming chapters and groups in the

30:29

off spurs of the organizations that Bernie

30:31

started with Our Revolution, that Andrew started

30:34

with Humanity Ford, et cetera. And so we're

30:36

now slowly building a movement that's

30:38

that can only grow bigger. So

30:41

for us right now, it's an exciting time, but

30:43

it's also a very serious time where we can't

30:45

lose focus, where we can't compromise,

30:48

like we can't compromise by continuing

30:50

to fund a seven forty billion

30:53

plus dollar Pentagon military

30:55

budget anymore. We can't compromise

30:57

in these things. But it's a matter of then

30:59

how do we go up out doing it like and

31:01

this is where we need to come and have

31:03

a deeper conversation with those

31:05

in our communities and those in d C

31:08

where we're actually talking with our communities

31:10

first and saying, hey, what are your basic

31:12

concerns and needs right now? Okay,

31:14

how would you like that to be responded to?

31:17

What would help you out the most? Right now? What would

31:19

help you thrive? Taking that and

31:21

then articulating that back into legislation

31:23

in DC. And that's the process that should

31:25

be happening instead of their legislating

31:27

amongst themselves then coming back

31:30

to our communities with the crumbs that they have and

31:32

saying, hey, look what we got for you. Um.

31:34

And so this whole mindset just everything

31:36

needs to change. But what's the answer, David,

31:39

What should we do? And it's us realizing collectively

31:42

like that we have the power. We are

31:44

the revolution, no matter how much of

31:46

a cliche it might sound like, we are the

31:48

fucking revolution. We are the economy.

31:51

We as long as we say

31:53

that we matter and take action individually

31:55

and collectively, we could

31:58

be so powerful, so powerful

32:01

they're we forget that

32:03

and they want us to forget that. Yeah, yeah,

32:06

because they control us through poverty. That's

32:08

why they don't want to give us. That's

32:11

why they don't want to give us another that's

32:13

why they want to means test that stimulus check even

32:15

more. That's why they want to cut off the percentage

32:18

of the expanded unemployment benefits. Just so

32:20

on and so forth. They control us through poverty,

32:22

saying stuff like, you know, people

32:25

aren't returning to work because they're getting so much

32:27

more money on unemployment, instead

32:29

of acknowledging the fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic.

32:31

Also, excuse me, they're

32:33

getting paid not that

32:36

much money. People aren't

32:38

getting that much money on unemployment. Let's

32:40

just accept that. And why

32:43

the so some people

32:45

might be making more money on their unemployment

32:48

than at their job. That's a problem.

32:51

Why is that? Okay?

32:53

I mean, like and and so using that

32:55

as a as a way to stigmatize people

32:58

who are receiving money from the government to

33:00

you know, cover costs of living is

33:02

ghoulish to me. Um,

33:05

you know, and back to your point earlier

33:07

about like, okay, so assistance

33:10

to help with food, that's great,

33:12

but like I need it for rent And why do

33:14

I have to jump through all this red tape to justify

33:17

how I need to spend money to come, you

33:19

know, to to live anyway

33:22

gets me frustrated. Sorry, Cody,

33:24

did you had something you wanted to say? And I just kind of bold,

33:26

right, it's very very passionate.

33:30

Um no, I's I mean, there's

33:32

just so much to talk about this and like

33:34

what our America is

33:36

very skewed idea of what freedom is

33:39

and like rugged individuality and the fact

33:41

like ignoring the fact that

33:43

we are really all in this together and we are

33:46

You judge a society by how they treat their

33:49

poor, and like if you lift

33:51

up everybody that's the poorest,

33:53

then everybody above them will be lifted up as well.

33:56

UM. One one one of my so

33:58

one of my things about you, b I actually is

34:00

um And this was more I think

34:02

maybe more of a communication uh

34:05

issue on Yang's part at least, um

34:07

where if you're giving so

34:10

like you're giving money, like let's say two

34:12

grand a month everybody. If we live

34:14

in a society where if

34:16

you add up like rent and food and

34:18

uh and heat and like all all the like the basic

34:21

needs. You know, we have a hierarchy of needs that

34:23

we all kind of understand, like well, food and water,

34:25

shelter, those kinds of things. But if you can't

34:28

if you can't pay for all

34:30

of those things in a month with the two thousand

34:32

dollars, then the UBI seems

34:35

more like, um, kind of like a

34:37

band aid, like okay, well we'll give you some money.

34:40

Um. And I guess I'm wondering if there's

34:42

any sort of uh, I guess you to be U

34:44

B I requires looking

34:46

at other aspects of society to bring those

34:48

costs down too, so that if I were to give

34:51

somebody two thousand dollars a month, they can

34:53

pay their rent, they can buy food,

34:55

they can do all the things that are

34:57

required to survive as a human being

35:00

with that too. Grand Um, if that

35:02

were to happen, Yeah, I guess YEA, I'm still

35:04

wondering if you have any thoughts about that.

35:07

Yeah. No, those are very great points.

35:10

And I am I am not a

35:12

believer that one solution will

35:14

solve everything because while

35:17

and that's why our platform is really

35:20

addresses each of those needs, so

35:22

for having a roof room and a

35:24

roof to sleep under a home's guarantee,

35:27

for paying your basic expenses, universal

35:29

basic income for healthcare, Medicare for all,

35:31

for education, free education and vocational

35:33

schools UH, and cancelation of student

35:36

debt. So for us, it's realizing

35:38

a U b I is not going to

35:40

immediately solve all of your financial needs

35:42

for the month. But even

35:45

right now or pre COVID nineteen, we had

35:47

seventy of Americans living

35:49

paycheck to paycheck each month, most

35:52

having most not having savings more

35:54

than three to four hundred dollars UM.

35:56

And imagine what kind of relief

35:58

that would do for our people on an emotional,

36:01

on a mental level. First of all,

36:04

on on that level, and then it's also attacking

36:06

all of those areas you mentioned. Why do we have

36:08

astronomical pharmaceutical costs and healthcare

36:11

costs? Like that's crazy. It's because

36:13

we have executives making billions and trillions

36:16

off of us UM. That's why

36:18

that's where the money is going. Like

36:21

where do you get the money? It's like, will you take

36:23

it from them? Like

36:25

it's right and simple. These corporate interests

36:28

that have become the main constituents

36:30

of our elected officials, and they're not

36:32

they're not they're they're their corporate

36:35

entities. They're not human beings. But suddenly

36:37

they've become constituents of our elected officials.

36:39

So it's changing that um, changing

36:42

how we go ahead and do everything

36:45

else. With with housing, for instance,

36:47

we have over seventy billion dollars

36:49

in federal public housing that needs

36:52

improvements right now, and

36:54

nothing's being done with that. We have

36:56

paid to place schemes in so many

36:58

cities across the nation in and

37:01

even our probably

37:03

a lot of us, our own federal elected officials,

37:06

are engaging in those two. And so it's

37:08

this turning a blind eye to corruption

37:10

in your face is also a thing that drives

37:12

all of our housing concept, the gentrification

37:15

of it all. And so it's realizing while

37:18

we go ahead and supply all these needs,

37:20

we also need to have a responsibility

37:22

and a justice element to it. And so that's where

37:25

our campaign platform comes in. So

37:27

instead of naming our committee paid for

37:29

by David Kimp for Congress, one

37:31

of the things I've learned growing up is a name really gives

37:33

you a lot of power and identity. Um,

37:36

her my mom and what my dad told me and so

37:38

so are the name of our campaign committee.

37:40

It's pretty long. It's paid for by David Kimp for Congress.

37:43

Financial freedom, the financial

37:45

freedom part empowering our people. Love.

37:48

What does love look like? From an elected official?

37:50

Love looks like taking care of and caring for your

37:52

people, spending less of your money

37:54

creating these regime change, endless wars abroad

37:57

and taking that money and caring for your

37:59

people. Um and then justice for

38:01

all. We need justice to ensure that everyone

38:03

continues to be treated equally and

38:06

fairly and have that access. So what

38:08

does that look like. That means banning corporate

38:10

money from elections. We we can't.

38:12

We need to wash out all corporate money from

38:14

elections. It doesn't make sense that

38:17

you get elected to office because you have

38:19

the most corporate donors behind your

38:21

campaign war chest and funds you to office.

38:23

And even though you've knocked less doors than

38:26

your challengers combined or or

38:28

individually, even though you've called and

38:30

talked to less constituents than any of your

38:32

challengers. And so it's it's a matter

38:34

of this moral revolution that

38:36

needs to happen on the justice side, not

38:39

just in the government, but now everything

38:41

that we're also doing, because actions speak

38:43

louder than words. Why are we militarizing

38:45

our police, Why are we invading

38:48

the rights of our own people by allowing espionage

38:50

rights against our own people through through

38:54

through the BS and excuse of oh no, it's

38:56

for foreign power and foreign national

38:58

security. But then why are you doing that? To

39:00

your own people, and why are

39:02

we oppressing our communities? And so it's this

39:04

accountability aspect of our platform,

39:06

which is the justice aspect of No,

39:09

it doesn't make sense that more than

39:11

two thirds of the people that are incarcerated

39:13

are black and brown people. It doesn't make sense

39:15

that more than two thirds of the

39:17

people living in federal public housing currently

39:20

and we're completely neglecting the seventy billion

39:23

dollars and improvements that need to be made, two thirds of

39:25

them are black and brown. So, like,

39:27

we see institutionalized racism

39:29

before our eyes, but we're not doing anything

39:31

about it. We see this blatant war

39:34

against poverty, but we're not doing about

39:36

it. And so now it's time for us for

39:38

people to really stand up to identify

39:40

it and just call it out. Um. But

39:42

obviously media won't shine a light

39:44

on those people, and so UM,

39:46

I'm super thankful that Katie and

39:49

and you all offered me this time to be

39:51

on your platform because this is the one

39:53

of the ways that we can share with other people and

39:55

expanding that knowledge because the main

39:58

media won't do it well. Together

40:06

everything, so all

40:10

of this seems to go along with

40:13

you. Another part of your website that I was really compelled

40:15

by which is the human centered

40:17

economy? You know, the adjusting

40:19

of how we think about the economy.

40:21

And I loved that. Um,

40:24

are there more things you want to speak to that specific

40:26

point? I mean, I do think that we've

40:28

been talking about it this whole time. It's

40:31

all hand in hand. But I love

40:33

I love that phrasing too. I

40:36

mean these bullet points. Human

40:38

beings are more significant than money

40:40

and life. I worked, I was

40:43

working in human resources. When I would interview

40:45

for jobs right out of college, I'd be like, I want to put

40:47

the human back in human resources

40:49

for you. I did think that you met a past

40:51

life past life at first, Um,

40:54

and that was like this will be interesting

40:56

there. I was like, were

40:58

you a human being? I was like,

41:01

okay, I'll go for this. Red. I

41:03

had a psychic once told me

41:05

that I I was a dolphin in a

41:07

past life. I died

41:09

in the ocean, and that's why I don't

41:12

like the ocean that much. I do think

41:14

you were a dolphin in past life? The

41:16

author? Does it does fit? Um?

41:19

David? You also Oh no, sorry, go ahead,

41:21

No. I was just gonna say, dolphins are

41:23

so cute. I wish I can anyhow

41:26

I want to go see a dolphins scene. Well,

41:28

here I am.

41:32

You touched on the homes

41:34

guarantee, which is another thing I wanted to

41:36

to talk about. Yeah,

41:39

Um, on your website you you started

41:41

this section by saying we need to pass HR four

41:43

three five one and S nine nine, which

41:46

is the MBI Act. Um. I want

41:48

to hear about the homes guarantee, but I also I would love

41:50

it if you could explain that a little bit to us.

41:52

Yeah, yeah, for sure, Um, Before

41:55

I get to that. The human center economy, it's

41:57

just basically the idea of if

41:59

we are supposed to be a government that prioritize

42:02

and puts the people first and do all

42:04

of these things with universal basic

42:06

income, Medicare for all, etcetera,

42:08

then that's great. But then

42:10

how do we ensure that we actually

42:13

have gauges, good

42:15

identifiers to make sure that we're doing that

42:17

on the track we need. We

42:19

don't need measures like GDP of whether

42:22

measuring whether or not our countries in a good state

42:24

are here in stock market went up

42:27

like we're doing great exactly,

42:31

So, how in the world is that a good gauge and indicator

42:33

of where our country is When most of every

42:36

one of us are frightened and uncertain

42:38

and not knowing what's going to happen or how they're going

42:40

to pay their bills and their rent. Like, that's

42:43

not a good indicator of where we're at. So we

42:45

actually need a job performance

42:47

evaluation that makes sense. And

42:49

so that job performance evaluation of how our

42:51

government and country is doing isn't based on stock

42:54

market or GDP. It should be based on how

42:56

our people are doing. So what does that

42:58

mean? What does that look like? If we're prioritizing

43:00

our people, that are people should be doing well?

43:02

So what are the factors we should look out for, like long

43:05

life expectancy, health, like where

43:08

merite, like in all of these different ways,

43:10

if we're able to put the focus on

43:13

our people in terms of um

43:15

making, a focus on job skills,

43:17

training, on employment, on mental emotional

43:20

health care, on taking care of our families,

43:22

because every family is a war zone now

43:24

because we're not we're putting the financial

43:26

strain on all of our families, and we're driving

43:29

our parents so emotionally and mentally

43:31

burdened now they're not able to kind

43:35

of coincide or exist, co exists where their

43:37

emotions and so where does that seem

43:39

to that seems to parents,

43:41

to the and anti parents as well and

43:43

amongst themselves, and it creates. And so that's

43:45

why our platform also has free I

43:47

know a lot of people might think, oh,

43:49

how are you going to do that? We have money for it.

43:52

How do we just print three extra

43:54

trillion new dollars and put that into

43:56

currency. And so it's a matter of realizing,

43:59

no, that we matter in so for our platform,

44:01

we're we're including free marriage counseling,

44:03

free family counseling for all because

44:05

a lot of us, majority of us,

44:08

like believe it or not, some of us

44:10

like we were always operating in our paris

44:12

sympathetic state in this freight fight or freeze

44:15

mode, where we should actually be operating

44:17

from our sympathetic state, from a very

44:19

deep, conscious awareness and responsive

44:21

state where we're able to really

44:23

be healed from all of the trauma that's been

44:26

going on in all of us. And so it's ensuring that

44:28

our people are not just financially okay,

44:30

not just physically okay, but that they're mentally,

44:33

mentally and emotionally okay as well. And

44:35

so these are the gauges that should be in place

44:37

for a human centered economy. Um.

44:39

Going now to Homes Guarantee. You

44:41

are amazing, Thank you, You've got

44:43

everything, all of these balls that you're juggling right

44:46

now. But yes, I like that. Homes

44:48

Guarantee is great. Homes

44:50

Guarantee. The bills that you reference there the ymbi

44:53

at Yimbie bills. So basically they're about

44:55

removing exclusionary zoning policies,

44:57

building residential housing, multi dual

45:00

units in place that we're not originally

45:02

zoned out for that, building multi dwelling accessory

45:05

units, increasing housing in

45:07

areas that that we could see more housing, and

45:09

not putting these arbitrary exclusionary

45:12

zoning laws and land speculation that occurs

45:15

where the price of our land just keeps on

45:17

going up and there's nobody using

45:19

that land or the buildings on it, and so it's

45:21

getting rid of that. That's a basic. So

45:23

now what we need to do on top of that is

45:26

called fimby. So we have nimby

45:28

not in my backyard yet uh yem

45:30

b yes, in my backyard uh. And

45:32

then fimby is public housing

45:34

in my backyard. So it's a matter of

45:37

So what the Homes Guarantee is about is providing

45:40

a set of basic tenants

45:43

rights for everybody, because if you

45:45

think about it, what's the majority of your income

45:47

going towards Katie Sophie Cody Rent,

45:50

rent, rent, rent number

45:52

one thing that we're paying but our

45:54

government is not doing. Like when

45:56

Biden first came out with his task forces several

45:59

months ago, he had nothing on housing, and I was like,

46:01

are you in touch with the people right now? What

46:04

in the world's Like the

46:06

one of the biggest things that we pay from

46:08

our monthly income is rent. We

46:11

should be having a conversation around

46:13

this, and why is it that out of forty

46:15

one million renting households in the nation,

46:18

over twenty million of them are paying more

46:20

than a third of their income. Why

46:22

is it that out of the forty plus million, twelve

46:25

plus million of them are paying more than half

46:27

of their income? Like why is

46:29

that? So these are the things we need to talk

46:31

about. So it's establishing UM

46:34

guidance and laws, and it's for the

46:36

majority of our people tenants not to be taking

46:38

advantage of because that's not right

46:41

UM on moral and practical level. And number

46:43

two, improving making

46:45

expenditures towards the seventy billion dollars

46:47

in federal public housing improvements that need to be

46:49

made. That's institutionalized racism

46:52

right there. Um. And it's also for

46:54

for Los Angeles and particularly

46:57

for for those who aren't aware, we have less

46:59

than tenth in public housing units.

47:01

This is very small compared to other cities

47:03

and counties where they have two hundred a

47:05

couple of few hundred thousand units

47:08

in public housing. And the reason why it's back in the fifties,

47:10

we had a group that was specifically

47:12

formed to stamp out

47:14

all public housing because they wanted Los Angeles

47:17

to be have a nice landscape to rich people

47:19

and and to live out that Hollywood life

47:21

and picture. And so we don't have

47:23

public housing, but yet our

47:25

people were. That's why our district

47:27

is the tenth poorest district in the nation. And

47:29

we continue to be because, I

47:32

mean, we continue to go downward because we're

47:34

we're completely being neglected. We're neglecting

47:36

our people where they need it the most, and that's housing.

47:39

What has our people, What have our city

47:41

elected officials done with the money

47:43

that we've passed a few billion dollars

47:45

towards building housing and towards homelessness

47:48

and eradicating it. They've spent seven hundred

47:50

thousand dollars of unit. I think they built a

47:53

couple of units, not even. And so it's it's

47:55

a matter of wow, like we could

47:57

be doing so much for our people right now.

48:00

And so another main component of Homes Guarantee

48:02

is this idea of creating twelve

48:05

million social housing units, just

48:07

like in Europe where and

48:09

the twelve million number is based on those

48:11

experiencing homelessness UM in

48:13

our country. And so it's building at

48:15

least twelve million social housing units where

48:18

people won't have to pay more than a third

48:20

of their income. Well, there will be program

48:22

in policies in place, um, and so it's

48:24

allowing for those that shortage

48:26

now to be addressed on a big,

48:29

radical change scale. And

48:31

so this is these are the types of change that we really

48:33

need right now. A second f drum

48:36

type of era. UM.

48:38

I'm not I'm sure I've mentioned this on

48:40

one of our podcasts at some point, UM,

48:44

but especially like when you were talking about the Hindi

48:46

Act. I mean so much what

48:48

you said resonates with me. UM.

48:51

My father for has worked in nonprofits.

48:54

He's retired now, but he was running uh

48:58

A rehabilitation facility in northern californ

49:00

and in by that because of that was you

49:02

know, on different council boards

49:05

and stuff, and and to

49:07

talk about homelessness and different things. And in half Moon

49:10

Bay, for example, there was this big

49:12

tract of land and people

49:14

were we had they had a developer or

49:16

somebody that had a

49:19

plan for how to quickly build

49:22

public housing something something they wanted

49:24

to do. But the but the hurdle was

49:27

zoning. The hurdle was getting

49:30

permission from the city.

49:32

And it never happened because

49:34

there was no incentive or there was no

49:37

like there. It was just too much red tape, too many things.

49:39

And it's like, we have the land, you

49:41

have the resources, you have somebody willing

49:43

to do it, um, And they couldn't

49:46

pull it together. And and and that. I'm sure

49:48

there's more details that I'm missing from this story, but

49:50

it's it's so inherently frustrating

49:53

and wrong. Um.

49:56

And for years we've been watching in

49:58

California and Los Angeles, in San Francisco the

50:00

homeless, uh, the in housed population

50:03

explode because of all of the stuff that we've been talking about

50:06

today. And I see this

50:08

happening and people can just walk past it.

50:10

They don't want to have homelessness,

50:13

you know, a blight on the community. They

50:15

don't want this lower income stuff. Well,

50:17

now it's something that you

50:19

can't ignore. It's it makes

50:21

it feel like you know, two

50:26

years ago or you know, you just can't ignore

50:29

the fact that that this is a crisis

50:31

and it's at our doorsteps, and we shouldn't

50:33

be ignoring it. We need to be This needs to be a

50:35

huge priority for all of us. And it goes back

50:37

to everything that we've been saying before.

50:40

We want our economy to boom when we need to

50:42

have people taken care of and have access

50:44

to basic resources to live their life,

50:46

to to make money, to spend

50:48

money, um and

50:51

and yes, so yeah

50:54

you're out of steam there, but no,

50:56

you're you're and it's

50:58

this, it's this, and it's this.

51:01

We we put our communities in such

51:03

a paralysis state where now

51:05

we have so many unhoused neighbors

51:08

and and people we know where

51:11

we we also want to help, and we

51:13

are and that's why we have mutual aid networks

51:15

in Los Angeles and other groups that help

51:17

help out like Caton for All and Street

51:20

Watch and a lot of great groups. But

51:22

there comes a certain point too, because

51:25

we are also using our own

51:27

resources to give the limited

51:29

resources that our government allows for.

51:32

And so it's become such a serious point

51:34

now where like people

51:36

are dying, like people are literally

51:39

dying. Why aren't you common

51:41

during hotels to house our

51:43

unhoused neighbors right now when when

51:46

they need a place to stay right now, especially during

51:48

a pandemic. Why why

51:50

is that not being the first thing

51:53

being done right now? Um, out of any

51:55

elected officials conscious, heart, and mind, why

51:57

is that not the first thing? And it's because

52:00

they see they

52:03

only see numbers, they only see money,

52:05

they only see popularity, they only see

52:08

career, job stability

52:10

to continue to be reelected

52:12

because they don't know anything else besides

52:15

the six digit salary that they're getting. So

52:17

they're going to do all that they can to

52:19

to hold on to that job and position. They're

52:21

going to do all that they can to continue taking

52:23

the corporate money that will give them the

52:26

emotional security and financial

52:28

security that everything will be okay,

52:30

even though the people are suffering, and they don't

52:32

even view the people as

52:35

human beings were all viewed, let alone

52:37

viewing our un housed brothers and sisters as ghosts.

52:40

They're viewing now they're starting to view masses

52:42

of people as just ghosts and just as

52:44

subjects in a way, as just another

52:47

number, when we're actually all human

52:49

beings and not one of us is less than another,

52:51

not one soul um. And so it's

52:53

this moral revolution that really needs to

52:55

happen on such a deep, deep level. And

52:58

I'm sure there's an element of

53:00

not seeing them as voters, you

53:02

know, seeing people that don't have a

53:05

mailing address as somebody that

53:07

they need to reach out to for support.

53:10

UM. The disenfranchiseman

53:12

is is. The disfranchiseman is crazy

53:14

in the sense of whether it be those

53:17

of our family

53:19

neighbors, brothers, and sisters that are incarcerated,

53:21

whether it be those that are living on housed,

53:24

whether it be those that are living as undocumented

53:26

workers in our Latino communities, are our

53:28

Korean communities and our Thai communities, etcetera.

53:31

They are being taxed without representation.

53:34

That's tyranny. UM. Los Angeles

53:36

was built on the labor of our brown brothers

53:39

and sisters. They don't have a voice right

53:41

now, they don't have a say. But then what

53:43

the Democratic Party and machine does in California

53:46

is because we're California and diverse.

53:48

Instead of putting and

53:50

instead of putting like older white people

53:52

in office to to

53:54

to go ahead and do what they want, they put people

53:57

that look like the people in their communities

53:59

to this eve them and say, hey,

54:01

they're actually legislating on your behalf.

54:03

But they're completely not My

54:06

My opponent says he's all for the immigrant

54:08

communities, but he's the one who voted

54:11

to initially authorizing fund ICE. And

54:14

it's like people people

54:16

don't really go in deeper into

54:18

who they're voting for, and they just think, oh, the

54:20

person looks like our community, so

54:22

we're going to vote for him. No, the Democrats,

54:25

and I didn't mean to turn this into a

54:27

democratic machine, but what

54:30

I was about to do. So that's what that's

54:32

what they're that's what they're doing in California.

54:35

They're finding little puppets to put into

54:37

place to keep the people under control.

54:39

Like that's not right. Yeah, no,

54:42

no, no no. I I'm thrilled that you

54:44

brought this up because the next thing I wanted to talk to

54:46

you about was Jimmy Gomez.

54:49

He's the Democratic incumbent

54:52

currently holding district um

54:56

uh and so yeah, I wanted you

54:58

to talk a little bit about him. Um.

55:00

And of your experience is

55:03

running a against a Democratic

55:06

incumbent more about elucidated,

55:08

more about what you were just saying, essentially,

55:10

um, what this has been like? And yeah,

55:13

I guess just a uh tag

55:15

on just sort of your perception of dealing

55:17

with like the Democratic Party in general. And

55:20

if there's a sense

55:23

of you can get a sense

55:25

like everyone like there's a lot of frustration

55:27

from the party when people

55:29

show up to point out that they're not

55:31

doing anything or enough and better

55:34

things are possible. Basically is

55:37

a message they're they're really they're really shy

55:39

about um, and you

55:41

can you can get that sense in a lot of these

55:44

races across the country where people

55:46

are challenging incumbents for not doing the things that

55:48

we need to do. Yeah,

55:51

one of the

55:53

main or one of the very good reasons

55:55

for running for office and challenging and incumbent

55:58

is to off

56:00

the message, hey, like, the people

56:02

are holding you accountable and

56:04

if you continue not to do what the people

56:07

want or what you've promised, then

56:09

there's a possibility that you can be

56:11

voted out of office. And so that

56:13

public accountability is what helps

56:15

our elected officials come closer to the needle

56:18

too. Closer to being aligned with why

56:20

they were elected into office in the first place.

56:23

Um, Jimmy might have been a great he's

56:25

he's I have nothing personal against him. I've never met him.

56:28

He he might have been a great perhaps

56:31

and even greater leader, or

56:33

or a leader with qualifications. And I don't even

56:35

know what the qualifications are. I'm not saying

56:37

that there are certain qualifications and I fit that. But

56:40

he probably wasn't even ten times

56:42

a hundred times potential as

56:44

as a greater leader than I was when he started. But right

56:47

now where he's at like it's

56:49

completely gone. There's no fuel left for the

56:51

people because and how do I know that?

56:53

Because he continues to vote according

56:55

to party politic interests. Yes,

56:57

he's a self alleged progressive. Yes, he's in

56:59

this EPC, the Progressional Caucus. But

57:01

what does that mean? Does that mean that

57:03

he co sponsors and supports Representative

57:05

il han O Mar's rent cancelation more

57:08

rent and mortgage cancelation? Nah? What

57:10

does that mean? That means he supports

57:13

he supports a hundred billion dollar

57:15

rent relief fund that benefits landlords and

57:17

that requires tenants to jump through hoops

57:19

to prove that they don't have money to pay rent and

57:22

put food on the table. He's for that. He's

57:24

not for uh. He's for means

57:27

tested cash relief UM

57:29

and not a universal basic income that could

57:31

go straight to the pockets of people. There's

57:34

a multiple bills out there, whether it be a Senator

57:36

Kamala Harris's bill or Representative

57:39

Rashida to Leive her

57:41

ABC bill, which is two thousand dollars recurring

57:44

monthly cash relief UM.

57:46

He's not the type of person that's doing that yet.

57:48

He's going around saying I'm progressive. But

57:51

what we've noticed now since March is

57:54

he's actually and if he's listening

57:56

to this, I'm glad you're listening. But

57:58

he's putting he's listening to you are campaign

58:00

now because once we started

58:03

doing a life a life stoop for COVID

58:05

nineteen relief to our constituents,

58:07

he started doing one. Once we started doing a

58:09

tech banking campaign UM

58:11

sending sending resources

58:13

to our constituents on what where to go if

58:16

they're unable to pay rent, he started doing that.

58:18

When we started doing ms on Instagram,

58:20

he started doing that. UM. Interesting

58:23

the other day I heard that he

58:26

was very mad that this lefty

58:29

Uh Progressive writer

58:32

podcast how he um he

58:34

that he wrote an article about us and about

58:36

our campaign, and he was very mad that

58:38

that he was saying that we were more progressive than he

58:40

was. And so so if

58:43

that gets him to if that gets him

58:45

to do his job, I'm glad

58:47

and happy that he is. And so I was actually

58:49

surprised that he voted yes

58:51

to defund the Pentagon by ten percent last

58:53

week, and I was like, a good job,

58:56

jim, I mean felt

58:59

certainly take some credit for that. Well,

59:01

because everything you've been saying up to this point

59:03

has been like, oh, he saw our campaign and he

59:06

uh is doing the aesthetic thing

59:08

or like the actually the campaign thing. He's looking at

59:10

your campaign to see what you're doing as

59:12

a function in campaign, not

59:14

saying like, oh, I should also support

59:17

medicare for all, Oh I should also support

59:19

this. But that's actually like kind

59:21

of wild that he did. Yeah,

59:23

And then and we're gonna and I'm thankful that

59:25

he did vote that way, and I give props

59:28

to Jimmy. Jimmy, thank you for voting that way.

59:30

Um, but we're going to continue pushing him. I know

59:32

that he was supporting the United States

59:34

Postal service. If that's the case, why did

59:36

you take twenty five plus dollars

59:39

in money from UPS a

59:41

private competitor? So

59:43

so I so I retweeted

59:45

that yesterday I tweeted his tweet and retweeted,

59:48

why are you taking money from UPS? Then? So

59:50

it's just I get I get that

59:52

you want to make change and make it happen

59:55

and show the people that you're really legislating

59:57

for them. But do that not just

59:59

in these single occurrence moments. Do that as

1:00:01

a career. Do that as a daily lifestyle.

1:00:04

Do that in your heart and intention where it's always

1:00:06

flowing in every interview that you have, like

1:00:08

be that person instead of trying to act like that

1:00:11

person. And so it's also and reacting

1:00:13

to the being challenged, right, It's that

1:00:16

that Elliott Angle comment during

1:00:18

the primary. He says, I if there wasn't a primary, I

1:00:20

wouldn't even care about this, Like you literally said that

1:00:22

that out loud, um.

1:00:24

And if you're only doing these things if

1:00:26

you're challenged, then maybe

1:00:29

it also speaks to why

1:00:31

a person decides to be in office.

1:00:34

If you're just following what you're

1:00:36

told from the establishment, then

1:00:38

you want to be in office because you want power.

1:00:41

You want to be in office because you

1:00:44

like the status or whatever it is,

1:00:46

and you're you know, versus being

1:00:49

an office because you want to help people. Being

1:00:51

in office because you want to

1:00:53

make a difference. Um.

1:00:56

And I mean I think that hearing you

1:00:58

speak for this hour and you're in your background,

1:01:01

it's clear that that's what your focus is. You

1:01:03

know, from your time working

1:01:06

in different capacities as a lawyer, you're like,

1:01:08

it's not about money. It's a I

1:01:10

mean, sure we all have to make money, but it's about

1:01:13

helping people. And

1:01:16

uh, it's just vitally

1:01:18

important that more people like you step

1:01:20

up and and the

1:01:23

bare minimum, we're challenging the

1:01:25

establishment. Um,

1:01:27

but we're also making significant strides

1:01:30

and changing perception of things, and we're

1:01:32

going to get more and more of us in office. Um.

1:01:35

And I think that that is such a positive, hopeful,

1:01:39

inspiring thing to be focusing

1:01:41

on right now and focusing our efforts. There's

1:01:43

a lot of us that are disillusioned with this primary

1:01:46

in terms of the presidential race. Fair

1:01:49

fine, but there are so many people like you

1:01:52

all over this country that

1:01:54

are stepping up and filling this void,

1:01:57

and it's vital that we focus

1:01:59

our our attention on these kinds of races

1:02:01

so that we can make the difference that we want. It's

1:02:04

disappointing that we don't have Bernie

1:02:06

or Yang you know, leading

1:02:09

the ticket right now, but there's

1:02:11

so much progress that's still being

1:02:14

made. Um and it's it's

1:02:16

I think it's important for us right now, emotionally,

1:02:19

spiritually, economically to

1:02:21

remember that, yeah,

1:02:24

you you nailed it, you closed it very well.

1:02:28

They pay me the just fine bucks for that. UM.

1:02:32

Can you please tell our audience where

1:02:35

they can find you online, how they can support

1:02:37

you. I know I'm supporting you. I

1:02:39

am nine sure, I am in your district

1:02:43

and I will be voting for you. Um,

1:02:46

but how how can everybody else support

1:02:48

you? Yeah? Thank you for asking, Katie.

1:02:51

One of the biggest challenges for US is

1:02:53

campaign finance. So obviously

1:02:56

one of our top priorities is to we

1:03:00

form campaign finance where

1:03:02

it's not corporate money that's deciding who gets

1:03:04

elected, but it's where it's truly the people.

1:03:07

UM. So go check out our democracy

1:03:10

Dollars on David Hi dot com

1:03:12

to learn more about that. But as

1:03:15

as a grassroots candidate, a candidate and

1:03:17

a campaign, we are a percent people powered

1:03:20

So while our opponent has

1:03:22

eight percent of his donations being

1:03:25

from corporate interests and big donors and

1:03:27

with a campaign werehist of a million dollars,

1:03:30

we don't have that much money. So if

1:03:32

you're able to chip in, that's great,

1:03:35

go to David dot com

1:03:37

board slash donate UM. But if

1:03:39

you're unable to, that's totally fine. Please

1:03:41

don't donate, like use your money for yourself,

1:03:44

like buy food, pay save it for rent,

1:03:46

take care of yourself. And there's other ways you can help

1:03:48

out, which is volunteering remotely

1:03:51

through our text banking or phone

1:03:53

banking volunteer programs, or it's

1:03:55

even or if it's even calling a friend or

1:03:57

family member in Los Angeles, it's

1:04:00

sharing our websitely and sharing this interview

1:04:02

and saying hey, you want to you want more

1:04:04

podcasts

1:04:06

that there's a great one, worst

1:04:08

year ever, check out this episode,

1:04:10

So do that. UM. There's creative ways

1:04:12

UM to help us in that sense, and so

1:04:15

so volunteer, donate, spread the word, and

1:04:17

it will be very grateful. I definitely will be doing

1:04:20

all of the above. UM. If you've

1:04:22

got those little lawn signs, I'll put him in my

1:04:24

front yard. Yes, yes,

1:04:28

really, really lit up. David,

1:04:32

thank you so much for joining this. This has been a delight.

1:04:34

Um. We will be following this

1:04:37

closely and helping in any way that we can.

1:04:39

Okay, great, thank you so much for having me Katie

1:04:42

so fortun all right, bye

1:04:44

bye, and that does it for us

1:04:46

today on the Worst Year Ever. Please

1:04:50

go check out David's website,

1:04:53

support him in whatever way

1:04:55

you can if you can. Um,

1:04:58

you can check us out online to at

1:05:01

worst your pod on Instagram, on

1:05:03

Twitter, you can follow

1:05:06

us too if you want, and

1:05:08

all that stuff. That's good.

1:05:12

It's true. I could agree with you more, but

1:05:14

I don't know what that would mean. Does

1:05:16

not disagree with me completely, and that's how it's

1:05:18

important. Cool. We'll be back next

1:05:21

week. Leader Everything,

1:05:26

Everything so dumb. It's again

1:05:31

I tried. Worst

1:05:34

Year Ever is a production of I Heart Radio. For

1:05:37

more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the

1:05:39

I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

1:05:41

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.