 Hi, folks. I'm here with Stephanie Gallardo running in Washington State's 9th Congressional District and she is here to talk about her incredible campaign. Stephanie, welcome to the program. Thank you so much. Really excited to be here. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited to talk to you. Your platform is amazing. It's incredible. It's thorough. It's comprehensive. I think that any leftist will see it and be incredibly excited. It's basically, it's really exciting to see so many people step up and run for Congress. One thing that I always like to ask candidates just from the jump is what made you want to run for Congress because it's, it's grueling, it's stressful, and it's really, I see it as self-sacrifice. So what made you kind of say enough is enough. I have to get involved directly. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, great question. And it's a question that I feel like is, you know, I get asked all the time and every single time I answer it, it's slightly different, but the same, you know, general understanding is the same. So I'm also that's my, you know, you can bring them on. Oh, okay. There they are. This is a very pet friendly podcast. So, oh, that's, that's really sweet. What's their name? Koa. She's 19. She's 19 years old. Wow. Okay. Okay. That's incredible. Yeah. Um, okay. Anyways, now I forgot the question. Oh my gosh. What made you want to run for Congress? Yes. What made you want to run? So, okay. So just to give folks a little bit of background, I was born and raised here in Seattle, Washington, but my father originally is from Chile. He's a refugee who arrived here after the coup that happened, which is, of course, was backed by the United States. On my mother's side, we are farm workers, immigrant farm workers from Mexico. And so I was always raised with this understanding that we live inherently political lives. And my grandfather told me constant stories about what it was like to, to live in, you know, the prison camps in Chile, when socialism was, you know, under attack. And so I grew up knowing that in one way or another, I wanted to be able to stand up for my community in the ways that they needed me. So what led me to education was really my family. And that's where I started to think, you know, consider what's the next, what's the next path for an educator in the world that we're in right now? I was elected to the Board of Directors for the National Education Association, which is the largest labor union in the country. And I ended up beating an incumbent in that race. Pretty bad, like very bad. And it was a very proud moment. And I, you know, I say that because it the, the vibe of the union at the time is really kind of the vibe that I'm experiencing from the people at this moment, all across the nation. And so when I was elected to this role, I started having conversations with my congressional members, specifically my opponent, Adam Smith. And the conversations were troubling. They were really troubling. And I truly felt that, you know, it was a meeting that they just had to jump through the hoops, and not really listening to their constituents. And first and foremost, not listening to educators who are trying to explicitly state, you know, here are our needs. And here is what has to happen in order for students, especially during COVID, to be able to have success in educators as well. And so the entire process of meeting with my Congress members and trying to lobby for education issues is sort of what pushed me to consider running for Congress. I was not satisfied with the conversations that were happening. I was not satisfied, to be quite honest, with the way that my Congress member, Adam Smith, treated people in the meeting. I just felt like, really, like the, the, the, what's the word I'm looking for? Just the condescension, right? There, that's exactly the word I know. I know about Adam Smith. Yeah. Yeah, the condescension and just his entitlement and the way he is, like, it's very, it's well documented and everybody knows about this. And I was just very surprised by it because I hadn't had any interactions with him before. So that was really what led me to decide to run for Congress was being super dissatisfied, dissatisfied with the way that he participated in this meeting, and also the way that he completely did not listen to educators. And I truly believe that we need an educator in Congress right now. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's a really interesting backstory. I'm wondering if you could talk more about, you know, your family and their experience for me learning about the coup in Chile with, you know, Salvador Allende, it was such a huge moment in my mind. And it's not like, you know, I didn't hear about our intervention in Latin America before, but something about that really, it like set a switch off in me where it really put it into perspective. So could you share a little bit more about that because I think that's really fascinating, especially given that, you know, you spoke with your, you said it was your grandfather, who was a prisoner. Yeah, absolutely. So I would say that the Chilean side of my family is the side of my family that raised me. They're the ones that are here in Seattle, and they arrived here altogether in the year 1976, which was three years after the coup happened. And they arrived here altogether. Most of them came because of Amnesty International, and were, you know, directly released from the prison camps and then sent on a plane to come over here. And the thing about, you know, my grandfather was that not only did he experience violence, but when he came to the United States, he experienced, like a disassociation from the new existence that he had within the United States. And so there's a lot of trauma that goes back to that time period in my family. And at the same time that there's trauma, there's also a lot of, like, beauty that my family has been able to pass down to me. I was not born in Chile, but every time I go home to Chile and back to Chile to visit with my family members, it's like a, it's like a unification, like it's a beautiful, beautiful experience to be with them, especially them knowing exactly what happened to my grandfather in 1976, or 1973 to 1976. My grandfather was also a socialist city council member. And so he definitely instilled in our family the traditions of socialism and the understanding that we have to 100% contribute not only to our communities, but first and foremost to our families to be able to uplift ourselves. And so I feel like that is the root of why I also decided to run for Congress. Just going back to the question that you asked earlier, my family is truly the root of all of this. And I feel as somebody who is running for Congress and inherently violent institutions, such as the United States government, I have to acknowledge the fact that it's kind of a conundrum that I'm running, right? Nobody expected when they were intervening in Chile in 1973, that the daughter of a refugee who was a socialist at the time was going to be running for Congress in 2022. So to me, it's like, I almost feel like I have to continue the legacy that my grandfather started. And we're planting roots here so that the entire globe can be able to benefit from the things that were happening in the past. I love that story so much. That's just yeah, that's that's incredible. That's inspirational. And yeah, I feel like out of all the countries in Latin America, what the United States did to Chile is just awful, not only, you know, besides the coup, I mean, kind of using it as a neoliberal country to experiment with with the, you know, privatization of Social Security and whatnot. It's just awful. So I love that you're kind of for you're the descendant of Chileans coming and making a difference and changing. It just I love it. It's such a great story. One thing that I wanted to ask you about is one of the things with new members of Congress, I don't know how you can focus because there's a million different things that need fixing in this country. So if you get in Congress, what do you do first? What do you prioritize? Because I feel like, you know, in 2022, maybe things will be a little bit different. I don't know if Democrats will still hold control of the House of Representatives. So what do you think your contribution will be? What's going to be your focus just kind of like what's your I guess your projection for your first year in Congress if you get there? Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing that I feel like I can directly contribute to to help advance it is the Green New Deal for Public Schools, which is put forth by Jamal Bowman. And that's something that I've been researching very deeply. I've been in conversation with economists about and we just held a policy night in my campaign, trying to dig into the nitty gritty of what it actually proposes and hopes to achieve throughout our public school system in the United States. And for me, the number one thing that I can contribute to is education policy and labor policy. You know, I've been an educator for over a decade. I've been in Title I schools. I know what it's like to work with young people who are houseless, who don't have somewhere to sleep at the end of the night, but are still working on their homework and trying to get their stuff done so that they can graduate from high school and try to fit into this dream of going to college when the reality is that they could be anything they wanted and we don't always have to go to college, right? But we're sold this dream that like college is the only way to move forward. So I definitely feel that where I can contribute most is education and labor policy. The Green New Deal for Public Schools is my number one priority for sure. My opponent, Adam Smith, has not yet signed on to the Green New Deal for Public Schools. So that's something that I'm hoping to push him on in the timeframe of the campaign. But if he doesn't sign on, I'll definitely be aggressively pushing that so that our schools can have a future, a literal future. That's great. I wanted to get your take on the reconciliation negotiations because we just got a preliminary report from Truthout about what's included, what was on the chopping block. And it seems like we went down from 3.5 trillion to 1.5 to 1.75 trillion, which is what the Biden administration is proposing, which means 1.5 trillion. And one of the things on the chopping block was free community college. It seems as if that is not going to be included. If you're a lawmaker, being an educator, what do you do? Do you vote that down? I don't really know. It seems like based on what Corey Bush and Jamal Bowman were saying in a CNN interview, they're not really going to be on board for that watered down of a bill. And I just wanted to get your take, you know, because one of your main things was kind of cut from this seemingly. So what do you do in the situation? Do you do you say no, tank it all? Or do you go with what is there? What would you do? Because this is really, it's a frustrating situation. I'm sure you're frustrated to watching everything unfold. It's infuriating. No, it's definitely infuriating. And, you know, being in the district that is right next to one of the main leaders of the push for the Build Back Better is Pramila Jayapal, right? And I have definitely been questioning some of the decisions that she's made. And in a very respectful way, I have a lot of respect for the work that she's done as a progressive in Congress. And I would love to sit down with her and ask her a lot of questions about why is this path the path that she's chosen to take and the path that she's leading the rest of the progressive caucus on? I personally know that I would not be down for what's going on with the negotiations and reconciliation. I am absolutely not okay with, you know, putting the number down to 1.9, 1.7, whatever the number is they want to propose. The fact that we even have to go below three and a half trillion is like totally unacceptable, which is why I was really disappointed in, you know, what I heard Pramila Jayapal say about Joe Biden, that he's the, you know, the negotiator in chief, bringing the uniter, bringing everybody together. I just feel like it's, why are we blowing smoke up people's asses? Like to be quite honest, it's just real and we know what the reality is and there is no unification happening in Congress right now and we have to call it out as it is. So I think what I would definitely do in this situation is I would call upon my community. I would call upon the people in my district. They're the ones that can make this happen. I'm only one legislator. You know, the people who are around us are only one or two legislators and what needs to happen is a mass movement of people uprising and pushing so that this build back better bill can have the price tag that we want. Yeah, yeah, that's well said. One thing that was frustrating about all of this is that progressive lawmakers weren't necessarily getting an equal say. So Cory Bush and Jubal Bowman, they were shut out of talks and so you kind of have one person, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal trying to be the advocate. I do like that you would be willing to kind of sit down with her and kind of state disagreements because I think that's really important. But what do you think, like what would be your biggest criticism of the Democratic Party? Because currently what it feels like is leftist lawmakers who are a growing caucus in Congress, they just don't have an equal say and it always comes down to what do the centrists or I should say the conservative Democrats want. And you know, I get that the makeup of Congress is beneficial to them. But how do you change that long term in your opinion? I think it's definitely a approach that has to take in many multifaceted vision. So it can't just be electoral politics. I can't be the only person elected to try and get this job done. And in the same vein, we also have to be out on the streets. I know people are really afraid to say that we should have uprisings or that we should approach this from a revolutionary point of view. But that's exactly what we need right now. Our country, our globe is suffering under capitalism. And the Democratic Party that I think that's my biggest complaint about them is that they are card carrying capitalists and they refuse to see our system as the problem. Instead, they're trying to reform the system from within. And I understand that I'm a candidate who is running on the Democratic Party ticket. But my intention is never to reform the Democratic Party. It's to uproot the system as it is and create something on top of it. And so I'm really interested to, I mean, as you just mentioned, I definitely am interested in talking to folks because I do not purport to know everything and to have all the knowledge of what's happening in the midst of negotiations with the progressive caucus and everybody else. But they have to understand what it looks like from the outside and they have to know that it's very disappointing the way it looks, you know. And so I would love to truly talk with some of the folks at the center of the conversations and and tell them how it looks and then ask them, you know, what's what's the rationale here? And I think that's another criticism I have of the Democratic Party is that we're all guessing about why it is these negotiation decisions. We need to know like what is what is at stake? What's why is everything behind closed doors? The people need to know what's actually going on. And I appreciate Bernie for trying to tell us a little bit more about what's actually in the bill. We need to see what's happening behind the scenes. This this can no longer go on as a, you know, behind the scenes sort of thing. Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. One thing that I wanted to ask you about. For me, when it comes to the leftist lawmakers, members of the squad, AOC, Bowman, all of them, I think that one of my main critiques of them is that even if I agree with them on the policies, when it comes to strategies, I think that there does need to be more communication because I do acknowledge that sometimes they're going to do things that are not what most leftists want, but maybe they're representing their constituents. And I think that just something that's lacking is communication. So you kind of you brought this to my mind of thinking about, you know, how they have to explain it, how it looks from the outside. So I just want to ask you, because I mean, you would you would basically be a member of the squad and be caucusing pretty heavily with with them and the congressional progressive caucus. If you were elected, can you tell me one thing that you like that the squad is doing and one thing that you think they're not doing well or could improve? Because I think that there's always room for growth. And this really is a learning process. This is the first time in my lifetime where we've had really vocal leftists who identify as socialists in Congress. So there's going to be a learning curve. And I think that people on the outside have a lot of insight that's useful that they can bring in. So I feel like each year, the squad ideally is going to get better as Corey Bush comes in and kind of instructs AOC and what it's like from the outside. And then as you go in and instruct Corey Bush, like I feel like we grow and become better and more powerful. So, you know, one good thing one bad thing in your opinion about the squad? One, so we'll start with the areas of improvement, I think for areas of improvement, I would definitely say that things need to be pushed a little bit harder. I would, I would absolutely want them to be working with direct action more. I really, really, really loved and, you know, all the haters who wanted to talk about Corey Bush, you know, having the the action at the Capitol steps. I thought that was amazing. And I haven't seen you haven't seen legislators having actions like that before. So the fact that she did that was very, very incredible. And so I want to see more of that. And it did make a difference, although it wasn't a long term speaking, it wasn't the impact that we wanted to have because we're still, you know, dealing with the same repercussions of COVID and things like that for housing. But definitely more direct action. That's that's the place of improvement, I think, for the squad. In terms of what they're doing well, I would say that for me, it's really important that the legislators who are in the squad are communicating in the way that they do. I know people want to talk about AOC and how she's constantly on, you know, her social media and, you know, communicating with people and a lot of people look at it as bad, but people are watching, people are listening and people are getting closer to the issues because, you know, they are broadcasting it in a way that hasn't been accessible before. That's definitely something that I hope to do. I would definitely want to, you know, use any platform that I have to be able to communicate the actual daily ongoing stuff that's happening in Congress and outside of Congress, too. What's happening in the streets, what's happening in protests, what's happening in direct action, all of those things. So, yeah. Yeah, I love that answer. I agree with you. I feel like with AOC, she gets way, way more backlash than it's deserved, even if I do have criticisms of her. But the things that she's doing with social media, somehow she's really getting, for lack of a better word, normie Democrats to support her, which is important because one of my criticisms of leftists being in bad criticism as well and being part of the problem probably as well, is that we're kind of a little bit too insular. And I feel like we don't reach out to people who don't agree with us, but who could be aligned with us liberals, people who aren't necessarily socialists or their sock dams, or they're just centrist. I think that they view us as scary and I kind of want to change that opinion because part of politics, unfortunately, is marketing. And I think that we haven't done a good enough job. An issue is the media, of course, because we're portrayed as, you know, the willy man. But I think that what she's doing with social media has been really wildly successful. So, yeah, I agree with that. And I like that you would be doing that as well. I also like that direct action would be something that you prioritize. Okay, so one thing that I want to do is kind of get a sense as to how you would legislate. And I want to ask you a hypothetical that's kind of a morally gray question that's kind of tough. But I think it's interesting to see how candidates think through these situations because I don't feel like there's any right or wrong answer. So let's say that there is a big package coming up for a vote. It's a two trillion dollar package similar to the one that we're seeing now. And your pet project, one of the main things that you care about is included in this, which would be the Green New Deal for schools. So you've been fighting for this. You fought hard. It's been your go to issue. This is what you want to bring back to your constituents. This is what you promised people who supported your campaign, but included in this gigantic package is a poison pill. It is, you know, it's a corporate tax cut, or it's a repeal of the estate tax. It's something that you really don't like. And overall would be very bad for the country. And you fought as hard as you possibly could, but it's in there. It's up for a vote. What do you do in the situation? Yeah, I wouldn't include it in that package, to be honest with you. I wouldn't include in the package if it came with something that was going to harm the community in a way that I couldn't, you know, prevent or create some sort of care around. I would do my best to put it in another package. And I think that most of the constituents that are in my community would understand that I was trying to minimize the harm caused against them, while also thinking long term about how to bring that package forth with the things that I had been working on such as the Green New Deal for public schools. You know, I think a lot about the the vote on the the dome for Israel. And you know, the things that were also included around the around that package. And I honestly, I could never do it. I could never vote for for anything that was co signing on harm to people. Yeah. Yeah, I like that because it gives us a lot of insight, you know, until it's the way that you would govern because, you know, you're very principle, you stand by your convictions. And I think that that's really commendable because it's so hard to do in Congress because not everything is a really simplistic, straightforward, up or down vote on just one policy. There's usually a ton of things. One thing that AOC has been really great at explaining is how things get snuck into bills and you don't even have time to read them before you vote on them. So it's really important to have people like you who are who are looking out for that and are, you know, willing to catch it and call it out. Another hypothetical and this is the last one I promise I love hypotheticals. I don't know if candidates like them, but I think that they're really, really important is there's the situation where you will bring back your your kind of main project, the green needle for schools. You're looking to get more cosponsors for it. And one cosponsor who's been a hold out looks like this individual is going to finally get on board, but there's a catch. Maybe he's trying to placate you. Maybe he's pandering to you. And he's considering cosponsoring your legislation. But he also notices that you might be endorsing his primary opponent in the next Democratic Party primary. What do you do in this situation? Because you need him to cosponsor the bill. But at the same time, he might be trying to play you. He might be trying to get you to not endorse someone who would definitely, you know, support this bill. How do you balance that? Because it is a balance and act. And this is going to come up probably time and again, we know how the game is played in DC. So what do you do in that situation? Because I would be really conflicted. I don't know what I would do. I want more progressives in Congress ultimately, that's the main goal. But at the same time, we need to build power. We need to actually get movement when it comes to these policies that we're pushing. So what would you do? Because I don't know the answer. It's tough, right? No, that is definitely a tough one. Well, first of all, I would hopefully I would be able to ask, you know, the person that I'm endorsing whoever the opponent is, what's their timeline for announcing my endorsement? And I would hope that what, you know, what I would be able to achieve is how do I explain this? I would be able to kill two birds with one stone and still be able to endorse on a timeline that made sense while still being able to get the part of my package in and get the support from the House member. I think I can do both. And also, you know, I think there's a lot of angles that can be worked. There are plenty of people that have cosigned onto legislation when, you know, AOC or Cory Bush or whoever else was, you know, endorsing their opponents. So there's still opportunity to work together, even though they know that I might be endorsing an opponent of theirs. I don't think that's the end of the world. And I think, honestly, the way to go about those things is to just be honest. I'm not a person that wants to necessarily play the same game that they play and try and make all these backdoor deals and everything like that. I just like to be honest and tell them why I would endorse their opponent but why their support on my bill is extremely necessary and how no matter even if they get elected or not the next time around or if their opponent gets elected next time around, there's still both of them are required to be able to advance this legislation. Yeah. Yeah. Great answer. Great answer because it's difficult. There's going to be a lot of sticky situations for you as a lawmaker. And, you know, I feel like members of Congress, the Democratic Party, they're going to use that against you. So I like to kind of get a sense of what someone is going to do before they get to Congress. One thing that I think that we know for sure is that if you get elected, I mean the second you win your primary, there's going to be a tax from Fox News, radical communists get to like, I mean, you already know. And besides that, you'll be in for a month. You'll see leftist YouTubers already saying, oh, Stephanie sold us out. What life experiences do you think kind of prepared you for this moment? Because you've got to have at least a little bit of thick skin to be in Congress. So what do you think makes you more prepared to deal with what is inevitably going to be just nonstop hate and abuse? Really? I mean, it's frustrating. It's worse because you're a woman. I feel like there's this extra amount of pressure on the female leftists as opposed to Mander Jones and Jamal Bowman, right? So what do you what do you think really prepared you in your life for this moment? Because we we know it's, you know, leftist lawmakers that they're always the boogeyman. So so, you know, talk a little bit through your your life experiences and what you think is going to help you dealing with this. So let me be clear with everybody. I am very sensitive. I actually am a very sensitive person. And when people say things to me that, you know, I disagree with or, you know, hurt my feelings in some way, I am very vocal about that. And so, you know, part of me wants to tell folks, you know, that's a good thing. And I actually do believe that that's a good thing because it means that I'm actually a human being with the real feelings and emotions that can, you know, be an empath with the folks that I'm trying to create legislation for and with. So, you know, that's one specific thing, but I would say that what prepared me most for this role is my elected role within the National Education Association Labor Union because the labor union is actually the closest thing to the Democratic Party that I've ever seen in my life and working within a a labor union system that resembles so closely the Democratic Party has truly taught me how people will manipulate the system to get their own, you know, things done, how they will harm other people in the process. And at the same time, I've also been attacked within those systems. You know, my own labor union often tried to fight back against me when I was trying to bring the reality and speak truth to power in certain situations. And I was, you know, constantly, constantly name called. I definitely have been called a communist in my own union. I've been called all the things that you could possibly think of. But at this point, given all the experiences that I've had not only in my union, but as an educator, I've learned to turn off the comments and just not look at the smart and just just do what I need to do and stay in community with the people that actually matter. So when folks, you know, want to talk their talk about me, that to me is it's it's not anything that truly affects me anymore. What really affects me and what keeps me or what, you know, what I feel like makes me sad sometimes is when people in my own circle think I've done something wrong. But then I learned from it, right? And I reflect. And so that's something very different than all these hater comments and trying to call me a communist. So yeah, I love that answer because, you know, a lot of times I feel like people are when I ask that question, I feel like candidates think, OK, I'm I'm expected to say, oh, nothing's going to bother me. You know, I'm I have the thickest skin in the world, but everyone's different and we're all human. I mean, there's a limit for everyone. And even if you're the most sensitive person ever, that doesn't mean that you can't be an effective lawmaker that it'll bog you down. I mean, I kind of put these two politicians up as, you know, opposite sides of extremes. Like Rashida Tlaib is a softie. You know, there's like this joke that she's always crying. And then on the other end, you have Ilhan Omar. Nothing affects her. She is incredibly strong minded, but yet they're both really great lawmakers in different ways. They both are great on policy. So there's really no right or wrong answer. But I think that people they have this expectation that they have to really, you know, play up their strength when that's not always, you know, going to be the best answer is saying that I'm sensitive is actually really nice. And it's humanizing because everyone has their limit. Like nobody's going to go in there and not be totally unmoved by some of the things, especially with Fox News. I mean, I've covered some of their attacks on members of the squad and they are gross. They're disgusting. So I feel like if I were in there, I have pretty thick skin. I've been doing YouTube for a while. So you have to. But I mean, like if I were in there, I mean, I would be affected too listening to, you know, all of this. So yeah, I really I appreciate that answer. So we've come to a point in the interview where I feel like anyone who is still watching, they've they've probably, you know, been convinced after like a minute. But for those who are maybe on the fence or those who definitely want to help, what can we do? Do you need donations? Do you need canvassers? Help us help you get elected and kind of make your last pitch. Yeah, absolutely. So what we need help with right now. So we are small, but we are a fighting campaign. We're leading the campaign and small dollar donations. And of course, the my opponent has $2,000 and an up donations. He's leading. Yeah. And he has he's raking in money from, you know, corporate interests, the military industrial complex. And we have over 1750 individual donors to our to our campaign. So we feel really excited about that. But where we need help, of course, more donations. We are trying to build our field program before the primary season begins. And we're trying to start getting out, knocking on doors and getting folks to help us, you know, you know, put things on doors and things like that and get yard signs. So donations, very important. I would say the second thing we need is folks who are willing to do phone banking and text banking. I'm sure you know what call time is, but for folks who don't know what call time is, it's tough. It's very, very tough to sit in a room eight hours a day, calling numbers that you don't know and asking them for money and like trying to sell them your pitch, right? And so it would be really, really helpful to have people as part of that process so that it could be a more community process rather than such a transactional process as it is for most candidates. So definitely need help with call time. And I would say, listen, I know 100% that I am the candidate that is going to beat Adam Smith this time around here in 2022. We have the support of Sarah Smith who ran in 2018. She is now a friend. Super excited to have her support and backing. And the reality is that, you know, my opponent is a person who gets by on this progressive name, but he hasn't been doing his progressive job. He is a cosigner on lots of legislation but never a champion in legislation. And he also, you know, is secretly slash undercover doing the bidding of the military industrial complex. And, you know, he doesn't often talk about it even though he's the chair of the House Armed Services Committee. So it's really important that we boot out this person who just led the $778 billion military budget being passed and it's time we get somebody who's like an actual progressive, who understands foreign policy, who's been very experienced in our district and who has the actual values of the people at heart. So I'm really excited to be able to do this campaign and also really excited to be here, getting the word out, getting the message out and so is Kowa. Well, Stephanie, thank you so much. This has been so much fun. We'll definitely be in touch. You're, you know, you're a neighbor. I'm from Oregon, you're from Washington. So I feel like I kind of have a stake in Washington because what you all do, you know, we kind of follow, we're a little bit late, but, you know, we show up eventually. So yeah, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming on. Of course, thank you.