 Hello, everyone. I am here with Jose Caballero running in California's 53rd congressional district And this is probably one of the most fascinating races in the country currently and he's here to give us the breakdown Jose Thank you so much for coming on. Yeah. Thank you for having me. It's great to have to be on. I'm a big fan of the show So we'll get a little bit of my nervous jitters here. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much Nothing nothing to be nervous about so the reason why your campaign is so interesting is because we're kind of seeing a similar Dynamic repeat itself. So you're running against a corporate Democrat Her name is Susan Davis and then inexplicably she announces that she's retiring. Yeah, absolutely So it was very interesting because this race was one of those races. It's like, oh, you're challenging a 20 year incumbent You know, this is just an impossible race. Look at Jose do his thing But when I ran against Susan, it wasn't personal against her. It was about the issues It was the fact that she wasn't for Medicare for all she wasn't for the Green New Deal at the time She wasn't for education for all student loan debt forgiveness bringing the troops home with dignity and not even impeachment or even talking about the idea of it Right. So so she was somebody who was just just a stick in the mud keeping keeping the seat warm So we challenged her because we needed strong progressives to challenge all incumbents in every cycle every cycle every race So we challenged her and we ran a hard hard fight so much so that about a couple weeks before Her announcement she was running massive survey mailers on Medicare for all and impeachment And I think she got the numbers that she didn't want and I think at the end of the day She was like am I gonna fight and like try to save this two more years that I'm fighting for or imagine Just gonna let it go and and so I think this is my theory that she dropped out and just let it go Just be a jump ball and and so so that's what we're at right now And so like you said you so I was one of two other candidates that were running against Susan Davis seriously and once Susan Davis dropped out you had Sarah Jacobs who came from the north she actually ran for congressional district 50 49 against Justice Democrat Doug Applegate which you know arguably spoiled that race then let it eventually go to Mike Levin So she's just been shopping around for a congressional seat So she's landed here now and then you have George I Gomez who is the president of the San Diego City Council Who is the anointed one? That's the one that all the local democratic leadership the local DNC member all of the people that you would you would Assume would be a part of the establishment or rallying behind her. So so that's what the dynamic has become It's become a three-way race. You know, I've got many emails Conforming that it's gonna be a three-way race and it's the progressive versus the the oligarch versus the establishment So so we're gonna we're gonna see what happens, but it's all the people joined in So that's just this isn't just three of us. I wish it just were but yeah a lot Well, and you know something that says a lot about the other people that decided to join in after the incumbent announced Retirement is that they're afraid to challenge power because if you're eyeing that seat But you're willing to wait that tells me that you're not really, you know You're not actually wanting to speak truth to power You're just jumping it at a time at a time when it's convenient and we're kind of seeing the same dynamic play out like in 2018 there was the fourth congressional district I believe of Nevada with Amy O'Vallela where she was running against Ruben Kiwin and there was the Scandal where he had to resign he there were allegations of you know misconduct with his staffers and she kind of became the presumptive nominee and then all of a sudden a Bunch of people start jumping in the race The establishment starts making these endorsements because they can't just allow a progressive to win a seat when it's wide open Especially if you're the one who kind of made her retire in a way if you're putting all that pressure on her Absolutely, and you know that was that was what was so bizarre is like, you know I was winning support internally in the party, you know I'm I'm an outsider, but I have done a lot of work internally in the party Establishing the San Diego Progressive Democratic Club, which is a charter club within the party and then basically creating this Ineternal movement surge of progressives into the Democratic Party So we had a lot of really great people on board that we're gonna vote for me and possibly block Susan Davis at Pre-Endorsement Caucus, but the second Susan Davis dropped out then everybody's loyalties just shifted over like I didn't exist anymore Even one one one person put a commentary is like Jose is great, you know He's hard to dismiss, but he just doesn't have the money to run the win, right? And it's just like what that's not that's not what this is about, right? And it just became this oh Sarah Jacobs rich so we have to raise money with another rich establishment So let's just do it that way So so it just fell right back into the same script and you know, they've been telling other progressives this argument Jose doesn't Jose needs cannot beat Sarah Jacobs So we need a vote for Georgia and it's like wow Did you just say you need a vote for Hillary because Bernie can't beat Trump because that's literally what you just said, right? And and that's the arguments that they're using is like oh this other power is the greater evil So we need to put the person that has the more resources and the capability when it's just made up It's not real right that argument doesn't even make sense Especially considering Susan Davis has been there since 2001 like this is a blue district So yeah fear mongering about the Republican doesn't even make sense in this context But what I think that your story and like other progressives tell me is that they're never just going to allow the progressive to win They're never gonna make it easy no matter what you will be running against the establishment No matter what and and and we've proven that you know, even to the point where we thought we actually had some movement I thought you know for once, you know, I could actually get a little bit of a lack You know establishment energy right, but it just it just died off as fast as it started to come And it was it was it was one of those things as I wow I fell for the trick I got distracted right and that's what the Democratic Party does the progressives inside of the movement And you have to be watching watch out for it where they just like here's this shiny shiny shiny And they're like pay attention over here. You can get it. Oh, no, you can't you can never have that that's silly You just wasted all your time trying to get that right it's basically the same type of thing And I feel like I've been I've been tricked into playing the same pattern once again of like, oh I thought I had your support now. You're putting your knives in my back as fast as they came It was just it was just it's been it's been a harrowing couple of weeks to say that I bet and yeah Here's one thing that frustrates me back in after 2016 You know 2017 when we were all kind of reeling from the Trump victory I kept hearing this you know this sentiment run for Congress if you're young and you feel dissatisfied if you didn't like Hillary Clinton And you didn't come out and vote, you know run for office yourself And now how many people are running for office and now this is what's happening They don't want you to run for office. They're actively trying to stop you and and to make it even worse So to get into not too much into the weed to the policy here Oh, the the establishment wheels I guess to say is there was a vote recently called the pre-endorsement caucus Which is which is to endorse for this race now? That is an extension of the state convention and that does endorse at four federal races at the state party level for the state of California now the pre-endorsement caucus is a combination of Chartered club delegates to you know the NC membership like those are just spans different people came out to be about 91 voters now they use political pressure. They use political promises Just turn people trying to push all of their weight behind George yet creating the fear of God behind Like if George yet doesn't get this Jared Jacobs is gonna win when Sarah Jacobs isn't an evil person She's just wealthy, you know, like you know, she can write herself a five million dollar check But that's what she was born into right so she's not this Diabolical a horrible person, but they make it out to be that way and they scare people now. This is how far it got They actually remove the membership of my fiance From DSCC so from the DSCC so she is no longer a delegate for the California State Party You know and she's a young Democrat. Not only did they pull her credential They also pulled the president of the San Diego County young Democrats Credential as well because he was gonna vote for Sarah Sarah Jacobs So they pulled them both to young Democrats getting retaliated against Because one happened to be getting married to me and the other was voting for another young Democrat So so so for me, I felt like this process has been so toxic That it's very triggering, you know So so it's just like one of those things where it's like everybody like I like to say they're razor blades Wounds and they're deep and they're thin people don't see them But they're very hurtful for the internal workings of what the establishment is And that's and I hate to bring up that drama But that's what it is because we let me get to the punchline here. We blocked the endorsement So going through all of that going through all of that pain and hardship We had people hold the line they held the line They didn't care about political pressures one was actually a candidate running for office They held the line for my for my campaign and they held the line for Sarah Jacobs campaign And they held the line for no endorsement and and that is how we were able to block it now It's gonna be contested. So we're going the convention. So we're gonna have a lot of Jose sign So if you're in Long Beach that during that time, you know, grab a Jose sign and walk around because we're gonna be fighting for this to go no endorsement and and make sure that the voters decide and we need to stop letting the party put its finger on The scale during primaries. Yeah, and I think that this is really important for you to share your story Because it's it's more than just like political drama This really demonstrates the power that the establishment has like and when we say establishment like we're talking about party elites people with Institutional advantages that they're able to use against grassroots candidates who they don't like so they can kind of cling to power and you know This is just a microcosm of a bigger issue. That's happening all throughout the country Absolutely and to add to that I had three votes because of my hard work that I put into it So the vegan Democrats I just can't co-found, right? They had a vote. They endorsed me Right, you had the two votes for the San Diego progressive Democratic clubs They endorsed me. So therefore I was able to get those votes I was an alternate for a Central Committee member and a DSCC member So I was able to vote for myself, you know, I was able to help foster in the appointment for my fiance Right to be getting on the DSCC before I was ranked for Congress so that stuff took years to be able to create and Those years have paid off to be able to get the establishment candidate under 70% of the vote Right and and that and that and that's the thresholds that we're fighting right now It's intense and this like I said these last two weeks have been very harrowing Because we we came out with a solid victory a solid victory. Yeah, this your campaign This whole race is so fascinating and even though like it's you know, you're on the other side of the West Coast I'm in I'm in Portland This is so interesting to watch and it's one of the main races that I've kind of been focused on throughout the course Because there's there's so many there's dozens of people running and I can't keep track of all of them But this is such an interesting race because of all that's been happening So I want to talk a little bit about you because a lot of people are starting to learn about who you are even though You're just in this one district in California But you're such an interesting candidate. So first of all something that I think is interesting. You brought up your fiancee I love the story about how you two met essentially there was some Individual that essentially brought you together his name is Bernard. Can you talk about that because I think this is fascinating Absolutely, so back in the day when I was running for actually City Council when Bernie Sanders was running I was I was entranced by like everyone else of like, oh my gosh Bernie Sanders when he was pulling 9% I endorsed him, right? I was like, I'm gonna endorse this guy even when it was like not the cool thing to do Which also gave me the Irish establishment But my my fiancee on the other hand was go getting a clipboard and going door-to-door knocking for Bernie Sanders So when I was fighting and organizing for Bernie Sanders in San Diego County in She was up in North County and Oceanside doing the same thing now our worlds collide when after after I was elected to be the National Bernie delegate in 2016 to go to Philadelphia representing this district and when I came back she came to a meet-and-greet and We she was actually with somebody else at the time, but you know, we've met we crossed paths and and We we met a meet-and-greet and she was like, oh, how is Philadelphia and we had this conversation flashback another year. She's no longer with that person and and and We were in line together because we bone-headedly didn't buy our credentials online. So we had to wait this massive line So we got to spend two hours in this Frustrating line together, which was great. We got to bond and talk but then again, we thought we hate each other We thought we didn't like each other And then we we split again for another year and then after we met again We're like, you know, we should go on that date we should do a date and then from that moment with the Bernie organizing and everything that just kept on bringing us into the same atmosphere of going to Bernie rallies and going to Bernie events we were always in each other's gravity and then we finally collided and then you know, we We announced our our engagement to to Bernie Sanders and Jane. They were the first two to know Really? side of us because we were laying in bed and where we were we were thinking because we're about to go to the Bernie rally in San Diego and We're like, well, we're probably gonna be pretty close to Bernie What are we gonna say if we get a chance to meet them and and we're just like we're thinking about it We're like, well, let's just tell him we're getting married and and she was just like, so did you just propose? I was like, I guess if we meet Bernie. Sure. Why not and The universe made it happen and we got, you know that 30 seconds with Bernie and we got that amazing photograph Which is also pure coincidence. Somebody just saw me who was a friend of me Who is now the photographer of Bernie Sanders officially so Brian and now he is the official photographer for Bernie But he knew who I was so he took a photo of me talking to Bernie But he didn't realize he was actually capturing the exact moment of when we were telling Bernie and Jane that we were Getting married it was because of his movement that he started that even brought us in the same universe at all So so yeah, that's our story Okay, I'll tell you this I usually don't like love stories. I don't like romantic comedies I don't like any of that but this story it just it warms my cold heart and I love it So good, it's pretty amazing. I'm pretty happy to live it. That's such an awesome story. It just you know It shows like what a community the Bernie Sanders team has developed and Bernie Sanders has developed and how it's changed so many people's lives, you know in a Myriad of ways, but I want to talk about policy because of course That's what usually we focus on now Everyone knows that like the other progressives that I bring on my channel. You check all the boxes, you know Medicare for all and single payer, you know student loan debt cancellation No wars, but usually each candidate brings something really unique and you also are no exception You bring a lot of unique perspectives into this race So the first thing is you're a veteran and you have the heroes promise now This is essentially what you are deeming the military Bill of Rights where you're supporting citizenship for anyone who is a member of the U. S. Military, you know education housing meals talk a little bit about that because it's really sad to see The epidemic of you know depression and suicide lack of access to mental health for veterans and whatnot Talk a little bit about what this would do and how it would be transformative for veterans Absolutely, so I served six years in the Navy and I'm just to give a little context The reason I joined was I was an 18 year old kid and I want to get out of my hometown It was very racist It was very impressive and didn't really give people like me an opportunity to actually spread my intellectual wings for say, right? And so I went into the Navy and asked. Hey, what's the most intellectual job you got? Oh nuclear nuclear engineering. You can be a reactor operator. Great. I'll take it And I was on I was pretty much on the first bus out of there, right? I was I was gone and and so I Went in with that mindset not really thinking about the war right not really thinking about the tragedy of What the military does and not really even understanding what I was getting myself into so bring yourself back to a young boy Right 18 years old and and I'm not even sure why I'm there I just wanted to first take it out of town, right? And I wasn't the only one that it goes into that situation a lot of people do so now fast forward six years into it, right you you you realize I in war footage Apologize if you could hear that thing You hear this war footage this this this this this real life thing So I always come back to this story because I think it's the most pertinent in my entire military career. I Was getting off of a five-hour watch and that entire watch I could hear the the boom of the Catapults launching off planes now one of my jobs is reactor operators and make sure there's enough steam demand For the planes to be able to take off It's a very basic part of the watch, but that's what your job is supposed to be So so I'm I'm I'm honoring that and then it's around dinnertime. I Am sitting in front of TV and there is captain's call captain's call is a closed-circuit television that basically You have to watch so the air boss comes on so he's the director of you know the flight ops of all the planes that are taking off and All sudden he goes all right guys We're gonna show you what our operations did today. We're gonna put warheads on foreheads We're gonna watch you gonna watch some rag heads blow up today And then they bring up and then you could see people around me and they're like oh wow You know and they bring up the green footage and you can see you know the infrared with the people and you could see these people walking down This is Afghanistan mountain pass and then you can see the munitions just blow them up and In mind you I was not prepared for that. I was like oh my god like those are people in caravans I don't know if there's kids on those caravans How am I supposed to trust the military that we just blew up a line of people just so you can have this video to show? They completely blew my mind and it also made me feel Disgusting and awful that I use my intellect to to help perpetuate this massive war operation because I'm a veteran of Iraqi freedom and enduring freedom and and you know I I Went in after 9-11 Right knowing that we were in the middle of a war and still was not sure on what I was getting myself into So now let's flash forward out of the military Right you have oh no, sorry Let's go let's go back because you also have the amount of abuse that is inherent in the military So you have the psychological bullying you have the the the physical bullying the sexual assault the assault Right you have all of these things that are just in a pressure cooker because everybody's inside of the same space And everybody's getting on each other's nerves And you can't get away from each other and that impressive environment makes people start penning on each other and start pouncing on each other And it is a very very dangerous psychological place Because you can't go and see a therapist because if you do and you get deemed depressed and get on antidepressants You lose your job. You can't be a nuke anymore You can't be those high-level jobs. So then you're at the mercy of the military for wherever they want to put you You can't file a chain of command file a grievance outside of your chain of command So if it's your boss punching in the face, you can't deal with that because you're gonna have to report him, right? And and you know you you have the fact that you'll be getting off a watch when you're on a Rotating engineering watch. There'll be times you go to the galley where that's the field the mill hall and you don't have food Right, so you're getting off of a six-hour watch and hungry Thinking there's gonna be mood feel milk prepared and there's nothing and the only excuse you got is like Oh, we didn't know you guys were getting off watch though at you, right? So so these these are the type of things and being punished by going You know not being able to sleep, right? Like oh, we're gonna wake this person up because why right? So they can punish you which also affects for the psyche So so so then after you get out of the military you have to deal with the the stress of the economy You have to deal with finding a home if the deal with getting health care for your family You have to deal with all those basic things on top of that You just got pushed out of a world that is completely foreign to most civilians Like the fact that a military member has to start calling a bathroom a bathroom rather than a head is a big deal Right because you're changing a complete different language a complete different lingo and inside of that universe You're trained to be an asshole You really are like the strong is rewarded in the weak or punished so you have to be strong and that's why a lot of military veterans are the way that they are is Because they are putting on a face of strength because that's what's rewarded in in the society that they came from Not like it is in civilian life because if you come off as too aggressive You can completely destroy your life destroy your relationship destroy a lot of different things in your life from these type of things So getting to the policy of this I know I went into a lot of the the reasons and emotional stuff that's a tag onto that Let me get to the policy the policy is a military veteran bill of rights It has protections why you're in and why you're out So if you are active you have access that you have protection the meal and sleep You have protection the file agreements outside of your chain of command You have protection to the right to mental health services So you can actually go see a therapist and not fear losing your job you can go and after you get out You'll be able to actually Get it in the service pension a pension that will actually protect you when you get out So if you so it works like this an average enlistment or an average enlistment is about four years However, if you're a nuke or a translator or somebody going into intelligence that has required extra schooling You're signing up for six. I signed up for six So that's how long the pension should be at a minimum if you are enlisted for six years So it's caps at six years plus two years if you're a combat vet so let's say you get out in the military you do four years and you were just on a ship and you were you Qualified whatever rank you got out you would be continuing to get the pay of that rank for an access of four years So you'll have four years now being able to get that benefit you have to actually seek a therapist once a month So you have to prove that you're seeing somebody once a month So that way you can talk about your experiences in the military in a safe space rather than having to act strong all the time So you have a place to be vulnerable, right? Then the veteran side is is very simple health care for all education for all housing for all Citizenship for all these are the things that we need to be giving our veterans and education as well education for all So so these are the things that we need to be giving our veterans the way housing works So right now in San Diego one in four homeless our veteran So so we have a huge huge problem nationwide with the veteran population being homeless and out and not being able to receive So what I have a vision of is that we have veteran housing facilities cute communities Let's say housing veteran Communities that allow veterans to just go in and move out We have them across the country all over the place where if you're a veteran no questions asked you can move in And if you live in a rural part of the country that doesn't have one close by We give you a voucher because the rent for those locations are so small That it really doesn't it's not really going to affect us that much But for large populist areas where there's affordable housing crisis We can build up skyrises of veteran communities that are shaped all forms different sizes If they want to live in a barracks type of situation with other with other vets They can do that if they want to help transition out of that dorm same thing right single bedroom Whatever they need to help transition out is the most important thing. So I know it's a long policy But that's basically In a nutshell now i'm going to cap this with the most important point 20 veterans a day Are killing themselves 20 two of my shipmates of loan have already perished to suicide I it keeps me up at night to think about this thought That out of the thousands of hands and faces and people that I have seen and met I don't even know how many are alive to this day Because statistically it's a hell of a lot Because when you're losing a hundred and thirty nine thousand veterans since nine nine eleven Like in most of those young veterans because we're veterans of iraqi you know enduring freedom and iraqi freedom We have an epidemic in this country and we aren't putting progressive veterans forward enough to show Hey, I'm a progressive veteran for peace. I'm apologetically progressive Like you said at the beginning of the show that we check all the right boxes But the thing we haven't done yet is bringing the troops home with dignity And that's what I want because if we just bring all the troops home tomorrow That 20 veterans a day is going to turn in the 40 And we cannot allow that to happen either Because we're just creating a larger problem by creating by by solving another one So we can bring the troops back and give them the protections to give them a safe journey home Because right now america is not safe economically for people that are coming out for the first time Even if you're a vet And it's dangerous and it's economically dangerous and it's causing veterans to to murder themselves. Yeah, and The context that you provided is very important because you know for me I've never served in the military although I have two brothers that did you know getting Really into the nitty gritty of it about how this affects you psychologically how this affects your character and whatnot I think that's so important because if you know About what it's like then you can carefully design policy that addresses human need and I think that that's what's lacking Right. Nobody in congress Um really thinks about the human need for any policies But when it comes to veterans issues and whatnot, they just don't think about that right These are just pawns in a game of imperialism and they are dehumanized and it's really upsetting to see that You know, we send them off to die in wars. We don't take care of them when they come home And it's sad because we all like we know someone who's a veteran like I said my brother like he came home from the military He fought in the first a rock war and he was mute for five to ten years I want to say he didn't speak because he was so traumatized um, so it's like these are things that are They're not being addressed and the only people who know about them are veterans But it's really difficult to like be vulnerable and talk about these things So that's why it's so important for people like you who are in the military kind of bring up Hey, these are the issues. This is how we're trained to be and this isn't this is another thing is I was enlisted A lot of the uh congress members and people in congress right now or officers of some sort They saw a completely different level of the military That they are just completely oblivious that the other exists Like it is a it is a multi tier society in the military And if you're not enlist if you're not enlisted you get you get the golden spoons You get the silver spoons while everybody else is living in squalor while you have chiefs pressing down on our heads Making our lives of living hell to the point where people are just screaming for for relief Even if it's at the end of a needle or a bottle or a gun Yeah, and and and and that is what's happening right now to our veteran community because we only live in a world that is oppressive And then we get out into another world that is oppressive So when you get out into that extra world then you're living and you're just living in the The festering depression of what the military was because most members in the military are pretty depressed Yeah, you know, nobody wants to have their lives ruled over all the time You know, it is it is it is disgusting to know like I'll share this quick story and then we can move on One of the moments that I remember recognizing true freedom Was when I was driving down the road west, uh, no east down the highway And the idea Popped in my head is I can drive down this road all the way to the other coast and nobody would care And I brought me the tears Brought me to tears to know that I could go across the country freely without having to report to anyone Just that simple Pleasure alone Was groundbreaking for me And and I had I had to deal with that I still deal with that to this day I still deal with that those traumas those little traumas that we always do things Yeah, it's little things like that and that's why it's so important to get people like you elected Like you care about human beings and you fully understand human need and you know, that's why I consider myself a human It's not just because of the you know the Non-religious components of that because I genuinely care about human beings with that being said though I think that one criticism that I often face kind of switching gears is that I'm too anthropocentric And I think that that's probably a fair criticism And I'll share a little bit of experience with me. So when I was in college I took my first philosophy course and I was introduced to peter singer Peter singer is someone who makes the case for animal welfare and rights that is Indisputable and ever since then, you know, what I kind of already cared about It really put it into perspective and it led me to try to seek out You know vegetarianism and veganism now a couple years ago I had a meatless diet and I failed miserably because I didn't teach myself how to cook So, you know that repetition just the same getting the same bokeh burgers over and over again Just trying to live off of that didn't work and I thought oh, you know, this is great. I'm going to go vegan So, you know that failed But I'm back to you know the state where I really especially thinking about the climate and how much veganism would Impact the environment. There's just no reason not to anymore So the reason why I'm bringing this up is because you are so unique in that you're one of the only candidates proposing a very robust animal welfare Platform and I want you to talk through this because this you're a vegan So you are someone who I aspire to be like I'm trying to learn recipes and actually learn how to cook for myself That would that would be a little bit helpful But talk about your animal rights platform because that's something that we don't hear enough about And this isn't just about animal welfare for that morality aspect, which I think is absolutely important But this is also about the climate So there's there's no reason for us not to be vegan anymore And you're kind of bringing that to the forefront and for a lot of people It's uncomfortable because it you know, it's difficult to grapple with that fact How am I living my life? Is it fully ethical? No, it's not, you know So um explain that because you know, I think that that's really important and it's not talked about enough Yeah, absolutely. So I am vegan. I've been vegan for almost four years now. Um, the reason I went vegan Was for the environment. Um, I went and I watched a documentary called House Spiracy after going to a Climate action march where there was a woman wearing a cow costume Holding up a science and you can't be a true environment environmentalist and you'll see your vegan watch cal spiracy So I was like, sure. I'll listen to the random woman in a cow costume And uh, I went and I watched it and it changed my life Um, it was by I think I watched it mid december and then by then early december and then by january 3rd, um, I was fully vegan. I I completely eliminated all animal products for my from my life Uh, well not my life yet, but most at least for my diet Um, and and I felt great. I thought I was gonna die I thought I was gonna die being malnourished. I you know, I used to body build when I was in the navy Um, I I'm this thing because I don't eat enough. It's not because It's uh, but I used I used to lift weights and I felt healthier after Going vegan after a month than I did my entire peak condition of fitness. Um, so so so for me It was it was a big radical change. Um, so for that year I stumbled through it and I was able to continue to to be vegan Learn it. I wasn't like an evangelist vegan at that moment, right? It was like I'm just gonna learn this for me to make sure that I could do it well enough Before I start advocating anybody else to do it means learning new recipes That means knowing where to go to restaurants like knowing every aspect of what it's like to live a life as a vegan It took me a year Um, and then after that year I watched a documentary called earthlings where I saw the horrors of factory farming I saw the horrors of you know fur based, uh, you know Leather making all of it, right and and I just was appalled We were doing this to our world Um, not just environmentally, but just just ethically I felt like oh morally this is gross Like we're we're murdering these baby chickens like hours and within birth just because they're males and they provide no use to Society and I was just like that's disgusting. We need to stop this practice and so so I don't I do not say We should ban all meat. That's not my my my policy. So let me get into the policies First I would like to caveat and say this when I put in um in my environmental platform There is a there is a plank in there, which is this the elimination of all animal agriculture subsidies Right now we are we are wasting tons of money and we're picking winners and losers When the dairy industry and the meat industry are actually losing because of the fact that people are becoming more aware And plant-based products are becoming more widely available. So we're having the subsidized dairy farmers more than we ever have in this country One because of trump's tariffs, which is interesting enough But another is because it's just not a popular product We dumped I think millions of gallons of milk out last year because it just couldn't leave the shelves fast enough So so so we have to stop subsidizing that we should also subsidize stop subsidizing fossil fuels anything That hurts the environment. We should stop subsidizing. So i'm not just single-line animal agriculture I'm talking about big agro too. That also isn't doing well about the environment either So when it comes to animal rights, we need to give we need to start doing things when you mainly like you're talking about banning You know shark fins and and actually taking taking real steps against, you know animal Uh horse soring which is a horrible practice that is used just to make horses walk higher, right? It's just like they put these iron hoofs on them. They're so heavy that they have to like fling their legs up Just so they can walk. It's disgusting. The practice is is inhumane You also have the fact that when we when we create medicine, for example, so so when we when we have Testing for new generic medicines and we're gonna make talent oil a plus two Talent oil a plus plus right every time you make that new iteration you have to go through all of the testing requirements that the FDA requires before you can just put it into the public So that means they know what Tylenol is going to do to the mice But they go ahead and put the mice through the same rigorous test to kill them every time It's not necessary like it's it's useless. It's useless loss of life in in a system that is more expensive It's not it's not conducive to research. We could do it on a computer screen We don't have to kill the mice every time we know how the mice are going to perform to the like dna molecule We know right so we can do things like that So so basically what i'm talking about is really just common sense reforms and and you know I'm not this this vegan that's going to create vegan bill number a vegan bill or number a but Vegan bill pay vegan bill be But but we're going to be like hey, we're going to slide in this amendment to the farm bill Hey, we're going to slide this amendment into this medical bill We're just going to do these little amendments that are going to benefit animals That the country already agrees with and not call it vegan. We're just going to call it animal rights You know and people agree with this stuff. This isn't foreign people don't like what's happening at seaworld People don't like the idea of fur practice after they watch it happen for the first time when they electrocute these poor animals from the anus and pull out the you know disclaimer right like it's gross It's it's it's it's horrifying like a horror movie So so I think most americans can agree that that stuff is just Wrong and archaic and nobody wants to see this happen and they picture their dog or their cat in that situation They'll be like oh my god. How dare you even make the reference? It's like it's a four-legged animal that can't talk Yeah, yeah, yeah That's that's what it is. So it's got to bring up the standards and I'm not saying we need to treat humans as equal as animals I'm just saying that we should give Animals enough rights and not be subjugated court tortured and killed right right It's just we can see something as lesser but not like equal We but not have to kill it like we don't kill our animals for that same reason All right, we don't we don't kill our pets I mean we don't kill our pets because we see them more morally desirable than a pig But we need to give that pig. I think the same level of of that that dog deserves, right? So it's a little controversial, but you know It it it needs to be said and I and I do represent a segment of the population that does Want to see more ethically based Legislation that actually accounts for all species and not just us because look what human based Laws have done to our planet. Yeah, right, you know if we if we consider the actual You know animals in the rainforest, you know, maybe we wouldn't chop them down so fast, right? You know or or the or the deforestation, right that we do is I man if we actually took consideration of the deer and the wolves You know because we care about the animals Maybe we wouldn't have done that to the rainforest or murdered all the wolves, right? So so that's those it's just those basic things that if humans just thought differently I think we would have got our way out of a lot of really unintended consequences Yeah, and we just saw everything as ours and now we're reaping what we sow. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely It's it's just exploitation to the point where there's nothing left to exploit and now we're thinking How is this going to affect my life? But I think that this like conversation now is really It's crucial right because a lot of people they're thinking bigger, you know, they're thinking long term They're thinking what is my place in history going to be so like 200 years from now if human beings are lucky enough to survive You know, how will People look back at us now and how we treated animals and that's my thought is of course ethically speaking We're you know, ideally always progressing forward. So I can't help but think I would very much judge myself You know unkindly as someone who's a meat eater, but it's about education It's about kind of learning and really it is it's it's not just a diet change Which is kind of why the way that I viewed it was this is just a diet, but I'm on it forever But it's a lifestyle change and that's kind of life It's learning it's about, you know, messing messing up but taking the chance and then trying to re-evaluate your position Exactly my fiance. She drank collagen by accident and it was like, oh, you just got day zeroed and we jock we joke about it Right. It's like, oh, you got day zeroed, which means oh, you lost your veganism. They're gonna start from day one now Which is a joke, of course But but, you know, it's become this this thing So I do want to mention this about veganism. Okay, I want to mention some facts that maybe your audience doesn't know So we have about 7.5 billion humans on the planet, right and the We have 76 billion Farm animals on the planet right now now think about that those cows those pigs those chickens They eat a hell of a lot more food than we do, right when it comes to grain just per grain, right? That is just it's just insane. So they account for 50 to 50 2% of the land use 51% of our actual freshwater use It is counts for the same amount of emissions that every car plane truck train everything All of our transportation combined is the animal agriculture Um, it also is one of the largest polluters of ocean dead zones in the entire country We have pig lagoons that are actually Going into communities that are low poverty and giving a massive amount of Asthma pig lagoons are basically holes in the ground that they dump the pig crap into And they just keep them there because there's nothing else and when there's a hurricane They just flood everything and get everybody else sick. It's and get our vegetables with E. Coli Um, you know, uh, and and I just heard the statistic yesterday um Four pounds of beef, which is what the average american eats every month is equivalent To one flight from new york to london So think about that Every average american in the country Is taking the equivalent of one flight from new york to london on their own That is how horrible beef is and all meat is in our entire in our animal products in general Is is it's destroying our planet like it's comical to think about the fact that if we just didn't feed the cows We'd have plenty of food for everybody Like overnight It it's just it's just insanity to think that we played this stupid archaic game where people are like Oh, but if we eat all soy or we all vegetables and there won't be enough vegetables for everybody It's like the cows are eating something. They're eating vegetables. They're eating soy It's such a simple thing that you could think through like that. Yeah Yes, exactly. So we just cut out the middleman and then now we have all the soy Yeah, so that they're eating and we're gonna be able to have the food necessary But anyways, I just wanted to make sure that your audience understood the impacts Of of what animal agriculture is doing to our planet And and it is it is devastating is absolutely devastating go to a vegan calculator online And compare what your water save it What you're saving in water co2 emissions just alone It's it's it's it's the fastest thing anybody can do for the environment. Yeah Yeah, and that's what's really I think given me this sense of urgency because I already was one over with the morality argument But also when you factor in that carbon footprint and what it does to the planet It's like this is just a no a no brainer Again exactly And and I don't I don't say that to like you go vegan right now Because I'm saying that because like, you know, there's no reason not to yeah No world justification Other than meat taste good that is going to you know, keep it And I'm right now right now in this community and are in the vegan community Like you're on the west coast. You're even better, right? Yeah. So so so You have access to probably the best vegan foods that has ever existed on the planet. Well in oregon is Yeah, yeah Yeah, so so so there is even no more excuse for you either because because you probably already have vegan friends that are doing it And you could eat a little turn So that's a good point because I kind of noticed something and you can correct me if i'm wrong I do feel like there is a bit of a cultural shift like we're in the middle of that because before like 10 years ago It's like if you knew someone who was vegan it was like that was so strange But now so many people are vegan like I know multiple people who are vegan where it's not it's not so like illusive anymore It's like it's not a stereotype anymore. Exactly. It's just anybody, you know, vegan politician, you know, vegan athletes vegan everybody Like it's everybody there's vegan everywhere all over the corners of the globe and the cheapest foods are vegan beans rice You know veggies fruits nuts seeds like those are the cheapest foods in the grocery store So so a lot of people and I always make fun of the wherever poor college kid when you're eating ramen and bite beans and rice You were vegan. Yeah, that's you're living on that You know and and so so yeah, it's one of those things that you know I think we understand is like if you don't eat me you just don't eat me and you're so many other things You can eat there's 10 000 other ingredients you can choose from yeah Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for sharing those statistics and opening the door to that I just think it's so We're in such a fascinating time to where I want to pick the brains of veganism, especially since I'm so vegan curious I'm you know, I'm going to graduate from vegetarian to vegan, but I just think it's so fascinating But you have shared so much with us Everyone who's watching this if you're still watching you're convinced So we're preaching to the choir at this point. So tell us where we can find you on social media And most importantly what we can do to help you Yes, absolutely. So thank you for this. So on social media follow us on twitter. Jose Gabollero sd. So like san diego sd And then you can follow us on instagram. We are at jose.gabollero.sd and then facebook I think it's at jose for the number four sd and then on Go on to our website go on to our website jose for congress dot us like us That's what that's what our website is a donate I'll tell you and I'll finish this quickly We actually have the advantage of being I I'm actually a field consultant by trade that's what I do for for a living and I've been able to be To to bring down the cost of knocking on a door to a dollar One dollar gets me a paid $15 an hour paid canvasser With a with a yard sign a t-shirt and and a door hanger We've been able to really scrape the cost because Papers cheap and all you have to do is pay the labor and when you're paying the labor, they're going to walk They're going to do the work. They're going to fight They're going to make sure and we have the paper for the volunteers to go out and walk and talk So we've actually brought down the cost per door knock Dramatically so please donate to our campaign because that's what they're saying right now Jose can't win because he hasn't raised the money Make that not true. I know that the progressives in our community are dying for an open progressive seat like this one District 53 is a leadership district It will be ours if we take it and we will be able to swing for the fences because whoever takes this will never lose it And we have to make sure that it's the progressive in front We've been in front and and and and I'll finish with this last point A little birdie told me that they did a name recognition poll And we are tied with the council president statistically It is it is a real thing We have really lit in the imagination of this district and we need your support your follows You're sharing of those contribution links go to our website. Jose for congress dot us slash Yeah, Jose dot us just go there click donate and then you can go from there. So thank you so much Yeah, thank you so much for coming on. It's been an absolute blast I I think that before we went on we knew that we would this would be very long because we're both kind of like Tupi's in a pod chatterboxes and whatnot. So we're watching we're gonna, you know be rooting for you and good luck I think you've got a great shot. Thank you, Mike. I really appreciate you with your help We can win. We can win donates Donate because you know what they say when you raise more money you get more money So so that's what we're trying to do. So help us be that rock over the hill So I really appreciate you guys so much for your time. Perfect. We'll leave that there