Dr. Brad Allen
| Candidate Name: | Dr. Brad Allen |
| Position Sought: | Congress – District 24 |
| Website / Social Media: | www.drbradallen.com Facebook: drbradallen Instagram: @drbradallen Twitter: @drbradallen |
| Why are you running for office? |
| As a pediatric heart surgeon, I’ve trained my entire life in the art and science of solving problems, so that children, the future of our nation, can live better lives. I want to take the same forward thinking, problem-solving approach to Washington. In less than 2 years, this Administration and their partners in Congress have worsened the health and safety of California’s daily lives in more ways than I can count. The highest inflation in 40 years, rising gas, housing, and food prices, the surge in crime, attacks on police, homelessness, illegal immigration and fentanyl streaming through open borders, the war in Ukraine caused by a poor foreign policy, the attempt to shut out parents from making decisions about their kids’ education, being more concerned about teaching 1st and 2nd graders about gender instead of math or science, runaway government spending, enormous deficits and federal debt, rising interest rates, ongoing limits on our freedoms over COVID, the list just goes on and on. I have never seen our country change so quickly, or have so many problems. As a doctor, I just couldn’t sit by and watch this mismanagement any longer. We need solutions, not more useless politics. My years of experience in the operating room have taught me that the best way to solve problems is to first gather the data to define the problem, and then formulate a solution. It’s a simple and effective process, but one that career professional politicians like my opponent rarely follow. As your congressional representative, I will use the real-life problem-solving approach I learned as a doctor to improve American’s daily lives. We need to bring common sense and wisdom back to Congress, instead of empty political talking points or a particular ideology. |
| What makes you qualified for the job? |
| I have decades of experience in many real-world situations. I have been a surgeon for 40 years specializing in pediatric heart surgery. I am a medical researcher with over 100 scientific papers and book chapters, was elected to the medical honor society, won numerous teaching and research awards, and have been invited to give lectures all over the world because of my innovative research. I have spent my life solving complex problems using real-world proven approaches and not politics to find solutions. Hope and change don’t work very well in the operating room. I have worked at major universities in the U.S. and Canada, private practice, and Veteran’s hospitals so I understand how to improve our healthcare and how to interpret scientific data to deal with problems like Covid-19. Working in Veteran’s Hospitals has also given me insight into how government works. I have set up surgery centers, ECMO programs, nursing units, intensive care units, and research laboratories all from scratch, so I know how to work with different people and bring complex ideas to completion. I am also a small business owner, having started a skincare company with my wife, actress Jaclyn Smith. So, I understand the problems small businesses face, and how best to fix them. Most important, I will bring all this “real” life experience to Washington. The problem in Washington is not that we don’t have enough career professional politicians, it's that we have too many. And most have forgotten why they went there. Their answer to everything is more politics, as they have worked in government all their lives. So, why do we let them run our healthcare, or for that matter, our lives in general? Why do we keep voting for the same people who got us here? I will bring real-life experience and a practical problem-solving approach to Washington not the empty talking points of career professional politicians. |
| What are your two main priorities if you win? |
| It’s hard to pick just two issues when our country faces so many problems. That is why, in this era of political evasion and posturing, I offer a written commitment that clearly states my positions, no fine print. (www.drbradallen.com/contract). But my first priority would be to reduce inflation as it is hurts everyone. This Administration and the career Congressional professional politicians just keep printing and spending money. This has produced the highest inflation in 40 years, put us into a recession, and ballooned the national “credit card” debt to over $31 trillion. Presently 64%, of adults are living paycheck to paycheck. Yet these career politicians just want to keep spending as a way to “buy” your vote. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will, despite the name, actually exacerbate inflation. Now they want to forgive up to $1 trillion in student loans to get student votes. Even Obama’s top economist said this is like “pouring gasoline on the inflationary fire.” To reduce inflation, I want to stop spending money that we don’t have and stop adding to the national "credit card” debt. I want to restore fiscal and monetary responsibility to an out-of-control Administration and Congress, and require them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses do. I want to “cut” the Congressional credit card, as the amount on the card (debt) has grown so high that the interest payments alone will soon exceed $1 trillion/year, and be more than we spend on Social Security, Defense, or Healthcare. I also want to return to representing the people of the district, and actually finding solutions to problems. Our district is very different than San Francisco or NY city, and yet my opponent voted 100% of the time with the representatives from these areas. He voted party over district. A priority of mine will be to represent the people of this district, not a particular ideology. Instead of empty political talking points, I will bring the same real-world problem-solving approach I learned as a pediatric heart surgeon to actually solve our problems. I have successfully used this approach for 40 years to improve people’s lives because it works. It seems that professional career politicians answer to every problem is more money or government regulations. If I used this approach to practiced medicine, or run to a business, I would be out of work. I want to help end government that is too big, too intrusive, and utterly irresponsible with the public’s money. Washington needs to remember Government works for us, not against us. |
| How will you collaborate with other governments? |
| One of the main functions of a congressional representative is to represent and help the people and businesses of their district. To do this effectively requires communicating and working in concert with the local, county, state and federal governments. Everyone, and every agency, is important, and needs to have a seat at the table and their voice heard. This type of coordination and partnership is exactly what I did for years working at multiple state-run universities with many bureaucratic layers. To be successful in this environment, you need to learn to work with people with different ideas and backgrounds. As chief of pediatric cardiac surgery and director of a surgical institute I had to coordinate and work with hospital and nursing administrations, laboratory and ancillary staff, as well as state and local governments in order to assure the division ran smoothly and provided the optimal service. I have developed and refined these skills over 40 years in a variety of situations and with multiple agencies, which has allowed me to bring people together to build numerous centers of excellence. I will use these same skills and expertise in Congress to help the people I represent. |
| What do you think are the two biggest issues that need to be addressed right away? |
| So many issues need immediate attention, yet the number one challenge facing every household today is the increasing cost of goods and services. We must address inflation first and foremost, as it is devastating so many. After that, Law Enforcement and Education would be my next two. However, issues like Immigration, Homelessness, Healthcare, and Energy costs also need immediate attention. Violent crime and attacks on police and the public are rising. California’s homicide rate jumped by 31 percent last year, making it a 13-year high. Keeping our streets and homes safe is one of the primary roles of government. I will support our police; not defund them. I will ensure law enforcement always have the resources they need. I support additional funding to hire more police officers and improve their training, and oppose the career Congressional leadership from California that is holding up two bills that do just that. I am opposed to “anti-law” proposals like “cashless bail” that just put criminals back on the street. Judges need to be able to consider a defendant’s danger to the community when making bail or pretrial release decisions. I support creating federal penalties for people that deliberately target law enforcement officers with violence. I support the victims of crime over the criminals that commit these crimes. Nearly half of California students can’t read at grade level, and in math, the average test scores in eighth graders are in line with the knowledge of fifth graders. We are failing our children despite paying the highest taxes in the country. A good education is essential to a better future, and parents have the right to be part of their children’s education. I believe in teaching math, science, and literature, over gender identity and/or Critical Race Theory. I will give parents more school choice, by expanding vouchers, scholarship tax credits, education savings accounts, charter schools, and public-school open enrollment. I believe in giving parents curriculum transparency and choice in their children’s education, taking politics out of schools, and putting kids first. |
