North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble

Dr. Jason Hayes, Democratic Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

February 23, 2022 Fannin Co. GA Democratic Party Season 2 Episode 8
North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble
Dr. Jason Hayes, Democratic Candidate for Lieutenant Governor
Show Notes Transcript

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast is in Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts

Our guests highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties. 

Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact. 

#podcasts #politicalpodcasts #democraticpolitics #democraticparty #stateofga #democraticactivism, #democraticgrassroots #community #gademocraticparty #georgiademocrats #democraticpodcasts #bestdemocraticpodcasts #GAPOL #ClimateChange #freedemocraticpodcasts #deepdemocracypodcasts #gademocrats #democracy #republic #democraticpodcastslisten #fightthegop #votersuppression #voterrights #bluestates #redstates #podcastsdemocraticpolitics #grassrootsactivism #climatechange #environment #9thCongressionalDistrict #9thcongressionaldistrictchairs #ruraldemocrats #racialequity #racism #RacialEquity #POC #politicalactivist  #racialjustice #equity #RaisingtheWage #GAMinimumWage #MinimumWage #education #diversity #inclusion #workingtorestoredemocracy #voterrights #democraticoperative #localpolitics #countypolitics #statepolitics #politicalraces #voterturnout #redistricting #gerrymandering #votersuppression #voterrights #politicalhistory #gapol #ruralrevival #ruraloutreach #DemocraticPartyofGA  #DPG #EconomicJustice #democraticgoals #democraticcharacter #democraticvalues #democraticintegrity  #TurnGABlue #Transparancy #GADems  #gapol #BestDemocratPodcast #Ethics #Integrity #ElectingDemocrats #LocalElections #CountyElections #StatewideElectionsGA #NationalElections #Healthcare #SocialJustice #EconomicJustice #EnvironmentalJustice #UnderservedPopulations #BlackCommunities #HispanicCommunities #LatinoCommunities #RacialEquity #RacialJustice #LGBTQ+  #GayRights #CivilRights #Advocacy #PoliticalAdvocacy #Activist #ProChoice #Immigration #MedicaidforAll #ACA #GunReform #ObamaCare  #Education #VoterRights #ProChoice #WomensRights #DemocraticCandidates #AtlantaGA  #ProgressivePolicies #ElectProgessiveWomen #Healthcare #EconomicSecurity #CriminalJusticeReform #Equity #Equality #Education #VotingRights #GASB202 #ProgressiveWomen #Unions #JohnLewisVotingRightsAdvancementAct #FreedomToVoteAct #VoterSupressionGA #VoterSuppression #VotingRestrictions #CivilRightsViolations #VotingAttacks #VoterSupression #CommunityOrganizer #Diversity #Inclusion #Policy #Action #BlackWomen #BlackandBrownPeople #UnderservedPopulations #PoliticalActivist #ElectProgressiveWomen #ProChoiceWomen #ProChoice #WomenSupportingWomen #WomensRights #ERA #ReproductiveJustice #ProChoiceDemocrats #CampaignStrategy #ProgressivePublicPolicy #DrJasonHayes #GALieutenantGovernor #MedicaidExpansion #Education #Healthcare #RacialJustice #EconomicJustice #VoterProtection #GALTGov #UnderservedPopulations #100BlackMen #SocialJustice #EnvironmentalJustice #CivilRights #HumanRights #EconomicGrowth #Physican #Healer #SmallBusiness #MaternalMortality #BlackHistoryMonth

Support the show
Meral Clarke:

Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our special guest, Dr. Jason Hayes running to be Georgia's next lieutenant governor. Welcome to the show, Dr. Hayes. We're happy to have you with us today.

Jason Hayes:

Thank you so much, Miss Meral. This has been an honor. I'm excited to be on the podcast and ready to just get rolling.

Meral Clarke:

Fantastic. Well, let's let our listeners know a little bit about you. Dr. Jason Hayes is an HBCU graduate that stands for historically black colleges and universities small business owner, medical doctor and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Dr. Hayes states that Georgia ranks 43rd in the country in health care and COVID-19 has caused a strain on our health care system as it has everywhere else. As a healer, Dr. Hayes has committed his whole life to taking care of the sick and underserved. As a former Health Service Corps physician with a master's in public health and business, Dr. Hayes believes he is in a unique position to get Medicaid expansion passed and help bring quality health care to Georgia. Something we certainly need. Well, let's dive right in. Is this the first time you've run for political office? If so, why now? And why do you believe you're the best candidate for lieutenant governor when so many others are also vying for that position?

Jason Hayes:

That's a great question. So actually, this is my second time running. Actually, I had the privilege of running in 2020. In Georgia House District 49. And I know a lot of people are like, where's that? So that's pretty much Alpharetta. And a little sliver of Johns Creek in a street of Roswell. And if you know that area, it's pretty unique. It's a very nice area. It is also very Republican and very conservative. And actually my practices there, and I've been in the area for the past seven and a half years. And initially, I was recruited by a hospital system to actually work in one of your clinics there. So I just decided to stay put when I ran for office, it was my first time and like most candidates, whenever it's their first time running, it's always an eye opener. But the great thing about it was that I actually had a challenger during my Democratic primary, I was able to win that with a 54% amount of the vote, and then went into the general election against a longtime incumbent Chuck Martin, if many of you familiar with him, someone who grew up in Alpharetta. He was the mayor of Alpharetta. And he actually had been the representative of House District 49, for about six, seven terms. And there were several terms where he actually went unopposed. In other words, he was never contested by the Democratic Party. So just recently, with the change in the wave of the color of Georgia, going from red to blue, and some people I could say purple was a prime opportunity to run and when I did, actually ended up getting 47.2% of the vote congratulations as a first time candidate. Absolutely, which is huge. Typically, when candidates run, they typically get somewhere in the 30%. But to get 47.2% was huge, especially as a first time Democratic candidate in a Republican, conservative district and those who are into Georgia politics know that Georgia House District 49 overlays house Congressional District 6, which was Newt Gingrich's old district. So if that tells you anything that shows that Georgia is actually making a change from red to blue, and Stacey Abrams, when she ran for governor got about 48% in that particular district, so shows that that 47.2% that I got was very similar to what she attained. So it was a great run. I felt really good about the responses I got from not only Democrats but also Republicans who actually like the fact of seeing not only a doctor, but a small business owner, represent them in that district.

Meral Clarke:

Fantastic. Well, tell us a bit more about your background. I wanted to ask you about that. Your mother was a nurse and your father was a Navy veteran. So you emanate from a family with a long history of service to the community. Is that correct?

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely. So excellent. So his father actually grandfather actually he actually served well, he was a veteran in the Korean War and also World War Two. He both served in that master drill sergeant in Old Fort Polk, Louisiana. It was an old army base now it's still an installation in Fort Polk, Louisiana. And then my dad went into the Navy and he served during the Vietnam War era. And when he finished that he actually did work as a cook. He was a chef as well. They also had a background in business as well. And then my mother had the largest impact of me being a nurse, you wake up you see your mother gone to the hospital wearing this white uniform, like oh, what is this and all that so her impact on me you have was huge, especially dealing with other family members who were ill. I'm always speaking about my brother who actually had epilepsy had an uncle who had Down syndrome and other family members who were ill. So my mother was typically the go to person for being a healthcare advocate for home and family as well,

Meral Clarke:

Which is why you became a medical doctor. Absolutely, absolutely. Fantastic. Well, let's talk about your campaign issues. You state on your website that education is a main priority. Tell us why that is and why it's so important. Why it matters.

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely. So I'll even take it a little further. My same grandfather that was a veteran to World War Two and Korean War when he finished, he actually taught high school English and history. And also my grandmother, his wife, that's my paternal grandmother, parents, both are school teachers. And my grandmother taught about 40 years in the school system in Louisiana. So I always had conversation with the both of them. And one of the things that my grandmother always said was that being a teacher was such high esteem and such regards that she started realizing in the 80s, whenever she was near the end of her career that the school system was changing. So even as a student, myself graduating high school, 1995, and then going to college and medical school, and masters do not still look at what's going on in the school system. And you see a lot of changes. And one of the things that I noticed is that school teachers do need a lot of help. You know, as far as students, they're dealing with a lot with students coming to school with a lot of domestic issues at home. Some students are coming to school without breakfast, some are dealing with domestic violence issues at home, things that could affect their ability to learn in the classroom. So it's definitely important that here in Georgia at school teachers get not only better pay, but also get better support in the classroom in terms of resource officers, also clinical social workers who can actually help children deal with the issues that are going on at home. So for me, education is huge, has actually played a role and only in myself becoming a physician, but it's also played a role in myself running for office. So for me, looking back, giving back to students has been huge. I even volunteer with an organization called the 100 Black Men, in which we do mentoring. And then I've also sponsored a scholarship with my particular chapter of 100 Black Men of North Metro and the scholarship that I sponsor is called a game changer scholarship. So essentially, what I do with the scholarship is that I give each graduating senior $100 What I tell people is that sometimes students when they graduate, they've never had a scholarship. So even though it's not a lot of money to them to a student, it is a lot. And actually the name of the scholarship is called franchise player scholarship.

Meral Clarke:

Wonderful. Well, I thank your family and you for your history of service to your communities. It's just so important. And there aren't enough folks that have that desire to give back, especially these days, it feels like it's hard to find. So thank you for that. And of course health care. Let's talk about health care. That is an issue near and dear to your heart, obviously. Can you elaborate on the lack of Medicaid expansion in our state and the extremely limited options for health insurance? And how does this disproportionately affect underserved populations? Tell us about that.

Jason Hayes:

That's a great question and put some context in terms of my experience, board certified internist, I practice primary care did my medical school at Meharry Medical College. In addition, I also studied master's in public health with a focus on healthcare administration in which I've studied both the Medicaid and Medicare programs, and also the Medicaid waiver program. In addition, while I was there, I was able to do a congressional internship with Jim Cooper, and then fast forward and my training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and the Texas Medical Center, which is, in my opinion, the greatest medical center in the United States. So got a lot of education and then also was able to do four years with the National Health Service Corps. And those who are unfamiliar with it, this program was started in the 70s under the Department of Health and Human Services. And also it was in conjunction with the beginning of federally qualified health centers being placed in underserved communities. So I was able to start work in a rural community in Tennessee and then ended a work in an urban community. So I was able to see up front how patients without insurance patients who are on Medicaid, Medicare, some migrant workers, and even individuals who just were recently released from prison, I had an opportunity to take care of patients hear their story, and see up front how having healthcare and also health center or clinic and unserved community can make a huge difference. So one of the questions or comments I'd like to say before I even you know, going further is that we want to explain to people that to qualify for Medicaid, you have to be 200% below the federal poverty level. And then to qualify for Medicare. You have to be either 65 and older or you have to be disabled in the here in the State of Georgia. So what we tell people is that there are people who we classify in the Medigap section, meaning they're not making 200% below the federal poverty line, and they're not 65. And they're not disabled. So we call that as a working class. And in some cases, the working poor. So we're talking about individuals who are waiters, waitresses, individuals who may be working for small business owners. Actually, you could even classify some small business, actually many small business owners in this particular arena. So we have to here in the State of Georgia look at insuring individuals, and that's 400 to 500,000 people would have access to affordable health insurance, which would be a part of Medicaid expansion, which is a part of the Healthcare Affordability Act or Obamacare. Now, question comes into play is why haven't Governor Kemp and the Republicans supported this? Well, my first theory is that they want to weaken the legacy of President Obama. That's the first thinking there's no doubt about that. Absolutely. And the second thing is that they want to oppose the Democrats as much as possible. And I say Democrats, New Age Democrats, so what we have to do is try to show the Republicans the data, that these are individuals who you can cover, including your own constituents, and then to we have to let them know that with Medicaid, you can get federal matching funds to actually help with struggling hospitals, not only in major metropolitans like in Atlanta, Columbus, Augusta, but also critical access hospitals. And we say critical access hospitals, those are hospitals that are in rural communities, that they're taking care of people who could be farmers, migrant workers, mom and pop shop, grocery store, small business owners. So if those hospitals go under, and especially a lot of them have been under the strain of COVID-19.

Meral Clarke:

And some of them have closed, I want to mention.

Jason Hayes:

That's right, closed. Absolutely. So then you have people who are in a city or county that have to travel hundreds of hundreds of miles to Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Atlanta just to get health care. And those of us who are physicians and surgeons. So if you have someone that has a heart attack, and it is an active we call Big MI or big heart attack or an ST elevated MI or the big one is what some of us say uses common terms, then you have 60 to 90 minutes to get them to a facility that can actually undo that blockage that we say PCI time, whatnot. So right there, that's a life that that person doesn't get there, they could die. Same thing with strokes, you have a four to six hour window to break upa clot. So if you had a critical access hospital that doesn't have a neurologist, the ER doctor is not comfortable giving TPA, which is the clot busting medication, or maybe they don't have it, then you got four to six hours to get someone to a hospital that is a neuro stroke center, our stroke center to help them with this. So people have to understand that, you know, healthcare as much as we want healthcare to be free, these hospitals need dollars to continue working to keep the operations going to help people. So these are things that I think unfortunately, when you look at the state legislature and state senate, they don't have enough actually, I think there's only maybe one doctor, maybe two doctors, and the doctors that are there don't practice ER medicine or family medicine or internal medicine. They're practicing anesthesia, OBGYN. So we need someone that can actually relay this to the state legislature, State Senate and the Governor, that, hey, we need Medicaid expansion. And if you look at the budget are actually from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, they actually say that we're missing out on several billions of dollars by not accepting Medicaid expansion. We're also missing out on job opportunities. So these are things that we have to let the state legislature and also State Senate and the Governor understand. And then here's the second part about this that none of the legislatures understand: We get Medicaid expansion, then what's the next step? We have to have a health care system and also have doctors who will be willing to accept Medicaid patients. Because the last thing that I want to have happens, we accept Medicaid, and then everyone has health insurance, but then they have nowhere to get preventive care, like controlling during a colon cancer screening, breast cancer screening, prostate cancer screening and also managing chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, which are number one and number two in causing kidney disease, heart attacks and strokes. So our reimbursement rate for Medicaid is very low hasn't been raised since 2000. So that's something that we would need to increase to recruit and retain doctors and I say doctors more or less small business doctors who practice on their own and then also too, we need a health care system that's ready to take on the influx of patients. So it becomes a multifaceted situation. And we really do need people who understand healthcare. And, you know, again, I mentioned the master's in public health that I have experience, understanding Healthcare Administration. I've studied Medicaid and Medicare, but also I have a physician, Executive MBA, where I've studied healthcare, economics, finance, accounting, organizational leadership, budgeting. So it's an additional skill set that I have that can be a benefit value to the next Governor of benefit in value to the state legislature and state Senate. So when we talk about who's the best candidate to help bring Medicaid expansion, and that is thoughtful Medicaid expansion is Dr. Jason Hayes.

Meral Clarke:

Well, you also have the business perspective as well, which is so important.

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely. I run my own small business, small medical practice, I've done my own credentialing and those are like what Dr. Hayes was gonna be about credentialing. So every doctor in every state has to be credentialed with insurance companies, that is you have to apply to be on the roster of physicians, and that includes Georgia Medicaid. So what I explained to people is that if we don't have doctors, who are credentialed by Georgia Medicaid, I don't accept them, then again, we won't have patients who have a doctor to see. So I credential myself with Georgia Medicaid. So I'm on the roster, anybody can Google it, you can look it up. So if anyone understands how the program is Dr. Jason Hayes and all the Georgia Medicaid doctor, whether I've been employed or self employed, I've seen Georgia Medicaid patients. And I've also seen Medicare patients as well. When I was practicing in Tennessee, I saw the 10 care patients, which is our Medicaid waiver program there as well. So I even in Texas, as well did some work in Texas, too. So so I've seen these programs upfront, understand them. And then also here's the other component about closing the healthcare gap, because all of the candidates say Georgia Medicaid expansion, and I say it too, but the answer is getting health care coverage, and also access to doctors. So the other component is we have 148 counties, out of the 159 counties here in Georgia that are deemed medically underserved. And what that means is that for every full time equivalent of a doctor, we need one particular doctor to an X amount of patient population. So these counties even here in North Georgia, South Georgia, even certain pockets of an Atlanta, Columbus, Augusta don't have enough doctors to see patients. So I was again a part of the program called the National Health Service Corps. And we worked under HERSA, which is the Human Resources Services Administration. So there's a grant called Public Health Service Grant section 330, which can be used to bring federally qualified health centers, to areas of need. And actually, this is something that can be done immediately, I actually studied when I was in the health service goal actually was a medical director, and one of the FQHC. So I learned about the grant learned about how to operate. So any community, you can actually get an FQHC it's just a matter of getting a board, getting a business plan, finding land, working with your local state representatives, who should be able to get in touch with the Georgia Department of Health. And then they should be able to connect with HERSA through the federal government and help apply for this grant. You get this grant, you get the FQHCs. That's federally qualified health centers, you can recruit doctors to those areas, and hopefully the doctors that we recruit are Georgia doctors Georgia, born and bred, went to MCG, Emory, Morehouse, and they want to stay here in Georgia and take care of people in their own community. And then that way, we can close the healthcare gap from not only with Medicaid expansion, but also getting more doctors or here getting locations and then getting more doctors and nurses too.

Meral Clarke:

Right great all healthcare professionals. Yes, that is good to know. Well, as you know, we're in the ninth congressional district in North Georgia and we are in a rural area. So this is a particular concern, not only to us, but it should be to everyone because uninsured folks not being able to find the right hospitals or going into debt are definitely burdening the entire system. And that affects everyone, including all the taxpayers, it should be of concern to everyone.

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely. And you know, the thing is as interesting is even myself, I need to do a better job of speaking with Senator Warnock Senator Ossoff. And hopefully, as a lieutenant governor, I'm able to do that. Same thing with the medication issue. We have medications like an insulin Albuterol inhaler, certain blood pressure medication, certain diabetic meds, the EpiPen that children need. Some of these medications are hundreds and hundreds of dollars like an epi pen could be anywhere up to$1,000 life saving medications that are needed inhalers for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Meral Clarke:

Insulin for diabetics. It's, that's a big one, yes,

Jason Hayes:

No reason why those medications shouldn't be cost effective. The one thing that a concern that I have is that our leadership are not using something called 340 B drug pricing. When I worked at the federal qualified health centers, our pharmacies, use 340 B drug pricing. Basically, you get these medications at wholesale costs. As a matter of fact, all pharmacies get them at wholesale costs. And they obviously sell them so they can quote unquote, get a profit. But at the community health centers, you get them at wholesale costs. So that's another reason why we can get federally qualified health centers there, we can get a pharmacy there. But what I want on the federal level is that they make all of these medications, the insulins, the epi pens, that inhalers, certain blood pressure meds, diabetic meds, have them at wholesale cost. So patients don't go in debt or worse, you don't want patients to die when they don't have their insulin or their inhaler, EpiPen. So again, I need to do a better job of speaking with federal leadership about that. And hopefully, as a lieutenant governor, I'm able to speak with them also speak with the governor about that too. So we can get that fixed as well. And then also, the insurance issue. I have patients who they get insurance, and I don't know if they're scams or not, but they'll pay 400 $500 a month insurance, but it's nothing but a deductible. And they have is a high deductible plan. So they still have 5,6,7, $1,000 deductibles, and when it goes to their doctor, they still have to pay out of pocket towards the deductible. So that's something that needs to be fixed. Hopefully, on the state level, the Medicaid expansion can help with that. And then even to take it a step further, because I'm, you know, I like to take a step further. rebrand Medicaid. Everyone has a mindset about, oh, it's the poor people, or it's the worst care. Well, I can tell you this at federally qualified health centers, we got some of the brightest young doctors fresh out of residency, who were eager came from some great training institutions, who were, in my opinion better than older doctors. So we tell people that we have to start changing the mindset about Medicaid and Medicare and get the best and the brightest, who have a desire and a will to take care of patients. And even with the word Medicaid, we need to change the name and have it something where we can, again, do a better job with how we're conveying

Meral Clarke:

Well, at least change the perception of what it means

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely,you know, the wording of it, how we look at it, and for the most part, and there are ways to do it. There are some healthcare systems here in Georgia that are doing a good job of giving good care to people. And so we're hopefully looking to leverage some of those relationships as well.

Meral Clarke:

Well, and of course, none of this is going to happen unless we get Democrats into office. So let's, let's emphasize that as well. Moving on voter protection, and the ensuing suppression of the vote by the GOP here in Georgia and throughout the nation is an alarming turn of events for all Americans, or should be. With Congress's seeming inability to get the John Lewis Advancement Act to ensure voting rights for all what would you do on the state level to ensure voting rights? A civil right is protected and available to

Jason Hayes:

To be perfectly honest with you that's going to everyone? require obviously a team effort with the Secretary of State the governor, to be perfectly honest, I think it's going to have to be a situation where we're going to have to sit down and have a conversation with both Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party independents, and explain to them what voter suppression is what suppressing voter access is, a lot of people think it's

Meral Clarke:

Of course, disproportionately affects them. just a one time thing. But I like to use history to sort of explain, and we have to go all the way back, you know, people use the word Jim Crow, but Jim Crow was more in the 1900s 1920s 30s 40s 50s. We have to go back to slavery. And I mentioned this in one of my podcasts talking about critical race theory, prison industrial complex. After slavery, we saw a lot of changes here in Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, a lot of southern states. Were there a lot of you know thriving black communities, thriving businesses, and there was laws created to suppress the vote. Laws, like we call them black codes, vagrancy laws, if you didn't have a job, you get put in jail, you become labor again, under the state's property. Grandfather clauses if your grandfather couldn't vote, you can't vote if your grandfather didn't hold property, you can own property. So that itself is no different than this voter ID law in which someone goes up and they can't vote if their ID doesn't match what's on the voter roll and they have to go through X, Y and Z to even try to vote by then the election is over with or about this provisional ballots and changing the actual voter location at the last minute. I actually had an individual actually another physician who lives in Sandy Springs. And he and his wife, they do well, but they live near some apartment complexes that were either section 8 low income, quote unquote. And, you know, he mentioned to him, he said, Doc, he said, I went to go vote, they changed the vote of location seven, eight miles down the road, no problem for me, I have a car. But he said, the individuals in this community who maybe had to rely upon public transportation or maybe didn't have the money for that, that hurt them and their ability to vote. So in other words, it affects low income people, poor white, or black, And that's by design, right

Jason Hayes:

By design. And it's unfortunate, but I've talked to a lot of people who are pro Republican. And when I tell them this, they say, Well, show me show me and I said, Okay, well, let me show you. And I say, Well, look what President Trump did, in 2020 10, when he wanted to get rid of mail in ballots, where he knew ahead of time that that was going to help with voter access. So what he does, he hires his buddy, his friend, to be Postmaster General, slows down the post office, or with my ballots and accrete different things of that nature. And you show them this, and I say, you know, even President Trump even admitted it. So when you have individuals like that, and then you have individuals like Butch Miller, who's running for lieutenant governor on the Republican side saying and get rid of ballot boxes and different things of that nature, you know, these individuals just want to push the narrative and they want to push, well, you should vote on this particular day, between nine and five. Well, some people work 12 hour shifts at a factory at an emergency room at their particular business, and they can't afford to take off or to go and vote on that particular day. Or some people as some other constituents mentioned to me, Hey, Dr. Hayes, I'm immunocompromised. I can't be around other people. So the ballot box is perfect for me, or hey, I have cancer. I'm taking chemotherapeutic agents. The ballot box is perfect for me. I don't have to be around other people who could make me ill. So you know, when you have people like a Butch Miller, who aren't being considerate of other people, it's hurting Americans is hurting Georgians. So we need a lot of us as Democrats. And there's some good Republicans out there, as well. We all need to come together and say, Hey, listen, when you fighting Democrats or Republicans, you're fighting a power struggle, but you're hurting people who need to have a voice in this political system. You know, I mentioned this on my podcast, voter ID law, many Republicans say, Well, what's wrong with that? Id? I said, Okay, we need to show ID, where's the logical you talk about permitless carry, you won't be able to show ID to vote, but you want to be able to get a gun without a permit. Now, I said, let's use the logic. You can't have it both ways. I said, if you're saying carrying a gun without a permit, is your Second Amendment constitutional right? Well, guess what going to vote is your constitutional right as well, so it shouldn't have. And then what other bothers me is that they try to use the illegal immigrants voting, I said, Listen, a lot of the immigrants that are here who want to become citizens, they understand very well that if they commit a crime, that they can't become citizens. So they're not going to go in and try to vote knowing full well, that a if they're caught, they could be detained and or be it can affect their ability to become citizen. So I said, you're using marginalized people to push an agenda that's frankly, not there. It's one thing with Republican leadership, but it's another thing with people who vote Republican, we have to get people who vote Republican to see the truth. And if they see the truth, and they will fall for these people that are Republican leadership. So it really is going to have to be a big time educational push, but also making sure we have the right person as Secretary of State, and also the right Governor that's behind this because it's almost getting to the point where we'll probably have to have a governor that will just say, Hey, enough of this.. We're going to have to write some executive orders.

Meral Clarke:

Which hopefully we will have when Stacey Abrams gets it is sworn in, and we get to call her madam Governor, which I can't wait. That's right. That's awesome. So we're gonna talk about your podcast in just a moment. But I'd like to address underserved populations and how they are adversely impacted by the lack of racial justice, environmental justice, and of course, GOP efforts to curb civil liberties, which seems to be quite in vogue for Republicans these days. Share your thoughts about how other than education we can go about changing course, and how we can rectify these horrible things that are happening that most people aren't even aware of.

Jason Hayes:

Yeah, so as I mentioned before learning about critical race theory, learning that the systems that we are in, can actually affect this, and that the system can be racist without you being a racist, and those are things that we really need to understand sort of separate the two looking at the system and trying to dismantle the system. So moving forward, again, we have to acknowledge the past acknowledge things like environmental racism, where interstate systems have actually gone through black communities and separated them acknowledge that we have mental health issues, and many of our communities, Job Access is difficult. So when you look at some of my policies, you know, again, I mentioned with education, if we can start teaching trade opportunities, in high school along with things like practical finance, how to open up a bank account, how to protect your credit, how to start a small business, do a business plan, if a young person says, Hey, Doc, I don't want to go to college, they can easily come out of high school with some skills, they can start their own business, become an electrician, be an HVAC technician just start their own business, whether it's an underserved community, or rural community. And then we talk also about economic growth. When you see communities improve with job opportunities, small business ownership, you see the health of the community improve, see the decrease in crime, improvement in infrastructure, improvement and property values, you also see an improvement in education. So I'm in favor of Georgia, pushing for a Georgia level Small Business Association, where we can help people show them how to start get a business plan, how to get funding to start your business, and also how to maintain your business, especially during a pandemic like COVID-19. And also, one thing I have to bring in mind are corporations, we do need to tax corporations, because I'm looking at the budget, we pay more personal taxes than their corporate taxes. So a we need to tax corporations would be if there's a corporation that says Dr. Hayes, I don't want to be taxed. And we can say, Well, hey, well listen, can we have you invest in rural and urban underserved communities, and focus on community job hiring and community job training. When we do this, and we bring jobs, we start reversing a lot of the ill effects of institutional racism, we started reversing generational poverty, and then we start putting the ability of people to start becoming more self sufficient. So what I tell people is that we have to acknowledge the issues, we have to start educating not only ourselves on the ground level, but we also have to educate those who are in leadership position, which bringing me back to voting, I tell people all the time, I'm not here for your vote. But what I would like for you to do is to research me, research the candidates that are running. And if these candidates align with what aligns with you vote them in. But when you vote them in, you have to follow up with them to make sure that they're doing what they say they're going to do, or they're keeping you up to speed on. Like in my case, Dr. Hayes, you said about Medicaid expansion. Are you doing that? Are you pushing for that? Are you pushing for improvements in education? Are you pushing for better voter access, and I should be able to convey that message to you on a consistent basis. And if I'm not, then vote me out. Now, this is something rare, most public servants who are looking to go into office aren't going to say that voting is just not enough. We have to make sure that those who are going in political positions, we have to make sure that we cultivate these political leaders from our communities, and make sure we support them with if we can't financially or volunteering. And then when they get into office, make sure they do what they're supposed to do. And if they don't, you got to vote them out. those things that we have to do because voting, I love get out the vote. But we have to do more than just that.

Meral Clarke:

Right? We have to follow through. And that's something that doesn't always happen, unfortunately, and there are a lot of obstructionists out there, so we have to find a way to work around them. I also wanted to very quickly touch on the maternal mortality rates here in Georgia and how it disproportionately again affects black and brown women. What are your thoughts on that?

Jason Hayes:

Whenever I joined the National Health Service Corps, the Department of Health and Human Services HERSA Health Service Corps, they actually gave us lectures on infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. We even talked about cultural competency, even at Meharry Medical College when I went to school there, we openly talk about healthcare disparities. So what we're speaking about is a very common term and when people say what Dr. Hayes What are healthcare disparities, what I tell them, It's a system of racism and also a system of class inequities. So I believe you're someone that have a higher education, you have higher income, higher disposable income, your risk of having maternal morbidity and mortality is a lot lower. However, in many cases, that actually doesn't matter in some cases, but you likely have a better outcome in some cases. So what we tell people is that to fix this A we have to make the system equitable for everyone. So you know, I mentioned before about with the Medicaid expansion and also mentioned before about getting federally qualified health centers. So we can bring obstetrics and Gynecologists to areas of need. So mothers, whenever they find out they're pregnant, they can get their proper maternal checks. Also, when the baby is born, the baby needs to see the pediatrician, it needs to get their vaccines need to get their proper checks to make sure that they're doing well. So not only just getting doctors to underserved areas, but also looking at the totality of the situation, we need jobs, we need economic growth, we need affordable childcare. So we need things that will actually help a community break out of those cycles. But again, we have to acknowledge that we have inequities in society. And we have people that we as leaders, especially public servants, we have to learn to invest in humans and human capital. And I speak openly about it. And I also speak to voters about this too. There's some of us, you know, we're happy if we are doing well with our family. But sometimes we forget about other people. So we have to get Republicans on the same page, all Democrats need to be on the same page to we must make sure that we leave no person behind. So another thing cultural competency, you know, this is an interesting concept. While I mentioned about higher socio economic status, there's a less likely you'll have morbidity and mortality in the black community. There are some situations where you can have all of this and still be affected. I don't know if people are aware, but Serena Williams, when she had her baby postpartum, she started complaining of chest pain. And those of us who've been in the medical space or have had children before, a women are at risk of getting blood clots, and also blood clots that can be in the lungs. Well, here's Serena Williams, she is a world class world, all star tennis player with hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. And I'm sure she was at a great hospital system. But she had to complain well over five to 10 times to the nursing staff and the doctor that she was having chest pain. So the question comes into play is, why didn't they take her seriously? And why did she have to do that? They did the CT scan of her chest and found out she had a pulmonary embolism which could have killed her. So she had to be in blood thinners to resolve that. So in the black community, a lot of us we speak openly about cultural competency, and how they've been this myth passed out in the healthcare system that black people don't feel pain the same way as other races. So these are common stories I've even heard from my patients, they've seen one doctor, the doctor didn't believe them. So some of this, again, is a system where people aren't taught cultural competency, or they aren't sensitive to people that don't look like them. And at the end of the day, a lot of us we call a healthcare disparities, we call it racism, we call it just not caring about people. And what bothers me as a doctor is this. If you're a doctor, or nurse, or nurse practitioner, or PA and you call yourself the best, you will take care of your patient, regardless of their color, their background and socio economic status. Because a you care about people will be if you call yourself the best, you want to do the best job that you can write for everyone. Yeah, I have so many stories that I could tell you personal stories where I've had patients that have come in and have clearly had malpractice done on them, clearly like class, and the only thing I could come up with was that either the doctor was just a terrible doctor was he or she was racist, in my opinion, is a combination. So again, fixing this is going to require we have to acknowledge the past, we're going to have to start teaching our children regardless of their background, that we all have to have emotional intelligence with people, we have to learn to be tolerant of people, regardless of their gender, their ethnic background, regardless of their sexual orientation, their status with their ability or disability, we have to start being more tolerant of people. And we have to start looking at each other as humans. And when we start doing that, then we could start having a level of change, but it's gonna start at home, you know, parents, we have to do a better job of teaching our children to be tolerant. Also, when they get to the school system, we have to do a better job with teaching people to be tolerant of each other, and also just to be better human beings. And and it can be done, but it's going to take a lot of work on all of us on every arena, whether if it's home, school job, so these are things that we all have to take on accountability, and a role and and again, understanding history can help us especially American history, understanding that can help us stop things from happening now. Because when we understand history, we learn about social behavior and learn about sociology. So we don't repeat these behaviors again, and this is the core of the voter suppression concerns that we have with SB 202. These are the roots and concerns that we have with critical race theory, people opposing that and the roots and concern that we have with healthcare disparities, and also disparities in underserved communities in terms of economic growth, I can tell you how many stories with people have tried to get small business loans, and they've been denied. And then when they go to another bank, they get approved, and only thing that was different was the color of the person's skin.

Meral Clarke:

Exactly. And that redlining with mortgages, and I could go on and on. And since it's Black History Month, I wanted to ask you Well, first of all, black and brown people are disproportionately affected because of our long history. And this is why it is so important to understand black history, which is American history. And you know, the long discredited notion of eugenics that was popular in the 1900s, which has also contributed to this situation. And of course, there is no race. I mean, we're all the human race, race is a human construct. We need to keep that in mind as well. But since it is Black History Month, I wanted to ask you what it means to you as a Black man, physician and a political candidate. What does Black History Month mean to you? And why does it matter? Why is it so important that all Americans understand the importance of it?

Jason Hayes:

We have to start acknowledging as black history being American history. We have so many young people who may come from dire situations and have also been victims. And I don't like to stress the word victim because I don't consider us as black people being victims, but a lot of us have been under attack since slavery even before that. And we've had to endure a lot. But when young people, especially young black men, young black women, seated there's Carter G Woodson was the father of black history. And then we learned about Senator Hiram was the first black US Senator here in the United States, you learn that you just don't come from being a sharecropper or being a slave or come from the projects or the ghettos of America. There are people who've actually done well and succeeded Oscarville that talk a lot about Oscarville, which was a thriving black town and its own churches, racetracks businesses under Lake Lanier and there's been a lot of talk why that city is under there. And a lot of it was basically some racism and Knight Riders Klu Klux Klan posses, there were this myth that these young black men had assaulted this young white lady. And these are common myths that have occurred throughout history. And then because of that, there was a mass exodus of black people from Forsyth County, and also parts of Hall County as well. So that particular town once Nightriders, Ku Klux Klan forced black people out, they covered it up. And so when we look at black history, we have to make sure that it is taught not just as black history, but as American history, and then start recognizing that we're all Americans, and they were all a part of the human race. And it's also not just for black people, but it's for Latinos, Asian Americans, Indian Americans, Caucasian Americans, it's everyone to see that there's more to the history of black people than what you may see on TV or what you may hear on the radio or what you may see in the movies. So there's more,

Meral Clarke:

Certainly so much more than we learned in school. Absolutely. Absolutely. A true deprivation of accurate education, I think, which is still a problem. So you have a podcast, yes. called Beyond the Race. Yes. Tell us about that.

Jason Hayes:

Wanted to do something different. I seen friends who were doing podcasts and people, I love sports, I would see a lot of sports people do it. And I say, Man, that's so cool. You see the mic, but you're able to talk about issues from the heart, you're able to talk about things that affect you and other people. And for me, it's just been a great experience Beyond the Race. And in the title, people ask where you get the title from, I was talking to someone and I was thinking about putting out a book. And when I was talking to this editor, I made this comment and said, You know, I want to talk about things that are beyond the race, you know, beyond me, running for lieutenant governor, because what happens is that a lot of times you run for office, and people get the classic or this person is running for this and that, and you get the classic look of the politician. But no one really knows who these people are. You just see these people on a billboard and you see him on maybe TV, so I wanted to do something where people had an opportunity to hear who I am and what I really thought about. So in episode one, I talked about myself, my background, and also some of the topics we'll cover episode 2, talk about critical race theory actually define it from the American Bar Association. And also in episode three, we talk about prison industrial complex, including school of prison pipeline. We've been talking about the origins of police. We've been talking about my own personal experience being pulled over dealing with police misconduct. So things that you may not hear on a typical campaign. And another things we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about gun control, we're going to talk about abortion rights, and women's health. We're going to talk about things that I think, in my opinion, voters want to know, what does this candidate really think? And is this a person that I want to vote for, and I do tell people, regardless of the outcome of the race, I'm still gonna continue the podcast, because, again, it's been a wonderful experience for me. And also, we'll be bringing in people and having them talk as well. And talking about their expertise, I do plan to have someone come on and talk about COVID-19, even though I could talk about it, I too, will probably bring someone else on board to talk about it as well and bring in some more individuals to talk about some hot topics that I think people would love to hear all over Georgia in the United States as well.

Meral Clarke:

Well, that's wonderful. And we try to do that on the show as well. You know, when we talk to candidates try to drill down and find out who they really are, and what motivates them to run for office and their legacy of service and compassion. Bar, none is absolutely superior. So we're grateful for you, and for all candidates. So if folks want to learn more about you and your race, where would you send them? What's your website address? And how would they access the podcast as well?

Jason Hayes:

You can learn about Dr. Jason Hayes, candidate for lieutenant governor affiliated with the Democratic Party, you can go to WWW dot, Jason Hayes, for ga.com. That's JASONHAYESFORGA.COM. When you go to the website, actually, you're going to see some links, and one of the links on there says podcast, you can click on it. And it will take you to Spotify and also YouTube. But on the homepage, if you go all the way down, there actually is some artwork with myself in front of the Golden Dome. And if you click on it, you will hear a snippet of episode one. And then also there'll be a link to Spotify and Apple as well. And also it's on Facebook as well. And YouTube. So you can go to YouTube and Jason for GA on the YouTube. So

Meral Clarke:

Fantastic. Yes. And so folks can donate and volunteer, etc. Through your website as well.

Jason Hayes:

Absolutely. You can text Dr. Jason, Dr. J. S O n Hayes, you can text it to the shortcode 90678. And what this will do is it'll put you on the list, we will send you information about where we will be for the campaign on the road. Also opportunities to volunteer and also opportunities to donate. And if you do want to donate again, when you go to the website, a link will pop up and you can donate it'll say support Dr. Jason Hayes, you can put any amount down there. Or if you prefer, on the homepage in the upper right corner of the page. There's a donation link, you can click on that it'll take you right to Act Blue and you can put any amount there. So this is truly a grassroots campaign. I consider myself a part of everyone a part of Georgians grew up in a working class rural family and risen up through the ranks and I'm honored to be running for office here in Georgia. It would be ecstatic if I'm able to be the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.

Meral Clarke:

Fantastic. And finally, and I ask all my guests this question, tell us a fun fact about yourself something just about you not related to your campaign or even being a physician. Tell us something interesting about Dr. Jason Hayes.

Jason Hayes:

My family as I speak out about this. My mom and dad got married in 1969. Our family moved to New Jersey. We had family up there as well came back to Louisiana in the early 80s. My mother worked so we stayed with my mother's mom, my grandmother, especially during the day, and my mom's youngest brother, his name was Uncle Jun 18 Jr. He had Downs syndrome, but he was very functional. And he used to give us all nicknames. So we had a few of us who were lucky enough got a nickname. So he used to give me the nickname train track. Even to this day, I'm still called that and the reason why I have that nickname is because when I was younger, we didn't see a lot of these, you know, the train tracks on the little mound you cross over. And we didn't see a lot of that when we were in New Jersey. So come to Louisiana and I would see these train tracks and I start jumping up and down. Love the train tracks. So he just started calling me train tracks. So that's a family nickname that I have.

Meral Clarke:

That's great. I love it. It's adorable.

Jason Hayes:

It is my auquel lowfield meet. He's passed away in 2003. Oh, I'm sorry. But we all loved him. And so I was honored to have had that.

Meral Clarke:

That's terrific. Well thank you, Dr. Hayes, for joining us today and sharing more about your critical work to support Democratic Party policy and maintain our democracy. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to the North Georgia Blue Podcast. We hope you'll join us next time when we interview Georgia State Representative Park Cannon from the 58th congressional district as we celebrate Women's History Month. To learn more about us and the work that we're doing, visit us online at Fannin County, Georgia Democrats.com. Share the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family and be sure to subscribe and follow and if you enjoy our podcast consider being a founding patron and friend of the show at North Georgia blue podcast.com/patron. Now with three different giving levels to choose from offering cool swag recognition on the show and website and valuable gift cards to help us continue getting into more good trouble.