Michael Masuda (D) is running for U.S. Representative for California’s 5th Congressional district, opposing the Republican incumbent.
He does not consider himself a politician. He is an engineer who has decided to run for the office in hopes of making life better, and more affordable for Californians.
“A lot of our politicians have really abused our system,” he said. “They’ve created something that is very favorable to them. And it happens on both sides of the aisle. I would say right now what we’re seeing is a really hard pendulum swing in which folks like the president are enriching themselves.
“When I’m knocking on doors, a lot of people say they don’t believe in the system, especially the people that don’t vote or the low propensity voters. A lot of times people say, ‘What can I do?’ That’s why I’m running, for things like health care. It’s more expensive for a lot of people because of the votes that were cast in Congress, because of this Republican majority.
“And so when I talk with those folks, they care about gas prices, and well-funded schools and public infrastructure and health care. They care about corruption,” he said. “These are things that I am going to go after. We’re going to make sure that we are addressing the big issues, that we’re investing in our communities, that we’re holding people accountable regardless of their party, and that we’re making conscious, deliberate, and strategic steps forward for this country and for the future. Because things like $40 trillion of debt is not sustainable for this country.”
When asked about the agenda of the Democratic Party, and whether he is a socialist, he answered, “I am not a socialist. I fear that a lot of the talk turns into being afraid of a boogeyman that has been deliberately created by politicians. There are a handful of candidates that have very extreme views, in my opinion, that have emerged. And many of those things I don’t support. But then I hear about folks who are self-proclaimed socialists, but just want to make sure people can afford health care. And when we start talking about things in that way and we start removing the labels, we find that common ground.”
Masuda then talked about the high-speed rail project. He said he is not in favor of more taxpayer dollars being spent on the high-speed rail.
“I don’t even know how much money we are at right now,” he said. “There are stories of people who have abused their power and siphoned money off of it. If we take the high-speed rail as it stands right now, and we work with private industry, we can bring some of these companies in to make it a public-private partnership, bring some of that private investment to finish this project up.”
On the subject of immigration and deportation, he talked about the problems.
“We have a very broken immigration system,” he said. He stated that more laws will not help. “The solution is to go back and fix the system, fix the process. Instead, what we get is very inhumane immigration enforcement. And I’m sure many of the families around in Madera County are very concerned about this. As we go through more and more inhumane practices, people don’t trust the system. And if you don’t trust the system, you’re not going to use it.
“So, what I propose is, let’s have strong border enforcement. Let’s invest in that. Let’s fix the system. Let’s make it a little simpler. Let’s create those streamlined pathways to a work permit, so people aren’t working under the table, that we pull them out from the informal economy so that they aren’t undercutting wages for American workers. And so that when they are having an issue with an employer, they can take that to the proper agencies so that they don’t have to hide.
“At the same time, pathways to a green card that are trustworthy. For the people who are the dreamers, DACA recipients that are here, I want citizenship for them because they are citizens in every single way except for a piece of paper. And so let’s stop kicking the political football around and let’s just give them citizenship. They have earned it in every single way.”
He was asked if he is in favor of opening the borders again.
“No,” he said. “Absolutely not. I think what the Biden administration did, they failed on immigration. The Biden administration failed outright. You’re starting to see improvements. If you look at the numbers in his last year in office, there were improvements on reducing immigrants, people that were coming to the United States. It was too little, too late.”
One of Masuda’s platforms is to do something about the wildfires in California.
“We need to do more up front every year to bring down the threat of wildfires,” he said. “So that means doing the hard work and investing the money into fuel breaks, prescribed burns, home hardening, defensible space, making sure that we are supporting our firefighters. There are some counties in this district where fire stations are closing or they don’t have fire trucks nearby that are available, and then all that increases the threat of wildfires.
On the issue of housing in California, he said, “Congress actually passed a bill, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, overwhelmingly bipartisan support. Within that were things like increasing or streamlining manufactured housing, but also technical grants to communities to help with rezoning to address some of the local issues. It was support for local communities built into that.
“I thought it was a good bill. It’s just a start of what we need to do. We have to build more housing. That is the crux of the issue. That’s why housing and rent prices are so high. How do we do that? Again, federal, state, local. Local controls zoning.
“We need to build pathways to home ownership. That is the important part. That is the key. That is what’s going to make the difference. Rents is great. Housing vouchers, we need those because we’re addressing the immediate issue. But home ownership, building equity, that is what’s going to change the lives of people and put people on solid financial footing.
“Regardless of who wins this election, they need to pay attention to the Central Valley because there are huge, huge opportunities here. I’ve talked with a lot of people. I’m going to continue pressing on my party. I’ve been very critical of the Democratic Party and how they have ignored this area. They’ve ignored our communities, and it’s very frustrating to see that because these are places I care about.”