Bernie Reyna
https://tx10bernie.com/
What is the single biggest change you hope to make if elected?
The single biggest change I hope to make in the House is to restore & expand Congress’s use of public credit as a deliberate nation building tool; so America again uses its federal borrowing power to finance concrete national improvements: modern infrastructure, affordable housing, clinics, reliable energy, workforce training, and strategic industry.
In other words, I want to move federal policy from short-term patchwork and paralysis to bold, accountable investment in the productive capacity of the country, in the tradition of Morris & Washington’s early credit foundations, Clay & Gallatin’s internal improvements, and the New Deal’s public works and federal credit institutions that built lasting prosperity.
How do you define success for your term in office?
Success, in my mind, is to address the grievances afflicting our working & middle classes. It’s when a man’s paycheck actually means something again; when it buys more this month than it did last month. It’s when wages go up for real, and the basics—rent, groceries, gas, medicine—stop climbing faster than honest work can keep up. And it’s when we put an end to this shameful racket where getting sick can wipe out a family. No more bankruptcies because somebody needed an ambulance. No more parents choosing between treatment and the mortgage. No more families ruined because a kid needed care or a loved one got cancer. That’s success: dignity for working people, security for families, and a fair shake for the people who do the heavy lifting in America.
Which three issues are your top priority?
Lower inflation: strike at the roots; shortages, bottlenecks, and the pricing power of concentrated interests. By financing real supply in housing, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture through public credit.
Higher wages: raise the federal minimum wage to $11.25, and add a voluntary LIVING WAGE incentive guided by MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, so employers who adopt a local, cost based wage floor can earn targeted federal advantages (contracting preference, credits, or similar incentives that reward doing right by workers).
Lower health care costs: Cut costs by expanding independent outpatient care (primary care, prevention, imaging, diagnostics, labs) and creating a public competitor where hospital monopolies dominate.
Create a public credit program to offer long term Treasury rate loans to physician owned clinics for facilities, equipment, and IT, plus 0% education/refinance loans for doctors, nurses, and medical techs tied to service commitments.
Require clinician control, ban chain/PE capture, and impose clawbacks: if a clinic sells out, limits access, or stops posting prices, loans reprice or become due.
Speed buildout with 99 year public land leases; allow tightly limited eminent domain as a last resort to site clinician owned outpatient facilities.
In monopoly regions, build/expand public teaching hospitals that accept all payers (commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, VA, cash) and publish one all in price schedule for everyone, with no facility fee games.
Lower drug prices by adopting French value/benchmark pricing and spending caps and Japan style national reimbursement price lists with regular revisions.
How will your policies directly impact everyday Americans?
Lower inflation: Keep more of what you earn. When prices quit bouncing around, you can walk into the store and know what the bill will be. Rent doesn’t creep up like a thief, and a busted transmission doesn’t send the whole household into panic. You can plan the week, plan the month, put a little aside, and sleep at night. Seniors on fixed income stop getting mugged by the cost of living. And Main Street can set fair prices and keep the doors open without getting blindsided.
Higher wages: Bring home more, without giving up your whole life to do it. A real raise means the bills get paid, the fridge stays full, and you’re not one flat tire away from trouble. It means you can afford dependable wheels, decent childcare, and a home you’re proud of. Young folks can get started without moving back in, parents can stop stacking two jobs, and workers can finally talk straight at the bargaining table. When pay goes up, Main Street comes back; more customers, more business, more chances to move up.
Affordable healthcare: No more being scared to get sick. When healthcare costs come down, premiums don’t eat your paycheck, deductibles don’t feel like ransom, and the SURPRISE BILL stops being a monthly horror story. You can fill your prescriptions without cutting pills in half. A checkup doesn’t turn into debt, and an emergency doesn’t wipe out years of savings. Employers can keep benefits solid without squeezing wages. Simple as that: you get care when you need it, you keep what you’ve earned, and sickness doesn’t bankrupt the family.