From October 27, 2022 post
In case you missed it, political outsider, successful business leader, and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Joe O'Dea sat down with CBS Colorado's Shaun Boyd to talk about the Colorado Senate race and his agenda for working Americans.
Watch the full interview here.
See a recap of the coverage below:
On Joe O'Dea
Shaun Boyd: Joe O'Dea is in many ways, a regular Joe — a union carpenter by trade, who never finished college, opening a small concrete paving business out of his basement and growing it into a 300 employee construction company that has helped shape the state's network of roads and bridges. Now he wants to help shape its public policy. If elected, he would be the state's first US Senator with no political or public sector experience. But he says he has plenty of experience working with the other side of the aisle.
Joe O'Dea: I've been working in Denver for 30 plus years. And in order to work in Denver, you've got to be able to work with Democrats. And I pride myself in being able to sit down with people come up with good ideas on both sides, and form a partnership that gets things done.
On the Issues
Shaun Boyd: His top priorities, our debt, inflation and immigration. He opposes Democrats inflation Reduction Act, saying instead of spending money hiring more IRS agents, Congress should hire more Border Security agents to combat drug trafficking and skyrocketing crime.
Joe O'Dea: I would use that money to fund completing the wall and securing our border. In addition to that, I'd take whatever money is left over and I would use that to help fund local and state police departments.
Shaun Boyd: He blames trillions of dollars in new spending for record-high inflation and says government aid should be targeted to those most in need. While he wants to cut spending, he promises to protect Medicare and Social Security. Increasing energy production, he says would also help the economy and environment.
Joe O'Dea: If we want to do a lot of good work for the world, let's export good clean natural gas to Asia, to India.
On Immigration
Shaun Boyd: O'Dea says he would introduce a bill to overhaul the entire immigration system.
Joe O'Dea: I've got employees that have worked for me 15 years, they've been here on work visas, they're here legally, they're paying their taxes, but they can't get through their citizenship. And I think that's important to clean that up. I would give the Dreamers citizenship. They're here no fault of their own. So that's the first bill I'd like to run when I hit the US Senate.
On a Message that Resonates
Shaun Boyd: He says he will be his own man not a yes man in DC and his message she says is resonating.
Joe O'Dea: Somebody stopped at a lunch, came in and grabbed my hands and prayed with me, for my family, said praying for you for what you're doing. And those are the kinds of people we've seen across the state that care. They're ready for some change.
Original source can be found here
