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Left Out Loud is a progressive political podcast breaking down the biggest stories shaping our democracy. From up-to-the-minute political news and midterm election coverage to in-depth interviews with grassroots Democratic candidates, the show spotlights the voices and movements fighting for real change. Smart, informed, and unapologetically loud, Left Out Loud pairs sharp analysis with humor and plain-spoken commentary, cutting through the noise to focus on what actually matters. If you care about elections, organizing, and the future of the Democratic Party—and you like your politics with a little personality—this is the podcast for you.
Hey, Seth
Hey, Ally
Another great candidate today.
We've got Joshua Sales out of Tennessee.
Um- Hi … he is running for
Tennessee's 7th District for Congress.
Um, Joshua is a veteran and a
teacher and an all-around great
guy, so let's not waste any time.
Let's bring him in.
Hey, Joshua- Hi … how are you?
I am doing well, guys.
How about yourself?
Good, thanks.
I'm good.
Thank
you for coming on with us today.
Yeah, thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
It's great to have you here.
Um, okay, I like to
start at the beginning.
So outside of the p- political arena
and the political talk, and there's
plenty of time for that and lots to
talk about, um, so you're a teacher.
Mm-hmm.
What grade do you teach?
So I teach juniors and seniors.
I have a junior AP English Language-
Okay
…
class, which is the study of
rhetoric, which i- is super fun.
Awesome.
And then I have a senior level
journalism class that I teach as well.
Oh, very nice.
Okay.
So first question is,
like, a two-part question.
Um, so first is, you know, what
do you love about being a teacher?
And then second part of that is, how
would your students describe you?
Um, yeah.
So the thing I love most about teaching
truly is the fact that, at least with
my teaching style, it, it truly becomes
like a conversation in the classroom.
Like, when the class is going, like,
perfect, it becomes this thing where it's
like, okay, we just got done reading,
um, MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Like, what do you guys think about it?
Okay, l- well, let's dive in.
Why do you think that?
Why did this come across to you this way?
And, like, really diving into,
like, the rhetoric of it and helping
the kids understand at an academic
level, like, oh, this is why he
makes this allusion to St. Paul.
Mm. This is why he repeats over and
over, like, "I may be an extremist
in your views, but this is why being
an extremist isn't a bad thing."
Right.
Um, as to how the kids would
describe me, I think it depends
on the point of the year.
Um-
That's fair
…
to be
honest.
That's fair.
Um, at the beginning of the year, um,
by the time I get the juniors, they're
typically, like, for the first time
entering into an AP classroom setting.
Mm-hmm.
And so it's very quickly this
thing of, like, the bar is set.
Yeah.
And I do not compromise with that
because I'm like, "Hey, we have eight
months to get you ready for this exam."
Sure.
And so as much as, you know, I try
not to teach to the exam itself, it
is the idea of, like, you do need
to be able to analyze rhetoric.
You do need to be able to
formulate a proper argument.
You do need to be able to take
multiple sources and synthesize them
and develop meaning through them.
And for 16-year-olds, for
17-year-olds, like, that is in
and of itself, like, a huge task.
So they come in, and they're very
quickly, like, not happy with the
fact that, like, no, I'm holding
the bar, and, like, that is- Yeah
like, where we're going.
But I think it's a testament of the
fact that the journalism class that I
teach is an elective, and half of the
seniors this past year, so they had me
the year prior for my English class,
half of the seniors, like, elected
to take that journalism class because
they heard I was the one teaching it.
Oh, I love that.
And
so, yeah.
So they were like, "Let's,
let's get in there.
Let's,
you know-" That says a lot about you
… "We wanna hang out with Mr. Sales again."
So that alone answers the second question.
You know, if they're, they're signing
up for an elective senior year
especially, um, you must be wonderful.
And I just have to say a quick
shout-out to one of my closest
friends, Chuck, a retired English
teacher, watches every single
episode of this podcast, never fails.
So just a quick hi to Chuck.
We love our teachers.
Okay.
Thank you.
Sorry.
Well, Josh, you know, I- first of all, I,
I love the, uh, the open, the open kind of
slogan to your campaign, "Life ain't fair,
but it's suppo- but it's not supposed
to be rigged." And, uh, I, I love that.
That's refreshing and, you know, as
a Southern guy to a Southern guy,
you know, I, I appreciate that,
that simple approach that a lot
of people need down here, right?
And so, you know, obviously, this system,
um, is rigged by the billionaires.
Right now, you know, and ever since,
uh, Citizens United, it's really been an
uphill climb for regular people like us
to make a real big dent because there's
this uncapped spending, um, and it's
just very difficult if you're not willing
to play ball to make a real difference.
So tell, tell me why you think you're
gonna be able to cut through, uh, this,
this kind of time in our political
lives and, and really make a difference
for, uh, for people in Tennessee.
So I think this is why being a teacher,
like, becomes an asset because there's
a lot of complex issues that I break
down into just easy, understandable,
bite-sized pieces that anyone can,
like, deal with that and understand it.
Um, I was in Greenbrier in Robertson
County, Tennessee, just north of
Nashville, uh, like two months
ago for their Rumble in the Brier.
It's a car show.
And walking around and just kind
of talking with people, introducing
myself to the community, and there
was a gentleman who had a MAGA hat on.
And the people I was with was like,
"Okay, like, just skip past him."
I'm like, "I'm not afraid
to talk with Republicans.
I'm not afraid to talk to someone
wearing a MAGA hat." I went up to him
and, like, quickly asked him, like,
"Hey, I am running for Congress.
I'm a Democrat.
But I have a question for you.
Do you know how long Social
Security has until it's no longer
solvent, until it no longer pays
out exactly how much it should?"
And he was like, "Well, I know it's
sometime soon." And I was like,
"According to the Department of
Treasury, we've got until 2033.
Seven years.
And at that time, it becomes insolvent,
and those who will then be retiring
will only receive about 83% of
what they are entitled to." Right.
And he's just like,
"Well, that's not right."
And I was like, "I don't think it's
right either." I'm running on 12 bills.
The very first one is
the Mustard Seed Act.
It solves this issue because there's
two simple things we need to do.
One, there is a level of income that
if you make over this, you do not
get charged- a single penny over
that for Social Security, right?
It's currently, it is set at $184,500.
So if you're making $185,000,
that last 500 does not get
taxed for Social Security.
If you're making a quarter of a
million dollars, roughly 65,000
of that does not get
taxed for Social Security.
It's called the Social
Security income cap.
My bill gets rid of that.
Mm. It says everyone should
pay the same percentage.
Yeah.
The second thing it does is it addresses
the fact that if you receive your
income through capital gains, that
is not taxed for Social Security.
You could literally be not working
a single day of the year, and have
invested into the stock market-
Mm … and receive everything through
capital gains, and not pay a single
penny into the Social Security program.
Mm. My bill also overturns that.
Not bad.
Those two things allow Social
Security to be solvent for the next
100 years, and actually lets us
start lowering the retirement age.
And this guy, like, looked at me, again,
wearing a MAGA hat, and he was like,
"Well, that just makes sense." Right.
And I
was
like,
"
Doesn't he?" Like- That's
what we
need-
But,
but the people that you're voting
for vote against it … common sense
policies.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so, like, you know, I… especially,
like, that's such a, like, pertinent
thing considering, like, Mike Johnson
was just caught on hot tape, like-
Saw it.
Yeah, right?
Saying that we are going to have
to cut spending for Medicaid-
Mm … Medicare, and Social Security.
And so it's like- Starting
next year, by the
way … yeah.
So it's, it's very clearly, like, I
can look at any Republican, and mind
you, this guy was like late 50s,
where he's gonna be- Mm … hitting
that retirement age- Right
exactly when this would trigger.
Yeah.
And it's like, we,
like, you have a choice.
Mm-hmm.
You can vote for Matt Van Epps, who is
the Republican candidate, who is going
to be in lockstep with Mike Johnson
and President Trump, or, you know, you
could vote for the Democrat, who is
promising you right now, who has a bill
ready to go on day one, that is going to
ensure that your retirement is sacred.
Because that is not a handout,
that is what was promised to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's great policy.
Love that policy.
I mean, I don't know who wouldn't
vote for you for that policy alone,
and I know you have so many more.
Um, all right, so going back to teaching.
You're a teacher.
You're not just grading your students,
you get graded, Joshua, in that role.
Yeah.
There is a lot of bureaucracy and
administrative overhead in academia.
And so, and, and at my job, I'm, you
know, I have one-on-ones, I have reviews.
Most people that work in America,
um, are have to be accountable
for the expectations of the role.
How do you think or why do you
think we have a system where no
one seems to be accountable once
they get voted into their role?
I think I would actually
challenge that paradigm, right?
Okay.
I don't think it's that they're
not being held accountable.
I think it's they're being held
accountable by someone else.
Mm.
They're not held accountable-
Mm … by the voters.
They're being held
accountable by the lobbyists.
Donors, yeah.
By their donors- Yeah
right?
Which is why we see, right, Massie
not falling in lockstep with the
GOP got primaried from the right.
Mm-hmm.
So there is this, like, accountability.
It's just no longer from the voters, and
I think that goes back to, like, Seth
talking about Citizens United, right?
That 2010 court act where now companies
and entities can put in money as much
as they want, and we've literally seen,
like, there are graphs readily available
online that show that, like, from then,
from 2010 to now, like, each year more
and more money gets pumped into elections.
Mm-hmm.
Elon Musk famously talked
about how he spent, like, $380
million to get Trump elected.
Yeah.
And then what did we see?
He came in with DOGE, which allowed him
to gut regulations on his companies.
He's now with SpaceX about to,
like, be publicly evaluated,
and they're literally looking at
manipulating the stock market- Yes
so that all of our index funds, which
are tied into our retirement funds,
buy into SpaceX- Mm-hmm … even
though SpaceX in the last six months
have s- lost, like, $8 billion.
It's
not profitable.
Bleeding money.
Bleeding money.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so when we talk about accountability,
I think it becomes a thing of who
is holding them accountable, right?
Yeah.
And not to just continuously go back
to my bills, but, like, I have a bill.
It is called the Battle of Athens Act.
Um, the Battle of Athens was a historical
moment in Tennessee that a lot of people
even here in Tennessee don't know.
We're talking 1946, um, World War
II veterans coming home to Athens,
Tennessee out in East Tennessee,
and at the time the sheriff and his
deputies, specifically the deputies,
their salaries were paid as a percentage
of the fines that they collected.
So they were incentivized to go
and arrest people, whether that
person had done anything or not.
Right.
So these veterans are coming home on
buses, and they're getting pulled off of
the buses and literally being told, "Well,
you're drunk, so we're gonna put you in
jail." And they're like, "We're not drunk.
Like, yeah, we're, we're veterans
coming home, but like we're not drunk."
It's like ice
quotas is what it reminds me
of.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And s- and so these veterans then
went to like run against the sheriff.
Well, one of them shows up at the
polling place and goes to vote, and is
told, "You're not allowed to vote," is
escorted out of the building, is beat
with brass knuckles, and then as he's
trying to run away, gets shot in the back.
Oh.
This gets out to the other veterans.
They start amassing.
The sheriff comes in with his cronies,
grabs the ballot boxes, and runs to
the jail The veterans go, "We're not
having any of this." They actually go
to the National Guard Armory nearby,
get a bunch of rifles, get dynamite,
go back to the jail, blow a hole in the
wall, and at gunpoint s- do a citizen's
arrest and, like, take these guys in.
Um, and it turns out, like, yeah,
they were stuffing the ballot
boxes in order to stay in power.
Mm-hmm.
And so my Battle of Athens Act
is a campaign finance reform act.
Because again, when we have to talk
about, like, what does it mean to be
accountable as a lawmaker today, and the
people that you're accountable to are now
corporations and these high-value donors,
you're not accountable to the people.
Right.
And that is not what a democracy is.
By definition, that's
a kleptocracy, right?
Mm-hmm.
Rule by money.
And that is not what the
Founding Fathers had in mind
when they set up our democracy.
That is not what I had in mind when
I joined the military to fight and
defend and protect our Constitution.
That is not what we teach students-
Mm-hmm
what our country is.
Mm-hmm.
And so it's just getting to
the point where, like, we need
to do something about this.
But that's never gonna happen if we
continue to elect Republicans, and
frankly, if we continue to elect these
corporate Democrats- 100% … who continue
to take money from these organizations.
Yep.
Um, when Tennessee redistrict to
dilute the Black vote in Memphis and
take away their voice and take away
the Democratic seat that they were
voting in time and time again, one of
the things that happened was they also
allowed people to jump into the race.
Mm.
So I went from having no primary, I
was the only one running, to now there
is a four-way primary in my district.
Every single one of those other Democrats
running are all corporate Democrats.
They are all older.
They are all invested into the status quo.
Mm-hmm.
I actually even got into an argument
with one of them last year when he
was running for the special election,
and famously said at a meeting, he
went, "I don't believe in student
loan forgiveness because I was able
to pay it off, so you need to-" Oh, I
l- I love that argument.
We hear that all the time.
Yeah.
And so I-
I was able to pay it off when, when, when
student tuition was 10 times cheaper.
Got it, Grandpa.
Like, unbelievable.
Yeah.
And, and that's like, I literally
pulled up… I was like, "So you
said you went to this college.
When you graduated, this is
what the tuition rate was.
So no, we can actually look into this
and see verifiably that your tuition
was equivalent to less than one year of
tuition today." The expected salary at
that time was 75% of what it is today.
So when- Right … tuition has gone up
800% and salary's only gone up 25%, like,
w- w- that's not the same math equation.
Mm-hmm.
You nailed that.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And- Yeah … well, and
I told them too, right?
Because, like, we got to, like, to some
degree, and, like, I'm sure, like, the,
the troll Republican who listens to your
stuff is gonna, like, cherry pick this.
But it becomes a thing too as Democrats
where it's like, hey, we know that
educated voters tend to vote to the left.
Yes.
And so if we continue to put barriers
in the way of people gaining that
education, as Democrats we are literally
shooting ourselves in the foot.
Yep.
So-
Couldn't agree more.
Yeah.
Um, 100%.
Um, one of my other bills, the Open Door
Act, is a job training bill because it not
only addresses college, but it addresses
apprenticeships and journeymanships, and-
Mm-hmm
part of the- All important Yeah.
College isn't for everyone,
and it shouldn't be, right?
No.
I mean, we need all of these
skills in our collective society.
Yeah.
Period.
Exactly.
And, and you know, I, and I want you
to talk about more of these bills,
because I know you've already gotten
to mention a few of them, but you
know, what I, what I really love about
your campaign is that, like, you're,
you're ready to govern on day one.
Mm-hmm.
Like you, you're coming in with
plans, not only plans that w- that,
that will help Tennesseans out,
but ones that pay for themselves.
Yeah.
And that was another thing where I
was just like, "I love that." Because
what, what do Republicans say?
"How are you gonna pay for that?" Exactly.
Even though they never pay for
any of their crap, other than, you
know, taking Social Security away-
We're still paying for their crap
and Medicare, Medicaid away.
You know, they never- Yeah … you know,
they, they, they always talk about that.
So if, if, if I could give you, uh,
a couple more bills that you're super
excited to talk about, obviously the
fir- these first 12, and y'all, y'all
can go to salesforcongress.com and
check out all 12 of these platforms.
They're all paid for.
But i- I'm gonna give you the floor and
just a couple more that you're really
excited about that you feel like are,
are just gonna give you a nice little
surge with, uh, you know, uh, Democrats
and, and independents in Tennessee
And maybe even Republicans
based on that story you told
Yeah.
Facts
Because when you have these conversations,
they are common sense policies.
And if they're, if we don't have
to worry about how they're getting
paid for, I mean, it's a no-brainer
And so let's even just talk about the
fact that the mechanism of these bills
being paid for is that they do tax the 1%.
Mm-hmm And what I remind people of,
because, you know, the, the other side
100% when they hear that starts screaming,
"Socialism, that's wealth redistribution"
Right
Yes, it is.
However- Hmm … from 1975 into
2025, $80 trillion was transferred
from the bottom 90% to the top 1%.
And you can look up that study
from the Rand Corporation, which
is a nonpartisan study, right?
They looked at the fact that, hey,
how did these tax bills, primarily
trickle-down economics, actually function?
And what they found was that
it took money from the working
class and gave it to the top 1%.
And the things we gotta track
when that happens is productivity
went through the roof.
Yeah Wages did not.
What we gotta track is government
spending went up The debt went up,
and the thing that I remind people of
constantly, because so many Americans
don't recognize this, it's like 20 to
25% of the national debt is held by the
top 1%- Mm-hmm … in the form of bonds.
And so as we continue to get to the
point where we are only going to be
paying the interest on this debt-
Yeah
that's literally taxpayer money
further being funneled to the top 1%.
Right.
And so let's talk about two of the
bills that I am most passionate about.
Okay.
The last one, which is entitled the United
States Act, and this is a wealth tax.
It's actually a more fierce wealth
tax than what Elizabeth Warren has
proposed because, frankly, I'm not
for playing fair with these def…
billionaires.
I'm not.
They have cheated the system.
Oh, yeah.
They have used American workers, and
I'm not looking to play nice with them.
I'm looking to set things right.
And so what this wealth tax does
is within the next 30 years, it is
designed to pay off the national debt.
And then once that happens, it
becomes a universal basic income to
guarantee that this level of wealth
inequality, which right now is higher
than at any other point in Americans
history, never happens again.
Right.
Because if we're not just looking to
correct what's going on, if we're not
looking to prevent it from happening
again, then we're missing the point.
Mm. The other bill that I'm
really passionate about is
my healthcare for all bill.
It is a universal healthcare bill.
It is a single payer healthcare bill.
Here in America, we pay on average
$15,000 per capita, meaning that every
person pays on average $15,000 for
their healthcare each and every year.
If we compare that to Germany, 9,000.
We compare that to Finland, 8,000.
Japan, 7,000.
And these countries that already have
universal healthcare have a higher
life expectancy than we do here.
Yeah.
So not-
And a better
quality of life.
Yeah.
And so they are paying less for better.
And so I think with that in mind, and
this is, like, what I say to people,
is I ask them, like, "Why is that?
Where is that extra $6,000 going
to?" Because, you know, they'll tell
you at the hospital, "Oh, well, we
gotta pay off that MRI machine."
Germany has MRI machines.
Mm-hmm.
Japan has MRI machines.
Yeah.
Like, w- what do you mean?
No, the reality of it, go back to 2022,
health insurance industries paid $170
billion between stock buybacks and
dividends to their stockholders.
$170 billion.
Match that with a study from 2020 that
stated 60 to 65,000 Americans die every
year from lack of affordable healthcare.
Yeah.
And you do the math, and it comes
out to about $3 million per life.
I'm sorry, but if you were to hand
me $3 million and say, "Oh, and but
that person over there has to die"-
Hmm
…
I think my local police would
have something to say about that.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah, I would think so.
Yeah.
It- I would hope so
…
it's a mind-boggling number, right?
Because you're just sitting there
like, people are passing away.
People are losing their loved ones,
and these people are making money hand
over fist, and they could have taken
just one of those million dollars
and probably kept those people alive.
And so this is what happens when you
allow healthcare to be for profit.
Yeah.
And almost no other civilized
country does that anymore.
It's insane.
It
is.
I am… I was born in 1991.
I'm 35 years old, and at that
rate, two million Americans have
died since the day I was born from
lack of affordable healthcare.
And to me, that is outrageous.
That is… Right?
I, I think about the fact, and I say
this as a veteran, as someone who
literally signed up post 9/11 because
I wanted to contribute to achieving
justice for the American people,
60,000 is 20 times the amount
of people who died on 9/11.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And yet we don't bat an eye- When
you sw- when you get sworn in
into the military, you swear to
defend the Constitution against
enemies, both foreign and domestic.
And in my op- personal opinion, when
I'm hearing that two million Americans
have died since I was born because
healthcare industry, the, primarily
the health insurance, like let's be
right, there's no doctor, there's
no nurse out there who's doing this.
Yeah.
Sure.
They're just doing their job.
This is the health insurance industry.
This is the- Mm-hmm
… pharmaceutical industry.
This is all of that, right?
Big pharma literally just for
them to turn a profit, for them
to be able to buy another yacht.
And like- Right … I say that
specifically because the big
beautiful bill literally gave
them a tax break on buying yachts.
On
yachts.
I know.
Yeah.
Sick.
Sick, sick, sick, sick.
And so, like, it ties right back
into the thing of, like, they're
literally killing us while making
money, using that money to buy things
we couldn't even dream of having.
Mm-hmm.
And then our government
gives them a tax break on it.
Yeah.
Like, that is not- It's maddening
how government… It is.
Mm. And so, like, that's the type
of stuff that I'm running on, right?
Love it.
The stuff where it's like you
cannot dispute these facts.
Absolutely.
Like, we could have a discussion of should
the healthcare industry be allowed to
make money or should they be nonprofit?
Like, we could have that ethical- Mm-hmm
uh, conversation, but to me,
like, if that's the conversation
you wanna have, like, don't
dare tell me you're a Christian.
Yeah.
Mm.
And that is hand-in-hand
what they're doing, right?
This, this Christian nationalism is
paired so much with capitalism and
with late-stage capitalism that we
are in today where we know that these
things are killing people- Mm-hmm
just so that Elon Musk can become
the first trillionaire in history.
Absolutely, and he's very
close to getting there.
Um, all right.
Before we wrap things up, Joshua,
um, I, I wanna say, number one, your
policies are so well thought out.
I mean, not just, like, this is what
they solve, but this is how we got
here, um, and this is how they work.
It's unusual to hear policies this
sort of… I know it's sad to say that,
but policies usually are like wish
lists, and they're not necessarily,
um, fleshed out in the way that you
have yours, and it's really refreshing.
Um- Well,
and if you'll let me for a minute,
like- Sure … we can even talk the
downstream of this bill because that
is something that I've been talking to
even local county mayors about, right?
If my healthcare bill, the median
household in America, those
who, right, the median household
income is $85,000 in America.
Mm. They would pay
approximately $50 a month.
For all their healthcare needs
Wow
That is premium deductible co-pay.
That is doctor's visits, that is
specialist, that is dental, that is
vision, that is mental health included.
Mm-hmm.
So $600 a month, or
excuse me, $600 a year.
Right.
They would then save on average
$10,000 compared to what
they're currently spending.
Yep.
Okay, well, so instead of that $10,000
going to the profit of a health
insurance company, which then goes
to the CEOs and the shareholders,
and then goes into a bank account
in Sweden and we never see it again-
right, this wealth extraction- Yeah.
Yeah Real
…
it stays local.
And so what this translates into is
when it's spent at the local level
instead, that produces more jobs.
Mm-hmm.
That allows these local businesses
to start investing in themselves,
and it keeps getting better, right?
Because when it's spent locally,
sales tax, which in Tennessee is
one of the highest in the nation-
Yep, same in Alabama.
Yeah
And, and literally the state of Tennessee
would be looking at an additional
$4 billion in sales tax revenue.
This is what I call large
government for small government.
Right.
Right?
This idea of no small county is
ever gonna be able to stand up and
fight the giant that is big pharma.
No small county government is ever
gonna be able to stand up and fight
the health insurance industry.
They can't.
Mm-hmm.
They, they… It's impossible
for them to do this.
But at the federal level-
We have this power.
And what it does, for my home
county of Cheatham County, we'd
be talking an additional $5
million in sales tax revenue.
That's literally giving
the teachers a raise.
That's literally-
Yeah
…
buying the snowplows that we need- Yeah
more and more during these
winter storms that we're getting.
That is burying electrical lines that
keep going down in thunderstorms in
the summer where people are dying
because they're on a home ventilator,
and then go days without power.
So it's literally this thing,
again, like it's this idea of big
government for small government.
Mm-hmm.
Allowing the federal government to do its
job so that the local small government
has more power, more resources, and
can do what they want to do with it.
Love it.
Yeah.
And, and I love that, man.
Because, like, keeping money
within the local economy is how
we grow our national economy.
Yep.
When we keep this money in-house,
and like you said, if it's going to
Sweden, we never see that thing again.
Mm-hmm.
But we keep it down home, we keep it here
with us, and that's gonna do wonders for
our GDP and our economy, so I love that.
Uh, we wanna do our call to action.
We wanna make sure that we get everybody
to your website, uh, get everybody to,
you know, links for what you need, y-
whether you need volunteers, whether
you need donations, things like that.
You n- you don't take corporate PAC money.
So, uh, tell everybody where,
uh, what you need first, and then
where they can go to help you out.
Number one thing I need right
now is, in fact, donations.
Um, I jokingly tell people I have
done so much on a shoestring budget.
Mm. I'm transparent with it.
I've raised just north of $3,000.
Yeah.
Which, for a congressional campaign,
for me to be on multiple podcasts, for
me to be doing multiple town halls,
for me to be doing all the stuff that
I'm doing, people are like, "How?
How do you even have a website
up?" And I'm like, "Because I
learned how to do it myself."
Yeah.
And so don- Resourcefulness.
Yeah.
Um, leave it to a teacher.
We know how to stretch a budget.
Uh, yeah.
I bet you do, yeah.
So donations.
Um, head to my website,
sales4congress.com.
That is S-A-L-E-S, the
number 4, congress.com.
Hit the donate button.
It'll take you to my ActBlue.
Donate whatever you can.
Even a dollar goes a long way.
Yeah.
Like I said, I've been able to do so
much with so little that once I do
start to build money, it's gonna be
insane what I'm gonna be able to do.
I, I look forward to being able to
build a coalition and build a movement
like we saw, um, Cat up in Chicago-
Mm-hmm … who literally turned her
office into a, um, public aid office-
Yes … where people could come in
and, like, get stuff that they needed.
That's the same type of stuff I
wanna be doing down here because
I also believe that my job as a
representative is to serve the people.
Sure.
So donations are number one.
While you're on my website, you can go to
my social medias, start following them.
Even if you can't donate money, just
sharing my social medias- Yep … sharing
the things I'm talking about- Yeah,
goes a long way
…
goes a long way.
Like, not only the fact that, like,
it exposes more people- Mm-hmm
but it shows them this ideology.
It allows- Yep … them to hear
these explanations of things that
I remember back in 2016 explaining
to my father, yeah, Bernie
Sanders does wanna tax you more.
2%. Let's look at what
2% of your paycheck is.
Oh my gosh, that's 10 times less than
what your current health insurance is.
So you would actually- That's
it … save money, right?
It's just like, it's
spreading this engine-
Logic.
It's just logic Um, okay.
So say your website one more time, please.
Salesforcongress.com.
S-A-L-E-S- Super s-
The number four, congress.com.
Um- Super simple, guys.
Get over there.
And Joshua, when is your primary?
August 6th.
August 6th, okay.
Perfect.
Like we said at the beginning, um, of
our time together before we started
recording, we could talk forever.
There's so much more to cover.
Yeah.
And quite honestly, you're a friend of the
show now, so you're welcome back any time.
If you wanna do a part two of this
and a deep dive on those policies, we
would love to have you on for that.
Um, it's, you know, they're so brilliant,
brilliantly simple yet effective,
and I really feel like that's what
people are hungry for these days.
Mm-hmm.
So it was just an absolute
joy to have you on.
I really appreciate you taking
the time to come on today.
It was my pleasure being
here with you guys.
Thank you, Joshua.
Appreciate the time, man.
Well, Ali, we just got done talking with
Josh Sales, uh, running for that seventh
district in the state of Tennessee.
Second, uh, person that we've had
from the great state of Tennessee,
him- Yeah … along with Victoria.
Yep.
And I tell you what, man,
they're both equally impressive.
I, I'm just coming away, you know,
I mean, this man is prepared.
He's got- Woo … he's got stuff
to, ready to go on day one.
Uh- I mean- We're definitely
gonna have him back 'cause
he's got even more great ideas.
I mean, this is a guy who came
in ready to govern day one.
Day
one.
And just so impressive.
So impressive.
So impressive.
Those po- the policies that he went
through, um, like I said before,
policies tend to be wish lists.
Yeah.
They're very abstract, um, without sort of
the… You skip the execution part, right?
Like- Mm-hmm … this is what I
wanna do, but how are you gonna
do it, and who's gonna pay for it?
And Joshua has that all figured out.
Already.
You don't hear that very often.
It-
No
…
if ever, really.
Let's be honest.
Yeah.
So, um, because it's a lot
to, it's a lot to take on.
It is.
You know?
Transitioning from any role to a
politician, like you h- you don't
know until you're in there kind of
how things work and move and, and
you can study policy, but to be able
to come up with policies that are
common sense for everyday Americans,
how to pay for them, how they'll be
implemented, who's going to benefit?
Oh, Joshua, 10, 10, 10 fingers up for him.
Yeah, I mean, his policies, y'all,
close to a quarter trillion dollars we
could be saving just with his policies.
So again, Sales, the number four
congress.com- Yes … if you wanna
find out more of his pro, uh,
out of his, more of his ideas.
I mean, fantastic stuff.
He's got it all right
there on his website, and-
Give him a dollar.
Give him $5.
Yeah.
I mean- He's going to stretch
that to infinity and beyond.
Yeah.
That's what teachers do.
Yeah.
Yeah, nobody stretches
a budget like a teacher.
As the son of a teacher, I can attest.
Mm-hmm.
And I think we're gonna figure out
there's a lot of money out there.
You don't have to stretch this budget.
There's a lot of money in
the United States of America.
Mm-hmm.
And if people like Josh and other
progressives get their hands on it,
man, the difference that we could make.
Amen.
All right, Seth, that was a great one.
We've got another one
we're gonna prepare for.
Let's
go.
It's a double header recording
session night for us, y'all.
Hey.
We do it for you.
We do it for the people.
We do it 'cause we love it,
and so we gotta wrap it up
and get into the next one.
See you over there, Seth.
All right, see you.
Bye.
Bye.