By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
It is often said that if you don’t like something about our government, then change it by voting.
Those who don’t vote have no right to complain. So, I interviewed Alea Nadeem, who is running for Congress, so readers know where she stands on the major issues.
1. Why should I vote for Alea Nadeem instead of Marcy Kaptur?
I represent a new generation of leadership rooted in real-world service, not career politics. I’ve served in the Air Force for 22 years. I am a distinguished graduate from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, an Intelligence Officer, and served as a fraud special agent within the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
I’ve worked at the highest levels of government — the White House National Security Council, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Senate. I am a servant leader; my job is to work for you and your interests. We need more servant leaders in Congress who are independent-minded and will do the right thing no matter what.
2. Marcy Kaptur has extensive experience, serving in Congress for 43 years. How can you compete with this record?
This race is about a new generation of leaders representing Northwest Ohio. This district has fundamentally changed since Kaptur was elected in 1983. She came as a representative for working-class Democrats.
Now she votes lockstep with the Democratic Party on the most radical issues, from socialist economic policies to defunding the police and ICE, to allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports.
3. How will you deal with the affordability problem? My grandson and his wife, both college graduates with excellent careers, realize buying a home to begin a family is not a realistic option now. The average cost for a three-bedroom, two-car garage home in the U.S. ranges from a low of $325,000 to over $500,000 in a middle-class area.
To address the housing affordability problem, it is important to examine what got us here. During COVID, a historically low supply of homes existed, which drove prices higher, while interest rates also rose.
This issue is tackled by increasing the number of homes on the market by:
-Deregulating at the local, state, and federal levels;
-Promoting skilled trades to deal with current labor shortages;
-Increasing the supply of timber on federally owned land;
-Reducing local fees and taxes associated with construction;
-Ensuring we have an abundance of affordable American energy, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables.
4. How will you deal with the Democratic opposition to requiring proper identification to vote in elections to ensure that only citizens over age 18 can vote?
It should be easy to vote and hard to cheat, and that is why we need the SAVE Act to ensure that no one can vote without proof of citizenship and a photo ID.
5. Other concerns include the higher municipal income taxes and property taxes in Ohio, which contribute to an overall tax burden that is often higher than that in many neighboring states.
Ohio ranks 8th in the U.S. in property tax burden. The so-called red states seem unwilling to take bold action because career politicians are survivors. We need more fiscal conservatives in Columbus with the courage to fight for reforms to lower tax burdens and put Ohio on a trajectory like states such as Florida, Tennessee, and others that are booming because they follow through on low taxes, less regulation, and more freedom promises. Ohio has so much to offer. We just need better leadership.
6. As a lifetime academic, a public concern is that, on average, 80 percent of four-year college and university professors are Democrats and lean left politically. Your thoughts?
I received a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California, and in my experience most students and professors were left-leaning or outright socialists.
In one class we discussed the return on investment for certain social programs. I was consistently alone when I said, “Why are we advocating increasing spending when the return on the investment is poor?”
The U.S. must not allow universities to indoctrinate instead of educate. They should not be rewarded with government resources. Their failures are all the more reason we should invest more in career and technical education.
7. What is your solution to the future of childcare accessibility and the long-term funding of public employee pensions?
The answer to childcare costs isn’t a new federal bureaucracy; it’s cutting the red tape strangling home-based and faith-based providers, expanding dependent care savings accounts so families control their own dollars, and incentivizing employers to offer childcare benefits.
We have an obligation to keep the promises made to firefighters, teachers, and law enforcement officers who built their retirement plans around these promises.
But we also have an obligation to the taxpayers who foot the bill. That means no pension spiking, full actuarial transparency to stop hiding the debt, and transitioning new employees to portable 401(k)-style plans — the retirement system working families in the private sector use.
8. How will you deal with the problem of spending $80,000 and ending up with a worthless college degree, such as in Women’s Studies?
When I graduated from high school, my family could not financially support college. By joining the United States Air Force, I received tuition assistance and the GI Bill. I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees without taking out loans. The One Big Beautiful Bill capped graduate borrowing to $257,500 for a lifetime. At the federal level, I would use resources to encourage people to go into skilled and trade schools.
9. Many economists stress that we need more young people trained to work in the skilled trades. Do you agree?
Absolutely! The blue-collar jobs and skilled trades are what keep the lights on in America. When I was in high school, educators pushed college.
The fact is, one can make a good living in skilled trades, and they contribute more to society than many white-collar jobs. With the AI revolution, white-collar jobs may be the first to go. AI can’t do electrical wiring, lay bricks, hang drywall, or fix plumbing.
10. What is your position on biological men playing in women’s sports?
Women fought for decades to participate in sports on equal footing with men; this was codified by federal legislation, Title IX, in 1972.
It is not fair, safe, or reasonable to have a biological male partake in women’s sports. One poll revealed 79 percent of Americans believe men should be barred from competing in women’s sports, including 94 percent of Republicans, 67 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents.
11. I spent over 40 years as an academic, and I am concerned about the freedom-to-teach issue. Dartmouth College stresses “we teach students how to think — not what to think.” The core worldview includes “Where did we come from?, Why do we exist?, and What happens when we die?” The endorsed government position is that humans evolved by beneficial mutations preserved by natural selection, and we exist to survive and reproduce. When we die, our bodies turn to dust, and that is the end of us. The prohibited worldview is “we were created by a higher power, to serve God, love our neighbor, and raise a family, and when we die, we look forward to a heavenly afterlife.” What do you think?
I believe in academic freedom. Universities can teach whatever they want, but if they are going to espouse radical ideas that lead to violence, such as when they permit anti-Israel protesters to harass Jewish students, or threaten and attack conservative speakers on campus, they should expect to deal with the consequences of parents and students seeking other schools, and government pulling funding.
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Dr. Bergman is a multi-award-winning professor and author. He has 9 degrees and has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level for over 40 years. His over 2,100 publications are in both scholarly and popular journals. Dr. Bergman’s work has been translated into 15 languages. He has spoken over 2,000 times to college, university and church groups in America, Canada, Europe, the South Sea Islands, and Africa. He lives in Montpelier and is available to present in churches and schools. Jerry can be reached at JerryBergman30@yahoo.com