An Outsider in Congress: Dr. Rick Tsai Talks Platform

By Jeff Skinner

Across the nation, a growing sentiment is taking hold of most voters. The idea of the established, clean-cut politician is becoming a thing of the past. Since the early days of the 2016 presidential election, voters have become more aware of the hyper-controlled adherence of media, politicians and just about every other institution to larger agendas set by foreign entities. In this swirl of corruption and chaos the idea of the outsider candidate is more appealing to the average working class stiff than ever before and it would be harder to find a more outside candidate than Rick Tsai. 

In our last interview with Dr. Rick Tsai, we broke down his experience fighting against what could easily be perceived as mass corruption, both federally and locally, surrounding the East Palestine trail derailment from Norfolk Southern, and the new forming ‘Tsai Derangement Syndrome’ that has plagued the EPA and Norfolk Southern since. However, it was this very incident that told Tsai in so many ways that true change was needed and there were only so many ways it could be done. 

“When you look at local, state and federal corruption you wonder how deep the tentacles go, Tsai said. “There was certainly a bias to disregard any evidence. Everytime I would uncover some irrefutable evidence of the creeks being contaminated they would say ‘oh I don’t know, we are going to have to take a further look.’ There are many who say I was instrumental in redrawing the contamination map. Amazingly they tried to say there was no contamination in Leslie Run with 40,000 fish killed.”

Tsai describes his feelings of constant frustration and animosity towards the corrupt system as the equivalent of some form of zombification, constantly floating through the day-to-day with a volcanic pit of anger just bubbling beneath the surface until one day. It’s a sentiment many feel these days but fewer find outlets for. According to Tsai, he credits his wife who brought forth the answer to his frustrations.

“I came home 2-3 weeks ago one Wednesday night after work, my wife follows politics, I do not,” Tsai said. “I walk through the door and she says “Rick, you need to run for Bill Johnson’s seat” Bill Johnson is the congressional rep for the 6th district and he just vacated his seat to become the president of a university. Honestly, when I go, I go big. I believe I can win this. I want to fight for what happened here but I am not a politician. I don’t know politics, but I am a quick learner. What I saw here is a microcosm of what is happening across the whole nation. I believe this is a good representation of what happens in other towns and counties. So when she said that, I saw a way out for myself, the residents and to bring some hope for not just East Palestine but for anyone in our district who is dealing with corruption.”

On his website, ricktsai.com, Tsai outlines his platform more as things he stands for or against, many of which align with the modern anti-establishment sentiment of conservative voters today. While much of his agenda is self-explanatory, surrounding things like school choice and school safety, Tsai also has some innovative ideas for how to grapple with issues of medical freedom. Many victims of employer discrimination in 2020 found themselves forced to choose between keeping food on their table and their own bodily autonomy during the insanity of Covid. As private businesses imposed insane medical intervention mandates on their employees, some workers chose to stand firm in their religious convictions against them and were swiftly terminated. For those individuals, while the law is on their side, the process of enforcing that law means costly legal battles with multimillion dollar corporations in a protracted process that could drag on for years while they have no income. If a Tsai victory were to take place in the 6th district, a potential strategy could see victims of such discrimination able to finally push back in a massive way. 

“I would first see if those private sector employers [imposing mandates] receive any incentives from our local government for having businesses in a certain area and I would propose they lose those incentives,” Tsai said. “Working the healthcare field in all these years, it’s very similar to East Palestine, these people are displaced from their homes, some have lost their jobs. In healthcare, the reason we have no fault insurance doesn’t mean that it’s nobody’s fault. When you got into an accident you would have to argue it out to who was at fault before you got any payouts for medical bills. In no fault states, your insurance pays and theirs pays and then the insurance companies fight it out. I would propose something, if we can send billions to Ukraine and all this other stuff, what if while this [EEOC litigation] process is happening somebody, whether its state or federal, is going to compensate these people while this is going on, or if they are hindered in some way and they have to pay court costs, until their case is settled and then the government, if they settle, part of the settlement fees will include the company repaying the government expenses from the processes.” 

If Tsai’s ideas were to take off, it would essentially establish any company refusing to accept a workers religious exemption from mandates would have to pay the settlement to the individual but also backfees to the government for court costs, lawyers fees etc. No doubt the extent of the costs would be a massive detractor for any company considering imposing such ludicrous infringements on a person’s bodily autonomy.

Tsai’s platform also extended to issues currently embattling the state political parties today, specifically child sex surgeries. While Tsai has made several statements on transgender adults and their freedom to make choices for themselves, Tsai has emphatically voiced his opposition to imposing irreparable harm on a child who cannot consent to such extreme choices. 

“The fact that you have to ask me why I am against cutting the penis and breasts off of minors and why I would be against that shows what a terrible state this country has gotten to,” Tsai said. The more I hear about what [Governor DeWine] is doing, the more he sounds like a lefty democrat.”

Tsai’s platform is not all about fighting corruption though. A number of his agenda items are focused on bringing health and wellness back to residents and youth. As a former competitive bodybuilder, Tsai supports an initiative to bring alternative sports such as martial arts into schools across the state to encourage youth to participate in athletics even if they don’t see themselves as on a traditional tract to fitness.

In his youth, Tsai pursued the martial arts

“In the 70’s, I remember my cousin, I spent summers with him and he was what we would call back then a fat kid,” Tsai said. “He would get picked on and I would stick up for him. But when I look back at photos of him compared to kids today, he was slim. I treat kids who are under 18 and they are already taking insulin and Metformin because these kids are over 200-250 pounds. It’s such an epidemic. With the woke ideology now, you have insane doctors telling people that being heavy is ok and it’s healthy. I don’t know where they are getting their medical training. Early death, early cancers, the US has the highest cancer rate in any industrial nation. The reason for individualized sports is because that’s what I gravitated to. I was into martial arts and there are a lot of kids that don’t fit the mold of the team player. They want to be an individual. Those are the kids that are missing and that are falling through the cracks. We have the school sports but who is left behind? I’m a huge believer in health and physical fitness.”

Tsai’s platform also includes the permittance of alternative medical therapies which have been shown to be beneficial against fighting certain cancers such as Ivermectin and Fenbendazole as well as decriminalizing the purchase and sale of raw milk products across the state. According to Dr. Tsai, the pasteurization process of milk has robbed the product of some of its most important nutrients and benefits to humans and if done correctly, consuming raw milk brings incredible immune system benefits.

“Back in the old days, when there was very little testing you might go to your local farmer, you might get some bacteria in your milk,” Tsai said. “These companies in PA that sell raw milk are under more stringent rules than the ones who are pasteurizing. When you heat milk up past a certain temperature, it kills the enzymes that are one of the greatest gifts of the cow to human nutrition for your immune system. I submit that a lot of people that think they have lactose intolerance, are not actually lactose intolerant at all, but the milk is so denatured that they can’t drink it. Raw milk has a lot of benefits that are killed when you pasteurize it. My family and tens of thousands of people have been drinking raw milk for decades. In college, my roommate who is a medical doctor, we were competitive bodybuilders and we would challenge ourselves to try and drink a gallon of milk a day and in college I started getting what I thought was lactose intolerance. But now I can drink a gallon of raw milk if I want to. There are a ton of benefits to raw milk and raw cheese.”

Dr. Rick Tsai and his wife and dogs.

While Dr. Tsai may be an outsider from politics, his platform speaks to the heart of every frustrated voter in Ohio who is tired of lip service politicians providing opportunities to corporations and the shaft to people who suffer because of it. The only question remaining is whether voters in Ohio’s 6th district are ready for the kind of fight that Tsai is ready to wage on the political system.

“I am a quick learner and no one is going to get away with shit if I get in,” Tsai said. “They are going to have to kill me because I can’t be bought.”

You can find out more about Dr. Rick Tsai and his platform on his website at https://ricktsai.com/