Dion Bergeron for Indiana State Rep District 9

Tag Archives: Congress

From Liz

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Dear Residents of Indiana’s 1st District,

 

Tomorrow is Election Day. My name is Elizabeth Bergeron and my husband Dion Bergeron is running for the 1st District Congressional seat that Pete Visclosky has left open. We have a historic opportunity to take this seat back from the Democrats who have reigned supreme in this district for decades. This election will show how every vote matters. I want to tell you why you should vote for Dion Bergeron.

 

I met Dion about 11 years ago when we were both Correctional Officers at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. I’ll never forget that fateful day he was sent by our dispatcher to relieve me at work. I was working in a unit where I had never worked before. I was over my head and getting overwhelmed. Dion came in and became my knight in shining armor helping me get things under control and reminding me that everything was okay. After that day, our friendship grew, and that friendship grew into a relationship. For the first time, I experienced what being with a good man who loved and cared for me was like.

 

In December 2008 we became engaged and in 2010 we were married at Fairmeadow Community Church in Munster, the church that I grew up in.  On that day, our two families became one. My son Orion became his son and I have watched him love Orion just as he does his biological sons. Orion was six when I met Dion and I remember praying every night for someone who would love my son as his own and be the Dad that Orion needed and was missing. I prayed for a Dad for Orion and little did I know that God would send me that man on a day I least expected at a hospital unit in a maximum-security prison.

 

In the last ten years, I watched Dion learn how to navigate our middle son Nova’s diagnoses of Sensory Integration Disorder, severe ADHD, and Asperger’s. Through every diagnosis, Dion made it a priority to understand each diagnosis and work hard to make sure Nova’s life is the best it can be. I have seen him spend late nights learning as much as he can and in the hardest of times that each diagnosis brought, there Dion was; sleeves rolled up and in the thick of it all and being that rock we all needed.

 

Dion will go to Congress to fight for the residents of the 1st District. Dion is honest. Oh boy is he honest. The only time I have known him to lie is at Christmas when the kids are begging to know what’s under the tree (and even that is hard for him).  He doesn’t bend on his principals, even if it would be easier or more beneficial for him to. He is loyal. I never have to wonder where he is or if he has ever broken our marriage vows. When people wonder where the gentlemen have gone, I smile because I know I married my Southern gentlemen. Dion is that kind of guy you can call at 3am when you need someone, and he will be there. Dion is hard working and has been known to push himself to the point of exhaustion to accomplish a task that needs to be done. He’s got a great sense of humor too!

 

Everything that I love and respect about my husband is what makes him the ideal candidate and will make him the best Congressman that our 1st District has ever had. I’ve lived in Northwest Indiana my entire life. My Dad and both of my Grandfathers worked at the steel mill (Inland Steel before it became Arcelor Mittal). I grew up in Munster and I am a proud Munster High School alumni. I live and breathe this district and I know that this district needs someone like Dion. A regular family man who has seen the best and worst in life and still has honor and principals. This is the kind of representation that we need and deserve. We deserve, no we need, a Representative that is honest, dedicated, respects life and family, loyal, hardworking, and someone who loves our district. Someone that puts American citizens first. That’s my husband. That’s Dion.

 

Thank you;

Elizabeth Bergeron

Survey 4: Indiana Right to Life

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As a father of five wonderful children it often strikes me how little regard we have today for human life. I believe that life begins at conception and that we must do more to protect the most innocent lives of all: the unborn. I am unapologetic about being Pro-Life. All life is precious and all life must be protected. I will always fight for the most vulnerable among us. There have been over 1.5 Billion abortions worldwide since 1980, and just this year in the United States over 330,000 babies have been killed through this 'procedure'. How many lives is it going to take until we, as a people, stand up and demand an end to this?
(All figures are from http://www.numberofabortions.com/ )
 

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Survey 5: National Pro Life Alliance

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I'm a father of five children. I've watched them grow up and laughed out loud at some of their actions, cried as I've been concerned for their health and safety, and cheered them on in many of their accomplishments. When I worked at Indiana State Prison one of the older offenders told me something I found striking: "This newer generation doesn't care about life. You shouldn't be surprised when they break the rules or attack other inmates and staff because they don't care about themselves. They haven't been taught to value life. They don't care about their own lives so why should they care about anyone else's?"
He was right. Until we value ALL life we shouldn't be surprised that there are many that don't value life at all.
I am Pro-Life and believe that all life has value. I believe that life begins at conception and should be treasured and protected. If we don't protect the most vulnerable among us, then what does that say about us?

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Forgotten Americans

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Walking through many different neighborhoods is part of running for office. Some neighborhoods get more traffic than others. This isn’t right, but it happens. You see that candidates tend to focus on the voters most likely to support their campaign, and those most likely to cut a check.

 

I’m trying to be different. I hate asking for money anyway, especially in the primary, spending a lot of other people’s money just doesn’t make much sense to me.  So I try to focus on the voters, the people that actually determine elections. I have people that give me advice on where to go and who to talk to, but ultimately the decision on where to go falls to me. My wife, Elizabeth, is one of those who says “Hey, you should go here,” so when she told me “You’re going to this place tomorrow” I said sure.

 

The place she was referring to is a mobile home park in Portage. She had spoken to one of the residents there and they said that no one running for office had visited there in the 10 years that they had lived there. They simply wanted to know that they would be listened to, as well. It’s easy to forget about Americans that don’t create a lot of noise online or march through the streets with signs and pink caps.

 

When I went to the park, I was expecting to knock on some doors, meet some hard-working people, and pass out some literature. I was wholly unprepared for what I saw.

 

The conditions that these people are being forced to live in are absolutely unacceptable. The story unfolded as the residents walked me around the park. This isn’t new. This has been going on for months, and in some cases, many many years.

 

The park is one of many that dot the landscape around Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties, and provides more affordable housing than many other alternatives. Usually, mobile home communities are tight-knit groups of families that look out for one another and share both good times and bad. This park is no different in that regard. Everyone seems to know everyone else, and as I walked through the streets, waves and smiles were abundant.

 

Here’s where the story changes, however. Several months ago, a new owner purchased the park, according to the residents, and since then, especially, things went quickly downhill. There are stories surrounding the sale and why it happened.  Some rumors about the city of Portage potentially buying the park, but not doing so because they didn’t want to pay the relocation costs for the residents. We talk more on that later.

 

Shortly after the alleged sale of the park, old trailers started getting torn down. Unfortunately, this wasn’t done properly, and piles of debris were left sitting. Broken glass and open sewer lines litter the park. Smashed wood filled with splinters.  Metal shards are strewn throughout the streets.  There are still empty and abandoned mobile homes that is so infested with mold that you can smell it from down the street.

 

Words don’t do the situation here justice. Some very unhealthy people are living in this park and they are ignoring them. There is at least one resident that has survived cancer multiple times, and at least one little girl with Leukemia. These are not the kinds of conditions that they should allow to happen for anyone, especially those with compromised immune systems.

 They have called their elected officials. They have spoken to code enforcement officers that said, “I don’t see anything wrong.” They have ignored them, marginalized, and given platitudes.

 

When walking through the streets of the park, it is like a pressing weight of hopelessness. No one seems to know who the new owner is and have no idea how to contact them. There’s a management company that has passed out flyers door to door claiming they’re now in charge. They haven’t addressed the shards of glass or the open sewer line to the residents, simply claiming that the former owner is responsible.

 

How are these people supposed to get help? According to one resident, the park hasn’t filed the proper paperwork in order to allow the residents to get assistance from the trustee. Another resident says they’ve given up and is in the process of moving out, despite having lived in the community for 20 years. Many others don’t have the money to move even if they wanted to. Calls to officials go unanswered and no one seems to know where exactly to turn.

 

They filled me with both sadness and rage walking through this park. Street after street had hazards and code violations aplenty. These people have been left to twist in the wind, while excuse and apathy sets in  reigning supreme. I promised these people I would get to the bottom of what is going on here, and that’s the track I’m on now. These residents deserve answers. Someone will be giving them some. One way or another.

 

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Twitter

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Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 says that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” This week President Trump had a Tweet “fact checked” by Twitter and reacted with an executive order that could lead to legislation to strike down Section 230. 

 

Regardless of how you feel about the CDA, President Trump, or Trump’s Executive order, I feel it is important to look at the real problem…Twitter. President Trump posted about his dislike of mail-in ballots as a standard course and I agree with him. They are simply too easy to manipulate. Trump speaks in hyperbole often and we know not 100% of all mail-in votes would be fraudulent, but enough would be to question the validity of any election results. That is all he was alluding to. Twitter stuck a bug on the Tweet saying “Get the facts about mail-in ballots.” So what is the big deal?

 

Did Trump overreact? Perhaps, but maybe not. I’m not here to talk about Trump’s reaction. I want us to discuss Twitter’s actions. I am a conservative. As such, there are some beliefs I have which liberals will not have, yet I hold them as personal truths. When will Twitter decide to attack my personal truths? How about a restaurant calming to have the best tacos in Hollywood Beach, Florida? Will Twitter run a poll in Hollywood Beach to see if they are incorrect or is it opinion stated as a personal truth? 

 

Most importantly, we need to ask the question why Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, President Xi of China, or President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez of Cuba have not received a fact checking notification when they lie to their people and the press daily. In all three cases, the press from those countries are extensions of the government, easily spreading pro-government propaganda for mass consumption, yet our President is not held to the exact standards of communist dictators. Why is Trump treated differently by a company with international holdings, headquartered here in the United States?

 

Shame on Twitter for letting their obvious liberal bias come to such a head that the U.S. government will need to further decide how to handle the lot of Silicon Valley mega corporations. 

 

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Disappointed in the USW

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20The USW has announced that they are going to endorse another candidate. I’m disappointed they didn’t endorse me, but more importantly, I’m shocked that they would endorse someone that wants Medicare for All. Do they not realize how damaging this would be to the union’s bargaining power?

 

My wife’s family is a mill family. Her brother works there, her grandfathers retired from there, her aunts worked there, and I have friends who work there.

 

I am mystified as to why they would endorse someone whose policies would take away one of their best tools. Let’s talk numbers for a moment.

 

There are approximately 327 million people in the United States.

 

There are 624,434 physicians in the US, but only about 209,000 are primary care physicians. This means that each primary care provider would have to treat 1,565 patients. Provided the numbers don’t go up or down, as long as we get new doctors at the same rate that current doctors retire or die, it is already a crisis. While this is a simplistic formula, the bottom line is that there are not enough doctors.

 

There is a reason that many people come here to become doctors. They make good money. Medicare pays doctors a reduced rate, and if Medicare for All was instituted, then all of these doctors would either have to accept it, or go somewhere else. An excellent resource that explains what kind of situation we’re looking at is.

 

One of the truly good things about working at the mill is the health insurance. These men and women work in some of the most dangerous conditions possible. One small misstep can result in the loss of life or limb. While the Affordable Care Act raised our premiums and deductibles, Medicare for All would completely obliterate our health insurance.

 

The unions used to care about their members. They used to endorse candidates that would bring about positive changes for their organizations and the workers they were supposed to represent.

 

I guess those days are gone. The union of our forefathers are a thing of the past, and they’ve been replaced by hyper partisan politics, backing Democrats despite policies that would definitively hurt their members. I will mourn their passing, but I will personally not stop trying to enact policies that actually HELP workers, rather than hurt them.

 

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Survey 3: National Rifle Association

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I support your right to Keep and Bear Arms. This means that I am against any Red Flag law UNLESS that law provides for an emergency hearing BEFORE taking away someone's Consitutionally-protected rights. The biggest danger to our Constitution isn't people who hate this country, it is the uninformed. Politicians and talking heads often use emotional subjects to inject fear, and guns are no different. What we can and must do is educate our neighbors about the facts surrounding firearms, and demand that our legislators learn and use these facts, rather than incorrect statements and statistics.

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Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Survey 2: National Association for Gun Rights

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As an avid supporter of the Constitution and everything it represents, this was an easy survey to complete. I support every American's right to Keep and Bear Arms and I will always stand against any attempt to restrict those rights. Red Flag laws are quickly used to divide us, so I feel it is important to note my stance on it. I am against anything that erodes our rights preemptively. In other words, if there is a real concern, then there should be an emergency hearing. If there was a way to do so BEFORE taking away someone's Constitutionally-protected rights, then I would be in favor of it, but guilty until proven innocent is not the way this country should operate. There is too much room for abuse.

(Click on any below image to see full size.)

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

Survey 1: Numbers USA

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Immigration is a critical issue in the United States. I feel for all of the less fortunate people of the world that want to come here for a better life. Our nation is founded on welcoming those who want to join us to create a better country, and all of us here came from somewhere else in the world at some point in our family's history. It is crucial that we concentrate on those that would contribute to society, rather than detract from it, however. Our southern border has to be secure, and we have to eliminate free rides, visa lotteries, and deport those that abuse our generosity.

(Click on any below image to see full size.)

Learn more about me at www.dionbergeron.com and follow me on social media @DionForCongress.

I am Dion!

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I’m Dion Bergeron. I’m a Republican and I want to be your Congressman.

 

I’m 46 and a proud father of five great kids. My amazing wife is a Medicaid Case Manager who works with the developmentally disabled and their families. I’ve learned a lot about the home health care industry.

 

I was a truck driver/trainer for about a decade, have seen 48 of our 50 great states and driven over 1 million miles, most of those right here in Northwest Indiana- the Crossroads of America’s hub. In 2006, I changed careers and became a Correctional Officer at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. For seven years, I worked almost every post you can imagine, from the largest cell house in Indiana to the disciplinary segregation area. I’ve walked the chaplain to a cell and stood by while an inmate got the news that no man wants to hear about their loved one. I’ve tried to cheer up children crying because they didn’t want to leave Dad. I’ve also cheered on an inmate proud of their GED or praised their newly found art talent.

 

So why run for Congress?

 

I’m tired of the career politicians, lawyers, and spoiled rich kids that feel guilty about being spoiled and rich being the ones who represent us, passing laws that they have no clue how it will impact us, the Regular Americans.

 

I’m a real candidate for real people. I know that I can make some real changes to our district and our country. The two biggest changes that I want to make involve protecting our Constitution and healthcare.

 

I vow to do EVERYTHING I can to protect our Constitution and protect our rights. I am a strong proponent of our Constitution.  I’ll work hard to limit the restrictions of our rights, including repealing the Patriot Act. The FISA abuse coming to light is one symptom of a larger problem.

 

I will protect our 2nd Amendment, while working with both sides of the aisle to make sure that those who violate the hundreds of laws already on the books regarding firearms are prosecuted, while ensuring that those who want to keep themselves and their families safe can do so.

 

I am not in favor of Medicare for All. Medicare for All burns our healthcare system to the ground and leaves us ashes to try to rebuild a functioning healthcare system for over 300 Million Americans and counting while costing us Trillions. The state of Oregon put 10,000 residents into a single-payer system as a test. The cost of medical care rose by over 30% without any improvement in health.

 

I propose two specific policies, that together, would save us $2.4 Trillion per year across the board: Deductible Security and Price Tag Transparency. Private insurance remains, but costs are driven way down.

 

Deductible Security. Here’s how it works: you choose your plan from an insurer of your choice. An amount equal to your deductible is deposited into a Health Savings Account that is only for health care related items (Doctor’s visits, prescription drugs, over the counter medicine) allowing you INSTANT access. What you don’t spend, you keep. This has been used by Whole Foods, the state of Indiana, and Singapore successfully for years.

 

Price Tag Transparency. I support 100% price transparency so we can all know how much our healthcare costs and we eliminate the red tape and bureaucracy. You wouldn’t shop at a store that didn’t use price tags, yet we do that all the time with our healthcare. Trump’s Executive Order helps in this area, and I will work toward bipartisan legislation that supports 100% price transparency.

 

Home health care. We’re facing a critical staffing shortage. From pediatric home health nurses, to home health aides for the elderly, to Direct Service Providers (DSP) for those with developmental disabilities, this is an industry whose employees are overworked and underpaid. This staffing shortage will hit crisis level if something is not done. I will work to ensure the federal funding that covers 60% of this industry’s budget is increased for real wages and benefits for employees, many who are dedicated and passionate about their jobs. Even the passionate must be able to pay their bills. Home health care and DSP needs to become a career path in our schools and vocational education. I also propose a national registry for employees fired for Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation to protect the most vulnerable among us while ensuring the highest quality of employees.

 

I have a unique perspective, and I am willing to listen to all ideas, regardless of the side of the aisle they originated on. Learn more about me and how I will represent every member of our district equally at www.DionBergeron.com or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @DionForCongress.