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Summary
On this episode, Peter Murphy Lewis and Jalene Carpenter are joined by Rep. Mike Flood, Member of the United States Congress, who represents Nebraska’s First Congressional District. A lifelong broadcaster and former Nebraska state legislator, Mike brings a deeply personal and practical lens to public service, shaped by decades of listening to constituents and showing up in local communities.
Mike reflects on why town halls still matter, how media can bring people together in moments of crisis, and what responsible stewardship looks like when it comes to Medicaid and public spending. From his “Quarantine Tonight” television show during COVID to difficult conversations around health care access, Mike shares why trust, accountability, and human connection remain at the center of leadership.
Key Takeaways:
(00:00) Introduction.
(03:16) Creative programming can sustain community connection during public crises.
(04:06) Nostalgic entertainment offers comfort for isolated and widowed older adults.
(05:40) Smart travel strategies make constant work-related flying more sustainable.
(07:00) In-person forums remain essential tools for civic accountability today.
(08:39) Targeted Medicaid reforms aim to preserve long-term funding sustainability.
(09:18) Work expectations increase fairness for taxpayers funding public health care.
Resources Mentioned:
United States House of Representatives website
House Financial Services Committee website
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For more information and to connect with our guests, visit PeopleWorthCaringAbout.com.
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Transcript
Mike Flood: A great majority of people on Medicaid are the disabled, are those that... Are maybe pregnant at the time or they are mentally ill and unable to work. We don't want to make it hard for them to access health care at all, but we can't continue to underwrite people who are able to work and choose not to work with free health care.
Peter Murphy Lewis: The world does not run on headlines. It runs on people who care. I'm Peter Murphy Lewis and this is People Worth Caring About. Alongside my co host, Jaylene Carpenter, we sit down with the unsung heroes, caregivers, healers, helpers, the ones doing the real work even when no one is watching. These conversations are not polished, they're personal, because behind every act of care is a story worth hearing. New episodes drop regularly. Get updates@peopleworthcaringabout.com. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining People Worth Caring About. You all know that I like to start off with something personal that might embarrass my co host, Jaylene. Jaylene, tell me why you dressed up today for the first time on this podcast, and what did you think about Vegas?
Jaylene Carpenter: Oh, well, I always dress very nice, Peter, you should know that. But I have my Husker red on today because we have an awesome guest, a current congressman for the great state of Nebraska. So, I of course had to represent with my red. And yes, I was in Vegas for a conference and you and I, Peter, know it is... We are not Vegas people. I am excited though, because we have another fantastic Midwesterner that is going to join us today. So everybody on the podcast, please welcome Congressman Mike Flood. Welcome, Congressman.
Mike Flood: Thank you very much for having me. Good afternoon.
Jaylene Carpenter: Our podcast is nationwide and while you are well known in the state of Nebraska, can you introduce yourself to our audience and explain a little bit of who you are and your background?
Mike Flood: Well, born and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska. I've been a broadcaster my entire life. I also have a law degree, but I'm in the radio and TV business. Sometimes I like to say podcasts are really radio shows with no listeners.
Jaylene Carpenter: There you go, Peter.
Mike Flood: There you go. There you go. And yes, so I like the audio arts here and I was in the Nebraska Legislature for 10 years prior to my service in Congress representing the First District, which is like Lincoln, all of the south suburbs in Omaha, all the way up through Columbus and Norfolk, Nebraska. Today I find myself in Washington on the House of Financial Services Committee and the chairman of the Main Street Caucus, which are 86 pro governing business Republicans that want to get things done. So I live in Norfolk with my wife, Mandy, and we have two sons. One's a freshman in college at 19, and the other is playing football tonight as a sophomore for Norfolk Catholics. So, lots of things to talk about.
Jaylene Carpenter: That's awesome. Now, you have long been a friend and an advocate on our issues in many occasions. And there's one story from your campaign trail that I just loved that you shared about your television station during COVID. Can you share that with our audience? Because I think they would enjoy that story.
Mike Flood: When COVID hit, obviously, all my advertisers canceled because it was hard to sell cars when nobody could meet in person, or it was hard to have a call to action for your customers when they couldn't physically come into your business. And so the ironic thing was, during COVID, we... That's when everybody was at home consuming media, they weren't at their son's baseball game, or they weren't at cards with their friends, and so I created a show called Quarantine Tonight. I picked up some sponsors, did it in the back room at the VFW, and brought in polka bands, brought in orchestras, country bands, we had all sorts of different types of music and did it for two hours each night, and it really resonated with my more mature audience.
Mike Flood: Took them back to the days of their wedding in 1961, when the Duffy Ballarat Orchestra was in Humphrey, Nebraska, at the dance hall, and a lot of my viewers were widowed and this was... And all that was on TV at this time was how bad COVID is, how bad you could die, and all this other stuff. And when they had shows like that, I became like the Glenn Miller of Nebraska television for the better part of two years. And I often say, I'd go back to that in a heartbeat, because when I did that, the next day, everybody was happy. Now, in my job, I vote on something, and half the people are unhappy, and I got a lot of satisfaction out of hosting Quarantine Tonight.
Peter Murphy Lewis: This show is powered by AAG Health, the team behind the teams. If you're building a care team that actually cares, nurses, doctors, techs, admin, pros. AAG doesn't just fill jobs, they find people who show up and stay. Visit AAG.health and see how fast the right people can make all the difference. Congressman, I love the story. I, as you know, am a podcast person, not a TV person, so I don't have quite a story as that, but I do have a story that I'm excited to tell you about because my wife always says that there is no husband in the United States who travels as much as me. And I told her today, there's somebody on the podcast who's a husband who travels more than I, and I want to ask you, what is your most unique airplane strategy? And mine is that I travel with three pairs of different eyeglasses so no one knows I'm wearing the same suit and I can only take carry on. Do you have any strategy to growth hack your airplane world?
Mike Flood: Well, on Southwest, I try to always get the seat in the emergency row exit because the way that planes are designed, you have all this extra leg room, and so if I... And a lot of people don't think about which seat, they just grab one of the first seats. So, like if I'm in the A group and I'm like 25 and nobody else gets that emergency row, that little nook there next to the window is mine. And when I don't have it, I usually say to whoever's sitting there, you're the smartest person on the plane today because you picked the best seat.
Peter Murphy Lewis: I like that story. [0:06:11.4] ____ hopefully they know who you are and that gets you an extra vote. I told Jaylene maybe two months ago when we were building out, the people that we wanted to have on this quarter, I said, I would love to have a legislator. I would love to have a politician on. I love politics. When people criticize politicians, I say, it's a hard job. It doesn't make as much money as you think, they don't have as much power as you think, and they're really, really important. And she said, I have someone just for you. And when she told me that you are still a believer in town halls, one of the methodologies, I believe that's been critical for 300 years in United States civil society and should be for another 300, I said, I want him on. Tell me why you still do town halls.
Mike Flood: Well, I think there's value. If you want to be an elected official, you need to stand in the town square, defend your votes, take the criticism, ask questions, have people get the opportunity to ask you questions. And we are in this country together, whether somebody wants to be here or not, we are all Americans and we have to get back to where we treat each other as Americans. And holding a town hall is important, it's at the foundation of our democracy. And I even think for those that disagree with some of my votes, it gives them an outlet to channel to be heard by their government when other folks maybe don't do that. So... But you know what? It's the choice of every elected official. Some elected officials have serious security concerns. Some have a different style, others like to do a telephone town hall where you can reach more people. So there are a lot of different ways to approach your job as a member of Congress, but this one continues to work for me.
Jaylene Carpenter: And you... I will give you a lot of kudos and credit, Congressman, because you've had some challenging town halls recently. And one of those... I was really impressed because you were trying to dispel the myths that were around OB3 and what was happening to Medicaid. And can you just unpack that a little bit because that does impact a lot of our seniors, but in other ways it really doesn't. And there was a lot of myths around OB3 and how there was going to be cuts to Medicaid to a broader population. Can you unpack some of those myths for us?
Mike Flood: Well, in order to do what we wanted to do with some of our tax provisions, we had to find offsets. And Medicaid has grown exponentially and to the fact... To the point where if unchecked, it's not going to be protected because the Americans don't have that much money and we're 38 billion trillion dollars in debt. Think about that. So what we did at two common sense reforms. First of all, if you are here in the United States illegally, you do not get to receive Medicaid, which has been the law in the state of Nebraska since 2008, but there are states in our union that have extended Medicaid benefits which come at a high cost. And in order to get money from the taxpayers and have free health care, you've got to be a taxpayer that is here legally. And the second point that we said was, hey, if you're able bodied, if you're 28 years old and you can work and you choose not to work, you don't get free health care. And the reality is that a great majority of people on Medicaid are the disabled are those that are maybe pregnant at the time or they are mentally ill and unable to work. We don't want to make it hard for them to access health care at all, but we can't continue to underwrite people who are able to work and choose not to work with free health care. That's a perverse reward system that costs the taxpayers too much money.
Jaylene Carpenter: Well, Congressman, I know we had you for a brief period of time today, and we always appreciate the opportunity to have a chance to visit with you. Now, you got to meet my friend Peter. He didn't give me too hard of a time today because we had limited time. But Congressman, I appreciate you greatly and hopefully we'll have a chance to see you soon.
Mike Flood: All right, very good. Enjoy the rest of your day, and thanks for having me on.
Peter Murphy Lewis: That's a wrap on People Worth Caring About, born from the documentary, built to keep the stories going. Shout out to Nebraska Healthcare Association and Jaylene Carpenter for helping launch it, and to Ohio and New Mexico for making future seasons real. Watch the docuseries online or @peopleworthcaringabout.com and if this episode meant something to you, leave a review, it matters. Take care of yourself and the people worth caring about.
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