Deaton stresses healthcare shakeup, ICE reform ahead of November election

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton outlined his case for unseating Democratic Sen. Ed Markey in Brookline on Sept. 24, proposing policies to increase housing production, break up major healthcare companies and reform federal immigration enforcement. 

Solving housing and energy

Deaton has proposed building 5 million new homes nationwide over five years to address the housing shortage. He said lengthy permitting processes and zoning red tape contribute to slow housing growth in Massachusetts. 

“I’ve had builders tell me that the permitting takes over two years,” Deaton said.

He did not detail during the interview how as a U.S. senator he would change state and local Massachusetts municipal housing regulation nor how he’d spur the housing construction. His policy proposals are described on his campaign website.

Deaton, who said he grew up in Section 8 housing, supports expanding the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in Massachusetts. 

He said housing and energy affordability are closely connected. Deaton argued that Massachusetts’ reliance on more expensive imported natural gas during periods of peak demand contributes to high energy costs. He supports diversifying the state’s energy portfolio, including through advanced nuclear power such as small modular reactors. 

Stopping healthcare monopolies

Deaton described healthcare affordability as one of his top priorities, saying that if he could focus on only one issue in the Senate, it would be lowering healthcare costs. 

He called for using federal antitrust laws to break up large, vertically integrated health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, which he said have gained too much control over the healthcare and prescription drug markets. He described the system as “corporate socialism” and said Medicare for All lacks enough support in Congress to become law in the near term. 

Immigration enforcement reform

Deaton opposes abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but said the agency needs significant reforms, including more rigorous training requirements and the use of body cameras. 

He said he does not support masked agents “snatching people off the streets.” Still, Deaton said that state and local governments should cooperate with federal immigration authorities. 

Deaton said he would favor returning to a system similar to the Obama-era Secure Communities program, under which information about individuals booked into local jails was shared with federal immigration authorities. 

He hopes to expand legal immigration and reform the asylum system, while maintaining that deportation should remain part of federal immigration policy.

Known as the ‘crypto guy’

Deaton first got involved in cryptocurrency in 2016 when he looked into Bitcoin. Deaton, a lawyer with experience representing clients impacted by asbestos, went on to file a pro bono brief in defense of large and small investors who lost a lot of money when the Securities and Exchange Commission sought to ban the third largest cryptocurrency, XRP. Deaton and the token holders won the case. Following that case, Deaton advised other SEC cases involving cryptocurrency.

Deaton spoke against being defined by cryptocurrency, saying the label oversimplifies his political identity. He said cryptocurrency can help people outside the traditional banking system transfer money and build wealth. He said he wants more stringent regulation of fraud in the currency. He cautioned that many meme coins or other forms of crypto are scams. 

“Ninety-nine% of crypto is garbage,” he said. 

Deaton disagrees with the frequent use of Proposition 2½ overrides in municipalities seeking to raise additional revenue by overriding the property tax caps implemented by the 1980 Prop 2½ law. Municipalities, he said, need to address spending rather than asking residents to pay more in property taxes. 

He said his loyalty is to Massachusetts rather than either political party and argued that the state would benefit from greater political competition. 

“One-party rule always leads to arrogance and even corruption,” Deaton said. 

Throughout his campaign Deaton has distanced himself from President Trump. Deaton said some Republican voters in the state have called him a “traitor” because of his refusal to support Trump. He said other constituents have portrayed him as a Trump loyalist. 

“I’m sitting there like, ‘How am I both those things?’ ” Deaton said. 

The general election is on Nov. 3.