Hold 'em Accountable

Derrick Holder
  • 5.0 (1)
  • News Commentary

Welcome to Hold ’Em Accountable — a channel dedicated to shining a light on politics, policy, and the people who represent us. Here, we break down the decisions made in Indiana and across the nation, exposing how gerrymandering, corruption, and backroom deals impact everyday Americans. We ask the tough questions: Are our leaders truly serving the people, or are they protecting their own power? Through commentary, news breakdowns, and sharp analysis, we cut through political spin and demand accountability from those in office — regardless of party. This channel isn’t about left or right — it’s about right and wrong. It’s about making sure Hoosiers and all Americans know the truth, and making sure their voices are heard.

  1. 16h ago

    Floyd Taylor Wants Voters to Call the Shots

    Floyd Taylor, independent candidate for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, returns to Hold ’em Accountable with one of the most unconventional campaign ideas in Indiana politics: what if voters directly controlled how their member of Congress voted? Floyd is not running as a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian. His campaign is built around direct representation, radical transparency, rejecting PAC money, and using technology to give residents of Indiana’s 9th District a stronger voice in Washington. At the center of his campaign is the Congress app, a proposal that would allow voters to review legislation, weigh in on bills, submit problems, request new proposals, and help direct how he votes in Congress. We discuss: • Floyd Taylor’s independent campaign • Indiana’s 9th Congressional District • The Congress app and direct representation • Whether voters should control congressional votes • Radical transparency in Congress • Rejecting PAC money and major donors • The two-party system and “wasted vote” arguments • Rural voters feeling ignored by Washington • Healthcare access for every American • NSWC Crane and local economic development • Lobbyists, accountability, and public records • What representation should mean in 2026 Floyd says his platform is simple: “You tell me what to do.” He argues that he is only one person in a district of hundreds of thousands, and that voters deserve more than a representative who disappears into Washington and asks for trust every two years. Whether you agree with Floyd Taylor or think the idea sounds impossible, his campaign raises a question worth asking: Should voters have more direct power over the decisions made in their name? No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #FloydTaylor #IndianaPolitics #IndianaCD9 #IndependentCandidate #HoldEmAccountable

    Floyd Taylor Wants Voters to Call the Shots

  2. 2d ago

    Kirsten Root: Send a Social Worker to the Statehouse

    Kirsten Root, Democratic nominee for Indiana State Senate District 21, returns to Hold ’em Accountable for a conversation about change, public service, healthcare, affordability, working families, public safety, and why Indiana needs people in the Statehouse who understand broken systems from the inside. For the first time since 2008, District 21 will have a new state senator. Longtime incumbent Jim Buck is out, and the race is now between Kirsten Root and Tracy Powell. That means voters are not deciding whether change is coming. They are deciding what kind of change they want. Kirsten brings a background in social work, DCS, healthcare navigation, and community resources. In this interview, she talks about why government should listen before it cuts, invest before crisis hits, and spend public dollars on public needs instead of corporate subsidies. We discuss: • Indiana Senate District 21 • Kirsten Root’s campaign for State Senate • Tracy Powell and the future of District 21 • Healthcare access and a public insurance option • Affordability, utility bills, and rental costs • Working families across Westfield, Kokomo, Tipton County, and rural communities • Social workers in public safety and crisis response • A Department of Community Safety • Private prisons and accountability • Raising Indiana’s minimum wage • Corporate subsidies and public dollars • Why local officials feel ignored by the Statehouse • Why showing up matters more than political theater Kirsten says District 21 has not been prioritized by the Statehouse, and she is making the case that voters should send someone with real experience helping people navigate broken systems into the room where those systems are built. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #KirstenRoot #IndianaPolitics #IndianaSD21 #HealthcareAccess #HoldEmAccountable

    Kirsten Root: Send a Social Worker to the Statehouse

  3. 5d ago

    Candy Greer: Indiana’s Bootstraps Are Gone

    Candy Greer, Democratic nominee for Indiana House District 64, returns to Hold ’em Accountable for a conversation about what voters in southwestern Indiana are actually feeling: rising electric bills, healthcare desperation, public school funding, data centers, tax abatements, legal cannabis, public transportation, and the feeling that rural communities are being forgotten. Candy is not running like a polished political product. She is running like someone who still lives the struggle. In this interview, Candy talks about working three jobs, raising kids in the district, living with the same utility bills her neighbors face, and watching public money flow toward corporations while regular people are told to tighten up. Her line says it all: “The straps are gone.” We discuss: • Indiana House District 64 • Candy Greer’s campaign against Matt Hostettler • Data centers and corporate tax abatements • Public schools, vouchers, and vulnerable students • Healthcare access in rural Indiana • Emergency care and medical debt • Public transportation in small-town and rural communities • Legalizing marijuana in Indiana • Utility bills and electricity sales tax relief • Why rural voters feel forgotten • Why representation should come from people who actually live the struggle Candy says District 64 deserves someone who is working beside them, living beside them, sending kids to the same schools, paying the same bills, and fighting for the same communities. This is not about political theater. It is about people over power. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #CandyGreer #IndianaPolitics #IndianaHD64 #RuralIndiana #HoldEmAccountable

    Candy Greer: Indiana’s Bootstraps Are Gone

  4. Aug 12

    Gabrianna Gratzol: Indiana Needs Regular People in Power

    Gabrianna Gratzol, Democratic candidate for Indiana State Senate District 11, joins Hold ’em Accountable for a conversation about working families, public education, healthcare, childcare, labor rights, manufacturing, Medicaid, and why Indiana needs more regular people in the room where decisions are made. District 11 includes parts of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, including Elkhart, Mishawaka, Granger, Bristol, and surrounding communities. It is a district shaped by manufacturing, skilled trades, organized labor, small businesses, healthcare, and families trying to keep up with rising costs. In this interview, Gabrianna shares her personal story: growing up in a sheltered religious environment, entering the workforce, working in behavioral health, moving into factory work, becoming a young parent, and seeing firsthand how state policy affects real Hoosiers. She also talks about being fired after disclosing a high-risk pregnancy, losing insurance, applying for Medicaid, and being denied because her household income was less than $100 over the limit. That experience, she says, showed her how quickly everything can go wrong even when people do everything “right by the book.” We discuss: • Working families in Indiana • Healthcare costs and Medicaid access • Childcare vouchers and universal pre-K • Public school funding and private school vouchers • Labor rights and manufacturing jobs • Data centers and long-term sustainability • Utility costs and corporate accountability • Homeschooling, accountability, and public education • Why working people need representation at the Statehouse Gabrianna says the Indiana State Senate is filled with people who employ other people, not enough people who know what it means to be an employee. Her campaign is built around the idea that the people most impacted by state policy deserve a voice in writing it. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #GabriannaGratzol #IndianaPolitics #IndianaSD11 #WorkingFamilies #HoldEmAccountable

    Gabrianna Gratzol: Indiana Needs Regular People in Power

  5. Aug 10

    Travis Gearhart: Audit NIPSCO, Legalize Cannabis, Break the Script

    Travis Gearhart, Libertarian candidate for Indiana House District 4, joins Hold ’em Accountable for a wide-ranging conversation about NIPSCO bills, utility accountability, cannabis legalization, right-to-work, labor rights, taxes, toll roads, civil liberties, and why he believes Northwest Indiana voters deserve more than the same two-party machinery. District 4 covers much of northwestern Indiana, including communities across Porter County. In this race, voters have three choices: Republican incumbent Ed Soliday, Democratic nominee Ryan Kominakis, and Libertarian challenger Travis Gearhart. In this interview, Travis explains why rising NIPSCO bills became one of the biggest issues driving his campaign and why he added a full audit of NiSource to his platform. He also discusses his political journey from former Republican to Libertarian, why he supports legal cannabis, why he wants to revisit Indiana’s right-to-work law, why he opposes new toll roads, and why he believes candidates should explain their reasoning instead of hiding behind 30-second sound bites. We also talk about where Libertarians and progressives may overlap, including civil liberties, privacy, corporate subsidies, government accountability, foreign policy skepticism, and workers’ rights. This is not a campaign commercial. It is a conversation. Travis and Derrick do not agree on everything, but that is the point. Voters deserve to hear candidates think out loud, defend their positions, explain where they have changed, and answer questions outside their own political bubble. Topics include: • Indiana House District 4 • Travis Gearhart’s Libertarian campaign • NIPSCO bills and utility accountability • A full audit of NiSource • Ed Soliday and the HD4 race • Cannabis legalization in Indiana • Right-to-work and collective bargaining • No new toll roads • Income tax and property tax reform • Corporate subsidies and government spending • Civil liberties and privacy • Why third-party candidates matter No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #TravisGearhart #IndianaPolitics #IndianaHD4 #NIPSCO #HoldEmAccountable

    Travis Gearhart: Audit NIPSCO, Legalize Cannabis, Break the Script

  6. Aug 2

    Indiana DCS Is Necessary, But the System Is Breaking

    Indiana’s Department of Child Services is one of the hardest systems to talk about honestly. Some people see DCS as the agency that removes children. Others see it as the last line of defense for kids who are not safe at home. The truth is more complicated. In this special episode of Hold ’em Accountable, Derrick Holder sits down with Kristie Holder, Kacey Blundell, and Kirsten Root for a raw conversation about Indiana DCS, foster care, child welfare, family case managers, and what needs to change. Derrick, Kacey, and Kirsten all worked for DCS. Derrick and Kristie are also former foster parents. That means this conversation comes from multiple sides of the system: legal, case management, assessment, permanency, foster care, and lived experience inside the process. This episode looks at the uncomfortable reality behind Indiana’s child welfare system: DCS is necessary. Children do need protection. Caseworkers do save lives. But the system is also overburdened, under-resourced, inconsistent, and too often reactionary instead of preventative. We talk about: • Why DCS responds after families are already in crisis • Foster parents not being listened to • Overworked family case managers • Child welfare worker burnout • Poverty, addiction, mental health, and family instability • Why prevention matters • Inconsistent policies between counties, judges, and supervisors • The challenges of emergency placements • Why families need support before removal • How Indiana can better protect children and support families This is not an anti-DCS conversation. It is not an attack on caseworkers. It is not pretending every removal is wrong or every family is safe. It is a serious conversation about a system that Indiana still needs, but cannot keep running on exhausted workers, unsupported foster parents, under-resourced families, and crisis responses that arrive too late. If we care about children, we have to care about the systems surrounding them. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold ’em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #IndianaDCS #FosterCare #ChildWelfare #IndianaPolitics #HoldEmAccountable

    Indiana DCS Is Necessary, But the System Is Breaking

  7. Jun 26

    When Your Zip Code Decides If You Live

    Most healthcare debates focus on insurance. Premiums. Deductibles. Copays. Coverage. But what happens when there isn't a doctor available to see you? What happens when the nearest emergency room is an hour away? What happens when the maternity ward closes, the mental health provider retires, or the local hospital shuts its doors? In this episode of Hold 'em Accountable, Derrick Holder examines the growing crisis of healthcare deserts across America and why access to care may be just as important as the ability to pay for it. Healthcare doesn't usually disappear all at once. It disappears one doctor, one department, one clinic, and one hospital at a time. The result is a growing number of communities where people have insurance but struggle to find actual care. In this episode: • Why hospitals are closing across America • Rural and urban healthcare deserts • Physician and nursing shortages • Maternity care deserts and OB shortages • Mental health provider shortages • Hospital consolidation and corporate healthcare • Why healthcare access is infrastructure • How distance affects patient outcomes • Emergency care, specialist shortages, and wait times • Why your zip code increasingly affects your health Healthcare is not just a policy issue. It's an access issue. Because insurance doesn't deliver babies. Insurance doesn't perform surgery. Insurance doesn't respond to emergencies. People do. And when those people and facilities disappear, entire communities become more vulnerable. Watch now and join the conversation. Do you think healthcare should be treated as critical infrastructure? Hosted by Derrick Holder, retired Marine, Managing Editor of Progressive Indiana Network, and host of Hold 'em Accountable. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold 'em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #HealthcareDeserts #HealthcareAccess #RuralHealthcare #HospitalClosures #MentalHealth #HealthcareCrisis #PublicHealth #HealthcarePolicy #IndianaPolitics #HoldEmAccountable

    When Your Zip Code Decides If You Live

  8. Jun 19

    The Cost of Being Poor | How America Charges You More for Having Less

    Being poor is difficult. But in America, it is often expensive too. In this episode of Hold 'em Accountable, we break down the poverty premium: the hidden surcharge attached to financial instability. The basic idea is simple. People with more money often get better terms, lower interest rates, better financing, stronger rewards, lower fees, and more flexibility. People with less money often pay more. More in interest. More in fees. More in deposits. More in penalties. More for emergencies. More for the same products and services. That is the poverty premium. And once you start seeing it, you see it everywhere. A person with savings can handle a flat tire. A person without savings may need a credit card, payday loan, or delayed repair that creates more problems later. A person with cash can buy in bulk and lower their cost per item. A person living paycheck to paycheck often has to buy smaller quantities and pay more over time. A person with strong credit gets lower interest rates. A person with damaged credit may face higher borrowing costs, larger deposits, fewer options, and more barriers. This episode explores how America quietly charges people extra for having less and why financial instability often becomes a cycle that's harder to escape than most people realize. We discuss: • What the poverty premium is • Why being broke is expensive • Payday loans and high-interest emergency borrowing • Overdraft fees and banking penalties • Rent-to-own contracts and hidden costs • Credit scores and higher borrowing costs • Housing barriers and larger deposits • Food deserts and limited grocery access • Transportation costs and unreliable vehicles • Why poverty is about access, not just income • The difference between personal responsibility and systemic barriers • Why hard work matters, but margin matters too • How financial vulnerability becomes profitable • What reforms could help people recover instead of trapping them This conversation is not about eliminating personal responsibility. Choices matter. Work ethic matters. Discipline matters. But systems matter too. And if someone gets knocked down financially, the system should not respond by attaching more weights to their ankles. The goal is not to make poverty comfortable. The goal is not to guarantee outcomes. The goal is not to remove responsibility. The goal is simple: Stop making poverty more expensive. Because if hard work is supposed to help people get ahead, America should stop charging people extra for trying to climb the ladder. Watch now and join the conversation. Do you think America gives struggling people a fair shot to recover, or does the system make recovery harder than failure? Hosted by Derrick Holder, retired Marine, Managing Editor of Progressive Indiana Network, and host of Hold 'em Accountable. No spin. No talking points. Just receipts. You can also ask Alexa to play Hold 'em Accountable with Derrick Holder. #PovertyPremium #CostOfLiving #EconomicInequality #WorkingClass #HoldEmAccountable 0qp1RkqPbWCeZwiiuswT

    The Cost of Being Poor | How America Charges You More for Having Less
See All (77)

About

Welcome to Hold ’Em Accountable — a channel dedicated to shining a light on politics, policy, and the people who represent us. Here, we break down the decisions made in Indiana and across the nation, exposing how gerrymandering, corruption, and backroom deals impact everyday Americans. We ask the tough questions: Are our leaders truly serving the people, or are they protecting their own power? Through commentary, news breakdowns, and sharp analysis, we cut through political spin and demand accountability from those in office — regardless of party. This channel isn’t about left or right — it’s about right and wrong. It’s about making sure Hoosiers and all Americans know the truth, and making sure their voices are heard.

Information

  • Creator
    Derrick Holder
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    77
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Derrick Holder