Partisan politics is not my passion.
Pocketbook and economic issues is pretty much all I campaigned on.
As a party, Democrats must focus on the pocketbook issues that our constituents care about every day when they wake up to go to work, drop off their kids at school, and tuck them into bed at night.
In the past, leaders of both parties have been able to reach across the partisan divide. They succeeded by retaining their own humanity and recognizing the same in their political opponents.
Losing access to quality and comprehensive coverage, including for prescription drugs, would be devastating to older Americans.
I'm a product of public schools. They are resource-challenged, and when you take those dollars away from public schools and send them to private schools, you're further starving the system.
When we came to this country, unfortunately, my father lost his job, and we were this close to destitution. We were put on food stamps. We were put in public housing.
For too long, people in Washington and Congress point fingers at each other, even as millions of middle-class Americans remain unemployed and our economy continues to sputter. They must realize that we are all in this together, and I respectfully submit that the best way to remind Congress of this is to tie their pay to their collective results.
Cutting tax credits for education and training will result in more Americans working at minimum-wage jobs while U.S. companies go begging for the higher-paid skilled workers they need.
In addition to skyrocketing premiums, Trumpcare also unravels protections that older Americans want and need in their health coverage.
Before I was elected to Congress, I helped to create the public corruption unit in the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Unfortunately, business was good. Among the usual suspects were government contracts steered to insiders - leaving Illinois taxpayers holding the bag.
I will not stand for any tax increase for middle class or working Americans. There is no way I will support that.
If I am elected to Congress, I plan to introduce legislation tying Congressional pay to performance.
