Over the past four decades, the entire American economy has stopped working for regular people. A few giant companies now control our food, our health care, technology, consumer goods, and entertainment.

For decades, corporate profits have soared while wages for working people have stagnated. The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us keeps growing — yet people are working harder than ever and producing more than ever.

Around the world, across the country, and right here in Illinois, we’re already experiencing the catastrophic effects of climate change. Deadly heat waves, flooded neighborhoods, poor air quality, and rising energy costs are now the norm

Americans are losing faith in our democracy – and with good reason. While our families struggle to get ahead, politicians in Washington line their own pockets and special interests and wealthy donors flood our political system with money to protect their own power and access

In the wealthiest nation in history, millions of people can’t afford basic needs like housing, health care, child care, or retirement. At the same time, billionaires are getting richer than ever and multinational corporations are raking in record profits — all while paying lower tax rates than most Americans.

In the 9th District and across the country, the cost of basic necessities is skyrocketing. Rent and home prices feel increasingly out of reach, especially for younger people. Child care costs more than a second mortgage. Health care premiums, deductibles, and prescription drug prices continue to climb.

As social media platforms have completely changed how people live, their harmful consequences have become impossible to ignore. These platforms reward outrage and misinformation while burying truth and nuance, with catastrophic political consequences.

Donald Trump is a fool who thinks he’s a king. His outrageous executive actions, starting with allowing Elon Musk full access to the entire federal government, continue to violate the law and our civil rights.

Trump and his MAGA movement are attacking civil rights and personal freedoms across the country. Meanwhile, the hyper partisan Supreme Court is stripping away constitutional rights, including the right to an abortion.

For too long, our foreign policy has prioritized military action over diplomacy – and we have indulged in alliances that provide some short term benefits over basic human rights.

America’s immigration system has been broken for decades. Politicians talk, but little gets done. In recent years, Democrats have put forward real solutions while Republicans obstructed progress and used human beings as political props.

Gun violence is a national crisis and a public health emergency. Every day, innocent people are killed in schools, grocery stores, churches, and on street corners.

America has failed to adequately invest in our public school system for decades. And, today, education in America is under attack from Donald Trump, ideological extremists, and corporate special interests that seek to profit off of our public schools.

Every time Republicans take power in Washington, the story is the same. Another huge tax cut for billionaires, followed by threats of cuts — or paired with actual cuts — to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

In the early 2000s, my first entry into politics was protesting George Bush’s ill-conceived and poorly-executed war in Iraq. It was clear, even then, that this war — like others before it — would impose great costs on our soldiers.