From State Rep. Sue Ness:
We can demand better
During the last great recession that started in 2007-08, I started writing a blog called “Inspiration Station.” I started it to counter the daily bad news that kept being reported. Writing that post forced me to look for the good and stay focused on the things I thought were important as I knew that things would change eventually and we needed to hold onto the good stuff.
At the time it was hard; so many people lost their life’s savings through lost jobs, mortgages, and retirement accounts. Many factors contributed to that perfect storm, including companies of people who made really bad decisions for either their own self gain or sheer recklessness because they could. As a result of that, the Federal Govt. built in some safeguards to make sure that more people would be protected.
I believed that was the right thing to do and the appropriate role of the Government.
I used to teach a class on global business and one thing I would say is “We wouldn’t need government regulations if companies—run by people—did the right thing without being required to.”
It makes sense for that role to be a Government role since we are an elected representative government.
I say all this to lay the foundation for what I believe is our task—to reaffirm the role of Government where it makes sense, and to be a part of redefining it as is currently happening.
Hanging onto the good stuff matters especially when there are daily reports of whole programs, agencies, and divisions being wiped out.
It’s good to right size things every now and then.
I don’t disagree with that.
However, the way it is happening is wrong and dangerous.
We have to push for dialogue that empowers all of us, instead of merely shouting and being angry about everything that is happening right now.
We need to create a basis of agreements that we can hold ourselves and each other accountable to.
It gives us a voice to challenge in a way that I believe is more effective than the current environment of name calling, calling out, and trying to out yell the “other side” whoever that is.
It also means that we are not able to pay attention to everything—and I believe that is a risk we cannot afford. I will highlight a few things below that you need to know so we can all be sure we are holding ourselves and others accountable to.
We can demand better.
- One thing is the recent erasing of the “Black Lives Matter” plaza in Washington D.C. That plaza was not hurting anyone. In fact, it was a statement to the strong reaction many Americans had to the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black lives by law enforcement and the disregard President Trump had about it in his last administration. Washington D.C is the Nation’s Capital. It is not his city, nor any other administration’s or party’s city. It is our collective city. I have seen little outcry about this and that is partially because there is so much noise right now, it’s hard to discern what the real threats are. This is free speech in it’s most benign form.
- Another threat as I see it is the freezing of funds and cuts being made to programs that are going to have an outsized negative impact because of who they harm. Last week during a budget hearing for the IL Dept. of Agriculture, we learned that the cuts to the USDA include a program here in IL that supports a new generation of farmers. The average age of a farmer in IL is 58. The program is called the “Local Food Purchasing Program” and it supports mostly new younger farmers who grow food that is purchased by the government and dispersed to 21 collection sites that then disperse it to 838 food banks around the entire State of IL. That program literally feeds thousands of Illinois families all over the place. This is only one small example of the dozens and dozens of programs that the State facilitates with federal funds.
Just as the State coffers are filled with our taxpayer dollars, so too is the Federal Government’s. That is the debate that I find the most useful right now because it has real consequences on people’s lives and we will have to determine how we are going to meet these needs with less until we can exercise our right to vote again and “right size” the government.
Shifting from “us vs them” language is the only way we can move toward real solutions.
It is not helpful to only convince those who agree with you on an issue- we must reach out and grow the support into spaces where we think there is none.
It is a hard task.
Are you up for it?
I know I am.
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Could this focus on national affairs be an indication that Ness wants to run for Congress?
And stimulated by the announcement of Kat Abughazaleh is running for Congress against Jan Schakowsky?
