Today Chicago’s 2025 Budget passed by a vote of 27-23. I voted NO, and will continue to advocate for a more fiscally stable and growth-oriented Chicago.

The debacle of these debt ceiling negotiations continue to show that we need a better Congress. The electoral reforms that @AndrewYang is pushing with @Fwd_Party are a step in the right direction, but we also need to reform the structure of Congress.

Here’s my pitch, one iPhone screenshot’s worth of principles for Common Sense Democrats to reform governance in the blue zones and be competitive in the red zones — delivering a coalition that can win on health care, reproductive rights, the safety net, and quality for all.

- culture that celebrates risk-taking - ingrained hatred of bureaucracy - robust capital markets - Starbucks nitro cold brew - cheap and abundant oil - “you can just do stuff” - investment bankers that work until 2 AM - low barriers to entry for entrepreneurship - cheap and abundant Zyn - manifest destiny - private equity - Delaware C corporations - freedom of speech - air conditioning - M&A markets - interstate highway system - meritocracy - low capital gains taxes + QSBS exemption - McDonalds - incentives for getting shit done - university Greek life system - the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution - New York City - grocery stores that literally made Soviet politicians cry - at-will employment - Walmart - everyone in the world speaks our language - Mississippi River barge traffic - GPU clusters - ability to get filthy rich even if born poor - pickup trucks - state-school engineering programs - SBA 7a loans - Sand Hill Road - Michael Jordan - 50 states competing for business - significantly more sunlight than Europe - the Homestead Act of 1862 - old-school DARPA - no union reps on corporate boards - risk of dying poor even if born rich - we don’t take the month of August off - the entire state of Texas - the smartest people in the world move here - did I mention we despise bureaucracy?