1. For middle class Americans the “affordability crisis” means things their parents took for granted – buying a house, sending kids to college, a secure retirement – are slipping beyond reach. For low-income Americans it is a matter of survival – surging rents and rising costs of necessities like food.

The causes of the affordability crisis are diverse: tax policies that favor wealth over work; an expanding for-profit healthcare industry; a lack of federal housing or childcare policies and expanding corporate monopolies to name a few. But they have one thing in common: none will be solved by tinkering around the edges of systems that stopped working for Americans a long time ago. Congress must fight for new approaches like universal health insurance, tuition-free public universities, and nationwide subsidized childcare as well as the changes in the tax code that can fund them.

2. Instead of a fight between progressive vs. moderate, I look at the fight as one to reclaim the soul of our party. The Democratic Party has lost its way. It’s become beholden to special interests and politicians who tell us to stop thinking big and just focus on raising enough money to squeak out the next election cycle. Our future lies in championing the big changes that Americans are aching for. “The system is rigged” should be our message – not the other team’s.

And we cannot settle for a strategy of just barely winning elections or getting 51 votes in the Senate. We need a party and a message that inspires in Central Pennsylvania as much as it does in Center City Philadelphia. So we can build the governing coalitions needed to do the big things that need to get done.

3. Even if it’s technically not under my authority, this issue demands action from a representative. First, I would find out whose responsibility it is, and demand enforcement. Then I would make sure that they know a member of Congress is watching them. And I would stay with the issue until it is resolved, not just papered over. Finally, I would see if there were some underlying policy or regulatory gaps that enabled the issue to happen in the first place and work to either strengthen oversight or introduce legislation to prevent it from happening in the future.

4. Every day, Trump assaults the Constitution, the rule of law and plain common decency. Yes, Democrats’ legislative options are limited. But our power does not just depend on how many seats we hold in Congress; it depends on how well we rally civil society to our side. And to do that we need to speak with clarity, unity and courage and help put spine in the institutions outside of Washington – e.g., unions, universities, law firms, medical centers -- to stay strong and resolved in the work of resisting Trump. It also is vital to remind our allies around the world that the vast majority of Americans still believe in a principle-based foreign policy.

5. I am a Jewish-American who feels a deep connection to the land and people of Israel. I am also a passionate critic of Netanyahu and his coalition of fascists who have used the unspeakable horrors of October 7th to justify war crimes and the collective punishment of the people of Gaza for the actions of Hamas.

There needs to be a full cease fire, placement of an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, and movement towards the creation of a Palestinian state. And while Israel has real security concerns, Congress cannot allow weapons to be used in ways that are inconsistent with U.S. and international law.