Guest Post: Fixing the Dysfunction in Our Politics

Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Hindsboro) and former President Donald Trump at a rally near Quincy in 2022.

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OPINION

By Cheri Bustos and Michael Morthland

Hello, Illinoize readers. I’m Cheri Bustos, a lifelong Illinoisan, and happy to help Patrick today by writing his newsletter as he’s taking some time away from the keyboard. Also joining today’s column is Michael Morthland, who I work with at Mercury Public Affairs, and was in the roles of chief of staff and deputy chief of staff in Illinois state government before joining Mercury.

First, some context: I am a former five-term member of Congress from downstate Illinois – a Democrat in a Trump District (there were only three of us left who won in 2016, 2018 and 2020 – today there are zero who have won in each election since President Trump came into office.) I have been out of office exactly two years, so a fresh FORMER Congresswoman. My other elected office experience was as a City Council member in East Moline, population 21,000. I now live in Galena, population 3,500.

OK, now you know a little about who is writing this column today.

Patrick gave me zero instruction as to what he wanted me to write about. So, I am choosing to write about dysfunction in politics.

My background that I spell out above is important to understand my perspective. The year Trump first won, I won by 20 points, and I won by 24 points two years later. It was the biggest win margin of any Democrat in the country in a Trump-won congressional district.

I’d like to see more of that.

But the Democratic Party can make that difficult for candidates in purple, red, or barely blue districts. This has been written about exhaustively since the November election. What the party did wrong. What Biden did wrong. What the Harris campaign did wrong. Blah. Blah. Blah. We are just now beginning to talk about the prescription for the midterms in less than two years.

The people I take seriously about this are not Democratic Party elites; they are not political operatives; and they are not politicians.

They are people who understand places like the congressional district I served, where 85 percent of the people live in towns with populations of 5,000 or fewer and where 60 percent of the towns have no more than 1,000 people.

Here is what we are talking about:

Most of those voters told us they don’t want us to keep screaming about our hatred of Donald Trump. They especially don’t want us to keep saying that he – therefore they – are stupid.

They just wanted us to fix stuff!

We are talking about exhibiting minimum rage. No mocking, no vilifying, no righteous tweeting. Just common sense and hard work.

“Angertainment, while great for fundraising, is not good governance. And it's not the way we'll rebuild and redefine our party,” says one of my close advisors.

Let’s watch the Democratic senators during cabinet confirmation hearings. Will they mock Trump’s nominees? Will they spew gotcha questions? Will they hog the limelight with their rage over the nominees?

Our advice: Keep asking them what they’re going to do about the price of eggs.

It will be easy to go after all the billionaires who will suddenly be part of our government. We are asking Democratic senators to resist doing that, please. Here’s why: Americans don’t hate billionaires. Most Americans would like to be billionaires.

Billionaires – even the obnoxious ones – innovate. Americans admire that. Billionaires create jobs and those jobs create wealth. If we are honest, the Democratic Party has been fundamentally dishonest about many things. We will admit that if Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg wanted to give millions of dollars to our party, we would have gladly taken it.

So, our advice to the Democratic senators is this: If you are going to go after the Trump nominees, don’t go after them for being rich. Instead, ask them publicly, “Where do you stand on helping veterans who were exposed to burn pits?” “Where do you stand on Head Start?” “Where do you stand on Meals on Wheels for seniors?”

What about a commitment to supporting Social Security and Medicare?

These are things Americans care about.

And they are what matters.

We need Democrats’ advocacy, not fury, even if it happens to get likes on Twitter.

Minimum Rage. “We do that, and Democrats will reclaim the 19 million voters we just lost,” my advisor says.

Now, Michael Morthland, Senior Vice President, and my colleague atMercury Public Affairs:

As I sit here watching the great Illinois-centric movie “Wayne’s World” (specifically those scenes at the Gasworks with Crucial Taunt, cue Gary Wright), I am reminiscing on my own time in undergrad watching Mac Miller (RIP) (during his K.I.D.S. Era, before Ariana), Big Sean (during his Finally Famous mixtape era), Skrillex, Breaking Benjamin, and many other incredible artists before they “made it big” at venues that held less than 200-300 people.

Back then, you went to the ticket booth, scored a ticket or two and showed up a few hours, days or weeks later to listen to great artists in an intimate setting. You did have to wait in line, but you did not have to wait in a virtual line. And you weren’t paying $1,000 per ticket. There were no seat savers, no concierge services, the fees were reasonable, and I always had a physical ticket.

That was 2012, and since then, everything seems to have changed.

Maybe it is capitalism. However, in this current era, large and sophisticated scalpers, resellers, and other software bot creators developed a new process by which to make money. These offerings mean, at best, more money paid for tickets (see Taylor Swift’s most recent tour) and, at worst, infinite consumer confusion where countless folks show up to a concert with what they believe is a ticket only to be told they do not actually possess the requisite license to enter the premises.

Now, most smaller venues will work with these wannabe attendees. These practices of selling tickets an entity bets they will obtain but may not actually in the end is often called speculative ticketing or concierge services. No matter what the practice is called, if it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and has a beak, ‘tis a duck, and it harms all (except those making money from the practice).

All this aside, the practice hurts people. Too many consumers don’t go to shows because they are too costly. Without the opportunity to cut your teeth in these venues (remember: John Mayer used to play bars with just a loop pedal, a guitar, and a vibe), artists cannot grow.

These independent venues are the lifeblood of communities where folks gather to enjoy music in an intimate venue and musicians look to introduce their art to the world.

Let’s look at all relevant legislation and efforts with a lens to support art, musicians, and beauty in Illinois.

The powers that be (rightfully so) continue to point out that recruitment and retention of healthcare workers is extremely difficult, costly, and unlikely to substantially improve. One issue leading the high rate of burnout and fatigue may be violence against healthcare workers.

According to a recent piece by The State Journal-Register, the American Hospital Association reported that healthcare workers face more violent incidents than any other work environment. Emergency room physicians, nurses, and support staff offer examples (not anecdotal) of violence against themselves or close colleagues and friends. According to that same article, 80 percent of ER doctors indicate violence impacted patient care, with a near majority reporting they either experienced violence themselves or witnessed harm to patients.

In reaction, the legislative bodies in Illinois and Washington, D.C., took steps to offer enhanced protections. Some of these efforts include requiring robust attempts at recategorizing the criminal consequences of assaulting a frontline healthcare worker, meaning penalty enhancements. However, those attempts have gained little momentum.

Some states, such as California, New York, and Ohio, took more holistic approaches, tackling this issue jointly with labor, healthcare and security experts, alongside members and representatives of each level of the healthcare workforce. These states are not simply implementing casual de-escalation training or penalty enhancements. Instead, these bills culminated following negotiations over the practical abilities and outcomes achievable by joint efforts between regulatory entities, administrative experts and actual employees. It is too soon to determine what, if any, impact on healthcare facilities and workers came from these new regulations.

However, some efforts must be undertaken here in Illinois that give facilities, employees, and other experts the fortitude to sit down to do the hard thing and try to hash out processes, procedures, and other avenues to protect patients and frontline healthcare employees who take care of our citizens at their most vulnerable.

Cheri Bustos spent ten years representing the 17th Congressional District in Washington. She is currently a partner with Washington-based Mercury Public Affairs.