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THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN
Let's fix it
There is so much to do, from fighting Trump, to reforming our health insurance system, to defending reproductive freedom and free speech, to reducing income inequality, to safeguarding our environment, and remaking our immigration system. Here are a few of Dave’s priorities:
Donald Trump’s presidency is a five-alarm fire. Every day, he threatens the Constitution, the rule of law, and common decency. His cuts to Medicaid and federal funding for research don’t just threaten scientific progress; they are an attack on our city, where up to one-third of jobs are tied to “Meds and Eds.” Democratic leaders must use the courts and every legislative tool they have to stop him. Still, they must also forcefully use their platform to rally Americans everywhere to the scale of the crisis.
Our system for providing Americans with healthcare isn’t just under stress… It’s broken. The United States has the most advanced medical care in the world, but what does it matter if accessing it leaves so many Americans facing financial ruin? The problem used to be just the uninsured, but now even people with insurance are often one hospitalization away from needing a GoFundMe page.
Insurance companies post billion-dollar profits while behaving more outrageously than ever, deploying AI to deny prior authorizations and making the appeals process so complicated that people just give up. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions on lobbyists to bribe Congress into doing nothing meaningful about drug costs. And private equity firms buy struggling hospitals, gut their assets, and watch as hospitals that served communities for years go belly up. All the while, most Americans are trapped in an employer-based health insurance model that keeps them in a job that they no longer want and takes thousands of dollars from their wages.
The Affordable Care Act was a start, but we must build on it by fighting to expand government-sponsored insurance to everyone who wants it and ensuring the profits are never prioritized over patients’ health.
The American economy has never been more productive, but the economic lives of Americans have never been more precarious. If Democrats are going to be seen as the party of fairness and opportunity and regain the trust of Americans, they need to confront the affordability crisis head-on. Here are what Dave sees as three major ones: Healthcare, Housing, and Higher Education.
FIXING THE HOUSING SHORTAGE
From 1960 to 2014, the median rent in Philadelphia increased by 64 percent. Meanwhile, the household incomes increased just 18 percent. In 1960, the median US home cost was about $12,000 ($123,000 adjusted for inflation), but in 2024 the cost was $400,000.
This crisis of affordable housing was decades in the making and is particularly hard on low-income Philadelphians, with nearly 70% spending more than half their monthly income on rent (source: Pew Charitable Trust). Government on all levels – local, state, and federal – must do all it can to preserve existing low-cost units, increase rental assistance, incentivize the construction of affordable housing, and help city homeowners stay in their homes.
HIGHER EDUCATION
In the 1950s, on his summers off from Penn State, my Dad drove a delivery truck for The Inquirer. It was hard work – getting up at dawn and driving around the city in a truck with no air conditioning. But at the end of the summer, he had more than enough money to pay his tuition for the year --- $300. In 2024, that same college tuition is over $20,000, a nearly 8000% increase!
College or vocational training is more essential than ever, yet less affordable each year. But burdening kids with debt cannot be the solution. We must fully fund public colleges and universities while pushing them to develop more affordable education. No one in America should go into lifelong debt just to get an education.
The Democratic Party is at a crossroads. Are we going to become smaller, or will everyday Americans see us as the champion of opportunity and fairness? Just as important as our policies is how we communicate them. Engaging with people who disagree – inside and outside the party – is crucial for us to grow. Politics is not just about preaching to the choir. We cannot let dogma or labels stop us from building the coalition we need to move forward.
One thing that hasn’t changed in our city since 1960 is the number of Philadelphians living in poverty. In 1960, about 25% of Philadelphians lived in poverty. After decades of work, that number remains essentially the same. While parts of the city grow more prosperous, other parts fall further behind. Philadelphia can never be the city it wants to be when so many of its residents face inferior educational and economic opportunities. The future of our city depends on every neighborhood moving forward together and leaving no one behind.
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PAID FOR BY DAVE OXMAN FOR CONGRESS