Casten wants Dems to have a plan
Good Thursday morning, Illinois. Another day, another reminder that the political calendar has no off switch.
BON APPETIT: Congressman Sean Casten is feasting his eyes on more than a winning message if voters hand Democrats back control of Congress.
He’s energized: The Downers Grove Democrat is promoting a new “Thriving Economy Project,” a year-plus effort aimed at laying out what Democrats could actually do on energy, affordability and climate change if they win the House — and possibly the Senate — in November. It’s possible.
A la carte: Casten said the project was designed to give lawmakers a detailed menu of options rather than another broad set of campaign promises.
Meaty info: “We got thousands of comments, hundreds of individual responders, and a lot of meat that we hope will become the starting point for the 120th Congress,” he told your Playbook host in an interview.
A “cookbook” of ideas: “When members are sworn in, they can sit there and say, ‘When I was running, this was really important to my voters. I campaigned on fixing this problem. What do I do now? Here’s the cookbook.’”
“No member is going to be able to cook everything,” he noted, “but if you’re really in the mood for chicken piccata, that’s on page 232.”
The report intentionally stops short of drafting legislation. Instead, Casten said, it offers proposed solutions developed with people from the private sector, government and academia.
Bringing home the bacon: Casten, a former energy executive, led the report’s financial section. Among the questions: how to encourage utilities to deploy the cheapest energy technologies, expand access to financing for people who want to lower their energy bills and force financial regulators to better account for climate-related risks.
He pointed to Illinois’ agricultural economy, rising home-insurance costs and the growing adoption of electric vehicles as examples of how climate and energy policy already touches Illinois residents.
On other issues…
The AI threat: “Imagine if a pharmaceutical company said, ‘We’ve got a drug that we’re selling, and hundreds of millions of people are using this drug, and we haven’t yet determined whether it conflicts with alcohol or bananas. But we’re seeing some troubling results that some people who had been using it are suddenly developing debilitating diseases. Please use caution.’ That would be insane,” said Casten, though he’d want more information before supporting an outright moratorium.
About impeachment: Casten voted “present” this week as the House moved to kill Congressman Al Green’s latest impeachment push against President Donald Trump before it could receive a full vote. Casten wants to see more political support to ensure a conviction in the Senate before he supports it.
By: Shia Kapos