Joan Esposito is joined by Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL).

Underwood, who represents the west suburban 14th Congressional District, discussed the ongoing budget negotiations ahead of the September 30th deadline to fund the federal government.

"We have some simple demands," she told WCPT.

"Number one: Let's cancel the cuts, those awful Medicaid cuts that we saw in the big, ugly bill [formally known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act], the largest health care cut in history. That is actively harming Illinoisans, and we want to make sure that we can reverse that damage.

"Number two: We've got to lower costs. That is the number one issue on the mind of my constituents, for sure. Donald Trump campaigned and said that that would be his priority, that he was lower cost on day one, and we're still waiting.

"And then, number three, we want to save our health care. On December 31st there are some really popular health care tax credits that will be expiring. Republicans did not take it up in their big, ugly bill. Why? Because they were so focused on giving tax cuts to billionaires that they are leaving working people across this country to be kicked off of their health care, and we're not going to stand for it."

Underwood highlighted the importance of making health care tax credits permanent to prevent premium increases, citing Blue Cross Blue Shield's recently announced 27 percent premium hike.

Speaking to Esposito one day after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr publicly urged ABC television affiliates to "preempt" and "not run" "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Underwood called for Carr to resign. (A few hours after his remarks, ABC announced the long-running show would be "preempted indefinitely.")

"We need to continue to, as consumers that are actively supporting these different broadcast companies, to be vocal about our point of view," Underwood said. "As Americans, we have the ability, as advocates, to make a big difference right now. And I have been heartened to see so many people raising their voices today and speaking out against this censorship, this caving.

"Number two, I think it's really important for these companies to remember that there's going to be an election in a year, and a House Democratic majority will 100 percent be standing up for the First Amendment. And so if they want to capitulate and sell out the freedom of the press, sell out free speech, to just sell out in general, I think that they should expect to hear from us on that issue."

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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