Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair

 

 

Trump has returned to his ugliest playbook: wielding racism as a political weapon. It’s now up to Democrats to fight back. But don’t listen to the pundits who claim we have to choose between confronting racism or focusing on the kitchen-table issues that affect working people of all races. The best research shows that we win most powerfully when we tackle both. Here’s the truth: the Trump and GOP cynically use racism and xenophobia to divide and distract the public—so that they pick all of our pockets to benefit the ultra-wealthy.  And here’s the good news: a deep-dive research project found that the most powerful message is the one that points all of that out.

 

 

Prepare yourself for the battles ahead. You can read a summary of the research in this article: "A unifying "race-class narrative": Blueprint for progressive victory?" — and read the actual study here: "Race-Class: Our Progressive Narrative." The Associated Press wrote about this last week. In a story that ran nationwide, I was quoted arguing:  "Trump's use of racism as a political weapon is his only strategy to distract the public from the No. 1 issue in 2018, which was health care," Wikler said. "He can't claim that he stands for working people in 2020." We can’t shy away from confronting Trump’s despicable appeals to hatred. And we also can’t let him pull us away from fighting on issues that affect people of every race. Fortunately, our most powerful path is the one where we speak to both at once—and the connection between them. We can lead with our values, and win.

 

 

Fight on Issues: Medicaid Expansion Saves Lives

 

When we increase access to health care, more people seek care, and that in turn reduces mortality rates. A new study published this week estimates that had nationwide Medicaid expansion occurred, 15,000 deaths would have been prevented. Studies are literally telling us that Medicaid expansion would save people’s lives, yet Republicans still refuse to put petty politics aside and do the right thing for their constituents.

 

 

Expanding Medicaid isn’t just the moral thing to do, it's also the smart choice for all Wisconsinites. In addition to freeing up millions of dollars in our biennial budget, expanding Medicaid would reduce costs for all of us and give 82,000 low-income Wisconsinites access to affordable care. We’re going to continue to fight for Medicaid expansion even as the 2020 race heats up. The health and lives of Wisconsinites are on the line, and we’re not going to let Republicans get away with this come election day.

 

Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair

 

 

Republicans Cut $900 Million from Gov. Evers' Education Budget

 

We call Gov. Evers’ budget the People’s budget for a reason -- this administration had hours upon hours of conversations with Wisconsinites in every part of the state to hear what everyday working people needed from their government. We’ve learned that 73% of Wisconsinites support an increase in special education funding while 55% support increasing funding for K-12 education. Like Medicaid Expansion, supporting our kids is very popular in our state.

 

 

That’s why Gov. Evers proposed a $1.4 billion investment in education, including a much-needed $600 million investment in special education (which hasn’t seen a funding increase since 2009!). Gov. Evers knows that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state. If we don’t give our kids the support and education they need now, we will pay the price in years to come. But that didn’t stop Republicans from slashing $900 million from Gov. Evers’ proposed education budget. They decided their tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our state were more important than the future of Wisconsin’s kids. Additionally, they cut Gov. Evers’ proposed special education investment by 84%. School districts around the state have had to foot the bill for the increasing cost of special education services, in turn forcing local property owners to raise their own taxes. Republicans are picking winners and losers with this budget, and it just isn’t fair.

 

 

In more appalling news from the Republican caucus, Sen. Chris Kapenga from Delafield has been doubling down on his belief that kids with disabilities don't belong in our public schools. What does it say about GOP priorities that their members don't even believe every Wisconsin kid deserves to be supported by the state? Republicans have said this is “the best [they] can do,” but we know that’s not the case. This fight isn’t over, and budget negotiations will continue until Wisconsin's kids get the support they deserve.

 

 

Join Project Battleground: WI Facebook Group!

 

Project Battleground: Wisconsin is a statewide Facebook group dedicated to electing Democrats up and down the ballot in 2019, 2020, and beyond! It’s a place for Wisconsinites to connect with each other, get updates on the 2020 election, find volunteer opportunities, and get breaking news alerts. It's one big 2020 organizing party for Wisconsinites!

 

 

 

Democrats Introduce Automatic Voter Registration

 

As part of their commitment to ensure every Wisconsin citizen can participate in our democracy without unnecessary barriers, Gov. Evers and legislative Democrats introduced legislation earlier this week that would automatically register eligible voters at the DMV when receiving a driver’s license. We should be making it easier for Wisconsinites to vote, not harder. Automatic voter registration is a no-brainer. Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair     Republicans Cut $900 Million from Gov. Evers' Education Budget   We call Gov. Evers’ budget the People’s budget for a reason -- this administration had hours upon hours of conversations with Wisconsinites in every part of the state to hear what everyday working people needed from their government. We’ve learned that 73% of Wisconsinites support an increase in special education funding while 55% support increasing funding for K-12 education. Like Medicaid Expansion, supporting our kids is very popular in our state.     That’s why Gov. Evers proposed a $1.4 billion investment in education, including a much-needed $600 million investment in special education (which hasn’t seen a funding increase since 2009!). Gov. Evers knows that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state. If we don’t give our kids the support and education they need now, we will pay the price in years to come. But that didn’t stop Republicans from slashing $900 million from Gov. Evers’ proposed education budget. They decided their tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our state were more important than the future of Wisconsin’s kids. Additionally, they cut Gov. Evers’ proposed special education investment by 84%. School districts around the state have had to foot the bill for the increasing cost of special education services, in turn forcing local property owners to raise their own taxes. Republicans are picking winners and losers with this budget, and it just isn’t fair.     In more appalling news from the Republican caucus, Sen. Chris Kapenga from Delafield has been doubling down on his belief that kids with disabilities don't belong in our public schools. What does it say about GOP priorities that their members don't even believe every Wisconsin kid deserves to be supported by the state? Republicans have said this is “the best [they] can do,” but we know that’s not the case. This fight isn’t over, and budget negotiations will continue until Wisconsin's kids get the support they deserve.     Join Project Battleground: WI Facebook Group!   Project Battleground: Wisconsin is a statewide Facebook group dedicated to electing Democrats up and down the ballot in 2019, 2020, and beyond! It’s a place for Wisconsinites to connect with each other, get updates on the 2020 election, find volunteer opportunities, and get breaking news alerts. It's one big 2020 organizing party for Wisconsinites!       Democrats Introduce Automatic Voter Registration   As part of their commitment to ensure every Wisconsin citizen can participate in our democracy without unnecessary barriers, Gov. Evers and legislative Democrats introduced legislation earlier this week that would automatically register eligible voters at the DMV when receiving a driver’s license. We should be making it easier for Wisconsinites to vote, not harder. Automatic voter registration is a no-brainer.