Weekly News From Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair

 

 

In 2020, we all poured ourselves into defeating Trump—in one of the most epic presidential campaigns in history.   We won.   And we did more than toss out a malignant president. We also elected a terrific one. Joe Biden may not be the flashiest politician, but he knows how to get things done… even when it takes a little while.   The last few weeks have told that story powerfully. The student debt forgiveness announcement is a massive relief to tens of millions of Americans. The PACT Act keeps America’s promise to our veterans, addressing their exposure to toxins while in the service. The CHIPS and Science Act will help ensure that we build the future here in America. And not to forget, we passed the most significant gun violence bill in the last 30 years.   And on top of all of these things, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Gas prices have dropped continuously for 72 days—and now the federal government is going to ramp up efforts to bring down household costs even more. Tackling Big Pharma and negotiating on drug prices. Bringing down insurance premiums under the ACA. And paying for it all by ensuring the wealthiest and big corporations pay more of their fair share. It’s exactly what the public has been calling for. It’s democracy in action.   All of this will change lives now, and in years to come. But there’s one thing that won’t just affect all of us—it will affect every person who will ever live.   The Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions to spur the transition to clean energy puts the U.S. on track to reduce climate change emissions by 40% by 2030.  Climate change is a crisis of profound urgency—yet is often overlooked in the midst of political chaos. When Trump came into office and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, he struck a blow to humanity’s strongest collective commitment to action. In all of the roller coasters of the Trump years, his hostility to doing what is right and necessary on climate change sometimes faded into the background. But for people around the world—especially those in the Global South, those with exposure to coal particulates, and the most marginalized and climate-exposed in the U.S.—the lethality of out-of-control climate change only rose.   The last seven years were the seven hottest years on record. Heat waves and extinctions are rising.   The question of whether the U.S. would rise to this moment has become existential.   And now, we rise.  Trump, and Trumpism, are very much on the ballot in 2022. What we in Wisconsin do in these next 75 days will shape the future of American democracy, the question of whether our government fights for working people or sides only with the wealthiest special interests, and define fundamental freedoms—including control over our own bodies. And it will determine whether we lapse back into Trumpian denialism about this existential risk, or whether we continue to spread our wings into a cleaner and brighter future, where green jobs support families in all of our communities, and where our kids know that the earth they inherit will safely sustain them and their own kids for centuries and millennia to come.   Let’s do this.   In solidarity,  Ben

 

FIGHT

 

Gov. Evers, Lt. Gov. Barnes, Wisconsin Democrats Stand with UW Health Nurses

 

This week, UW Health nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize a three-day strike next month if their union is not recognized by the UW Hospital Board. The strike is the next step in the nurses’ ongoing efforts to regain their voice in the workplace that they lost after the passage of Act 10.  Gov. Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Senator Baldwin, and Democrats across Wisconsin stand in solidarity with the nurses at UW Health in their fight for union representation. UW Health nurses provide the best care to their patients every day and showed up for Wisconsin throughout the pandemic in order to keep our state healthy and safe. We are proud to support their efforts to unionize now and urge UW Health to recognize their union and the rights of their nurses.

 

Gov. Evers Does the Right Thing On Rising Costs, Tim Michels Does Nothing

 

On Tuesday, Gov. Evers proposed a new plan to provide support to Wisconsin’s working families and address rising costs. The governor’s plan would use the state’s projected $5 billion revenue surplus to provide over $600 a year in tax relief now and into the future. Gov. Evers plan includes common sense measures that will have an immediate impact like temporarily suspending the state gas tax, repealing the state’s mandatory minimum markup on gas, and cutting taxes by an additional 10% for Wisconsin families.  Meanwhile, Tim Michels’ campaign “blueprint” on the economy still lacks any serious ideas to help Wisconsin families. Michels has made it clear he is more interested in divisive issues like enabling parents to sue schools, banning abortions with no exceptions, and refusing to support common sense gun safety legislation than he is with helping the people of Wisconsin.  Tim Michels’ radical agenda leaves Wisconsin families behind, making it clear yet again that he is wrong for Wisconsin.

 

Johnson Continues Push to Cut Social Security and Medicare

 

This week, Ron Johnson showed no remorse for his recent threats on the livelihoods of retired Wisconsinites, releasing a new policy paper reiterating his threat to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. Johnson’s plan would convert these critical programs to discretionary spending programs – a move that would open the door for Congress to make cuts.  Johnson’s proposal would be devastating for Wisconsin seniors who rely on their earned benefits to buy groceries and pay their bills each month. Generations of Wisconsinites paid into Social Security and Medicare with the promise that the programs would support them once they reached retirement. Yet Johnson, who has complained he’s “only doubled” his multi-million dollar fortune while in the Senate, doesn’t seem too concerned with breaking that promise.

 

President Biden Announces Student Debt Relief Plan

 

On Wednesday, President Biden announced his plan to forgive up to $10,000 of student loan debt and up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants for Americans making less than $125,000 a year. President Biden’s plan delivers on yet another campaign promise by giving targeted student debt relief to working- and middle-class families, with nearly 90% of relief dollars going toward borrowers earning less than $75,000 a year.  Alongside student debt forgiveness, the president also extended the payment pause on student loans until December 31, 2022 and cut monthly payments in half for borrowers on income-based repayment plans. The president is committed to building an economy that works for everyone – which extends to students, recent graduates, and even those with established careers still struggling under insurmountable debt burdens caused by the skyrocketing cost of college.