Contact:
Melissa Mulliken
608/206-1818
Statement by Mayor Paul R. Soglin:
Today, I am announcing I am a candidate for Governor of Wisconsin.
Our great country and the State of Wisconsin were founded on the principle that our governments would provide for the general welfare – our health and safety through a fair system of taxation. On the façade of the US Supreme Court are carved the words, “equal justice under law.” Today we have a President and a Governor who do not believe in those principles. They do not cherish our heritage and, in fact, they violate and undermine it every day.
Donald Trump just orchestrated the biggest tax fraud in our country’s history: mammoth tax cuts for the richest and most powerful people that are designed to go on forever. For everyday ordinary Wisconsinites there were modest tax cuts – or none at all – and the crumbs will disappear in less than a decade when our taxes will go back up. We deserve better.
In the meantime our Governor – Scott Walker — did not stand up and fight for us but cheered on the new tax burden: the top one percent will pay less for national defense, education, roads, health, and environmental protections, while the rest of us will pay more. That’s not fair.
Scott Walker’s complicity was to be expected. Scott Walker has done the same here in Wisconsin. Our public schools are undermined, our roads deteriorate. The rich get richer in a fixed system that rewards cronyism rather than hard work. And, while the rest of the world understands that communication – high speed internet – is the key to economic development – our state lags behind.
The Trump administration has demonized immigrants, enacted horrible immigration policies, undermined women’s and LGBT rights. Scott Walker has proposed massive cuts to health care for Wisconsin’s most vulnerable children, pushed Voter ID laws that disproportionately disenfranchise people of color, and ended equal pay protections.
We must do better. We need to create, enact, and support policies that are designed to improve the lives of every single Wisconsinite. We need to recognize that poverty, in and of itself, weakens all our communities and must be eradicated. Regardless of race, gender, career, I hear you and I will be your voice calling us to work together to get it done.
We can do better. Almost $4 billion for Foxconn with no expected payback to hard working Wisconsinites for at least 25 years – and perhaps never.
We need results.
Imagine what we could do with the $4 billion:
Great public schools to anchor thriving communities around the State.
A transportation system assuring a safe trip to the grocery store, to work, to the football game for families, for workers, for students, for retirees.
A university system that once again provides leadership for Wisconsin agriculture and manufacturing.
Investment in small businesses that create a real economy all over the state – not for just for commuters coming in from Illinois.
Much is to be gained by providing better health care at a lower cost to Wisconsinites struggling to fight cancer, heart disease, and behavioral health issues. Whether it is healthcare, transportation or education, we need to invest in our people to build a stronger, healthier economy.
This is a great state – a little chilly at times — but hard working and industrious.
We need a leader who can grow the tax base faster than the budget – something I know how to do. We need effective leadership, we need efficiency. And, above all, we need fairness. That is why I am running for Governor and why I ask for the support of Wisconsinites all around this great State.
