Contact: Brad Bainum, bradb@wisdems.org
As a national leader of corporate special interest group ALEC, Vukmir has consistently sold out hardworking Wisconsin families
MADISON — This Labor Day, there’s a clear choice in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, when it comes to who will stand up to powerful special interests and put Wisconsin first: Tammy Baldwin is standing up for Wisconsin working families and fighting to protect and expand Buy American requirements; Republican Senate candidate Leah Vukmir backs plans to gut protections for Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions, she says Buy American rules and paying Wisconsin workers a fair wage are “too expensive,” and she’s spent her time in the state legislature selling out our state’s working families.
“While Tammy Baldwin is taking on powerful corporate special interests to do right by Wisconsin working families, ALEC board member Leah Vukmir has spent her 16-year career in Madison selling out Wisconsin working people to enrich her corporate special interest backers like the out-of-state billionaire Koch brothers,” said Brad Bainum, DPW spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race. “Tammy puts Wisconsin working families first, no matter what; Leah Vukmir sold Wisconsin out years ago.”
Here’s a look at past and present examples of Leah Vukmir of selling out Wisconsin working people:
Vukmir would be the deciding vote to gut protections for Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions — Vice President Mike Pence said it himself last week: Republicans want Leah Vukmir in the Senate to pass a dangerous repeal bill that would: (1) gut protections for millions of Americans who have pre-existing conditions; (2) strip health insurance away from tens of millions; and, (3) let insurance companies charge older Americans more, according to the AARP.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: Vukmir stands to be the answer to the out-of-state billionaire Koch brothers’ years-long campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away millions of Americans’ health care access, so of course the billionaires are pouring in millions to support her campaign.
Vukmir supports deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare — Vukmir supports deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare to pay for the Republican tax law, which sent more than 80 percent of tax breaks to the richest Americans and Vukmir’s corporate special interest backers in Big Pharma, Big Oil, and on Wall Street.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: The Koch brothers are each set to become $1 billion richer under the GOP tax law, and they’ve spent millions trying to abolish Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, since the 1980s. Of course they support Vukmir on this one.
Vukmir opposes hardworking Wisconsinites getting a raise — Vukmir is a national leader of ALEC, which has campaigned against minimum wage increases. And Vukmir has opposed raising the minimum wage here in Wisconsin, even voting to block local cities and towns from increasing their local minimum wage.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: The Koch brothers “have campaigned against minimum wage laws for decades,” and ALEC, which they fund, supports abolishing the federal minimum wage, outright.
Vukmir opposes minimum wages, altogether — ALEC has called for abolishing the federal minimum wage. And following ALEC model legislation, Vukmir also led efforts to repeal Wisconsin’s prevailing wage and lower Wisconsin working people’s wages.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: See above.
Vukmir championed Wisconsin’s right-to-work-for-less law — Vukmir is proudly running on her support for Wisconsin’s “right-to-work” law — another ALEC favorite. But the truth is that Wisconsin’s “right-to-work” law has led to lower wages for hardworking Wisconsinites: it’s been measured to depress wages in a “significant” way, versus what working people are earning in non “right-to-work” states.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: The Koch brothers have for years sought to undermine American working people’s freedom to organize, so it’s no surprise that they’ve championed right-to-work for less campaigns across the country.
Vukmir voted to repeal Wisconsin’s equal pay law — In 2012, Vukmir voted to repeal Wisconsin’s equal pay law, which had, until then, “provided more assurance…that women are treated fairly” in the workplace.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: Koch brothers-funded politicians and groups have opposed equal pay for years.
Vukmir opposes Buy American rules that support Wisconsin workers — Following ALEC’s lead, Vukmir opposes Buy American rules that support Wisconsin workers and manufacturers, ensuring that federal tax dollars are spent, here, in the U.S. Federal government contracts support more than 10,000 Wisconsin jobs — in the defense manufacturing industry, alone.
- Koch brothers $$$ connection: Koch brothers special interest group ALEC opposes Buy American rules, as does the Koch brothers-linked special interest group Americans for Tax Reform.
