Western Wisconsinites Share Devastating Impacts of Failed Economic Policies and False Health Promises, Highlight Urgent Need for Joe Biden’s Plans to Help Rural Wisconsin Build Back Better

Yesterday, Biden for President Wisconsin launched a statewide “Joe’s in Your Corner” tour. The virtual tour takes national, state, and local leaders around the state to listen directly to Wisconsinites about the kitchen table issues that matter most to them, like access to affordable care and the economic impact of the pandemic, and assure them they’ll have someone in their corner, not Wall Street’s when they send Joe Biden to the White House.

WKBT: Wisconsin federal, state legislators to campaign for Joe Biden during a virtual tour starting Monday

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“The people of Wisconsin need a president who will listen to them, who will understand the issues they’re facing, and who has a plan to beat this dangerous virus and build back better. Joe Biden is the leader we need to meet this moment and rebuild the middle class,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin, in a statement.

Senator Tammy Baldwin, Congressman Ron Kind, State Senator Patty Schachtner, and State Senate Candidate Brad Pfaff kicked off the tour with a conversation with Paul Adams, a former dairy farmer in Eleva, Wisconsin.

“I started farming with my father back in 1970,” said Adams. “We’d invested, and we’d worked… Adams’ Dairy is no more. I sometimes think I must be a poor manager. But wait, Danny’s Dairy two miles away from me folded a year ago. Six months ago, the hardwood floor manufacturer I purchased waste sawdust from for bedding lost its market in China and closed. A couple weeks after me, Chuck’s dairy farm shut down. The economy wasn’t that great before COVID-19. I need Biden because I know he will maintain my social security, which is all I have to live on after the devastating loss the family took.”


Watch on WXOW (ABC) La Crosse

Compared to January 2017, over 150,000 fewer Wisconsinites are employed including  7,000 fewer workers in the La Crosse and Eau Claire regions. Following devastating and unnecessary trade retaliation, Wisconsin led the country in farm bankruptcies in 2019, losing 10% of its dairy farms. The state leaders discussed how Joe Biden’s plan will create millions of good-paying jobs and give Wisconsin’s working families the tools, choices, and freedom they need to build back better from reckless trade wars and tax policies that benefit the wealthy over workers.

WQOW: ‘Joe’s in Your Corner’ statewide tour launches virtually


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The state leaders also spoke with Olivia Ramsey, a high school senior in Viroqua, Wisconsin, who explained what it is like to live with a pre-existing condition and fear losing protections if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act.

“Living with diabetes brings up a constant stress of having to manage my own health, let alone having to worry about having reliable health insurance,” said Ramsey. “In the economically stressful times of COVID-19, families across the country are worried about losing their jobs, therefore their health insurance benefits… Without the availability of the Affordable Care Act when I am in college and the fact that I will eventually no longer be eligible for my mom’s employer health insurance, there is zero guarantee that I would find health insurance that will cover my pre-existing condition… Whether I’m 26 or 17, paying $20,000 a year out of pocket to simply stay alive is really stressful to think about.”

They highlighted Joe Biden’s promise to protect and expand access to affordable health care for all Americans, including protections for the more than 2.4 million Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions.

“Families are facing multiple crises at one time,” said State Senator Patty Schachtner. “As a medical examiner, I have seen families at their worst times and I know how important it is to share compassion and empathy when people are in crisis. Joe is the best leader for us at this moment… Joe’s build back better plan will put the country back together, starting with communities like ours. As president, he will protect and build on the Affordable Care Act.

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