U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said Democrats are working “in good faith” as they close in on a big social spending bill, part of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda.
“Every day I think things are moving closer to agreement,” the town of Vermont Dem said on Sunday’s “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. “These are Democratic values, these are things that match what the American people have been asking for.”
Pocan said it is possible a floor vote could come this week, but that’s up to a couple of “senators who have been the holdout.”
“I have always said it doesn’t matter exactly what day we vote on this, what’s important it’s what’s in the package,” Pocan said.
Pocan, a progressive who has been directly involved in the negotiations with Biden, said there are “some really great things for people in Wisconsin in this bill,” including a tax cut, lower prescription drug prices, expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision coverage, and help for child care expenses.
Also on the program, three of four Mequon-Thiensville School Board members who are being recalled said the recall movement is “politically aligned,” and claimed recall organizers were not truthful as they collected signatures to force an election.
Board members Wendy Francour, Akram Khan and Chris Schultz appeared in separate interviews
Francour pointed out that recall organizer Scarlett Johnson, one of four challenge candidates in the Nov. 2 election, is a district area leader in Republican Rebecca Kleefisch’s campaign for governor. Francour also said Johnson is involved with the group “No Left Turn in Education,” which on its website states that it wants to eradicate “indoctrination that suppresses independent thought” in school children.
“This is why the Rebecca Kleefisch campaign has come in, big time, bringing in other political operatives to support this race, and it’s politically aligned, and it is not the way a board should operate. It should be made up of volunteers from the community who are seeking election to serve children,” Francour said.
Khan said the recall is “uncalled for,” and organizers could have waited for the spring election when some of the board members are up for reelection.
“I think the idea of the recallers is to obtain a supermajority on the board, in order to micromanage the district and administrators, and that’s not how this board works,” Khan said.
Khan said a “national movement” is behind the MTSD recall effort.
“If they prevail here, then this would be a showcase that we recalled four members all at once and this is what we can accomplish if we have the right messaging, and that right messaging does not have to be truthful,” Khan said.
Schultz said the recall has divided the community.
“It’s divided it. It’s wounded it. It has allowed false information to spread almost like the virus,” Schultz said. “It’s going to take a while for us to heal from our wounds.”
The Mequon-Thiensville recall is one of five school board recall efforts currently going on in Wisconsin. There are also recall efforts in Kenosha, Manitowoc, Stevens Point and Sparta.
In another segment, WisPolitics.com Editor JR Ross discussed the findings of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau report on the November 2020 election in Wisconsin.
The LAB audit did not find widespread fraud, but did make some recommendations for changes.
See the program:
http://www.wisn.com/upfront
