MADISON, Wis. – As Congress reconvenes this week Republicans are leading the charge toward a government shutdown by refusing to back down from policies that put the wealthy and big corporations first.
Just months after Wisconsin Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany led the country to the brink of default by supporting the extreme “Default on America Act,” Congressional Republicans are once again pushing for policies that raise costs for Wisconsinites and give massive handouts to those at the top.
With less than three weeks to pass a federal budget, Republicans are standing by extreme demands that make steep cuts to programs, including funding for food assistance programs for children and infants, farms, and affordable housing. They are also pushing to help wealthy tax cheats and big corporations avoid paying their fair share, keeping the burden on working families here in Wisconsin. With these demands, progress has stalled on the appropriations bills that must be passed before the end of the month.
These spending proposals deliver far less than the funding agreed to by Republicans and Democrats in the debt limit agreement earlier this year, while containing extreme policies that make their passage unlikely. Congress has also failed to pass a new Farm Bill, which Wisconsin family farmers and producers depend on as they make decisions about their operations for the next five years.
Wisconsinites are demanding that Congressmen Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, and Tom Tiffany stop placing their extreme demands ahead of what’s best for working families and seniors in the state, and begin working to avoid a government shutdown:
“When our members of Congress are more concerned about protecting billionaires and big corporations over the working families they’re supposed to represent, our economy and communities suffer,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “These extreme policies will hurt working families by raising costs and making drastic cuts to programs they depend on.”
“Forcing a government shutdown while pushing to cut Social Security and Medicare and pass tax breaks to corporate special interests and the ultra-wealthy isn’t right,” said Deborah Cromer, a La Crosse retiree who depends on Social Security and Medicare. “We expect Congressman Van Orden to find common ground to avoid a shutdown, not push an extreme agenda that hurts our state and families like mine.”
