MADISON, WI – Last night, U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Gwen Moore (WI-04) joined MSNBC’s Jen Psaki to discuss the town halls they have done across the state, explaining the harm that the Big Ugly Law will do to everyday Wisconsinites.
Click here to watch the full interview, and find a transcript below.
Jen Psaki:Joining me now are Congressman Mark Pocan and Congresswoman Gwen Moore, both Democrats from Wisconsin. It’s great to see you both. It’s great to hear what’s happening and what people are talking about. So let me start with you, Congressman Pocan, you’ve been out there. You were today in a Republican congressman’s district today, Derrick Van Orden, who you’ve had some battles back and forth with, which I’ve enjoyed. But what did you hear from voters? What’s on their minds? What are they talking about the most?
Rep. Mark Pocan:They’re afraid of what this Big Ugly Bill, now law, is going to mean to their families. Losing health care, potentially. Having education funding cut. Losing food assistance. What it means to add trillions to the national debt. Pretty much the same thing that I heard in my district. The difference is that Derrick Van Orden, in two and a half years, has never done an open public town hall. This is my fifth time in his district, because I feel like people in western Wisconsin have a right to be heard. If their Member of Congress isn’t going to tout a bill that he says is so good it doesn’t pass the smell test. If it’s really a good bill, you get on the rooftop and scream about it. Instead, he’s hiding in his basement, being a keyboard warrior on Twitter. And I’m going to his district, making sure that people are heard. And I can tell you they’re not happy.
Psaki:He didn’t win by that much last time. He better be a little careful, get himself out there, perhaps. Let me ask you, Congresswoman Moore, the same thing. I mean, you represent a district in Milwaukee, but yesterday you were in a red district in Racine. What did you hear? What have you been hearing from voters? You know, obviously, the Big Ugly Bill. Are there other topics, too, in addition to that that you’re hearing from people that they’re concerned about?
Rep. Gwen Moore:Jen, thanks for having me. And hi, Mark. Yes, I was in Racine, a red district, the place where I was born, my hometown. And I know these people, and they are very upset, they’re very nervous, they’re very scared about Medicaid, in particular. We have 276,000 plus people in Wisconsin that are affected by Medicaid. And when I talked about Brian Steil’s characterization of the type of Medicaid cuts that they’re making, that they’re just some little boy in the basement playing video games, asking his mom to bring some more potato chips down. That was what got the loudest sort of boo and cheer because that’s not true at all. His notion, his theory of the case, is that if we just get lazy people out of the basement that go and work, that somehow that’s going to resolve people’s need for medical care. The fact is that there’s going to be over a billion dollar hole in Wisconsin’s budget for providing Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, there will be hundreds of thousands of people that won’t be able to afford the premium credits. People who actually work who are on Medicaid already, and if they work, make a penny more than the federal poverty level, they’ll be working, but they won’t have access to the Affordable Care Act nor Medicaid. They have actually monetized the cuts in Medicaid. And it is indeed not little boys in the basement playing. These are real Wisconsinites that are going to lose out on healthcare, and people are terrified. They brought their disabled children, sat them in the first row, and they’re terrified.
Psaki:And as a reminder, just because this is not all implemented until after the election, people need to know what is going to hit them. And rural hospitals are already starting to close. Let me ask you, Congressman Pocan, everybody has been talking about covering, following the Epstein issue, of course, the release of the files, this potential of pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, which is insane. Has anybody brought this up with you? Is this a topic that people are talking about out there so far?
Pocan:It was interesting. I brought up Jeffrey Epstein just once about releasing the files. And someone said, “I wish Democrats would quit talking about this,” because they want to talk about what they talk about at their kitchen table. And it’s not Donald Trump lying about releasing the list that his name may very likely be on. What they want to hear about is: are they going to be able to pay their mortgage or rent? Are they going to have health care for their family? Can they afford a family vacation? That’s what real people in Wisconsin actually talk about. And when you talk about the hospital closures in this bill that came up. We lost two hospitals in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the only two hospitals already. And this bill is going to make it even harder for those rural hospitals. They’re going to feel that squeeze. That’s what people care about. Can they get health care for their family? And I think that’s the issue Democrats really need to write home.
Psaki:I hope you’ll both come back. I know you’re going to both be doing town halls out there. We love to hear what people are actually talking about, what they want to know. Congressman Mark Pocan, Congresswoman Glenn Moore, thank you both so much for joining me this evening.
