MADISON, Wis. — It has been just over one week since Wisconsin’s Republican Congressional delegation voted to pass the Big Ugly Bill, which cuts over $1 trillion for health care and takes a sledgehammer to funding for food assistance programs. In response to these funding cuts, which Republicans like Derrick Van Orden shoved through in order to pay for massive tax handouts to billionaires, Wisconsinites are speaking out. Most recently, Van Orden’s constituents tried to talk to him at his office where — no surprise — he was a no show, and they made clear they were horrified by his vote but also his lies. Wisconsinites have also been writing to their local newspapers, expressing their anger with Rep. Van Orden and Sen. Ron Johnson’s support for the Big Ugly Bill.
See what they are saying below:
Jason Rosin, Stevens Point: Derrick Van Orden has done the unthinkable again. On July 3, as news broke that 17 million Americans had lost health care, 18 million children had been cut off from school meals, and 3 million people had lost food assistance due to legislation he helped pass, Van Orden didn’t express concern. He didn’t promise relief. He didn’t even pretend to care. He shouted, ‘YES!’ in celebration. This wasn’t a misstatement. It wasn’t taken out of context. It was a full-throated cheer at the suffering of his own constituents in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.”
Thomas Bartell, Verona: “Of course Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, would cave and vote for the president’s budget bill. By doing so, he has cemented his legacy as Donald Trump’s sycophant in chief. What a farce to spend weeks decrying the increase in the national debt that the budget bill would cause, only to turn around and vote for it with the lamest excuse: ‘I’m convinced they’re committed to returning to reasonable pre-pandemic spending.’ Who does he think he’s fooling with that one?”
Kimberly Conway, Milwaukee: “I can’t help but wonder what President Donald Trump has on U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh. Johnson led us to believe he was voting “no” on the horrible budget bill. Well, that was until he had a meeting with Trump. We need representatives who are willing to stand for the Constitution and put country before party. […] The Republican Party has been showing its true colors for quite some time. They are all about power and nothing about people.”
Joesph Geck, Waukesha: “In past elections, the Republicans won by promising fiscal responsibility and middle class prosperity. They proceed on what I call the trifecta of issues, which not only increase the national debt by larger amounts per election cycle than the Democratic presidents who preceded them, but also increase income disparity. The first idea is tax cuts that go mostly for the wealthy, which is a major driver for increasing the national debt. The second is the aim to cut health care and to make cuts to areas that provide avenues of social mobility, like education. Any program that benefits the poor and lower middle classes becomes a target. The justification is we cannot afford it. If the wealthy actually paid their fair share, what could we afford?”
Daniel Anderson, Madison: “The most pressing needs of low income and working-class people in this state seem to be affordable housing, lower child-care costs and lower family medical costs. Neither version of the federal budget resolution, House nor Senate, addresses any of these core needs. If Wisconsin employers really want to have more workers to replace all the migrants that President Donald Trump is deporting, they should pressure the state’s GOP delegation to put real solutions for working parents in a final bill. Knocking more people off Medicaid, when many people rely on it as their primary healthcare, is totally illogical, especially to support more tax cuts for those making over $400,000 a year.”
Tom Barrett, Former Congressman and Milwaukee Mayor: “Stunning. Absolutely stunning.In less than eight weeks, Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has completed the most consequential flip-flop in recent Wisconsin political history. Sadly, it’s a flip-flop that will have devastating consequences on the fiscal future of our state and country.”
