MADISON, Wis. — Today, before JD Vance’s big-dollar Milwaukee fundraiser, WisDems 2nd Vice Chair and CD 4 Chair Joshua Taylor joined State Senator Dora Drake, Representative Kalan Haywood, and Karen Voie – a Wisconsinite impacted by skyrocketing costs – to set the record straight on the impacts of Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s cost-raising MAGA agenda on veterans and their families, as well as working Wisconsinites.

Congressman Tom Tiffany and Congressman Bryan Steil have rubber-stamped the Trump administration’s MAGA agenda by supporting cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the “Big Ugly Bill,” DOGE cuts that have crippled VA hospitals and abandoned veterans and their families, and a reckless agenda abroad that has cost Americans lives and caused record-setting prices.

Watch the press conference here and see what speakers had to say, in part, below:

WisDems 2nd Vice Chair Joshua Taylor: “[JD Vance] is set to join big dollar donors to raise money for Republican candidates. I can’t think of a more of a stark contrast between the Vice President and Republicans courting donors in a city and state where everyday people are shouldering the burden of their cost raising policies. The truth is that Wisconsinites across the state, including those in Milwaukee, are suffering under the Trump administration’s MAGA agenda that has caused the prices of health care, groceries, and gas to skyrocket. The same paycheck that Wisconsinites got two years ago doesn’t go as far. I’m hearing from people across the state that they are having to make decisions between filling up their tank or putting food in their fridge or paying off their crippling medical debt or the next month’s rent. Wisconsinites are forced to make these impossible decisions because of Donald Trump and JD Vance’s devastating economic policies that Republicans like Tom Tiffany and Brian Steil have rubber-stamped. Politicians like JD Vance and Tom Tiffany are no strangers to buddying up to wealthy donors and giving them tax breaks, leaving us to foot their bill.”


State Representative Kalan Haywood: “[Tom Tiffany’s] loyalty has been to Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda, even when that agenda has made life harder and more expensive for the very people he wants to lead. And Brian Steil has been no different. He’s tried to portray himself as this moderate or independent and common sense voice, but when the votes actually matter, he has become one of the most dependable rubber-stamps for Donald Trump and JD Vance: cuts to Medicaid, cuts that threaten rural hospitals, DOGE cuts that have strained services for veterans, policies that have been driving up costs for working families. Again and again, Tom Tiffany and Brian Steil have voted yes. They don’t ask whether these policies are good for Wisconsin, they ask whether they’re good for Donald Trump. And that’s exactly why JD Vance is coming to Milwaukee and coming to Wisconsin today, not because those policies have succeeded, but because Tom Tiffany and Bryan Steil have been willing to support them without question.”


State Senator Dora Drake: “These price hikes are largely thanks to Trump’s and Vance’s MAGA agenda, which Tom Tiffany and Bryan Steil have rubber-stamped every step of the way. One of the most devastating of these cost-facing proposals is the Big Ugly Bill, which Tom Tiffany and Bryan Steil helped pass a year ago last week. The Big Ugly Bill gutted Medicaid, put three rural hospitals in Wisconsin at risk of shutting down, could cause over 270,000 Wisconsinites to lose health insurance coverage, and was the largest cut to SNAP in the program’s history.

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Tom Tiffany and Brian Steil have championed these cuts, which have left thousands of Wisconsinites without food, including children, veterans, and the elderly and disabled. And when it comes to good governments—that’s not what leadership is about. Tom Tiffany said that the Big Ugly Bill was a quote unquote ‘game changer’ for America, and Brian Steil said it was a ‘step in the right direction.’ Well, We are gathered here today to say that we are tired of DC politicians like JD Vance, Tom Tiffany, and Brian Steil that our playing games with our healthcare and grocery costs and Wisconsinites are made to move in a direction away from MAGA policies that make everyday more expensive. These are basic needs that people need, and it’s time that we do the right thing.”


Karen Voie: “I know firsthand how expensive things have gotten thanks to Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s policies, and Republicans like Bryan Steil and Tom Tiffany who support them. Everything has gotten more expensive for me and my family, from groceries to gas and health care. It is a slap in the face to Wisconsinites when Republican politicians like JD Vance come to Wisconsin to hang out with their big-dollar donors, while Wisconsinites like me struggle just to get by. 

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They’ve also done just about everything to make [the] healthcare system more expensive and harder for access. This is particularly personal to me. Members of my family are veterans who have honorably served our country. […] And when they come back home, they now face outrageous wait times just to get a routine doctor’s appointment. My daughter served in the Navy, and my son almost lost his life serving his country in the Air Force. I now watch my daughter struggle to get healthcare she needs, because VA hospitals are so overwhelmed with patients. Brian Steil and Tom Tiffany champion the Trump administration DOGE cuts that ultimately led to the loss of nearly 30,000 jobs at VA hospitals, including those in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Tiffany said that DOGE was doing ‘excellent work.’ Those same cuts that Steil and Tiffany cheered on also caused severe staffing shortages at VA hospitals throughout the state, along with an increase in delays and appointment cancellations. Tom Tiffany and Bryan Steil have abandoned our veterans, making Tiffany unfit to be governor, and Bryan Steil unfit to serve the first congressional district. We need to do better by our veterans, their families, and all of Wisconsinites. Politicians like JD Vance, Tom Tiffany, Brian Steil have proven to us time and time again that they will happily leave us behind to foot their bills in order to please their wealthy donors.”