One Wisconsin Now

In anticipation of Senator John McCain’s Racine town hall meeting Thursday, several concerned Wisconsinites that will be unable to attend offered five questions that they would like McCain to answer.

John Valko, President of UAW Local 180 in Racine is concerned about the loss of good paying, family supporting jobs. He wants to ask Senator McCain why the country should continue the harmful policies that he supports which have caused our current economic crisis. This crisis includes the loss of some 92,000 manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin during the Bush administration. Specifically Valko cites John McCain’s support for disastrous Bush policies including unfair trade deals, and massive tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthiest individuals.

John Valko's question: “The policies you have championed have resulted in an economic nightmare for families across Wisconsin, so my question is: Why would we want to continue your failed policies which have devastated our country?"

Working America –- the AFL-CIO’s grassroots organization for workers who don’t have unions on the job -— is holding a press briefing and door-to-door canvass Monday in Racine starting at 3:00 p.m. to strengthen the voice of Wisconsin working people.

“We meet single mothers, seniors, college students, manufacturing and service workers and everyone in between. What we hear over and over again is that people want to be involved. They want to help solve the economic crisis we’re facing in Racine, Wisconsin and the nation,” said Working America Canvass Director Christina Jens. “Working America reaches out to folks who don’t have a union on the job, and together, we can take action to make life better for our families.”

Two weeks ago, Jesse Helms began what will hopefully be a long and unimpeded period of not existing.

Elizabeth Dole, who succeeded Helms after his welcomed retirement, ascended to his seat after a long career of executive appointments and wrecking Bob Dole's first marriage.

Yesterday in the Senate, she tried to name an AIDS/HIV prevention bill after Helms. Helms would be the same hate-filled, racist who, when trying to block funding for the Ryan White AIDS bill, blamed victims of the disease for their  "deliberate, disgusting and revolting conduct"

Mrs. Dole has some bad, bad karma coming her way for this repulsive pandering. Nothing as pathetic as, say, having to watch her husband shill erection pills on television, but something like that.

Tomorrow U.S. Senator John McCain will be coming to Wisconsin and holding a women-only town hall. John McCain’s record of rubber stamping Bush policies in the U.S. Senate has been a disaster for not only women but for entire country.

John McCain actually skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have restored workers ability to pursue pay discrimination claims in court. When a 14-year-old girl asked him about this at a town hall meeting, he told her that protections for equal pay wouldn’t do “anything to help the rights of women.” On the same topic McCain has commented that women simply need “education and training” instead of equal pay protection.

John McCain also is a full supporter of unfair trade deals that has led to the loss of countless jobs. Obviously many of those jobs were held by women, they would probably not judge kindly McCain’s record on the economy.

Today the Health Care for America Now campaign was launched both in Wisconsin and all across the nation. At the Wisconsin State Capitol and in 52 other cities across the country, this new effort is demanding quality, affordable health care for all.

The unprecedented $40 million campaign for health care seeks to bring together millions of Americans and many different national and local groups. In Wisconsin the steering committee currently includes AFSCME, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), and the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

Starting today, the campaign is spending an initial $1.5 million on national television, print, and online advertising and is sending out emails to more than 5 million people. Over the next five months, Health Care for America Now plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states. Health Care for America Now is offering a bold new vision for health care reform in America. They are asking both national and local leaders to choose as side in the health care debate. It is a critical question that should be both asked and answered. Either they are on the side of special interests and an unacceptable status quo or they are on the side of the average American struggling to pay continually skyrocketing costs.

Additional members of the Wisconsin coalition include ACORN, AFT-Wisconsin, Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Grassroots Citizens of Wisconsin, Grassroots North Shore, One Wisconsin Now, UFCW, Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health, Wisconsin Council of Children and Families, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Farmers Union, Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, and the faith-based organization WISDOM.

Although the media is trying its best to paint him as something different, Congressman Paul Ryan continues to prove that he is from the same polluted conservative mold as the most unpopular president in history. While the rhetoric around Ryan may suggest otherwise, reality and his actual record have proven him to be nothing more than a rubber stamp of the worst kind. The latest example came only yesterday when he voted against a bill with massive bipartisan support. The bill postponed a planned cut in payments to physicians who treat Medicare patients. If the bill is not passed before July 1 doctors that treat Medicare patients will take a 10.6 percent hit. Such a dramatic pay cut could easily jeopardize access for both seniors and the disabled. Why would Paul Ryan vote for that?

Ryan’s vote is even more peculiar when you consider that 129 of his fellow Republicans joined with the Democrats to support the bill. There are only two explanations for Ryan’s hard line against this measure. Either he is just that loyal to a grossly out of touch president that has promised to veto it or he has a deep desire to protect big insurance at all costs. The cut to doctors was replaced by a reduction in payments to private insurers that participate in the Medicare Advantage program. According to a congressional advisory commission, those companies get some 13 percent more than it costs Medicare to offer services itself. For a guy that prides himself on his imagined budgetary prowess, it seems an odd thing to defend. Someone should corner Ryan and ask him exactly why he would rather cut doctors and seniors rather than slow down the gravy train for big insurance.

George Lightbourn is the former budget advisor for Governor Scott McCallum. Now he is a glorified shill for corporate interests at the right wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. Thursday corporate interests attacked the $2-billion-saving “Healthy Wisconsin” plan through their chosen outlet. Before taking WPRI’s rantings too seriously, perhaps one should first consider the source, because Lightbourn has zero credibility on sound budgeting and related issues.

When George Lightbourn was working for Governor McCallum, he played a major role in digging our state into a historic budget deficit. Then they had the bright idea of selling off $6 billion in future tobacco settlement payments for only a short term fix to a budgetary problem that he helped cause in the first place. Certainly his advice is not the kind that we needed then and it is definitely not now for this health care crisis.

Lightbourn twists himself into an ideological pretzel in his recent attack on the savings provided by the Healthy Wisconsin plan. Conveniently Lightbourn provides no real healthcare reform, rather he only attacks the bold initiative of the State Senate. In the attack of Healthy Wisconsin, he makes clear that he disapproves of hugely successful government healthcare programs like Medicare, BadgerCare and SeniorCare. This extreme position is not only a purely ideologically driven one but also is totally out of step with the vast majority of people that have greatly benefited from such successful programs.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is conducting a nationwide “Road to Healthcare” campaign. During the effort, SEIU has traveled by bus all across the country educating people on the healthcare issue and enlisting people to demand the same quality healthcare that our public officials receive. They were also calling for an end to the many racial disparities that exist in our current dysfunctional healthcare system. Their latest stop was today at Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration.

The SEIU bus was set up on MLK near Center Street. In front of the bus were several tables where the SEIU passed out literature on healthcare and asked people to sign cards to their elected officials demanding universal healthcare. They were also asking people to sign cards to officials asking them to support the full rights to form a union as protected in the Free Choice Act. After I signed a health care card, a member of SEIU declared that I was now “deputized” in the fight for universal healthcare. He then gave me an SEIU “Road to Health Care” pin that declared, “Healthcare for all, NOW!”

George Lightbourn, former head budget guru for Gov. Scott McCallum and current pro-corporate shill at the right wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is attacking the $2-billion-saving "Healthy Wisconsin" plan to provide access to affordable and quality health care for all.

George Lightbourn's central thesis that Medicare and Medicaid were bad ideas is as bankrupt as his previous work with Gov. Scott McCallum to sell off the $6 billion that would have come to the state from the tobacco settlement for pennies on the dollar.

History reminds us that as Gov. McCallum's top budget aide, Lightbourn's last major undertaking was to dig us into a historic budget deficit. For the people of Wisconsin, we can breathe easy knowing that at least now his failed economic analysis is only paid for by the pro-corporate forces funding his research, not us taxpayers.

Lightbourn's assertion that reducing the state's health care bill by $2 billion, as Healthy Wisconsin does, is financially imprudent, is the same logic that says tax cuts for the rich help working families and more tax breaks for Big Oil will reduce gas prices.

It doesn't add up.

Upon sitting out the vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) remarked that what women really need is “education and training.” Puzzling, because in 2007 Sen. McCain avoided the vote on the America COMPETES Act and voted against the College Cost Reduction Act. The America COMPETES Act promotes education in engineering, technology, and science—fields not typically pursued by women—and was supported by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The AAUW also supported the College Cost Reduction Act—which aimed to increase Pell grant awards to restore the grant’s purchasing power and reduce subsidized student loan interest—given the fact that “because women are more likely to borrow money for college than men are and will earn less on average after graduation, female graduates are more likely to struggle with their loan debt.”

Watch John McCain tell a 14-year-old girl that she doesn't deserve equal pay.

McCain seems to think that women don't need equal pay protection, they need "more education and training." Check out the video below to hear Sen. McCain's outrageous remarks about his opposition to equal pay for women.

In April, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have restored workers' ability to pursue pay discrimination claims in the courts, and provide protection for women receiving unfair wages. McCain explained his opposition to the bill by saying that instead of equal pay protection, women simply needed "education and training." A 14-year old girl knew better and questioned McCain about his absence and position on the bill to provide protection for equal pay. McCain responded, "I don't believe that this would do anything to help the rights of women."

It is no secret that anti-choice groups have long used radical tactics to oppose abortion. This year, we saw young children outfitted in "I survived the American Holocaust" tee shirts in legislative hearings in the Wisconsin capitol. Last July, we watched in horror as a group of "pro-lifers" staged, in front of a Milwaukee abortion clinic, a celebratory reenactment of the murder of a Florida abortion provider and his escort by Paul Hill.  In short, their campaigns and demonstrations have grown increasingly extreme and more inappropriate as of late.

Continuing in this vein, Pro-Life Wisconsin is holding prayer vigils across the state on June 7, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut. For non-history buffs, this 1965 Supreme Court decision struck down a Connecticut law outlawing contraception for married couples. Since the legalization of contraception, birth control has become commonplace in our society. In fact, 98% of American women use contraception at some point during their lifetime. Despite birth control’s popularity and safety, Pro-Life Wisconsin is joining other anti-choice groups on June 7 to protest outside family planning clinics that prescribe and dispense contraception to low income women. The name of their oh-so-subtle campaign? "Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies".

Yes, you read that correctly. No longer satisfied with attacking a woman’s right to choose abortion, Pro-Life Wisconsin is now attacking the millions of women who use contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The economic policies spearheaded by the Bush Administration and supported by Senator John McCain in the U.S. Senate have been devastating to people across our state. These policies have ushered in a time of economic crisis in many different ways for working families. Today a wide cross-section of Wisconsinites came together in a conference call to tell their stories.

Greg Hinds of Menasha just found out that the Appleton plant in which he works will be closing and 300 jobs will be lost. Today he said, “I don’t want a government handout. I want leaders who aren’t so out of touch they don’t see people are suffering. We cannot keep supporting unfair trade deals that cost us family-supporting jobs.”

Johndalyn Smith, a Milwaukee resident is facing the loss of her home. She is angry that Bush and McCain support policies that bail out big corporate investment firms but do nothing for middle-class homeowners like her. She also commented, “I cannot tell you how scary it is to think I may lose my home. I work hard and play by the rules and George Bush and John McCain offer nothing to help me, but they are more than happy to have all of us bail out Bear Sterns for $30 billion.”

Conservatives sing the praises of “the market” when it comes to many issues. More recently they have applied their theories to health care. Unfortunately their calls for a “market driven” solution consist of little more than promoting health savings accounts. Frankly, the verdict of “the market” has already come in and it has determined that HSA’s primarily benefit the wealthy. This is certainly no surprise to progressives who have been pointing this fact out for several years.

In yet another study of HSA’s, the Government Accountability Office found that they are being used by more affluent households as tax shelters. It found that the average adjusted gross income of tax filers who made HSA contributions was $139,000 as compared to $57,000 for all other tax filers. The study also found that many HSA participants appear to be using their accounts as a tax shelter rather than paying for out-of-pocket health care costs. The GAO found that 41 percent of tax filers reporting HSA contributions in 2005 did not withdraw any funds from their accounts at any time during the year.

Even after the constant harping about HSA’s being the best thing since sliced bread, it has failed to catch on in “the market” as a whole. The only popular “market” for HSA’s appears to be the wealthy who are in search of more tax shelters. Although conservatives always chant the mantra of letting “the market speak,” they are choosing to ignore its voice on health savings accounts.