One Wisconsin Now

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.”

Polly Belcher, a public health nurse from Milwaukee, said that “Not only has John McCain opposed comprehensive health care reform, he has offered a plan which discourages employers from providing coverage and will lead to 48 million uninsured Americans.”

Delores Detert, a retired teacher and cancer survivor from New Berlin, spoke about seniors struggling to afford prescription drug coverage because they fall in a coverage “doughnut hole” created by the Bush-McCain agenda. She said that “the cancer medications that I have to take have me fall into the doughnut hole each year on top of still paying my monthly insurance premiums.”

Shane Sanderson, a retired 22-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, said that Bush’s plan to continue the war in Iraq, which is supported by McCain, has been a huge burden for the economy. He also pointed to their lack of support for the current G.I. Bill. He said, “If their unwillingness to end the war was not bad enough, Bush has threatened to veto and McCain has opposed a simple plan to provide our troops with the same G.I. Bill education benefits our fathers and grandfathers had after World War II.”