MADISON, Wis. -- As the House begins its bipartisan investigation into the January 6th attack on our democracy, Derrick Van Orden still refuses to answer questions about his participation in the deadly insurrection. In response, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler issued the following statement:

“The January 6th insurrection was an attack on American democracy, and Derrick Van Orden still hasn’t answered for his presence on the Capitol grounds that day. Van Orden not only lied about his location on that tragic, lethal day, but he appears to have misused campaign funds to bankroll his trip to D.C. Wisconsinites deserve to know the truth. Derrick Van Orden is unfit to serve in Congress.”

MADISON - Over 2.5 million Wisconsinites rely on Medicare and Medicaid, but that hasn’t stopped Ron Johnson from trying to cut these vital programs to pay for handouts for giant corporations at the expense of Wisconsin seniors and families, including children.

Johnson has voted three times to end Medicare as we know it, gutting funding, driving up out of pocket costs for seniors, and raising the eligibility age. In addition, Johnson has tried to rip away health care coverage from Wisconsin seniors, children, and disabled individuals by cutting Medicaid. Most recently in what was one of his most callous votes yet, Johnson voted against allowing Medicaid to cover the COVID-19 vaccine, prevention, and treatment, as well as against funding that would allow seniors to receive quality care in their community, not just nursing homes.

Check out a snapshot of Johnson’s dangerous anti Medicare & Medicaid record below:

• Over 1,193,000 Wisconsinites receive Medicare, while another 1,353,000, including children, receive Medicaid.
• Johnson voted multiple times to end Medicare as we know it, which the CBO found would greatly drive up out of pocket costs for senior Wisconsinites.
  • The legislation would also raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.
• Johnson also voted against expanding Medicare coverage for Wisconsinites.
• But Johnson didn’t stop at just trying to rip Medicare coverage away from older Wisconsinites -- he also voted against protecting existing coverage.
• Johnson was all too giddy that Wisconsin didn’t expand Medicaid coverage like the majority of other states.
  • Johnson went so far as to try and kill Medicaid expansion in other states.

Oshkosh legislator calls on GOP legislators to set politics aside, approve $550 Million for public education.

MADISON - Monday, Gov. Tony Evers announced he is calling a special session of the Wisconsin State Legislature to invest an additional $550 million into public education in Wisconsin, including $440 million for Wisconsin’s K-12 schools and $110 million for the UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System. Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement:

“I applaud Governor Evers for calling for this special session and urging the state legislature to invest an additional $550 million into public education in Wisconsin. It is entirely thanks to Gov. Evers’ partial vetoes that our state has this additional funding to provide critically important resources to our public schools as they continue supporting and educating our kids and adjusting to a new normal. Particularly given the fact that legislative Republicans allowed only 20% as much for new classroom funding in the 21-23 budget compared to what they included in former Governor Walker’s last budget, Assembly Democrats are proud to support Gov. Evers’ call to action and invest more funding in our K-12 public schools and higher education institutions.

“It is telling that, at the exact moment Gov. Evers is urging the Republican-controlled state legislature to put the future of Wisconsin kids ahead of partisan politics, Assembly Republicans are poised to continue their pattern of playing political games, this time with a veto-override attempt they know will fail. These political games are exceedingly unfortunate, because they do a disservice to the people of Wisconsin, who have real needs and expect serious action from their elected leaders, and because they are a waste of precious time as our state works to recover from the pandemic.

“I urge my Republican colleagues to join legislative Democrats and Governor Evers in doing what they should have done in the first place, which is ensuring our schools have the resources they need coming out of the pandemic. School districts across Wisconsin have told us loud and clear that they need more funding to meet the needs of our kids and to avoid cuts and layoffs in the next two years. Now is not the time for political games. Now is the time for real leadership.”

U.S. Senate candidate and Outagamie County executive Tom Nelson plans to wrestle Wall Street and corporate interests to the ground.

Madison, Wis. -- Wednesday in an interview with Lisa Boothe, Senator Ron Johnson admitted that, despite his best efforts, he hasn’t been “particularly successful.”

What is Johnson most disappointed by?

• That he failed in his efforts to strip away health care coverage and protections for people with pre-existing conditions away from over 883,000Wisconsinites.
• That his dangerous misinformation campaign about the COVID-19 vaccine is being treated with the skepticism it rightfully deserves.
• That during his time in the Senate the national debt doubled.
• Finally, after spending the week obstructing the bipartisan infrastructure efforts, going as far as to say “what’s going on in Washington D.C., unfortunately, is bipartisanship. I always tell people [to] beware of bipartisanship,”...he actually complained about how “dysfunction” in D.C. frustrates him.

Insider: Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson says he hasn't been 'particularly successful' in Congress because the debt soared and Obamacare survived under GOP leadership

The second-term senator, who said he was still undecided about running for reelection next year, told the conservative commentator Lisa Boothe that he ran for the Senate in 2010 because he wanted to get rid of Obamacare and lower the national debt. But his party hasn't managed to make progress on either issue, even under President Donald Trump.

"I feel really bad that I've been here now probably 11 years and we've doubled the debt," Johnson said. "Obamacare's still in place, and we've doubled the debt. I don't feel like my time here has been particularly successful."

Trump, who has publicly urged Johnson to run for reelection, promised to repeal Obamacare, but Republican lawmakers abandoned their campaign to get rid of the popular healthcare law after repeated legislative failures. Trump also promised to pay down the national debt over eight years, but he instead presided over the third-largest increase in the national debt under any administration.

Johnson said "dysfunction" in Washington made his job frustrating and lamented that the media "rakes me over the coals, relentlessly" because of the "truths that I tell."

The senator, elected as part of the tea party's 2010 surge in Congress, has pushed misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines and has said he won't get vaccinated. He told Boothe on Wednesday that there were "serious, serious issues" with the COVID-19 vaccines and that there was no reason for Americans who aren't in high-risk categories for COVID-19 to get vaccinated.

The Wisconsin lawmaker said the federal government was ignoring risks associated with the vaccines and attempting to assert control over the public by pushing Americans to get vaccinated. These assertions aren't backed by science, which shows that vaccines dramatically reduce the chance of serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19, including sickness from the dominant Delta variant.

"It creeps me out that the government is wanting to push a vaccine in everybody's arm, even those people that don't need it," Johnson told Boothe. "Sorry Uncle Joe, I'm not signing up for that program. I don't trust them. … It's creeping me out because it's not rational."

He added: "This push to mass-vaccinate everybody — even those who've had COVID or even those that really have very little risk of any kind of serious impact if they get COVID — it just doesn't make sense, particularly with a vaccine that is not fully approved."

The senator has repeatedly and wrongly claimed that natural immunity from a COVID-19 infection is stronger than immunity provided by a vaccine and pointed to misleading data to support his claims about the safety of the vaccines.

Johnson called this "a perilous moment for our nation" because Democrats who "don't like this country" have "devious plans" to "fundamentally transform" it. The senator said he wanted his Republican colleagues in Congress to focus more on "culture-war issues," including the debate over teaching critical race theory in schools.

Madison, Wis. -- In an interview with Breitbart, Ron Johnson took his opposition to the bipartisan infrastructure efforts a step further, vowing to “slow down the process” and do everything he could to keep Wisconsin communities from getting needed infrastructure improvements.

“With his self-serving declaration to do everything possible to block bipartisan infrastructure,  Ron Johnson proves yet again that he doesn’t work for Wisconsinites,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Senate Communications Advisor Philip Shulman. “Johnson has become the ringleader for obstructionism as he chooses to play political games with Wisconsinites' livelihoods rather than support real solutions that would help the Badger state.”

Johnson, previously stated “beware of bipartisanship,” and blasted efforts to pass this legislation that would be a boon for Wisconsin’s workers and economy.

Warns “Beware of Bipartisanship”

Madison, Wis. - During a Fox News interview Ron Johnson once again came out against bipartisan infrastructure efforts that would positively impact communities across Wisconsin. However, Johnson didn't stop at criticizing the bipartisan infrastructure efforts; he came out swinging against the very idea of working in a bipartisan manner saying, "I always warn people [to] beware of bipartisanship.”

“Wisconsinites are fed up with the self-serving, partisan games Ron Johnson continues to play at their expense. The fact that communities across Wisconsin will benefit from the bipartisan infrastructure bill makes absolutely no difference to Johnson,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Senate Communications Advisor Philip Shulman said. “The only person Johnson serves in Washington is himself.”

The bipartisan infrastructure package will help rebuild roads and bridges, expand broadband, particularly in rural areas, and invest in utility infrastructure like water pipes.

Governor says he supports any decision Mandela makes about how best to serve the people of Wisconsin.

Madison Representative thanks people who helped move the project forward.

MADISON - Thursday, while campaigns across Wisconsin filed their finance reports and disclosed their donors, likely GOP candidate Rebecca Kleefisch continued to avoid transparency by running for governor through her “nonprofit” organization, the 1848 Project.

Kleefisch has made no secret of the fact that she is a candidate for governor, telling a reporter “you’re not wrong” when asked if she was running. By running her campaign through this shadow group, Kleefisch is avoiding the scrutiny that comes from being an announced candidate. Without disclosing her donors, Wisconsin voters have no idea what individuals, corporations, or special interests are funding her campaign across the state.

In addition to Kleefisch’s comments confirming her intent to run for governor, the 1848 Project has done little to hide its true purpose. For example, she has hired political operatives for key roles in the organization and ran multiple radio ads directly attacking Gov. Evers on a range of issues.

An IRS complaint has been filed against Kleefisch’s “nonprofit” organization. In the meantime, Kleefisch still owes Wisconsinites answers about her dark money group:

• When will the 1848 Project’s donors be disclosed publicly?
• What expenditures has the 1848 Project made to raise Kleefisch’s profile across the state?
• What role do partisan political operatives play in the 1848 Project?
• When Kleefisch announces her run for governor, will she disband the 1848 Project, or will it continue to act as a dark money organization to support her candidacy?

“While other candidates have been required to file financial reports, Rebecca Kleefisch has tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes and evade the same level of scrutiny as an announced candidate,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Rapid Response Director Kayla Anderson. “Kleefisch isn’t fooling anyone - it’s obvious the 1848 Project is a gubernatorial campaign in disguise. Kleefisch needs to disclose who is funding this shadow campaign and what role these GOP political hacks are playing in it. Wisconsinites deserve nothing less than full transparency.”