http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/trump-guts-pusa-s5.pngAs the US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbs past 200,000, Donald Trump continues to push tax breaks for billionaires while stripping Americans of their health care.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/amandastuck_s5.jpg8th Congressional District Candidate hopes group will give a voice to the recovery community and a seat at the policy making table.

WISCONSIN -- The following is a statement from Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Courtney Beyer on today’s federal court ruling on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Democratic National Committee’s lawsuit regarding registration and ballot deadlines in November:

“We welcome the court’s decision to expand voting in Wisconsin so that more voters have the opportunity to register and have their voices heard in this election. We will continue to  ensure Wisconsinites have the information they need to successfully cast their ballot.”

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/vota-pusa-s5.png“Vote Blue” will run in English and Spanish on digital platforms in presidential and Senate battleground states and draws a direct connection between showing up to protest and showing up to vote.

Will Mike Pompeo defend Trump's chaotic trade wars that have crushed Wisconsin's manufacturers and farmers?

WISCONSIN -- Ahead of Mike Pompeo's visit to Wisconsin, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman released the following statement:

“What we won't hear from Mike Pompeo is the truth about the destruction caused by Donald Trump and his administration cozying up to China. Whether it was Trump's chaotic trade wars that crushed Wiconsin's manufacturers and farmers, or him taking the word of the Chinese government on the truth of COVID-19 over that of our own intelligence community, Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo have bent the knee to China at every turn. Wisconsinites are the ones paying the price for Trump’s deference to China, and we are going to hold the Trump administration accountable for their failures on November 3rd.”

Wisconsinites see through Pence’s thinly veiled visit for what it is: a desperate attempt to obscure the reality of an economy that isn’t working.

WISCONSIN -- Ahead of Mike Pence's visit to Wisconsin, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman released the following statement:

“The Trump-Pence administration has been a failure on every count for Wisconsin families. Even before Trump’s failed coronavirus response, Wisconsin was facing a manufacturing recession exacerbated by chaotic trade policies with China that did nothing but destroy valuable markets and create uncertainty for Wisconsin businesses. We know it didn’t have to be this bad, but now we face even bleaker economic prospects after Trump and Pence botched their response to the pandemic and left states to fend for ourselves. Wisconsinites see through Pence’s thinly veiled visit for what it is: a desperate attempt to obscure the reality of an economy that isn’t working for working people. Joe Biden has a plan to build back our economy stronger than ever, and we look forward to sending him and his steady leadership to Washington.”

Dave Armstrong, Republican Assembly candidate from Rice Lake, posted video featuring former KKK leader David Duke.

WISCONSIN -- Earlier this week, it was reported that Dave Armstrong, the Republican candidate for the 75th Assembly District, has shared a litany of disturbing and racist content on his personal social media accounts. One such video features former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.

This report comes only one week after The Associated Press revealed Armstrong’s history of promoting baseless QAnon conspiracy theories on various social media platforms. Since the story was published, Armstrong has hidden his profile from public view, which contains years of obscene posts.

In response, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Courtney Beyer released the following statement regarding Armstrong’s racist social media posts:

“These revelations are completely disqualifying. Dave Armstrong and his racist ideology belong nowhere near the legislature, and the Republican Party of Wisconsin should immediately denounce his candidacy.”

Dave Armstrong For Assembly is chaired by Representative Romaine Quinn, and the campaign committee has received financial support from the Wisconsin Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.

KEY POINTS BELOW:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bice: Republican Assembly candidate posted video featuring former KKK leader David Duke

• People responded with shock and outrage when a white supremacist murdered nine Black individuals in a Charleston, South Carolina, church in June 2015. Some called for the Confederate flag to be taken down in public places while others brought up reparations for African Americans. David Armstrong would have none of it.
• Armstrong, a Republican running for the state Assembly, posted a series of highly questionable tweets in the weeks after the church shooting.
• On July 10, 2015, Armstrong tweeted out a video on "slavery's dirtiest secrets exposed" featuring former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. In it, Duke makes the dubious claim that Blacks are more likely than whites to have ancestors who owned slaves in antebellum America, thereby undercutting, he said, the argument for reparations and "discrimination against whites."
• Armstrong, who is running in a district that tilts Republican, ended his tweet on the video by asking, "Apologies are due to who by whom?"
• Around the same time, the Rice Lake business leader posted three tweets pushing back on efforts to remove the Confederate flag from public places. In one from July 25, 2015, he linked to a story on a congressional vote to ban the Confederate flag at federal cemeteries.
• "I'm shocked," said John Ellenson, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison basketball player running against Armstrong in the 75th Assembly District in November. "Wow."
• An official with the state Democratic Party condemned the tweets. "These revelations are completely disqualifying," said Courtney Beyer, spokeswoman for the Democrats. "Dave Armstrong and his racist ideology belong nowhere near the Legislature."
• "The first thing I would like to make abundantly clear is that I am not and never have been a supporter or believer in the KKK or David Duke," Armstrong said via email. "They are reprehensible and have no place in our society."
• He offered no apologies for his posts on the Confederate flag.
• Armstrong, executive director of the Barron County Economic Development Corp., was recruited to run by state Rep. Romaine Quinn (R-Barron), who is not running for re-election.
• Over the years, he has written critically of Muslims, former President Barack Obama and various Democrats.
• His David Duke post links to a video that is a hodgepodge of clips on the role of Blacks in the African slave trade and antebellum slavery. It ends with Duke suggesting that a high percentage of Blacks owned slaves in New Orleans, leading him to say that a Black person is "far more likely" to have a direct ancestor who owned Black slaves than is a white person.
• Ellenson said he believes his opponent is far too radical for their Assembly district.
• He said Armstrong's association with white supremacy makes the region appear a "regressive backwater," something that he said is not true.

Reports that he’ll announce Farm Aid just an attempt to buy farmers off and nothing more than an 11th hour campaign stunt.

WISCONSIN -- In response to Trump’s visit and report’s he’ll announce additional aid for farmers, Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden released the following statement:

“Donald Trump continues to think he can buy farmers off, but after devastating our industry -- including the loss of over 2255 dairy farms since Trump took office and a record 818 shutting down forever last year -- we know this is nothing more than an 11th hour campaign stunt; this is too little too late. Trump failed us when he engaged in meaningless trade wars; he abandoned us when he used “bailouts” to give handouts to big Ag who further gobbled up small and medium-sized family farms, he’s shown he’s in the pocket of Big Oil as he continues to undermine the Renewable Fuel Standard, and now he’s doubling down on what we’ve always known: we’re nothing more than a pawn to Trump. 

“Wisconsin farmers are vital to our state and national economy, and are also husbands and fathers, daughters and mothers. But Trump has treated us and thrown us away like we're nothing, and we deserve more from our president. Farmers don’t want handouts, we want sound, reliable markets that can provide for our families and won’t be devastated the way Trump eviscerated the markets that had been supporting Wisconsin families for decades.”

Additional Background

• Wisconsin farmers are facing a once-in-a-generation crisis: 2019 was one of the worst years in recent memory, with 818 dairy farms closing their doors as the state led the nation in farm bankruptcies.
• Donald Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, blew off these closures when in Wisconsin last year, saying: “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out. I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”
• The Trump Administration has not provided any assistance to biofuels producers during COVID-19 and is now considering a $300 million bailout of Big Oil through the Department of Agriculture. Once again, Donald Trump is siding with oil companies over farmers.

Pence’s visit comes on the heels of Janesville moving many of their K-12 students to a fully online education model due to the spike in COVID-19.

JANESVILLE, WI -- Ahead of Mike Pence’s visit to Wisconsin, Congressman Mark Pocan and State Rep. Debra Kolste of Janesville condemned Trump for his utter failure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both leaders highlighted how insulting it is for Pence to visit an area that has seen infections and economic turmoil because of Trump’s failed public health response. 

Pence’s visit also comes on the heels of Janesville moving many of their K-12 students to a fully online education model due to the spike in infections. 

Read key points here:

CBS 58: Biden, Wisconsin Democrats respond to Pence's Janesville visit

• Biden's campaign focused on the Trump administration's COVID-19 response when responding to Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Janesville.
• “President Trump admitted he intentionally downplayed the virus and misled the American people, and Wisconsin continues to pay the price -- in lost jobs, lost businesses, and lost lives," the campaign said in a statement.
• Rep. Mark Pocan, D-WI, held a press call Monday responding to the visit. Pocan said the White House has not given states or hospitals enough support to fight COVID-19.
• “He’s telling states that we’re largely on our own, and he’s also telling us that the virus is in its final stages and that we’re near the end of the pandemic,” Pocan said.
• Pocan and Wisconsin State Rep. Debra Kolste, D-Janesville, said if the Trump administration had taken the virus more seriously to start, Wisconsin would be in better shape economically and from a public health standpoint..
• “Pence comes here and flaunts their recognition that they think they’ve handled this is just, it’s an atrocity," Kolste said. "If they had been honest in the first place, we could have stopped this.”

Tom Palzewicz would welcome the opportunity to call Scott Fitzgerald out on his lies and debate the issues.

Brookfield, WI – Republican Scott Fitzgerald sent out a mailer to Fifth District voters recently, outlining some of his positions. The problem is he had to lie about the Democratic positions to make his point. In the election, his opponent, Tom Palzewicz, would welcome the opportunity to call him out on these lies and debate the issues.

Fitzgerald begins by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a favorite target for President Donald Trump. His claims do not match with Palzewicz's stated positions:

Fitzgerald claims Democrats will:

1. Defund the police. Palzewicz does not favor defunding police, but does advocate for training and changing the policing strategies in places where racial injustice has led to public outcry. Palzewicz is very much in support of law enforcement.
2. Eliminate Medicare as we know it. Palzewicz and the Democrats want to bolster Medicare, expand it, to provide healthcare coverage to all Americans. Republicans would like to kill the Affordable Care Act, which would effectively end coverage over 20 million. Fitzgerald's assertion is false.
3. Punish job creators and jeopardize our recovery. Palzewicz is a small business owner and advocates strongly for job creation and growth. He helped create more than 2,000 jobs in southeastern Wisconsin. Moreover, he sees an opportunity for massive job expansion by leveling the playing field for businesses in Wisconsin.

Tom Palzewicz believes politicians should be elected on their ideas and re-elected on their results. Palzewicz is an open book on his policies, beliefs, and vision for the Fifth District. Fitzgerald, riding on the coattails of Jim Sensenbrenner, will not debate and wants to use his power as Senate Majority Leader to coast his way to Washington without ever having to face his opponent or the voters.

"Democracy is all about the people and hearing their ideas and thoughts," said Palzewicz. "I challenge Mr. Fitzgerald to come out of hiding and face Fifth District voters and not just lie about our positions. Leave the lies to Donald Trump."