MADISON – Today Rep. Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire) offered the Democratic Weekly Radio Address. The topic this week is Republican priorities at the beginning of the new legislative session, including getting rid of the current Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court and dismantling the state's nonpartisan elections watchdog.

"Settling political scores will not create a single job, grow our middle class or ensure better opportunities for our citizens," Rep. Wachs said. "Our fellow Wisconsinites want us to focus on important issues like growing jobs and wages, strengthening our communities and creating opportunities for our children to succeed – not creating opportunities for Republicans to take over every aspect of our government."

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here.

A copy of this version is attached here.

A written transcript of the address is below:

With Wisconsin lagging the nation on job and wage growth and facing a staggering budget deficit, our primary goal as elected officials should be working together to rebuild a strong middle class and create economic opportunities for all hardworking people in our state.

Unfortunately, Republicans’ primary goal so far has been consolidating their political power and trying to thwart democracy.

This week Republicans are trying to change our constitution to get rid of the current Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. This comes just weeks after Republicans put forward another proposal that would set an age limit for Supreme Court justices, all because Republicans don’t agree with the current Chief Justice. Republicans even want to turn our elections watchdog into a partisan lapdog.

As Democrats meet with people around Wisconsin, not one person has told us that interfering with our state’s highest court and our nonpartisan elections agency are among their top priorities. Our fellow Wisconsinites want us to focus on important issues like growing jobs and wages, strengthening our communities and creating opportunities for our children to succeed – not creating opportunities for Republicans to take over every aspect of our government.

Settling political scores will not create a single job, grow our middle class or ensure better opportunities for our citizens. Democrats are ready to stand up for our shared values and advance bold new ideas to move Wisconsin forward. That’s what our constituents expect and deserve.