http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/trump-2020-sou-s5.pngWisconsin Republicans are obstructing progress in the fight against Coronavirus as President Trump refuses to mobilize a national testing and contact tracing program.

Wisconsinites blast the administration for putting people at risk. Congressman Mark Pocan, State Senator Dave Hansen, and two women who lost jobs due to coronavirus call out the administration for their failure to properly respond to the pandemic.

MADISON, WI - Yesterday, just over one month after the Trump administration promised there’d be over 27 million tests in the US market by the end of March, Mike Pence badgered Wisconsin with a publicity stunt to distract from Donald Trump's failed COVID-19 response and his refusal to enact a nationwide testing a contact tracing program.

Wisconsinites didn’t let this go unchallenged, blasting the administration for putting people at risk. Congressman Mark Pocan, State Senator Dave Hansen, Madison area nurse Shari Signer, and Susan Berna, who lost both jobs due to coronavirus, called out the administration for their failure to properly respond to the pandemic.

See, in part, what Wisconsinites said about the administration’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic:

WPR: "Shari Signer, an inpatient nurse in Madison, spoke with reporters on the Tuesday call organized by Pocan’s office. She and her husband are both nurses. Signer said she was recently told to keep reusing masks 'until there are visible holes or broken straps on them.' 'I’m expected to wear the same mask from patient room to patient room, despite their isolation, despite their health care conditions,' she said. At the end of the day, she puts the mask in a brown paper bag to be re-worn the next day. 'It is outrageous that health care workers continue to show up for a battle against a deadly virus without the protection, resources and support that we need to safely do our jobs,' she said."

Wisconsin Examiner: “[Senator Dave] Hansen concurred, adding, ‘From reports that the White House was warned as early as November to Trump admitting he knew as early as January about the impending crisis, Trump slow rolled his response to the pandemic that has taken over our lives.’...And [Susan] Berna talked about desperately seeking coverage under the ACA. ‘I feel President Trump has really failed all of us,’ she said, ‘by not allowing the marketplace to be open for a longer period of time so that we could get the insurance not only that we can afford, but that would take care of us if we do catch this horrible virus.’”

The Cap Times: “Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, goes to the heart of matter when he says, ‘The lack of crucial supplies needed to fight COVID-19 is straining hospitals and putting Wisconsinites and health care workers at risk.’ Pocan speaks an urgent truth when he explains, ‘The federal response has been woefully inadequate to the needs of our state. We need FEMA to step up. Nationwide, we are failing to test people for this deadly virus quick enough. Wisconsin labs are attempting to ramp up capacity and serve the people of our state, but cannot do so without the testing supplies the federal government to provide. States like Wisconsin are doing everything in their power to fight this pandemic, but the federal government’s failures are threatening us all.’

MJS: "U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat who represents Madison and the surrounding area, called the federal response to the pandemic 'pathetic.' 'Where the hell is the federal government response for places like Wisconsin?,' Pocan said. 'If we can’t test, we can’t open up. Where the hell are the supplies for the state of Wisconsin and the people who live here?'"

The AP: Pocan, citing a letter his office received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier on Tuesday, said that Wisconsin has received only a fraction of the supplies that Evers has requested. The White House provided a tally that included supplies provided by FEMA as well as what has been purchased from private vendors ‘It's pathetic what they've delivered us in the state of Wisconsin,’ Pocan said.”

NBC News: “Officials have identified seven [now 19] people who appear to have contracted the coronavirus through activities related to the April 7 election in Wisconsin, Milwaukee's health commissioner said, and advocates worry that they could be just the ‘tip of the iceberg.’...Now, Wisconsin Democrats worry that there may be more yet-to-be-reported cases...‘I fear this is just the beginning,’ Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen told reporters on a conference call Tuesday.” [Senator Hansen went on to discuss the dire need for Trump and the federal government to step up their PPE and testing support for Wisconsin]

Additional Background on testing failure:

On March 28, The Date By Which Giroir Had Promised 27 Million Tests Kits Would Be Made Available, The U.S. Had Conducted Just 801,416 Tests. “March 28 Tests in the United States: 801,416 (2,442 tests per million people. 16.1 percent positive rate.) Tests in South Korea: 387,925 (7,568 tests per million people. 1.5 percent positive rate.) ...Notice, too, that this was the day mentioned by Giroir on which 27 million test kits would be available. To date, fewer than 1 million tests had been conducted.” [Washington Post, 3/31/20]

During The Week Of April 12, “The Number Of Coronavirus Diagnostic Tests Being Completed Every Day Has Plateaued Over The Last Week — At A Number That Falls Far Short Of What Experts Say Is Needed.” “The number of coronavirus diagnostic tests being completed every day has plateaued over the last week — at a number that falls far short of what experts say is needed… Several factors are holding it back:  Supply shortages for key test ingredients, swabs, test kits, and personal protective equipment. Poor coordination: Some labs have excess testing capacity, but aren’t being sent samples from the providers collecting them. Rules about who gets tested: Many states have limited testing to the sickest patients, and caseloads are dropping overall. But clinicians often have discretion as to who they test.” [Axios, 4/17/20]

Oshkosh area State Representative wants to continue to represent hometown.

OSHKOSH – Gordon Hintz announced today that he will be seeking re-election to the State Assembly in the 54th Assembly District. Representative Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement on the announcement:

“Today, I am excited to announce I will be seeking another term in the State Assembly. I am running to continue serving the people of Oshkosh in the State Capitol, and to be their voice in state government.

“In the midst of a public health and economic crisis, we need experienced leadership in the State Assembly. I am confident my time in public service has prepared me to help find solutions to address the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

“It is an honor and privilege to represent my hometown. It is something I do not take for granted. As a proud Wisconsinite and Oshkosh native, I remain committed to serving the families and businesses that make our community a great place to live and work.”

Representative Hintz was first elected to the Assembly in 2006. He has served on the Joint Committee on Finance and was elected by his colleagues as Assembly Democratic Leader in 2017. During his time in office, Hintz has successfully worked to bring state infrastructure investment to Oshkosh, fought unfair predatory loan practices, and worked to create better public health policy.

TV Ads Will Run in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/trump-covid-natl-emerg-s5.pngDonald Trump wasted months ignoring the coronavirus, and now he's sending Mike Pence here for a photo-op while health professionals and patients in Wisconsin are still scrambling to get the medical equipment they need.

The Trump administration has already failed the people of Wisconsin with his disastrous response to coronavirus. So Pence is Coming to do Damage Control.

MADISON - Wednesday night, Vice President Pence announced he is traveling to Madison next week to visit a GE health care manufacturing facility. If at first you’re surprised by these travel plans, once you take a look at what happened last week, it’ll be extremely clear why he's making this trip.

Amid a global pandemic, Wisconsin voters defied the president, rejecting his pick for SCOWIS, incumbent Dan Kelly, and choosing Jill Karofsky, the liberal justice, by more than 160,000 votes. As a reminder, Trump won Wisconsin by roughly 20,000 votes in 2016.

Karofsky didn’t just win in liberal strongholds of Milwaukee and Dane county, but also in the suburbs and even some of Wisconsin’s rural areas. And though Kelly still picked up the WOW counties, it was by reduced margins compared to the 2019 Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

Karofsky swept the southwestern counties, which included several that went to Obama in 2012 but shifted to Trump in 2016, suggesting support for the president is not guaranteed in these areas. And in last week’s election, Trump himself received fewer total votes than Karofsky’s opponent.

It’s clear that support of the president is slipping in every corner of this key battleground state. So Trump has called on Pence to pay a visit and do damage control.

Wisconsinites aren’t buying it. The Trump administration has already failed the people of Wisconsin with his disastrous response to coronavirus that has put Wisconsinites lives at risk and forced over 300,000 Wisconsinites to file for unemployment so far. Voters from across the state are fired up and speaking out against his failed response, filming selfie videos while in quarantine:

And instead of doing what actually matters in this time of crisis — making sure everyone has the supplies they need to confront coronavirus — the Trump campaign is suing a local Rhinelander TV station over the fact that they have continued running a Priorities USA Action ad that uses Donald Trump's own words to show how he downplayed the spread of COVID-19 for months while the number of infected Americans increased exponentially. Trump may not want voters to hear what he was saying as the virus spread, but we will not stop holding him accountable.

So as Pence comes to Madison to do damage control, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if you’d like to be connected to a Wisconsinite who can speak to how Trump is failing our state.

Best,

Cassidy

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/trump-2020-sou-s5.pngApril 7 election results over Trump-backed candidate demonstrate how Wisconsin voters are continuing to move away from the president.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/jill_karofsky-s5.jpgWisDems thank all the poll workers and voters who made unimaginable sacrifices to keep a semblance of democracy working last Tuesday.

Widespread reports of absentee ballots being returned to election officials by the USPS with either no postmarks, illegible postmarks, or postmarks without dates.

MADISON, WI - Following widespread reports of absentee ballots being returned to election officials by the USPS with either no postmarks, illegible postmarks, or postmarks without dates, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s legal counsel has sent a letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) with suggested guidance on how best to count such ballots.  This guidance is in accord with WEC staff’s guidance and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee which, in creating a brand-new postmark requirement, emphasized the importance of counting ballots that were voted on or before election day.

The letter urges clerks to 1) count ballots that arrived on April 8 without a postmark, 2) assume ballots received on April 9 to have been mailed on time unless proven otherwise, and 3) count ballots received on April 10 or later if there’s reason to believe they were mailed on time. 

You can read the entire letter here.

"Today, I am asking all Americans — I'm asking every Democrat, I'm asking every independent, I'm asking a lot of Republicans — to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse," Sanders said.

WASHINGTON, DC - Ex-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed former rival Joe Biden during a virtual event on Monday.

Read the developing report here