Progressive Thinking

GREEN BAY - I got my property tax bill yesterday. I saved $30 over last year. Gov. Walker you have trampled the rights of every state employee, you have demonized and demoralize teachers, you have increased class sizes, you have destroyed collective bargaining, you continue battling Affordable Health Care, you have destroyed the right to protest your shenanigans by appointing a Gestapo police chief who will do your bidding. Now that you have the Senate back you will continue to lead Wisconsin back a hundred years, pollute the environment, destroy the public school system with vouchers, and continue your assault on voting rights. But I saved $30 on my property tax.

Well call me Warren Buffet but I would love to pay that $30 plus a lot more to allow families and neighbors to talk to each other again, and keep Wisconsin on a progressive track for the future for our workers and our children. 

Rich Langan

There are lots of rumors about Obamacare. Many are aimed at scaring seniors, and it’s election time so we’re hearing even more. So what’s true?

Will “unelected bureaucrats” at the Independent Patient Advisory Board (IPAB) “ration” my care? No – Politifact, a Pulitzer Prize winning fact-checker, says “The IPAB is forbidden from submitting ‘any recommendation to ration health care,’ as Section 3403 of the health care law states. It may not raise premiums for Medicare beneficiaries or increase deductibles, coinsurance or co-payments.” Instead, it makes recommendations to bring costs under control when spending increases too much. Our elected Congress can overrule them anytime.

Is Obamacare doubling premiums, cutting Medicare, and reducing benefits? Again the answer is no, but you can check your own premium and benefits. Medicare’s actuary predicts premiums will rise only slightly in coming years, to $112.10 in 2014. And under Obamacare, Medicare’s budget still increases, but not as much as previously forecast. It does so by making Medicare more efficient and has actually extended Medicare’s life.

At the same time, Obamacare has added benefits to Medicare. Many preventive services are now available without co-pay or deductible so we can catch things early or prevent them altogether, saving money and lives. Seniors hitting the “donut hole” now get a 50% discount on brand name prescription drugs.

We know it’s an election year, but seniors have paid into Medicare and they’ve earned the truth. If you come across more rumors, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 414-771-9511.

This legislative session has been defined by lost opportunities, bad choices and an agenda that has hurt working families across Wisconsin. The most important issue by far is jobs for struggling families. Unfortunately, this has been Gov. Walker’s biggest shortcoming.

The United States has added jobs every month for 17 months now. All but six states added jobs last year. All Wisconsin’s neighboring states gained jobs during that time. This is all good news for our country and region.

However, we cannot share in that celebration here. Wisconsin lost 12,500 jobs. And not only was our state one of six that lost jobs – Wisconsin lost three times more jobs than Missouri, which had the second-highest job loss.

This is terrible news for our state and our struggling families. And an appropriate reaction would be to spend this last week while the legislature is still in session focusing like a laser on job creation.

Instead, the Republicans have chosen to focus on bills that are socially extreme, hurt public education and harm women’s health care. Democratic attempts to bring jobs bills promoting manufacturing, angel investment and technical college job training were shot down.

Gov. Walker pledged last fall to work in a bipartisan fashion on job creation. He said his top two priorities were venture capital and mining, and he failed on both accounts. Now he is blaming others for his failure to roll up his sleeves, work together and get the job done.

The legislative session is nearly over, and Republicans have shown no desire to devote any serious focus to job creation. In the strongest possible terms, I renew my call for a bipartisan process to select bills that will help put people back to work quickly.

It is never too late to work together with a laser focus on job creation, as we have wanted to do for the past year. We owe it to Wisconsin’s struggling families and small businesses to help them recover and give them long-term economic security.

By: Rep. Peter Barca

Everywhere I go, people ask me, “Can Tammy Baldwin win Herb Kohl’s Senate seat?”  The answer – with your help – Yes She Will !

I strongly support Tammy – she’s a hard worker, tough and cannot be bought. I had the honor of working with her and know she is always on our side.

Tammy has a steel spine, and even when the odds are against her, she never backs down. 
She always stands up for working class families.  No doubt about it, Tammy Baldwin is just like you and me.

She believes our children should be sent to school, not to unnecessary wars overseas.

Tammy believes health insurance companies should never again be allowed to discriminate against anyone because of pre-existing medical conditions.  She gets it – too many of our jobs have been shipped overseas.

Tammy is just like us… and she will always protect your job and your family.

But she cannot help us unless we help her – right now.

Tammy needs your help to keep on fighting for everyone in Wisconsin.  Please volunteer your time and contribute to her election now.

Join me in supporting Tammy.  Let’s work together and win this critical U.S. Senate race.  Click here to contribute securely online.

Please contribute  $250, $100, $50, $5 or whatever you can to elect Tammy. She is exactly the change we need.

Wisconsin can’t wait, and we can’t afford to sit this race out!  That’s why I humbly and respectfully ask you to join Tammy Baldwin today.

Thank you for your serious consideration.  Have a safe and healthy Holiday Season.

On Wisconsin!

Steve Kagen, M.D.
Member of Congress (Retired)

PS:  Send this message to all your family and friends.  Do it now.  We Can’t Wait.


Written by Steve Kagen, M.D. and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

'twas the night before Christmas, and all through the state, petitioners were stirring, because the recall can't wait...

The republicans were smugly snuggled, with Koch cash in their bed, while the rest of the state is all seeing red...

The volunteers in their recall t- shirts and the staff in winter hats weren't settling down for a let- up just yet...

For out in our communities there arose such a clatter because when Walker got in we knew something was the matter...

When, what to our wondering eyes should appear, but thousands of protesters with a resolve without fear.

No Walker! no Walker! No walker! They called...

And that wish will come true if we all keep resolve...

For there is no greater gift that we can give our great state,

Than a Democratic governor

Before it's too late!

Looking forward to working with you all in 2012!