Tell me what you’re for

 Tell Me What You’re For

Not What You’re Against

 

Many years ago, I worked with a former union organizer at the Credit Union National Association in Madison who had a motto that has stayed with me ever since. He often told me, “Tell me what you’re for, not what you’re against.” I try to remember this as I organize and work with folks who want to make the world a better place. 

 

Generally, I am for ideas and legislation that benefit working people and their families.

 

A prime example of what I am for was recently passed by Democrats in Congress and signed into law by President Biden. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 passed both houses without a single Wisconsin Republican legislator’s vote. 

 

Here’s what the new law does for us. 

 

It extends subsidies that help make the Affordable Care Act coverage more affordable. The subsidies were set to expire at the end of this year and the new law extends them through 2025. For those who were set to lose ACA coverage when the subsidies expired, you get to keep your health insurance.  The Act will save the average middle class family of four in Wisconsin $6,259 on their yearly premiums. 

 

The Act also reforms Medicare to lower prescription drug costs for those who have Part D coverage. Seniors with Part D coverage will have their out-of-pocket prescription drug costs capped at $2,000 per year and their insulin copays capped at $35 per month. The Act gives Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drug costs with pharmaceutical companies which will drive costs down for consumers. 

 

The new Act contains the largest ever national investment in the fight against climate change, speeds up private companies’ transition to clean energy technologies, expands domestic manufacturing of clean energy products and boosts American energy independence.

 

The Act provides $80 billion in financial rebates to homeowners who buy clean energy products, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and other more energy efficient products. They can get $8,000 for a heat pump, $4,000 for an upgraded breaker box, $2,500 for upgraded electrical wiring, $1,750 for a heat pump water heater, $1,600 for insulation, air sealing and ventilation, $840 for an electric stove and $840 for an electric clothes dryer. 

 

The Act pays for these measures and helps reduce the deficit by making large corporations pay their fair share of the tax burden. There will also be a 1% tax on stock buy backs to help reduce corporate executive pay boosts. The Act does not raise taxes on small businesses or on Americans who earn less than $400,000 annually. 

 

Closer to home, Governor Evers popular Main Street Bounceback Grant Program continues to deliver for local small businesses, especially those damaged by the pandemic. Recently, Evers and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation announced an additional $25 million investment in the program, bringing the total to $100 million. The program has helped over 6,200 small businesses across all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have been approved for $10,000 grants to help them move or expand into vacant spaces. More businesses can still apply for this assistance.

 

Funded largely by federal American Rescue Plan Act, Evers’ Main Street Bounceback grants have helped our economic recovery, lower our state’s unemployment rate, increase Wisconsin exports, open more new businesses and attract businesses from other states. 

 

I support these government programs that use tax dollars to help us all grow and prosper. They are positive examples of government in action that must continue as we dig out from under the COVID cloud. I fail to understand why Republicans in Congress or here in Wisconsin oppose these efforts to help us all grow. 

 

Democratic legislators we send to Washington are getting it done. Send more Democrats to Wisconsin’s legislature and still more positive things will happen.