Sen. Ron Johnson Confident in Piecemeal Approach to Repeal Affordable Care Act

Representative Joel Kitchens

Rep. Kitchens released the following statement after Governor Walker’s State of the State address to the joint session of the Wisconsin State Legislature:

“After listening to Governor Walker give his address, I am proud of the state of our state and enthusiastic about its future. Wisconsin continues to maintain a strong financial foothold while our economy and jobs climate continues to improve. In the last six years we have decreased taxes by nearly $5 billion, putting taxpayer money back into taxpayer pockets. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate also continues to decline, well below the national average. It is evident that our reforms are working. With that said, there is still much for us to do to make the lives of Wisconsin taxpayers better. Freeing individuals from regulatory burden and making government as efficient and effective as possible remains crucial.

“As the session begins, I look forward to leading the charge on modernizing the K-12 funding formula. This is my top priority heading into this session. For 15 years I served as a member of a school board where I dealt with a variety of issues facing teachers, parents and students. In addition to chairing the Children and Families Committee, I will continue to serve as the vice chair of the important Committee on Education. I know that my real-life experience and expertise will serve these committees well.

“I feel honored and privileged to be given another opportunity to serve the people of the 1st assembly district. I look forward to working with the governor and my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to continue moving Wisconsin forward.”

Additionally, Kitchens serves on the following committees: Agriculture, Environment and Forestry, Tourism, Financial Institutions.

Source: Kitchens press release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

On “Capital City Sunday,” Baldwin said the political system is rigged to benefit those at the economic top, and that Trump’s cabinet picks are perpetuating this trend.

“Since I was elected in 2012, I have been fighting very powerful interests in Washington who have been trying to, and have succeeded in, rigging the system,” she said. “When you look at (Trump’s) early nominees for early cabinet posts and his rhetoric around ‘draining the swamp,’ there are some huge concerns.”

Baldwin said she’s been fighting the “revolving door” of government officials who come straight from Wall Street to oversee the industry they just left, then return to industry after working in government. Some of Trump’s picks fall into this unsettling category, she said.

“He talked about draining the swamp, but it looks to me like there’s going to be a lot of foxes put in charge of the henhouses, if you will,” she said.

She’s also working to have political appointees and elected officials reveal their tax returns in order to expose a rigged tax system.

“Somebody’s tax returns are incredibly crucial to understanding how (the tax system) has worked and fighting for a change in the system,” she said, noting very few of Trump’s nominees have disclosed the information required of them before the hearings.

Source: The Capital Times

Senator Ron Johnson

Sen. Johnson said he “will freely admit that Republicans in the House and Senate don’t have total agreement” on an Obamacare replacement plan despite a late-night budget move to begin repealing the law. But the Wisconsin Republican, speaking on CNN’s New Day, expressed confidence that congressional Republicans could coalesce around a plan despite multiple competing proposals. He also suggested that the strategy to replace Obamacare would involve a series of piecemeal reforms as opposed to a complete overhaul. “I don’t think you’re going to see one massive plan like Obamacare. You’re going to see a step-by-step approach targeting the individual damage of the individual reforms, and we’ll put in replacements for each individual one of those problems,” Johnson said. “Anyway, that would be my approach. Other people have different ideas.”

Source: CNN

President Donald Trump

President Trump continued to make unorthodox decisions on the way to the Oval Office, and some Christian leaders are not happy about one such choice he made. Paula White was invited to deliver a prayer at the inauguration ceremony alongside five other religious leaders. White is a proponent of the “prosperity gospel” which says faith is rewarded with material possessions and wealth, but many Evangelical Christians consider this to be a heretical teaching. Conservative Christian Erick Erickson was very vocal in his opposition to White, writing, “Paula White is a trinity-denying heretic. She rejects the Council of Nicaea’s creed that every Christian accepts. To reject the orthodoxy of the Nicene Creed is to reject Christianity itself.” Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said, “Paula White is a charlatan and recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe.” White has been a longtime friend and supporter of Trump, whose own religiosity has been questioned by some critics.

Source: theblaze.com