The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Alaska GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski stunned the nation in speaking out on Trump: “We are all afraid. I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real, and that’s not right.” Creating fear is the pathway to establishing a dictatorship. Paralysis is not the answer. Getting angry, speaking out and organizing broad, peaceful opposition is the best response. Protest and vote. Fight to win the 2026 congressional midterm elections.
Wisconsin Catholic bishops spoke out prophetically: they “sent a letter to each member of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, urging them to consider how the (recently passed) budget reconciliation bill will impact families, especially those facing financial hardship. The bishops voiced particular concern with proposed cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and other safety net programs, saying that loss in revenue created by tax cuts cannot be made up by cuts to programs serving those most in need” (Wisconsin Catholic Conference press release).
What is reconciliation? It begins with passage of a budget resolution in the House and Senate (can’t be filibustered). All Wisconsin congressional Republicans voted yes, while state congressional Democrats were opposed. Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, supported by Murkowski, but not Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, tried unsuccessfully to delete “an instruction to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to find $880 billion in spending reductions” (NYT).
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Passage of the budget resolution masked divisions among congressional Republicans on how much to cut to pay for “Trump’s preferred tax agenda … between $5 trillion and $11 trillion over the next decade” (Catherine Rampell – Washington Post). Ordinarily, the Senate parliamentarian is in charge of ruling on a reconciliation bill that increases the deficit down the road. But Senate Republicans, apparently concerned how the parliamentarian might rule, decided to sidestep the parliamentarian. Worse, Senate Republicans are pretending that extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will cost nothing. Sprinkling fairy dust doesn’t change a lie.
Senator Baldwin aptly said: “But instead of listening to the 4 in 5 Americans who want to protect Medicaid, Republicans voted for a plan that puts this essential lifeline for families on the chopping block so they can make room in the budget for tax giveaways to Wall Street investors and big corporations.” Baldwin and the Catholic bishops are on the same page and not alone.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that instructions to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in cuts would require slashing Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and/or Medicare. However, Wisconsin GOP Representative Derrick Van Orden said critics, implying the bishops, Baldwin and the CBO, were “lying and engaging in fearmongering … .” Van Orden also promised not to cut Medicaid. Over one million Wisconsinites, including 152,900 in Van Orden’s 3rd congressional district, are enrolled in Medicaid. The reconciliation bill can’t be filibustered in the Senate, but it could be stopped in the House by only a handful of Republicans. Time for Van Orden to put up or shut up.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
