The Democratic Party of Rusk County Wisconsin is the political home for people with diverse ideas. The following position statements were developed by small teams of people, often including people with opposing views. It is our feeling that good government is never the product of strident ideologues or powerful individuals. It must belong to reasonable people willing to learn, promote and compromise for the greater good.
If you have differing views from these positions, we welcome hearing from you. We might not agree but we will take note of your good faith views.
You may also be interested to read the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Platform.
Reproductive Rights
Today’s evangelical religious challenge to reproductive rights rings a bell to women who are old enough to have gone through the struggle for women’s health care that took place in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Back in the ‘Good Old Days’, a woman couldn’t try her hand at sports other than cheerleading, buy a car without her husband’s signature or lead a team at work.
It has taken decades of incremental progress to get to a point point where 15 million people watch a women’s college basketball game and women hold the majority of slots in medical and law schools.
The wage gap might still be 16%, but
back then it was 40%.
It has been a long and wearisome road and no woman wishes to repeat it. We’re not going back to a quieter voice, to
less opportunity and even less reward. We’re not going back to an age without
birth control, to an age when it was “my body, my problem”, but never “my
choice”.
This is a free country, or is
supposed to be, but it’s a hollow claim when half the voters don’t have the
freedom, the “agency”, reserved for the other half.
It is also a problem that crosses political lines, with 70% of voters favoring
a solution that is neither far left or right.
Any talk denigrating women who want to have a political and cultural voice equal to men’s voices is not what the Rusk County Democratic Party will condone.
Immigration & the Southern Border
Immigration is a large, complex and multifaceted issue, with no easy solution to balance the needs of the many parties to the problem while respecting the humanity of those who seek to immigrate.
One problem stands out: the massive
pressure at the southern border, where there are simply not enough resources,
on all levels, to deal with immense numbers of immigrants.
In February 2024, Donald Trump forced Senate and House Republicans to abandon
the bipartisan border solution they had negotiated with Democrats. The bill
would have vastly increased the federal immigrant processing apparatus, greatly
reduced the wait time for adjudication of refugee claims and sped the process
for returning ineligible claimants to their home country.
The Rusk County WI Democratic Party wants to have safe borders and believes the way to achieve this goal is by channeling the flow of immigrants.
There are many farms in Rusk County that would use immigrant labor if there were a safe, legal way of bringing in immigrants either for short term or long term stays in the US.
Anyone who has ever tried to deal with a flood knows that it cannot be done by batting at the water and believing that its entry can be totally denied, especially when the area that is battling the flood needs the water.
The same is true with a flood of immigrants. We in the US can use immigrant labor. We need immigrant labor. We CAN work out ways to have immigrant labor without drowning in a sea of immigrants. The first step in bringing this about is to realize that we cannot in good conscience or in good economic practice shut off all immigration. The next step would be to re-vitalize the above-mentioned bi-partisan immigration bill.
Rural Healthcare
Rural Wisconsin now pays the price for continued state Republican obstruction of ACA (Obamacare) benefits. Two Chippewa Valley hospitals operated by the Catholic Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and a large network of associated Previa Clinics closed in early Spring 2024. The ACA provided Medicaid benefits to uninsured folks with marginal jobs in food service, health care, and retail with incomes too “high” to qualify for standard Medicaid.
Not in Wisconsin, not where a Republican legislature believes more in “trickle down” than support for the demand side, the patient side, of the health care economy. An expanded Medicaid would have made a difference for those now closed hospitals and clinics if their unreimbursed charity care had been underwritten by the ACA.
The new Budget Bill goes beyond attacking the ACA itself. Yet ACA insurance is popular, affordable, and important for the safety and security of families. Attacks on the ACA parallel Republican attacks on Medicare (and Social Security). Preserving these programs depends on vigorous public support as well as Democrats in office.Climate Change
The Earth is warming at a rate
nearly 70 times faster than it did during natural warming periods of the
past. This is a serious problem. More
serious than the warming is that many Americans are unaware or misinformed
about climate change; less than half of Americans see global warming as a
threat to them.
When a planet or a satellite (such as our Moon) does not have an atmosphere,
the heat energy it receives from the Sun is lost almost immediately. Our
atmosphere on the other hand absorbs and holds heat near the Earth’s surface;
the Earth is therefore a warm and hospitable place where life can exist. The
gases in the atmosphere that absorb and hold heat are large gas molecules,
greenhouse gases. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane are all greenhouse
gases. The warming that is occurring is caused by an increase in the amount of
greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.
When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon that is released as carbon dioxide has
been underground in oil or coal for millions of years. Now it is entering the
atmosphere as a greenhouse gas that absorbs heat and warms the Earth. In the
year 1790, when the use of fossil fuels expanded with the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 ppm; in
2024 the count was 422 ppm.
If all citizens do not make the issue of climate change a priority soon, future
generations of humans will face problems that are inconceivable in seriousness.
For more information visit 350.org.
Frac Sand Mining
Frac sand, characteristically hard
and round, was deposited by a shallow sea nearly 500 million years ago. The
word frac comes from hydraulic fracturing, a process petroleum companies use to
free trapped natural gas along with oil from depleted wells; frac sand is mined
in Wisconsin and Minnesota and used in oil fields around the country. While hydrofracking
has increased production of domestic energy, it also perpetuates the illusion
that energy from fossil fuels will last forever. Humanity must soon abandon the
use of fossil fuels if we hope to avert the devastating effects of climate
change. Hydrofracking enables the
continued use of fossil fuels and releases methane, the most potent of
greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere.
The frac sand industry should be closely regulated to protect groundwater and
air quality locally, as well as where hydrofracking occurs. We also need to
ensure that economic benefits are shared fairly with local stakeholders as well
as multinational corporations. Today we see permanent alterations to our
landscape and collusion between mining companies and the state government with
attempts to erode local control over protection of natural resources,
transportation, zoning, and more.
We, the Democratic Party of Rusk County believe that Americans should not be
working to further develop fossil fuels but should be developing carbon-free
alternative energy sources. All citizens, regardless of political affiliation,
must consider not just the short-term economic gains, but also long-term
impacts of continued use of fossil fuels. It is future generations that will
reap the benefits or the consequences of our decisions.
Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual & Transgender (LGBT) Rights
The Democratic Party of Rusk County holds the view that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer citizens should be afforded the same rights as straight people, without exception.
Post-Secondary Education
Rusk County is fortunate to have efficiently managed, low cost, high quality technical and liberal arts education, conveniently located nearby, UWEC-Barron County and Northwood Tech are excellent institutions that bring to life one of our most important American values. Every one of us, regardless of wealth, should have the chance to learn the skills needed for a bright future, without being ransomed for decades to bank loans. Education must provide for the entire spectrum of life and career goals whether that be immediate job training, a two year diploma, a bachelor¹s degree, or a portal to post-graduate education and professional certification.
Public Education
Public education is an investment in the foundation of a democratic society. Our public schools are the heart and soul of our communities and serve all students and their families. Wisconsin’s legacy of supporting opportunity for its citizens is best realized when we adequately fund high quality K-12 education and staff our public schools with fully certified, highly qualified professionals. We submit that our schools are not currently being adequately funded by our state legislature and that adequate funding must be restored and current certification requirements must be maintained.
Work & Wages
We applaud small and large businesses that seek to ensure that employees have adequate work hours, fair wages, decent work conditions, and the respect of good managers. Employees need benefits including paid time off and paid family leave. We support the right of workers to organize and use the tools of effective unions.
