Latest news with #DerrickVanOrden
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Green Bay Packers can't just change rules to win
While reading the story about U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden wanting to eliminate spring elections in Wisconsin because the GOP candidates keep losing, I couldn't help but think of the parallels between that story and the desire by the Packers to eliminate the tush push from NFL games ('Van Orden calls to end spring elections, May 23 and 'Packers' proposal fails, as 'tush push' stays,' May 22). Both have the same approach: Can't win? Don't work harder to find a way to win, just change the rules. Whether it's gerrymandering districts, eliminating the Government Accountability Board, changing voter ID requirements or attempting to make drop boxes illegal, it's clear the Wisconsin GOP will stop at nothing to keep or regain power. No buts about it. David Standridge, New Berlin Letters: Republican Party and President Trump are becoming our country's biggest bullies Opinion: Rising housing costs could be pricing people out of college in Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden wants to change the rules again ('Van Orden calls to end spring elections,' May 23). Instead, he should be changing his party's platform to match what the majority in Wisconsin wants. We've seen all sorts of underhanded tactics from the Republicans to keep their stranglehold on the state — gerrymandering, limiting the use of drop boxes and early voting and also limiting the governor's power. Van Orden and other leaders need to realize that the purpose of their position isn't about holding onto power, it's about serving others, and by others I mean everyone. David Mancl, West Allis Here are some tips to get your views shared with your friends, family, neighbors and across our state: Please include your name, street address and daytime phone. Generally, we limit letters to 200 words. Cite sources of where you found information or the article that prompted your letter. Be civil and constructive, especially when criticizing. Avoid ad hominem attacks, take issue with a position, not a person. We cannot acknowledge receipt of submissions. We don't publish poetry, anonymous or open letters. Each writer is limited to one published letter every two months. All letters are subject to editing. Write: Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 330 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 500, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. Fax: (414)-223-5444. E-mail: jsedit@ or submit using the form that can be found on the on the bottom of this page. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Van Orden's proposal to end spring elections is power grab | Letters
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP Congressman Says Trump's Tax Bill Doesn't Cut Any Medicaid, Food Benefits
WASHINGTON – Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) says Republicans aren't actually cutting anyone's federal health or food benefits in President Donald Trump's sweeping tax bill — a plan that slashes $1 trillion from Medicaid and food assistance programs. 'I want to be super clear: When these Democrats have been lying to you, saying we're cutting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, that we're going to cut all of these other programs — they're lying,' Van Orden said Thursday on a Wisconsin-based podcast, 'The Meg Ellefson Show' on WSAU. 'We did this early enough so that folks are going to understand that we're telling the truth. It's fantastic,' said Van Orden. 'I want anybody in my district to call me if their benefits have been dropped by a nickel. Not gonna happen.' It's not clear what the GOP congressman is talking about. Trump's hugely consequential tax and spending bill, which House Republicans passed Thursday and sent to the Senate, represents the largest upward transfer of wealth in U.S. history. It cuts $1 trillion from federal health and food programs to help pay for $4 trillion in new tax cuts to rich people. The effects of this bill, if it became law, would be devastating for millions of low-income people who rely on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamps program. The bill would kick an estimated 8 million people off of health insurance, and its expanded work requirements for SNAP would result in an estimated 1.5 million families losing all food benefits and 1.2 million families losing some. Those numbers include an estimated 48,000 children who would lose food assistance entirely, and 1.5 million children who would get fewer benefits. In Van Orden's own community, Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, about 152,900 people — or 21% of the district — depend on Medicaid for health coverage, per an analysis by KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. Approximately 50,000 of the Medicaid enrollees in Van Orden's district are children, and 21,600 are seniors. More than 20,000 are people with disabilities. Nearly 1.3 million people in Van Orden's state are enrolled in Medicaid. Thousands of people in his district rely on SNAP benefits, too. The GOP tax bill puts about 8,000 adults in Van Orden's district at risk of losing all food assistance, and about 16,000 people at risk of losing at least some food benefits, per an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. These figures include thousands of people who live with school-aged children. A Van Orden spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Here's a link to the audio of Van Orden on the podcast. His comments about the GOP bill not cutting any benefits start around the 2:20 mark. In another Thursday interview on another MAGA-aligned podcast, 'The John Fredericks Show,' Van Orden celebrated the bill's passage and somehow claimed it was proof Republicans delivered on a campaign promise to protect federal health programs. 'We campaigned on protecting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, securing the border, making sure veterans have their benefits. We did it,' the Wisconsin Republican says around the 45-minute mark. 'We. Did. What. We. Campaigned on. And I'm so super stoked for being a part of this process.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Van Orden in favor of getting rid of Spring Elections
MADISON, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – In an interview with Wis-Eye, Congressman Derrick Van Orden says that he is in favor of getting rid of Wisconsin's Spring Election. Van Orden says Spring Elections are inefficient, waste money on campaigns, and they cause voter fatigue. Van Orden noted that Republicans do not vote in Spring Elections. He believes Spring Elections could be rolled into Midterms or Presidential Elections. 'Republicans don't vote. We just don't vote. Period. In Spring Elections. I don't think we should have a Spring election. I think we need to… these guys in the State House, I think they should get rid of that and fold it into a midterm or a four-year cycle.' This comes after Republican (GOP) backed candidates like Eric Hovde and Brad Schimel lost high-profile races in recent elections. Wisconsin's Spring Elections are currently required by the state's constitution and are written into state law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Van Orden's flip-flop on SNAP hurts Wisconsin
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden tours Gilbertson's Dairy in Dunn County. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner) When he was campaigning for Congress in western Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden talked about growing up 'in abject rural poverty,' raised by a single mom who relied on food stamps. As a result, he has said, he would never go along with cuts to food assistance. 'He sat down in my office when he first got elected and promised me he wouldn't ever vote against SNAP because he grew up on it, supposedly,' Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said in a phone interview as he was on his way home to Wisconsin from Washington this week. But as Henry Redman reported, Van Orden voted for the Republican budget blueprint, which proposes more than $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to make room for tax cuts for the very wealthy. Still, after that vote, Van Orden issued a public statement warning against reckless cuts to SNAP that place 'disproportionate burdens on rural states, where food insecurity is often more widespread,' and saying it is unfair to build a budget 'on the backs of some of our most vulnerable populations, including hungry children. Period.' Van Orden sits on the House Agriculture Committee, which was tasked with drawing up a specific plan to cut $230 billion from food assistance to pay for tax cuts. Van Orden reportedly balked at a cost-sharing plan that shifted 25% of the cost of the program to states, saying it was unfair to Wisconsin. But then, on Wednesday night, Van Orden voted yes as the committee passed an unprecedented cut in federal funding for SNAP on a 29-25 vote. Van Orden took credit for the plan, which ties cuts to state error rates in determining eligibility and benefit amounts for food assistance. According to WisPolitics, he declared at a House Ag Committee markup that 'states are going to have to accept the fact that if they are not administering this program efficiently, that they're going to have to pay a portion of the program that is equitable, and it makes sense and it is scaled.' But states, including Wisconsin, don't have money to make up the gap as the federal government, for the first time ever, withdraws hundreds of millions of dollars for nutrition assistance. Instead, they will reduce coverage, kick people off the program and hunger will increase. The ripple effects include a loss of about $30 billion for farmers who supply food for the program, Democrats on the Ag Committee report, and damage to the broader economy, since every $1 in SNAP benefits generates about $1.50 in economic activity. Grocery stores, food manufacturers rural communities will be hit particularly hard. Wisconsin will start out with a bill for 5% of the costs of the program in Fiscal Year 2028, according to a bill explanation from the Agriculture Committee. But as error rates vary, that number shifts sharply upward — to 15% when the error rate goes from the current 5% to 6%, to 20% if we exceed an 8% error rate, and so on. And there are other cuts in the bill, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) points out, including stricter eligibility limits, work requirements that cannot be waived in times of economic hardship and high unemployment, and reductions in benefits that come from eliminating deductions for utility costs. More than 900,000 children, adults, and seniors count on Wisconsin's SNAP program, known as FoodShare, according to an analysis of state health department data by Kids Forward. The same analysis found that covering the costs of just 10% of SNAP benefits would cost Wisconsin $136 million. Alaska and Texas have higher error rates than Wisconsin, and so they — and their hungry kids — are stuck with the biggest cuts. Even if you accept that that is somehow just, the people who are going to pay for this bill in all the states, including ours, are, as Van Orden himself put it, 'the most vulnerable populations, including hungry children. Period.' 'He says one thing and does another,' Pocan says of Van Orden's flip-flopping on SNAP. 'He's gone totally Washington.' That's too bad for the people left behind in rural Wisconsin, who will take the brunt of these unnecessary cuts. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Area lawmakers held Medicaid Roundtable
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WWEUX) – As representatives in Washington look to push through a budget plan that includes cuts to Medicaid, some area lawmakers held a roundtable discussion over those cuts. State Senator Jeff Smith from Brunswick said more than 1 million Wisconsinites rely on Medicaid, including nearly 150,000 seniors, nearly half a million children, and 187,000 people with disabilities. He added that if federal funding gets cut, the state must either foot the bill or cut certain benefits. 'This is not welfare. This is something that has been earned and (is) part of our fabric in America for a long time. It reflects how we believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and we shouldn't turn it into a privilege.' Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden said that he has introduced a resolution that would prohibit funding cuts to Medicaid or SNAP for seniors, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
