Paul’s Pals Sell Out Middle Class, Working Families, Farmers, Seniors and Students in Campaign Cash Grab

MADISON, Wis. — U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, author of the “Ryan budget”, will be in Platteville and Monroe on Friday to headline fundraising events for State Representatives Travis Tranel and Howard Marklein. According to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, the event is a clear signal that Tranel and Marklein are willing to sell out their constituents for Washington D.C. insiders and campaign cash.

One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross commented, “Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget is a slap in the face to our Wisconsin values. By choosing to stand with Ryan to raise campaign cash, Tranel and Marklein have chosen the wealthy and special interests over Wisconsin families.”

Rep. Ryan’s budget plan, with its central focus on tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations, would have disastrous consequences for Wisconsin’s middle class and working families, farmers, seniors and students by:

• Allowing the child tax credit to expire, increasing taxes on working families up to $1,400;
• Cutting federal education funding by 20%, dropping 2 million children from early childhood education and slashing Pell Grant scholarships for 10 million students by more than $1,000 dollars;
• Privatizing Medicare and massively cutting health care funding, possibly increasing seniors’ health care costs up to $6,000 a year;
• Radically cutting $30 billion plus from crop insurance.

“The Ryan budget is just plain wrong, taking from those that have the least in order to give even more to those with the most,” said Ross. “Trickle down economics fail Wisconsin families. They have under Gov. Scott Walker, Tranel and Marklein and they would bankrupt America under Paul Ryan’s scheme.”

According to their latest campaign finance filings Tranel and Marklein have developed an affinity for big money contributions from the wealthy and special interests in their time in Madison. Rep. Tranel hauled in 56% of his campaign cash from special interest PACs and conduits while Rep. Marklein raised an astounding 95% of his campaign cash from big money donations in excess of $100.

Ross concluded, “Paul’s pals, Reps. Tranel and Marklein, have gotten a taste for big money campaign contributions from the wealthy and special interests. Now they’re willing to support the Ryan budget and trickle down economic policies that put the wealthy and special interests before the rest of us to keep the gravy train rolling.”