_LETTERS TO THE EDITOR • INTER-COUNTY LEADER OCT. 3

Moving in the right direction

 Last Friday's Senate debate between Tammy Baldwin and Tommy Thompson presented Wisconsin with a clear contrast and a clear choice.
 Tommy Thompson represents the politics of the past and offered voters the same old angry name calling and finger pointing that has come to define Washington.
 Tammy Baldwin represents the future and spoke to Wisconsin voters about her commitment to fighting for us and moving Wisconsin forward.
Wisconsin voters watching tonight’s debate are asking themselves two questions:
Which candidate will listen to me? And who will stand up for the middle class?
 The answer to both those questions was clearly Tammy Baldwin, not Tommy Thompson.
 Tammy is running to be a voice for the people who are working hard, playing by the rules, and trying to get ahead– not another voice for the powerful.
 Tammy believes that, if we’re going to prosper, everyone has to have a fair shot – and everyone has to do their fair share.
 Tammy has a strong record of fighting for Wisconsin middle class families and small businesses, and she isn’t afraid to take on the big moneyed special interests that have too much power and influence in Washington.
 More than a decade ago, the big Wall Street banks came to Congress and asked us to repeal an important banking law called Glass-Steagall, allowing them to gamble like hedge funds. Too many in Washington said yes. Tammy Baldwin and I said no.
 Tommy Thompson has cashed in on his Washington connections with these same Washington special interests and he will continue working for them, not Wisconsin.
 He will repeal Wall Street reform and let Big Banks write their own rules.
 He will repeal health care reform and let big insurance companies deny children with pre-existing conditions health care coverage and allow them to charge women 50 percent more for health care.
He will continue to reward corporations that outsource our jobs to other countries with tax breaks.
 Tammy has taken the lead on the Buffett Rule to make sure millionaires pay their fair share and pay at the least the same tax rate as a middle class family.
 Tommy Thompson refuses to release his tax returns. He wants to cuts taxes for millionaires like himself and will stick it to Wisconsin families by increasing taxes on the middle class.
Tammy has fought to pass student loan reform and make higher education more affordable.
Tommy Thompson supports slashing investments in education and increasing the cost of going to college.
 Unlike Thompson who has vowed to play the same ‘no compromise’ politics that has stood in the way of progress, Tammy will work across party lines to move our economic recovery forward.
Tammy worked across party lines to take on China’s cheating; she has opposed unfair trade deals that have shipped jobs overseas; and she will put an end to tax breaks for corporations that outsource Wisconsin jobs to other countries.
 “Tammy was raised by her grandparents so she got to see at an early age, and at very personal level, the value of Medicare and Social Security to the economic security of Wisconsin families. She understands that Wisconsin seniors paid into their retirement security and they earned it. In Wisconsin, when we make a promise we keep it and these are promises we cannot break and it is a promise Tammy will fight to keep.”
 Tommy Thompson left Wisconsin for Washington and went to work for George Bush, where he cut a sweetheart deal with drug companies that increased the cost to taxpayers. He was the “point man” on a plan to make it illegal for the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. Now Thompson says he wants to do away with Medicaid and Medicare because he supports the Republican plan on Medicare that will provide billions in new profits for big insurance companies and a voucher for seniors instead of the guaranteed benefit they paid for, sticking them with $6000 more in out of pocket costs
 Despite millions of dollars in attack ads spent against Tammy by outside groups, public polls released last week show that Tammy’s campaign is moving in the right direction as the choice for Wisconsin voters has been made clear.

Susan Hansen
Shell Lake