Tammy Baldwin: Fighting for Wisconsin’s Middle Class

By Adri Viswanatha

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has been a champion for the middle class and Wisconsin workers since her days in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Since joining Congress in 1998, Baldwin has never forgotten about the everyday people of Wisconsin that she works for.

Shortly after Tammy took office, she joined Russ Feingold and opposed de-regulation of the banks because she knew letting Wall Street write its own rules could put our economy at risk. They were only a handful of members in Congress who voted no on repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which had been in place since the Great Depression and kept banks from engaging in risky practices. Letting Wall Street write their own rules proved devastating for our economy. For nearly 10 years, Wall Street ran wild; the result was the 2008 financial meltdown. And the middle class has shouldered the burden of plummeting home values, massive foreclosures and steep job losses.

Now, Tammy is working to make sure we restore the economic security the middle class has lost. She has helped lead the fight in Washington and introduced the “Buffett Rule” in Congress to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. When the Justice Department was moving towards cutting a sweetheart deal for the big banks to give them immunity from prosecution for mortgage fraud, she stood up. We won that fight and the banks did not get immunity — they had to pay billions of dollars to fraud victims. Tammy is not afraid to take on Wall Street and she will take that fight to the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Baldwin has proved again and again how much she cares for the people of Wisconsin and her work highlights her importance to the state and the nation. Let’s thank Tammy for her work and help her to continue it by electing her this November as Wisconsin’s newest U.S. senator. Find out how you can get involved at www.tammybaldwin.com

While the list is very long, here are a few of the things Tammy has done for the people of Wisconsin:

• Elected in 1998, Tammy Baldwin was the first woman from Wisconsin elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
• Rep. Baldwin works for the safety and health of our country’s seniors, and opposes tax cuts for Medicare and Social Security
• In 1999, she voted against repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, a bank regulation law which in its repeal contributed heavily to the 2008 financial crisis
• She helped prevent Wall Street from being granted immunity from their fraudulent practices in 2011, promoting integrity in America’s banks
• Rep. Baldwin fights to protect American jobs, combating outsourcing and unfair trade deals with China and South America
• Rep. Baldwin opposed the Iraq war in 2002, joining the Out of Iraq Congressional Congress in 2005. More recently, she has spoken for getting our troops out of Afghanistan to bring our soldiers home
• Over the course of her career, Rep. Baldwin has ensured funding for veteran care, health, education, and job opportunities after their return home
• In 2009, she authored part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act to allow young people to stay on their parents’ health care until age 26, ensuring longer lasting care and security
• Rep. Baldwin supports student loan reform to make college more affordable and accessible and she fights to ensure every student from every background the right to higher education
• Between 2007 and 2009, Congress passed Rep. Baldwin’s legislation, the Reeve Paralysis Act, funding for immobilizing sickness and the Veteran Vision Equity Act to provide more benefits to veterans
• In 2007, Rep. Baldwin authored the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Act to provide screenings to women from low-income backgrounds to ensure their health and safety
• She supported the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 to fight against wage discrimination based on gender
• She is also a supporter of the Violence Against Women Act, which allows victims to take their cases to federal court as well as providing funding for anti-sexual violence programs
• Rep. Baldwin is a sponsor of the National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month bill to increase attention to the issue and promote help to victims of sexual assault

Adri Viswanatha is a communications intern with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin