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Johnson, we'll leave it
there. Thanks very much for

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your time.
>> Have a good day.

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>> Democratic U.S. Senator
Tammy Baldwin was on the

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Senate floor this week to,
in her words, rail against

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Republicans repeated
attacks on the Affordable

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Care Act. Senator Baldwin
joins us now. Thanks very

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much for being here.
>> It's a pleasure. Thanks

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for having me.
>> So you say that, but

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Congressman Van Orden and
16 other Republicans in

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that body voted in favor of
extending the enhanced tax

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credits. Does that
represent some movement

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toward that in the Senate?
>> You know, it was it. We

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had a moment in the Senate
to take up the bill that

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was passed in the House of
Representatives that would

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have extended the tax
credits for three years,

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and my Republican
colleagues blocked it, pure

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and simple. We have known
for well over a year that

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these tax credits would
expire at the end of 2025,

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and I have worked
tirelessly to try to extend

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these tax credits so that
working families can afford

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their health care premiums
if they buy through the

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Affordable Care Act. But
we're seeing the numbers

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start to come in. Thousands
of Wisconsinites have

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dropped health care
coverage, and we expected

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only to get worse, as some
who were automatically

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enrolled get their premium
bills and figure out that

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it's just not in their
budget to continue health

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care. And so while I will
never throw in the towel on

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fighting for affordable
health care for all, I can

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tell you that for some it
is too late. In this

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particular year to repair
the damage that has been

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done. And as to my
colleague from Wisconsin in

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the House, he has railed
against the Affordable Care

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Act, supported repeal of it
in its entirety for for

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years now. And this at the
last minute, in my mind,

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does not recover, does not,
does not make him now a fan

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of the program.
>> So we just spoke with

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Senator Johnson and and he
is proposing maintaining

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the tax credits for people
at 400% above poverty. Is

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that something that you
would support?

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>> Look, I believe that
there is a lot of room for

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negotiation on the
extension of the Affordable

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Care Act tax credits, and
there is no reason in my

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mind that we can't have
reasonable income cap, or

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to have a provision that
says that you can't be

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expected to pay more than a
certain percentage of your

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income on health care. I
just want to relate a story

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that I shared on the Senate
floor. I have a constituent

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who is paying 40% of their
income on their health

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insurance premium. That's
how much it's gone up. In

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the absence of these
Affordable Care Act tax

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credits. And so I think we
have to be reasonable here,

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capping the percentage of
people's income that should

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be contributed towards
health insurance. But I

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think we can look at a
reasonable limit for higher

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wage earners to have that
tax credit taper off.

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>> On immigration
enforcement. Do you think

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the president, invoking the
Insurrection Act to bring

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in the military helps or
hurts what's going on right

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now in Minneapolis?
>> You know, when you see

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this president surge, what
is now close to 3000 armed

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masked Ice agents into
neighborhoods, schools,

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residential areas, I think
that makes our communities

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less safe, not more safe.
And the chaos that is going

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on in in Minnesota by these
unaccountable actions taken

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by these Ice agents, is the
part that is causing

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tensions to rise. And I
think that the Trump effort

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to change the narrative and
blame residents who are

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peacefully protesting this
presence is wrongheaded.

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He's been talking about
reckoning and retribution.

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That's what I think this is
all about. And it is very,

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very disconcerting to see
this surge. Right now, Ice

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agents outnumber local law
enforcement 3 to 1.

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>> What do you think about
invoking the Insurrection

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Act?
>> I think it's entirely

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wrongheaded and is about
the retribution campaign

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that this president is on
and inappropriate.

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>> Do you think this kind
of powder keg comes to

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Wisconsin?
>> You know, I think we

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need to be watching and
vigilant about what's

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happening in our
neighboring state of

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Minnesota and be ready. I
think it is very

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responsible for our local
leaders and state leaders

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to be talking actively
about what this would look

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like in Wisconsin.
>> On foreign policy, US

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threats against Iran, the
incursion into Venezuela

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and the play on Greenland.
In your mind, where does

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all this leave the US in
the world?

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>> You know, first of all,
it's so clear that the

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president is distracted and
trying to distract the

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attention of the American
public. When he ran for

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president, he said on day
one, I will bring costs

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down, and on day one, I
will end our international

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conflicts, our endless wars.
And instead, he has

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promoted policies that have
increased prices of

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everything from groceries
and consumer goods to

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energy, housing. And he has,
instead of bringing an end

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to conflict, he has
proposed or actually

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engaged in more. This
president is totally

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distracted from what he
promised he would do for

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the American people.
>> Because what do you

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think Wisconsinites care
most about right now? Is it

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the cost of everything,
including housing.

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>> Including housing,
including health care? As

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we just discussed, many are
making facing these

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impossible choices and
actually dropping something

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as essential as health care
coverage because they can

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no longer afford it.
Because of policies that

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Donald Trump has promoted,
the economy is by far the

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number one concern that I
hear from my constituents.

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And it's, you know, the
cost of things feels just

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impossible to them right
now. Housing costs have

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skyrocketed, and we have
seen grocery prices

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accelerate in terms of
inflation in recent months.

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And the president's energy
policies are going to

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create a significant price
price hike for people. And

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so, again, this president
is distracted and he is not

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focusing on the very things
that Wisconsinites who

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voted for him would like
him to.

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>> Are there fixes to this
that you may be working on

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across the aisle?
>> There are certainly

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there are fixes to
everything. As I said, I

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won't throw in the towel on
health care costs. I

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continue to work with my
Republican colleagues on

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ways in which we can bring
down the cost of

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prescription medication,
ways in which we can reform

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the health care system,
which is terribly broken

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right now on housing. I
certainly reach out to my

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Republican colleagues to
join with me and others to

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to make sure that private
equity firms and large

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corporations aren't
gobbling up all the single

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family homes that make them
take them off the market

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and make homeownership so
more, so much more

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difficult for first time
homebuyers. You know, the

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average age of the first
homebuyer is now 40 years

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old. Imagine that. And the
price in the last decade or

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so of of housing has nearly
doubled in our state. And

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so we have to squarely
focus on these issues of

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affordability, so that
being in the middle class

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means something, means
you're getting ahead.

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>> We leave it there.
>> We leave it there.