>> The federal government shutdown extends into next
week, with the US Senate adjourning until Tuesday
after repeated failed votes to reopen. We're joined now
by Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.
And Senator, thanks very much for being here.
>> Thanks for having me. >> What is your message to
Wisconsinites in the face of what looks like
congressional dysfunction as the shutdown grinds on? noboa
shutdown, and I have voted seven times now to and
lower health care costs for Wisconsinites. And my
constituents have been telling me loudly and
clearly, they are terrified about the premium increases
that they see in the near future. It'll be just a
couple weeks before Wisconsinites get those
dreaded letters in the mail, telling them what their
premiums will be next year, and without an extension of
the Affordable Care Act, premium tax credits, we are
likely to see people's premiums double, triple,
even quadruple in those states that have already
released the premiums for next year. Quadrupling is
not unusual at all, and it is frightening for
Wisconsinites. And there's no reason why we cannot
reopen the government and bring down costs. But my
Republican colleagues and President Trump refused to
sit down and negotiate with us, even though several of
my Republican colleagues very much want to fix this
Affordable Care Act tax credit issue. And I would
lastly say this bill that we, you know, Trump's
signature big ugly bill that we debated last summer
slashes $1 trillion out of Medicaid and other health
care program badgercare in Wisconsin. But it was
predominantly a tax measure. And what that tax measure
did was send tax breaks to big corporations and
multimillionaires. And what it didn't do was extend a
tax break to working Wisconsinites to help them
afford their health care premiums. This is an
emergency. It's imminent, and we need to act now.
>> Why not vote yes on the continuing resolution to
fund the government and then negotiate?
>> Look, there is no promise for a conversation,
a sort of a wink and a nod that, oh, we'll bring that
up later. That is going to help our Wisconsinites who
are going to get these letters in a couple of
weeks. We need to create certainty in and replace
Trump's chaos in the health care arena and other arenas
with a vote to extend those tax credits. Now, listen,
we are seeing people get their premium notices right
now across the country, we have about 5 million
Americans who are estimated to not be able to afford
the premiums next year. If we do not act, we must act
on behalf of tens of thousands of Wisconsinites
and millions of Americans. And it's really critical
that we not just promise some conversation in the
future. That is not sufficient for the people
who've been pleading with me, keep on fighting to
lower costs. >> You say that there's an
easy way out and you've been working on a
bipartisan solution. What is the easy way out and
what kind of traction are you getting on on a
bipartisan solution? >> My idea and I worked
with several colleagues on this, would be to say that
if we don't act on a longer term extension, that the
default position would be that the Affordable Care
Act tax credits are extended by a calendar year.
But putting pressure on Congress to talk about some
reforms in that system, if we want. I think that's
fair game. The other thing we have to get back to is
letting Congress appropriate dollars. That
is the role. It's the role of Congress as a checks and
balance to pass laws and to appropriate dollars for the
federal government. These continuing resolutions are
allowing President Trump to run roughshod. Since he has
been president, he's done layoffs, he's withheld
federal funds, he's canceled grants. He's
basically conducted a government of chaos. And we
need to go back to something that people can
plan based on, which is our Congress doing its job. And
my Republican colleagues have to stop folding to
Trump's threats and stand up and do their jobs as
duly elected members of Congress.
>> I know that the president has been talking
about terminating federal employees, apparently using
the shutdown as a predicate. Senator Johnson told us
last week that when your company goes bankrupt,
unfortunately, he said, people lose their jobs and
they have to go and find employment elsewhere. He
further said he doesn't see why public sector employees
all have to experience in the private sector. What's
your response to that? >> Well, first of all,
President Trump has been firing federal employees
and withholding federal dollars and pulling federal
grants since day one of his presidency. Tens of
thousands of federal employees have lost their
jobs because we've been under a continuing
resolution. And so this is a scare tactic on Trump's
part, but he's been doing it since day one of his
second presidency. And as to layoffs and whatnot in
the private sector and the public sector. Look, we've
gone through planful restructuring, where we've
had reductions in forces before. I held a roundtable
earlier this year with employees at the VA, and
they all recall Clinton era restructuring, where it was
planful, and they realized where they needed to cut
and not. That's not what this administration has
been doing. When Trump ordered 80,000 people to be
fired at the V.A. that wasn't a planful reduction
in force. That was scattershot. It was chaos.
And we owe more to our veterans than something
like that. shutdown, how do you see
this ending? >> I think the answer is so
clear. Let us reopen the government. Let us extend
the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and then let's
pass our our bills and have Congress do its job and
fund the government, not through these continuing
resolutions for a week or two or a month or two, but
through our regular appropriations process.
That's what Congress needs That's what Congress needs