Top Line Talking Points on Top 10 Issues

The Border

We all agree that we have a problem at the border but politicians have refused to address the issue in any meaningful way. Once in 2013 and again this year, Republicans have walked away from their own border legislation that Democrats agreed to enact. They are playing politics with the border and it’s too serious of a matter for such ploys.

Biden DID NOT open the border. He doesn’t even have the authority to do so. The larger numbers are based on the logjam from the pandemic when Trump authorized closing the borders for health reasons. And an influx of immigrants coming from South America and Haiti due to violence and economic desperation.

The Age Issue

Joe Biden has spent his entire life dedicated to our democracy and protecting our freedoms and he has shown plenty of fight and determination in upholding our values while his opponent continues to threaten to take them from us.

With age comes wisdom and an understanding of the world and of how to get things done in Washington. And he has gotten things done.  He was recently ranked by historians as the 14th-best president, largely because of the major pieces of meaningful legislation he worked to get enacted that have already allowed our economy to rebound from the calamity he inherited. And these bills deal with critical issues like our environment and infrastructure and lowering health care costs. It was his energy and ability to work across the aisle that accomplished all this.

Morality and Decency

So much of this election comes down to values. Are we going to vote for corruption, self-dealing, dishonesty, sexual assault, business fraud, mockery of the differently abled, bullying and self-aggrandizement or for decency and honesty and compromise and negotiation and a protection of our democracy, our freedoms and our civil society?

As President Biden himself said: “We know who he is. The question is, ‘Who are we?’”

The Corrupt Supreme Court

This election is about so much more than Biden and Trump – it’s about removing corruption from the highest court in the land that has so much impact on our lives and which has already taken so many freedoms from us. Biden will get a chance to appoint as many as three justices in a second term.

The current court has gone against precedent time and again to take away our freedoms – most obviously, removing women’s reproductive rights – to push a right wing, Christian nationalist  ideology. We must stop this by re-electing Pres. Biden.

Social Security and Medicare

It’s pretty simple: President Biden has plans in place to maintain the solvency of these programs so we can count on them when we need them; Donald Trump repeatedly slashed SS benefits when he was President, has called it a Ponzi scheme and has been threatening to privatize it if he gets back in the White House.

It is a fundamental value difference between the two candidates and parties: President Biden looks to protect the most vulnerable while Trump and the Republicans seek to protect the wealthiest among us.

The Environment

President Biden enacted the most aggressive legislation – by far – to address climate change  with a projected reduction in greenhouse gasses of 40 percent by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.

If you care about your children’s and grandchildren’s futures you must care about the quality of our air and our water and the catastrophic effects of climate change and vote for the candidate who has proven he does care and not the candidate who actually requested a $1 billion contribution from the oil industry for a promise to undo all that President Biden has done to protect our air and water.

Our Amazing Economic Recovery

When you hear people complain about inflation, don’t dismiss it but point out that Inflation happened everywhere around the world and that economists estimate that 54 cents of every dollar rise in costs is due to corporations price gouging and blaming it on inflation.

Our economy is the envy of the world, much of which is still struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic.. We have had record-low unemployment for the past two years, record job growth with nearly 16 million new jobs under Biden and unprecedented wage growth that is outpacing inflation. Much of this good news is directly attributable to Pres. Biden’s three major pieces of legislation: The Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Bill and the Chips Act.

Trump’s Crimes

Trump is being held to account by impartial law enforcement professionals, most of them Republican appointees. He has been indicted by people in part selected by Trump’s lawyers. He will be judged by a jury selected in part by Trump’s lawyers. None of this is politically motivated. 

We knew based on the testimony of his own former aides and from his own words that he tried to illegally alter the outcome of the 2020 election, stole, then refused to return hundreds of top secret documents, committed business fraud that resulted in a half billion dollars in fines, sexually assaulted numerous women for which he has been held civilly liable. These CAN NOT be the values that represent our country.

Student Debt Relief

Because we went to college before there were exorbitant tuition fees and predatory student loan companies using usurious practices does not mean we should allow striving Americans to languish in debt. Those who are being offered relief are still required to pay off the principle of their loans.

It is simply bad for our economy to mire hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans in debt. Middle class lives are the backbone of our country and no one can live such a life when burdened by decades of debt.

For those who think Biden hasn’t gone far enough to help those in debt, here is what he has accomplished

The Biden administration has approved the cancellation of more than $144 billion in federal student loans – wiping out debts for nearly 4 million borrowers.

Funding Public Education

Public schools are being forced to go to referendums time and again in order to meet their minimal financial obligations. Our students – and our future – suffers for this. All this while the legislature sits on a  $3 billion surplus.

Wisconsin elected officials take an oath to uphold the Wisconsin Constitution, which includes fully funding public education. The Republican-controlled legislature has failed to even provide an inflationary increase for the past 15 years.