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Ben Wikler Profile picture
@benwikler
Aug 10, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
First, this will hurt the families losing their jobs. Then it will hurt agricultural communities and rural America. Then, it will hurt all of us.

Hundreds of USDA employees to be removed from their jobs in September washingtonpost.com/science/2019/0…
The Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service helps farmers understand market conditions so they can make planting decisions. But sometimes this means flagging inconvenient truths, like the impact of climate change or Trump’s trade war. So Trump is smashing the agency.
One of the very best things our government has done, for more than 150 years, is help farmers plan. The Ag Dpt’s Division of Statistics—now the ERS—started in 1863. Now, in 2019, two thirds of the department are getting termination notices. washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump…
How do you smash a vital, independent federal agency without permission from Congress? You announce in June that it will be moving to the “Kansas City region” and that employees who don’t commit to relocate their families in 30 days will lose their jobs. washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump…
And by the way—you don’t specify whether it’ll be in Kansas City, Kansas or in Kansas City, Missouri. Good luck finding places to live and schools for your kids, employees!
The president’s chief of staff thinks the whole thing is hilarious and wonderful.
The USDA Inspector General says this is probably illegal. The General Counsel says no, it’s fine, smash it to bits.

Congress must act. This is an unfolding tragedy and scandal. Call Congress and make sure that investigating this stays on the front burner. 202-224-3121.

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More from @benwikler

Ben Wikler Profile picture
May 10
Here’s a story about Wisconsin politics that will make you say “JFC.” 🧵
You might have heard about Wisconsin’s notorious gerrymander. Few know the story of how the GOP used that gerrymander to break our democracy even more—thanks to something called the Joint Finance Committee. The JFC.

Pull up a stool, grab a drink, and hear the tale.
Before digging in, a word from our sponsors: the @WisDems. We beat the gerrymander—and now we’re helping rebuild democracy in the state that tips the whole country. We need your help. Can you chip in?
secure.actblue.com/donate/maps-si…
Read 32 tweets
Ben Wikler Profile picture
Apr 30
Trump's in Wisconsin on May Day tomorrow—an international day celebrating workers and union organizing. Which is almost offensively ironic. 1/
Wisconsin has always been at the front lines of the fight for unions and working people, from the Bay View Massacre in 1886 to the first comprehensive public sector union law in 1959.
wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Articl…
Health care. Pensions. The 8-hour workday. Overtime. Weekends.

If you like these things? Thank a union.

Thank a union organizer in Wisconsin.

But don’t thank Trump.
Read 25 tweets
Ben Wikler Profile picture
Apr 26
Expect the Senate race to be close this fall—unless Wisconsinites find out what Eric Hovde thinks of them. 1/
Are you a farmer? Eric Hovde thinks your retirement age should be pushed up to 72 because after all, “you’re largely driving around on a tractor” and you don’t “engage in hard labor.”
upnorthnewswi.com/2024/03/25/hov…
A single parent? You lack “morals and ethics.”
19thnews.org/2024/03/eric-h…
Read 13 tweets
Ben Wikler Profile picture
Feb 20
NEW: California GOP rich guy Eric Hovde is running for Senate… against @TammyBaldwin in Wisconsin.

He’s being sent to Wisconsin from Orange County by Mitch McConnell and the megadonors in Washington to help pass a national abortion ban.

RT to help spread the word!
Why are the Republicans sending a California megamillionaire to Wisconsin?

It’s simple. They need someone who will put them, and their rich and powerful friends, FIRST while putting middle-class Wisconsinites LAST.

Eric Hovde is their #1 guy.
Just how luxurious is Eric Hovde’s California life?

🌴 He owns a $7M mansion in Laguna Beach.
🏅 He’s been named one of Orange County’s most influential people. Three times.
🏦 He runs a West Coast bank that does *next to nothing* in Wisconsin. California megamillionaire Eric Hovde's house in Laguna Beach is circled in red.
Read 7 tweets
Ben Wikler Profile picture
Dec 31, 2023
END OF YEAR DEADLINE: Democracy or dictatorship? Trump’s threat likely comes down to a handful of votes in a handful of states—and maybe even JUST Wisconsin. Help @WisDems roar in ‘24: Chip in to help us reach our goal of 124 donations by midnight:
secure.actblue.com/donate/deceoy_…
If you’re freaking out about polls, do two things.

First, take a breath. Polling this early doesn’t predict much. It just tells us we have work to do.

Second, channel your anxiety into actually helping raise $ and volunteer in the places that will decide the outcome.
Biden could’ve lost 8 million votes across CA, NY, and IL and still won each state & beaten Trump.

But if Biden had lost 42,921 votes in WI, AZ, and GA, Trump would have won in 2020.
Read 29 tweets
Ben Wikler Profile picture
Nov 30, 2023
MIDNIGHT DEADLINE: Tomorrow, Wisconsin candidates for local offices begin gathering signatures to get on the ballot for April elections. Their races will decide who administers the Nov 24 elections. MAGA is coming. Chip in to help WisDems stop them: secure.actblue.com/donate/noveom_…
Wisconsin elections are administered hyper-locally—by 1850 municipal clerks, who are in turn chosen by mayors and city councils. County judges make quick decisions about disputes. Hundreds of these officials will be up for election this spring.
These are the kinds of low-profile contests that often fly completely under the radar. Most go uncontested. But after Trump lost, Steve Bannon and the ultra-MAGA crowd realized they might be able to swing elections by taking over the machinery of democracy.
Read 16 tweets

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