MADISON, Wis. — In a new op-ed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Rebecca Cooke outlined her vision to tackle the challenges Wisconsinites are facing in the 3rd Congressional District. Rebecca Cooke is committed to representing working families well—unlike right-wing extremist Derrick Van Orden, who is only in the news when he’s cursing at teenagers and embarrassing Wisconsin. 

Rebecca Cooke prioritizes what makes a real difference in the lives of western Wisconsinites—from delivering a good Farm Bill supporting the small and mid-size family farms that make up the backbone of rural Wisconsin’s economy to fighting to bring down the cost of living and build on big wins for health care affordability, Rebecca Cooke embodies the kind of respectful, moderate leadership western Wisconsin deserves—and in November, voters will elect her as a real working-class fighter to take on Washington DC.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Opinion: Rebecca Cooke: I understand your struggles, I waitress while running for Congress
By: Rebecca Cooke

Roots give a person strength and connect them to their community. I was born and raised on a west central Wisconsin dairy farm, where I learned to work hard and help my neighbors. It was this community that empowered me to start my own small business selling American-made goods, and then a nonprofit organization helping 50+ Wisconsinites start their own small businesses and create good jobs in our communities.

Growing up we were taught to look out for one another, but it’s clear that career politicians and elites have turned their backs on us. We deserve better.

People I speak with are struggling to pay their bills, worried about their safety, and deprived of easy access to affordable health care. I know these struggles because I feel them, too. In order to pay the bills, I waitress at night while running for Congress by day. This is a reality working people understand and know because we live it.

Families and farmers feel squeezed by the prices of everyday goods

Families are feeling squeezed by the price of everyday goods — from groceries to housing to child care — and we need leaders in Congress working to lower prices, strengthen our economy, and help working people get ahead. I’ll work to hold corporate grocery stores accountable for runaway prices, cut taxes for the middle class instead of for corporations, and make housing more affordable. In Congress, I’ll stand up to the Washington politicians who are overspending and driving up prices across the board. It is time for our government to live within its means, just like we do.

In our community, agriculture is the lifeblood of our economy, and it is past time that we get a Farm Bill written by farmers, not D.C. lobbyists and lawyers who have never stepped foot in our region. We need federal legislation that supports family farms like the one I grew up on, empowers farmers with the right to repair their own equipment, and encourages the diversification of the agriculture industry. We need to level the playing field so family farmers, small businesses and workers can compete and make ends meet.

When I head home from my serving shifts, usually well after dark, I need to feel safe and secure walking to my car and to my front door. I firmly believe everyone should feel safe in our communities — and sadly, this isn’t the case for many these days.

To keep our communities safe, we need to ensure that our law enforcement agencies receive the resources and funding they need to do their jobs. My brother is a longtime firefighter, and our family knows too well what happens when our local departments do not receive the tools they need. From our police to our firefighters to our EMS, we need to do everything we can to foster safe communities and thriving families.

Common-sense gun laws can make us safer, protect responsible owners

It’s also imperative that we enact common-sense gun reforms, such as universal background checks and red flag laws, to keep guns out of dangerous hands. Responsible gun owners, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts and veterans I speak with agree that we have a responsibility to ensure firearms are used safely, stored securely, and don’t end up in the wrong hands. We need to ensure that if someone already owns a gun, but becomes a threat to themselves or others, we have laws in place to evaluate that individual and raise a flag if he may pose an active threat to our community.

On health care, It is beyond clear that we have a crisis of access in Western Wisconsin, with two major hospitals closing just near my hometown of Eau Claire. But, even if you can access health care without driving hours to and from, it is still too expensive for many to get the care they need. With these impacts being felt on a daily basis by Wisconsinites, we can wait for a sweeping bill to remake the whole system, but I know that we can start to fix it next Congress.

We should expand Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing, the very things that deteriorate as you age, and ensure that our parents and grandparents are able to age with dignity. We need to expand the $35 insulin cap for everyone, and limit the cost of high-demand medications. We can aggressively address antitrust issues in the health care system that empower a few companies to create massive profits and leave the consumer with little choice.

But health care is more than numbers and policies, it also involves intensely personal questions about how we live our lives, build our families, and age. We need to keep politicians out of personal medical decisions and protect a woman’s reproductive freedom by codifying Roe v. Wade into law once more.

Van Orden supports policies making things worse in western Wisconsin

With all these needs confronting us, you would expect our representatives in Washington to be hard at work, but extremist politicians like Derrick Van Orden are too focused on picking fights and climbing the ladder in Washington to actually deliver for us. He makes news for his outbursts and bad behavior, but it is really his policies that are hurting us the most. On all the topics we’ve discussed, my opponent Derrick Van Orden has the wrong perspective.

Van Orden still wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would increase out-of-pocket costs. He opposed a bill to cap insulin costs at $35 per month for seniors and to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs. He doesn’t support common-sense gun reform, and the Farm bill he helped negotiate was panned by both the Heritage Foundation and environmental organizations as a handout for major Agricultural conglomerates.

He even once called for a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. He has said he’s “100-percent pro-life” and celebrated the end of Roe v. Wade. Van Orden even said rape and incest victims were “compounding the evil” if they got an abortion and compared abortion to genocide. These aren’t western Wisconsin values, and they certainly won’t do anything to help folks in our state who are worried about making ends meet, keeping our streets safe, or ensuring that everyone has access to the health care they need.

Our community deserves a representative who rolls up their sleeves to get stuff done, not to start fistfights. I’ll focus on the results, and don’t care who gets the credit as long as things get done.