WEBVTT - Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin Talks Wisconsin Senate Race

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm here with Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. We were

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<v Speaker 2>in Green Bay, Wisconsin. You call this state the battleground state.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you're not hedging on this.

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<v Speaker 2>You say your race is fifty to fifty. The presidential

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<v Speaker 2>race here is fifty to fifty. One of the reasons

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to come here was see if the polling

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<v Speaker 2>sort of is meted out on the ground, how close

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<v Speaker 2>is it and what's your path to victory as you

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<v Speaker 2>see in Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So we've been a battleground state for some years now.

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<v Speaker 3>If you think of twenty sixteen, Donald Trump won the

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<v Speaker 3>state by seven tens of one percent and it was

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<v Speaker 3>the tipping point state for him to win the presidency.

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<v Speaker 3>But four years later, Joe Biden won Wisconsin by six

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<v Speaker 3>tenths of one percent. That's like one or two votes

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<v Speaker 3>per precinct in our state. And this looks like it's

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<v Speaker 3>going that same path. So now everything comes down to turnout.

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<v Speaker 3>Which side really gets their voters out, does the hard

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<v Speaker 3>work for those who are still undecided there's a handful

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<v Speaker 3>still and helps them get to the polls and reminds

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<v Speaker 3>them that their vote is their power.

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<v Speaker 2>I should say, we're sitting on your campaign bus and

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<v Speaker 2>your multi day buster on you. You acknowledge that that

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<v Speaker 2>the balance of the Senate sort of hangs on this seat.

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<v Speaker 2>How do you navigate that and does it push you

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<v Speaker 2>maybe more moderate as a result. Is you kind of

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<v Speaker 2>think of just the rule or the importance of this

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<v Speaker 2>seat to Democrats?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, I think really the choices here are really

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<v Speaker 3>between somebody myself who's been fighting for the working people

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<v Speaker 3>of this state and a candidate who is much more

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<v Speaker 3>interested in multimillionaires and big corporations. And that couldn't be

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<v Speaker 3>on clearer display when you look at the fact that

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<v Speaker 3>he supports a four trillion dollar tax cut that would

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<v Speaker 3>disproportionately impact and benefit multimillionaires like himself in big corporations,

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<v Speaker 3>whereas I'm trying to get working people to tax cuts,

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<v Speaker 3>the child tax credit, the deduction for those who are

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<v Speaker 3>starting up a business, deductions to make home ownership more

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<v Speaker 3>available to first time home buyers.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are the things that I want to see through.

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<v Speaker 3>But that that contrast couldn't be on sharper display between

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<v Speaker 3>myself and Eric Hovedy. And then you know, how would

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<v Speaker 3>he pay for that? Fortrillion dollar tax cut. He proposes

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<v Speaker 3>a plan that would reset federal spending to levels from

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<v Speaker 3>the last decade, and if we did that, it would

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<v Speaker 3>mean cuts to Social Security about six thousand dollars a

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<v Speaker 3>year for the average beneficiary. I mean, we couldn't be

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<v Speaker 3>more different on the economy and fighting for working people.

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<v Speaker 3>I think wisconsinates want somebody who is working every day

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<v Speaker 3>for them.

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<v Speaker 1>On the economy.

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<v Speaker 2>We look at our poll, the Bloomber Morning Console poll,

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<v Speaker 2>we look at other polls, the economy is the number

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<v Speaker 2>one issue in each and every one of them.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that true?

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<v Speaker 2>As you talked to voters here in this state, is

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<v Speaker 2>that the thing that they want to hear about from you,

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<v Speaker 2>that they and you'd care the most about.

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<v Speaker 3>It is certainly top of mind for voters who haven't

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<v Speaker 3>seen any relief from the inflationary prices that were caused

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<v Speaker 3>by the pandemic and the screwed up supply chains. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>those supply chains have been addressed, but the corporations haven't

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<v Speaker 3>buy at the grocery store every week or you know.

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<v Speaker 3>So while inflation has gone up over three years by

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<v Speaker 3>fourteen percent, corporate profits at the same time have gone

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<v Speaker 3>up seventy five percent. My voters who are really squeezed

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<v Speaker 3>by these prices want a cop on the beat helping them,

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<v Speaker 3>and so I support legislation that would empower the Federal

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<v Speaker 3>Trade Commission to go after corporate price gouging, investigate it,

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<v Speaker 3>try to have a champion for consumers on the job.

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<v Speaker 2>We were in Sheboygan yesterday and after you gave your speech,

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<v Speaker 2>I talked to somebody who's supporting you, and I said,

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<v Speaker 2>tell me about this place. And he began to pour

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<v Speaker 2>out places where there were companies who have been there

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<v Speaker 2>or had reduced their footprints, and Cohler is chief among them,

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<v Speaker 2>and he sort of wondered what would bring them back.

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<v Speaker 2>This is stock and trade rhetoric for your opponent, for

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<v Speaker 2>former President Trump as well. He's telling voters that these

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<v Speaker 2>companies will come back. Are there mechanisms by which you

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<v Speaker 2>can do that? Or is it time for voters to

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<v Speaker 2>sort of recalibrate their expectations for what a manufacturing renaissance

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<v Speaker 2>would look like in this country.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 3>So, first, Cohler is still an iconic business, very very

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<v Speaker 3>close by to Sheboygan. Have, I believe sold one of

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<v Speaker 3>their divisions, but they're still making sinks.

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<v Speaker 1>Flawsets shower heads.

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<v Speaker 3>Writing that area of the state, and they have a

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<v Speaker 3>very strong workforce. So but I want to answer your

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<v Speaker 3>question because I consider myself one of the buy America

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<v Speaker 3>champion of the United States Senate.

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<v Speaker 1>So when we're passing.

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<v Speaker 3>Big pieces of legislation, like we got to make sure

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<v Speaker 3>there's buy America rules attached to this. And I was

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<v Speaker 3>successful in getting permanent by America rules attached to the

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<v Speaker 3>Infrastructure Bill, to the Chips and Science Act, to the

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<v Speaker 3>Inflation Reduction Act. That is bringing jobs back to Wisconsin

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<v Speaker 3>right now and keeping some jobs here that might otherwise

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<v Speaker 3>have left. Give you an example in Kenosha County, there's

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<v Speaker 3>a company called san Mina that makes circuitry type of things.

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<v Speaker 3>We needed a specific type of circuitry for our broadband

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<v Speaker 3>build out. The Infrastructure Bill pledges to get every residence

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<v Speaker 3>and every business hooked up to high speed Internet, and

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<v Speaker 3>so our Commerce secretary, because of the Buy America rules,

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<v Speaker 3>was able to go overseas engage the CEO of a

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<v Speaker 3>company and say I need your product, and he said,

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<v Speaker 3>go ahead and buy it. Well, there's this problem buy

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<v Speaker 3>America rules. It means that you have to produce them

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<v Speaker 3>in the US while they found a compatible company, sand

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<v Speaker 3>Mina in Kenosha. Two hundred new jobs right now being

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<v Speaker 3>created because of buy America rules. I think that's one

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<v Speaker 3>very powerful tool to bring jobs back and to actually get.

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<v Speaker 1>A leadership role in some industries that we have.

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<v Speaker 3>Previously given up and given away to other countries.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to ask you about healthcare, which of course

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<v Speaker 2>complements the economy. You've talked a lot about the Dobb's decision.

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<v Speaker 2>Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, promised massive reforms

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<v Speaker 2>to Obamacare at a speech earlier this week. How critical

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<v Speaker 2>is that an issue for you? How much is that

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<v Speaker 2>resonating with voters? Sort the viability of the Affordable Care

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<v Speaker 2>Act of Obamacare.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, my opponent, Eric Company has said he wants to

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<v Speaker 3>repeal it in its entirety. I helped write it when

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<v Speaker 3>I was in the House of Representatives. The achievement of

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<v Speaker 3>getting health insurance companies to cover people with pre existing

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<v Speaker 3>conditions was life altering for millions of Americans. Millions of

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<v Speaker 3>Americans have insurance today because the companies can no longer

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<v Speaker 3>say no and cherry pick their customers right. And I

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<v Speaker 3>wrote the provision that allows young people to stay on

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<v Speaker 3>their parents' health insurance till they tell turned twenty six.

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<v Speaker 3>That's another game changer for folks right out of high

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<v Speaker 3>school whose first job probably isn't going to offer full

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<v Speaker 3>health insurance. And so we have to strengthen and build

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<v Speaker 3>upon the Affordable Care Act. But we cannot go through

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<v Speaker 3>another period of time where Republicans are threatening to repeal

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<v Speaker 3>it and people are feeling the lack of certainty about

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<v Speaker 3>their future, their ability to have the basic security that

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<v Speaker 3>health insurance provides.

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<v Speaker 2>We have women that left. Vice President Harris delivered a

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<v Speaker 2>big speech yesterday, her closing argument, and she acknowledged the

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<v Speaker 2>fact that there were still voters who don't know her.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like they don't know her what she stands for.

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<v Speaker 2>Could you just give us some anecdotes, some sense of

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<v Speaker 2>who she is that might help those voters understand how

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<v Speaker 2>she operates, what she's like as somebody who worked with

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<v Speaker 2>her so closely in the Senate and now with her

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<v Speaker 2>as Vice President.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, I just looked at her resume. She was

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<v Speaker 3>the top prosecutor for the largest state in the country

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<v Speaker 3>and held perpetrators to account. She on the Judiciary Committee

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<v Speaker 3>was masterful at holding power to account. I think that

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<v Speaker 3>that's one thing that you need to know about Kamala

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<v Speaker 3>Harris is that's been her history, and I think she's

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<v Speaker 3>going to be a really really strong president.

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<v Speaker 2>On the bus with Senator Tammy Baldwin in Green Bay, Wisconsin,