Madison, Wis. – Today, small business owner Jonathan Lipp and AFL-CIO WI President Stephanie Bloomingdale called out Ron Johnson for betraying the state’s proud history of manufacturing. Lipp owns a small business that sells audio and visual equipment, and has seen long delays in acquiring products due to semiconductor supply chain issues.
Most recently, Johnson voted against the CHIPS Act, crucial bipartisan legislation that invests in semiconductor production, addresses supply chain issues and bolsters Wisconsin’s economy, calling it “stupid policy.” Prior to the CHIPS Act, Johnson praised outsourcing Wisconsin jobs to countries like China, saying “it makes no sense for American workers to produce high-labor-content products. Let the billions of people around the world do that…”
Johnson has a long record of failing to stand up for Wisconsin manufacturing, when it was announced that 1,000 good paying jobs were going to South Carolina instead of Oshkosh, Johnson refused to “ demand that anything be manufactured here [Wisconsin]…,” and that “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin.”
Watch the full event here and see what the speakers had to say, in part, below.
Jonathan Lipp: “We’ve been waiting on certain pieces of equipment for more than a year now, and expect that it could take another year to get the products we need back in stock. That’s why we are so grateful that the CHIPS Act is on the cusp of being signed into law.”
“It’s increasingly clear he [Ron Johnson] is more interested in playing political games and putting his [self-serving] agenda ahead of what’s best for Wisconsin. Instead of standing up for us – small businesses, consumers, and all Wisconsinites – he’s siding with China.”
Stephanie Bloomingdale: “Ron Johnson not only voted against the CHIPS Act, he called the entire policy ‘stupid.’ Ron Johnson has shown Wisconsinites that he has changed and we’re paying the price.”
