News is breaking that Scott Walker’s healthcare czar, Dennis Smith, is resigning his position as DHS secretary. Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate released the following statement:
“From day one, Dennis Smith was more interested in an extreme ideology than in advocating for the health and well-being of Wisconsinites.
“In Washington, D.C., Smith was the mastermind of some of the Tea Party’s most radical public health policies, including outright advocacy against Medicare and Medicaid and Wisconsin’s successful SeniorCare program, and he brought that same extremism with him to Madison.
“Starting with a plan to kick 30,000 kids off healthcare, thwarted only by the Obama administration, Smith sought the kind of deep cuts that would lead to massive shortfalls in public health programs and leave thousands of Wisconsinites uninsured.
“And in what would prove to be his finale in Wisconsin, Dennis Smith helped Scott Walker reject a plan that would have created 10,000 jobs, saved the state $66 million and expanded healthcare to 175,000 Wisconsinites.
“Wisconsin’s next DHS secretary has the opportunity to turn the page on this unprecedented assault on BadgerCare. I hope for all Wisconsin families, she takes it.”
