Part of an ongoing series highlighting November election candidates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzIeJoA4ovE

By Kris Leonhardt

Editor

MARSHFIELD — Michael A. Tauschek is the Independent candidate running against Democratic candidate Nancy Stencil and incumbent Republican John Spiros in the Wisconsin 86th Assembly District.

Tauschek is a newcomer to politics. He is a cash crop farmer and retired maintenance electrician from Auburndale.

On choosing the Independent ticket

I believe that the majority of citizens do not associate themselves with the Republican party or the Democratic party, but in most elections the citizens only have two choices. To me that is not a good system for government, and I consider myself an independent voter.

I don’t think I have ever voted party line in the 39 years that I have been voting. I’ve always found a candidate that I liked from either political party.

On funding road work

We have a problem. We need to address it. Wood County borrowed $5 million for transportation last year. They borrowed another $5 million this year, $5 million next year. Marathon County just voted for a $25 wheel tax, which goes into effect in December. In Marshfield the voters voted down the referendum in August. The voters in the city of Wausau are going to be voting in November.

This is affecting all of us. We need to sit down and decide as elected officials what we want to do. Do we want to maintain our roads, or do we want to continue expanding the lanes of the roads we have?

On addressing skilled worker shortage

We have a huge shortage in welding and fabricating. If we don’t address these issues, our employers will lose business, and rather than expanding in the state of Wisconsin, they will go where the skilled workers are.

Forty years ago, when I was a senior in high school, I had an opportunity. They started a class called “Building Trades.” I got to work at that time with an electrician. I enjoyed that, and that gave me a little bit of experience that said I want to be an electrician.

Some districts are doing a very good job of expanding their programs. What I believe we need is a public-private cooperation.

On health care and medical expenses

The Affordable Healthcare Act was a step, somewhat, in the right direction. You cannot have $40 million Americans without health care. This is unacceptable. When they passed the Affordable Healthcare Act, they never addressed cost. Until we address cost, and how do we lower the cost for medical expenses? … It’s gone up to two to three times faster than inflation.

Part of it is lawsuits. Part of it is administration costs. Administration costs are somewhere around 25 percent. The malpractice and the cost for insurance are somewhere around 4 to 5 percent. A lot of the procedures that doctors are calling for are because they want to do every test, so if something goes wrong they are not going to get sued.

All candidates are invited to sit down with Hub City Times prior to the Nov. 8 election.