MONROE — U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-02) held six in-district town halls this week as congress is gaveled off from Washington. On Tuesday, May 26, Pocan held open town halls in Darlington and Monroe. The following day he went to Mineral Point and Reedsburg, and finished the short tour at Edgerton and Madison on May 28.
Before getting directly into a question-and-answer format from the crowd, Pocan opened the town halls going through a power point presentation, which by itself answered more than half of the anonymous written questions constituents filled out ahead of time. The power point went through the national debt, future debt, the cost of the current war in Iran, the rise of inflation and cost of living, tariffs, healthcare, corruption and other grievances espoused by many Americans — and Democrats — over the course of the second Trump administration.
Showing a graphic with President Donald Trump’s recent quote, “I don’t think about Americans financial situations.” The president was responding to a question about the financial burden of the Iran war, rapidly rising gas prices and vanity projects like the White House ballroom and D.C. arch.
“(It’s) pretty outrageous, Pocan said of the quote because the cost of living is “the number one thing that people reach out to us about.”
Exit polls following the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won over former Vice President Kamala Harris, suggested many swing voters favored Trump because of the economy and cost of living at the time.
“He said, day one, he’s going to reduce costs. And instead, things have gone up in a lot of areas,” Pocan said.
Pocan acknowledged that any policy changes and legitimate governmental challenges to policies of the Trump administration will have to wait until after the midterms this coming November. Projections from various national pollsters favor Democrats winning back at least one chamber in congress, though it is far from a guarantee.
Among the slides Pocan shared with extended discussion was some of the ballooning budget and financial numbers of the government. For instance, the budget for Immigration and Customs (ICE) spiked from between $23.1 billion to $29.2 billion from 2020 to 2024, to over $169 billion in 2025 alone — a rise of more than 80%. The Iran war spending is also spiking uncontrollably, Pocan said. As of May 26, the US had spent nearly $93 billion — about a billion dollars per day and $41.6 million per hour. Trump’s proposed defense department budget for the war goes up to $1.5 trillion, — more than the next 35 countries in the world combined, which includes China, Russia and allies like the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Ukraine, South Korea and Israel.
Gas prices have also spiked since the congressionally unapproved military conflict in Iran began at the end of February. Across the country the price per gallon is averaging higher than $5, a spike of nearly $2 in just three months. Overall, household electric bills have gone up 13% and natural gas utility charges 12% — a total of $93 billion across the country.
“And even if the war stops tomorrow, gas prices likely for the year will still remain quite high,” Pocan said.
Grocery store prices have also gone up more than a smidgen. Coffee, the vast majority of which is imported, has risen 19%. Bananas are up 4%, tomatoes 40%, ground beef 15% and processed fish 8%.
Pocan is running for re-election this fall, with Erik Olsen, his Republican opponent in 2024, also running. Pocan defeated Olsen by more than 40% (70.1% to 29.8%).
