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January 13, 2015

U.S. News and World Report

By Nikki Swab

Do you believe in magic?

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., does. The Midwestern politician moonlit as a magician when he was younger. "In fact, I paid for college doing magic shows, along with the help of Pell grants and student loans," he said. And now he's reviving that certain set of skills and using it as an explainer of sorts, launching a "Magic Mondays" video series earlier this week.

June 13, 2014

By Rep. Mark Pocan

Many of us in Wisconsin remember November 7, 2006, as a dark and sad day for our state — the day the amendment defining marriage instilled hate in our state constitution. I still recall looking over the faces of many of my friends, both gay and straight, who had fought long and hard against the law, and I could sense, at that moment, that the prospects of equality in their lifetimes were dim at best. But I knew if we kept on fighting, we would eventually tear down the prejudices that were stubbornly holding on for dear life.

May 29, 2014

By Erik Gunn

On an overcast April afternoon, Mark Pocan fields questions in the council chambers of Reedsburg's city hall.

The group is small, barely more than a dozen. It skews decidedly older, with most easily over 60. It makes sense: Today's listening session for Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District is at 1 p.m., when retirees are about the only voting-age people who don't have somewhere else to be.

It's a mostly friendly crowd. One man wears a pin that declares, "Corporations are not people."

January 23, 2014

By Gina Duwe

JANESVILLE--Stephanie Ransom of Beloit and her 3-year-old daughter are living on $50 in food stamps after her unemployment compensation ended last month.

Mike Marko of Janesville could be dipping into his savings and retirement soon after his unemployment expires in less than two weeks.

It's real people such as Ransom and Marko who are trying hard to find a job but now face the daily stress of doing it without the backup of unemployment, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-2nd District, said Wednesday.

January 15, 2014

By Ed O'Keefe

President Obama may get some help from members of the audience during his State of the Union address later this month when he calls on Congress to pass an extension of unemployment insurance and to raise the minimum wage.

January 14, 2014

By Arthur Delaney

A pair of House Democrats hope to put a face on the problem of expired unemployment insurance by encouraging their colleagues to invite jobless constituents to the president's State of the Union address later this month.

More than a million Americans abruptly lost their long-term unemployment insurance in December because Congress failed to reauthorize federal compensation. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have been working on a deal to revive the benefits, but it's not clear if the GOP-controlled House would go along with the Senate.

January 13, 2014

By Tiffany Yapp

Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan is among the Democrats calling on Congress to immediately extend unemployment benefits.

The possible extension is back on the table in the U.S. Senate this week.

On December 28th, 1.3 million Americans lost their unemployment benefits.

In Madison Monday, Rep. Pocan said it's time for Congress to make a deal.

January 11, 2014

By Rep. Mark Pocan

Supporting those who are unemployed is part of the fundamental contract we enter as citizens of this great country.

It's why every time we receive a pay check, we give a small portion of it to pay for unemployment insurance, knowing that if we ever find ourselves without a job — as many of us will do at some point in our lives — it will be there to help us get back on our feet.

WNA-Wisconsin News Tracker

This is the promise we make as Americans to help those who temporarily need assistance.

December 31, 2013

By John Nichols

Congressman Mark Pocan rang bells for charity outside the Jenifer Street Market on Madison's east side a few days before Christmas. The Democratic congressman was just back from Washington, having finished his first year in Congress by breaking with the White House and Democratic and Republican leaders in the House to oppose the budget agreement arranged by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash.