Battleground Wisconsin

We welcome Connie Smith, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals and Jamie Lucas, executive director, to discuss Ascension’s profit-maximizing closure of St. Francis Hospital’s Labor and Delivery unit, creating a new healthcare desert for women and their families on Milwaukee’s south side. We discuss the economic forces driving Ascension’s decision, and the leverage public mobilization and protest, and elected officials willing to speak out, can create to back them down. We also evaluated the effectiveness of Democrats in the recent Congressional “Lame Duck” session; Was it irresponsible to not deal with the debt limit through reconciliation and other filibuster proof progressive priorities or did Democratic leaders do the best that was possible with a bad hand? We talk about a new article Robert wrote for Barn Raiser debriefing Wisconsin’s 2022 election. Robert urges us to spend less time on punditry and more on deeper conversations with voters. We look ahead to the huge opportunity the 2023 Supreme Court Election for us to talk to more voters and win.

We start by reflecting on some rare good news from Washington, the historic signing this week by President Biden of the Baldwin-Collins marriage equality bill, the Respect for Marriage Act. We then turn to the storm clouds looming over the next two years, the Party of Trump’s dysfunction on a spending bill needed to keep the Federal Government open. Is this a harbinger of things once the GOP takes control of the House of Representatives? Next, we welcome Dr. Micheal Rosen to discuss the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to raise interest rates, likely imperiling economic gains made by workers the last few years. Is there a better way to reduce inflation? Michael also predicts the winner of Sunday’s World Cup Final, debriefs the tournament, and says goodbye to a “greatest generation” of players likely appearing in their last World Cup.

We discuss the political implications of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s win in Georgia. What are the new opportunities that a larger Senate majority present? We talk about President Biden’s push to move the first Democratic Presidential primary to South Carolina in 2024. Does it create a more equitable process? What does it say about whether Biden will run for a second term? SCOTUS takes up the Independent Legislature theory and it’s unclear where a majority of the court will land on this controversial case that would put another dagger into democracy. In Wisconsin, the special election for Senate District 8 now has 4 Republicans and 1 Democrat in the race. Is the seat vacated by Alberta Darling in play? We discuss the news this week that Milwaukee and Dane County are being subpoenaed in the DOJ’s false electors investigation against Trump. Robert has some reflections on President Biden’s support for organized labor and we congratulate Citizen Action president Mark Thomsen for winning the Wisconsin Trial Lawyer of the Year award. If you need healthcare coverage by January 1, 2023, don’t forget to sign up on Healthcare.gov by December 15th

We discuss growing tensions within the illegitimate Republican Legislature between the old Scott Walker and Trumpist factions. Speaker Vos finally testifies on Trump’s efforts to overturn the Wisconsin 2020 election, becoming the last witness to be interviewed by the historic January 6th Committee. Meanwhile the Wisconsin Election Commission deadlocks and blocks (for now) MAGA Republican Representative Janel Brandtjen’s scheme to acquire personal data of every Wisconsin voter. We talk about the entry of conservative celebrity judge Jennifer Dorow into the 2023 WI Supreme Court election – who surprisingly agrees with Mandela Barnes that Wisconsin’s cash bail system is broken and not keeping us safe. Senator Baldwin successfully passes historic marriage equality legislation, achieving a huge progressive bipartisan win. We close by discussing the proposed Albertsons-Kroger grocery mega merger and the Biden Administration’s intervention into a rail workers strike.

We are thankful for our listeners this holiday season. We appreciate your support for over a decade. This week the gerrymandered leaders of the State Legislature said they wanted to cut taxes for the wealthy, including Republican Senate Majority Leader Devon LeMahieu calling for a regressive flat tax that economists found will cut taxes for the top 3% and raise taxes for everyone making $25,000 – $300,000.

This gerrymandered legislature must be stopped! We are calling on you this week to donate to our newly launched 2023 Supreme Court Action Fund to win the historically important election that will determine if we can overturn the gerrymandered election maps choking democracy in Wisconsin. DONATE NOW to our Supreme Court Action Fund >> https://bit.ly/3Ov2ZOF Every dollar donated goes directly to support our “deep canvass” field program talking directly to important spring election voters.

As the 2022 election results continue to come in, the voters deliver a split decision. We continue our analysis of the election and what it portends for governing and the future of democracy. We look at why inflation didn’t kill Democrats in the election and how Biden’s policies played a role in midterm success, even if not fully understood by pollsters and the media. We celebrate Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s masterful effort to shepherd a bi-partisan Same sex marriage codification through the U.S. Senate, protecting marriage rights for millions of Americans from Trumpist judges. In Wisconsin, we preview 2023’s state budget battle between the winner of the popular vote, Governor Tony Evers, and an illegitimate gerrymandered Legislature. In addition, we assess the developing civil war between MAGA election denier Rep. Janel Brandtjen and Speaker Robin Vos, who expelled Brandtjen from the Assembly GOP caucus. We close by previewing the pivotal 2023 Supreme Court Election next April. Citizen Action is hosting a Supreme Court candidate forum featuring the progressive candidates on Wednesday, January 11th, 7pm.

We unflinchingly evaluate the 2022 election in Wisconsin, both the good and the bad. We celebrate the high turnout and overall surprisingly strong performance of Democrats in Wisconsin and nationally, from the Governor Tony Evers victory to a possible Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. We also don’t hide our deep disappointment in the close loss of Mandela Barnes and the despair of the gerrymandered state legislature. We close by looking forward to the Spring 2023 Supreme Court election where reversing the historically undemocratic Legislative gerrymander and removing voter suppression rules will be on the ballot.

We discuss the new MU Poll which shows the election is tied and all about turnout! Poll demonstrates that GOTV field programs will decide the election and you need to volunteer! If you can’t volunteer, please DONATE to support our GOTV door and phone canvass. President Biden makes impassioned comments Wednesday about the threat to democracy. Why is the Wisconsin mainstream media ignoring Tim Michels’ Trumpian comments that if he is elected governor, no Republican will lose in Wisconsin? How does it relate to his position on decertifying the 2020 election, or abolishing the WEC? Also Michael’s construction company has no Black people in management, super majority white and male. Citizen Action releases a hard hitting Ron Johnson video that uses his own words to reveal who he supports. We encourage you to watch & share video. Robert educates us on the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period beginning this week and what changes open up health care coverage to more people. We update the effort to stop We Energies outrageous 13%+ rate hike and their inadequate effort to transition to renewable energy.

We discuss the razor tight Wisconsin election, and ask listeners to challenge themselves to do at least one phone or door shift by November 8th. See our list of GOTV opportunities this weekend (below). We dig into new polling showing combining climate change and the rising cost of living is a great electoral argument. Why are the Democrats not talking about renewable energy and energy efficiency as solutions to inflation? We welcome Antonio Butts, the Executive Director of Walnut Way, for an interview on the new ME Energies coalition against We Energies' massive rate hike request, and his organization's intervention in the rate case now pending before the Public Service Commission (PSC). We close the show with our in-house economist Dr. Michael Rosen to review newly released Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau data showing Tim Michels' flat tax only benefits the richest 3% of Wisconsin residents, while actually raising taxes on everyone else.

We discuss how self-interested billionaires are dominating the critical U.S. Senate contest, reflecting on the news that Diane Hendricks has so far given $16 million and Richard Uihlein $20 million to pro-Johnson Super PAC. The dark money group is running trashy and racist ads against Mandela Barnes. Similar ads by the WI GOP and other dark money groups have prompted the NAACP to file an FCC complaint over the racist ads and call on Broadcast corporations to refuse to air them. With billionaires setting agenda for voters, does Wisconsin still really have one person one vote? Meanwhile in the equally toxic Governor’s race, Tim Michels flip flops on abortion as he schemes to break up DNR and Milwaukee Public Schools. We discuss a proposed merger in the grocery industry that will only make higher food prices worse and Robert debriefs a rally last week against a proposed We Energies rate increase and the energy burden it places on low income families, especially communities of color. We close with progressive economist, Dr. Michael Rosen, to discuss a likely Federal Reserve rate increase. Will the move spark a recession on the backs of the most vulnerable workers, particularly African- Americans? We dig into other potential other options available to President Biden, at a time when Congress has abdicated its responsibility to make economic policy.