Battleground Wisconsin

The GOP war on public health continues in Wisconsin with Republican legislative leaders appealing to the right-wing Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the Governor’s stay at home order and inciting dangerous protests at the state capitol scheduled for Friday. We welcome attorney Mark Thomsen, who specializes in medical malpractice and nursing home neglect, to discuss Speaker Vos’s repugnant amendment to COVID-19 relief legislation which could make it impossible to sue for any kind of nursing home abuse. The amendment was shamefully introduced on behalf of the WI Hospital Association, WI Medical Society, and WI Assisted Living Association. We close with a look at this fall’s state legislative elections and why they are so important to the healthy and prosperity of Wisconsin.

We welcome State Representatives Marisabel Cabrera and Jonathan Brostoff to discuss their courageous votes against the very weak COVID-19 relief that clear the Legislature this week. Republicans in the Legislature blocked efforts to include free testing and treatment, a vital step we must take to contain the pandemic, address racial inequality, and open up the economy. The inadequate legislation was signed by Gov. Evers, who had tried to secure a mandate that health insurance companies not charge co-pays or co-insurance fees for COVID 19 treatment. The plan also fails to limit cancellation of health coverage during the pandemic, which will increase the ranks of the uninsured. It also leaves in place insurance deductibles for testing, creating a dangerous barrier to finding out who in Wisconsin is infected.

In this week's episode we dig into the scandalous pandemic primary forced on Wisconsin voters by a conservative establishment that will stop at nothing to win. The panel also talks about the double gut punch Wisconsin progressives felt with the exodus of Bernie Sanders from the presidential contest. We close with a discussion of the next big big battle in Madison, the fight for a meaningful state response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remaining safer at home, the panel discuss COVID-19 and Citizen Action’s call for free treatment and other critical health care emergency actions needed to contain the pandemic. We dig into dysfunctional political situation in Wisconsin that is careening into a dangerous and anti-democratic election on April 7th. We urge listeners to get their absentee ballots in immediately and encourage everyone to remind friends, family and social networks to do the same. Finally, we dive into a conversation about healthcare workers being fired for speaking out about lack of proper gear and unsafe conditions.

We discuss the latest COVID-19 pandemic news, including this week’s Congressional action. Is the $2 trillion relief package the biggest corporate giveaway in American history, or vital help for working Americans and small businesses in a time of dire need? We welcome Susannah Dyen from Caring Across Generations to talk about the Texas Lt. Governor’s comments that grandparents would be willing to die to preserve America’s economy. We close with the latest on the troubled April 7th spring election, including changes to election procedures imposed by a federal judge and growing opposition to holding this election during a state lockdown.

Practicing social distancing, our panel joins us this week from separate locations. We discuss the rapidly evolving Covid-19 virus pandemic and the political response. We call out Sen. Ron Johnson and 4 Wisconsin Republicans Congressmen for voting against the bipartison coronavirus recovery bill over their opposition to paid sick days for workers. We also dig into the impact the pandemic is having on the April 7th election. Should the elections be postponed? We encourage everyone to request an absentee ballot at myvote.wi.gov. The panel closes with a discussion of a Wisconsin Public Radio story on how the major Democratic candidates for president have run to the left of Gov. Tony Evers and State Legislative Democrats.

Our panel discuses of the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency by Governor Evers, cancelled in person classes at many universities, and resulted in the suspension of the NBA season. We focus on the dysfunctional response from the Trump Administration to the outbreak, including the lack of testing, its cost to patients, and the president's error riddle and xenophobic speech to the naton. We welcome Lynn Quincy, director of the Healthcare Value Hub, to talk about a new study conducted in partnership with Citizen Action that shows a majority of Wisconsinites across party lines are concerned about the high cost of healthcare. avoid needed care due to cost, and support fundamental reform. We discuss the latest news in the Democratic presidential primary after another big week for Joe Biden and yet another attempt to purge Wisconsin's voter roles by the right.

The panel diggs into the repercussions of the Super Tuesday primaries, and the dramatic thinning of the Democratic primary field down to two major candidates. What are the implications? We also discuss yet another right-wing threat to health care coverage for millions, the implication of Covid-19 for caregivers, two Wisconsin State Supreme Court scandals, and media stories indicating that a “culture of racism” may have played some role in the mass shooting at Miller-Coors factory in Milwaukee.

We discuss the implications of the coronavirus in America and the role of the pharmaceutical industry and Trump Administration in making the threat worse. We review the South Carolina Democratic presidential candidate debate and look at the latest Wisconsin polling. Is Bernie pulling away? The panel closes by talking about a new report from the Center for American Progress which blamed gerrymandering for the failure of the State Legislature to opt into BadgerCare Expansion.

We review the amazing boxing match that broke out during the Nevada Democratic presidential primary debate in Las Vegas. The panel debriefs this week’s Spring Primary Election in Wisconsin that saw Jill Karofsky easily advance to the general election against conservative Dan Kelly in the state Supreme Court race. We close with a discussion of the Republican legislature’s rejection of Tony Evers’ plan to increase education funding and instead they increased funding for mass incarceration.