Battleground Wisconsin

The GOP health care zombie bill is back and worse than ever! We discuss the latest conservative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and welcome Healthcare for All cooperative organizer Katie Dunn to discuss next Monday’s 1:30pm rally in opposition to the GOP repeal plan at Sen. Ron Johnson’s Milwaukee office. We also welcome cooperative organizers, Jeff Smith and Joel Lewis, to discuss the Western and North Central Wisconsin Organizing Cooperatives, including member-led organizing on health care, CAFOs and green energy jobs.

We discuss Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s support for new Medicare for All legislation introduced this week in the U.S, Senate. Baldwin's forward looking vision is in sharp contrast with Sen. Ron Johnson and his conservative colleagues who introduced yet another effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The panel talks about the long delayed special interest laden state budget that passed the assembly on Tuesday and now heads to the Senate for final rubber stamping. We also review the latest on Foxconn, including Kenosha’s clear minded decision to pass on the boondoggle. Finally we discuss the change in leadership among Assembly Democrats and Paul Ryan’s confession over the debt consequences of his own tax plan.

As Hurricane Irma rampages toward Florida, we discuss the political implications of Hurricanes and other human-made climate disasters. The panel considers the latest Foxconn news, including a likely vote in the senate next week, and a new amendment that sends lawsuits directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The GOP continues to wrangle over the state budget. Accion Ciudadana organizer Luz Sosa joins us to discuss Trump’s attack on young immigrants with the termination of DACA, and Anna Dvorak tells us about the movement for Fair Election Maps

Happy Labor Day Weekend Wisconsin! Our panel discusses the vital role labor unions play in creating democratic workplaces, real economic opportunity, and access to the middle class. We reflect on the devastation in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the role climate change and bad public policy played in it’s creation. Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters (WLCV) organizer Matt Dannenberg educates us on the mining industry’s latest push to roll back Wisconsin’s mining moratorium which protects our water and environment. Robert previews the next health care fight this fall in the federal budget and Jorna tells us about Congressman Grothman’s demand for other federal budget cuts to pay for Hurricane Harvey relief.

We take a sneak peak at the developing 2018 governor's race. We discuss how issues like the Foxconn giveaway will shape the political environment and test candidates. Robert updates us on on the growing public opposition to the Foxconn deal, including 3 news events held by Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative in Eau Claire, Wausau, and Appleton. Jorna reviews Paul Ryan’s fake town hall with CNN that was not open to the public. Also, GOP Sen. Tom Tiffany is threatening Wisconsin’s mining moratorium and Citizen Action is hosting a forum featuring 2018 Supreme Court candidates Rebecca Dallet and Tim Burns in Milwaukee on Thursday, September 14th @ 6pm.

We welcome one of the legislative champions in the fight to stop the Foxconn heist, State Representative Amanda Stuck. Stuck's courage to speak out during the Assembly committee hearing on Foxconn helped spark a public groundswell against Scott Walker's disastrous plan for corporate welfare on an unprecedented scale. Call your State Senator today at 1-800-362-9472. We also discuss the murderous rally of Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville. Citizen Action organizer Davette Baker joins us to reflect on last weekend’s events, and to urge all progressives to take a stand against white supremacy and racism.

We do a deep dive into the environmental trap that will be set if Scott Walker's Foxconn swindle is approved. We welcome Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters and Raj Shukla, executive director of The River Alliance of Wisconsin, to discuss the gutting of environmental standards for the benefit of one multinational corporation. We also look at the developing split between the Assembly and Senate on Foxconn and how this issue will impact the Democratic candidates for governor. Jorna exposes Sen. Ron Johnson’s ridiculous comments about John McCain’s vote to kill TrumpCare in the Senate and we look forward to our “BadgerCare for all” campaign to expand access to affordable healthcare in Wisconsin.

We welcome state representative Jonathan Brostoff to talk about his early opposition to the $3 billion plus Foxconn plan that is currently being rushed through the Assembly. We analyze the political dynamic that will likely result from a number of Democrats supporting the Foxconn deal and what investments progressive champions should support to create real economic opportunity throughout the state. Robert discusses the collapse of the GOP Senate health care repeal, Trump’s sabotage, and what’s next in the healthcare fight. We close the show with Jorna educating us on the viscous Trump effort to restrict immigration.

We dive into the slim details surrounding Trump and Walker’s $3 billion bribe to Foxconn to build a display panel plant in Wisconsin that could employ 3,000 - 13,000 workers (if you believe Foxconn). We review the latest on Senate GOP’s bizarre legislative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act through a so-called “skinny” repeal. We are joined by Healthcare For All Organizing Cooperative member Joan Hanson to talk about the co-op's long term organizing plan for universal healthcare. Jorna helps explain why Trump wants to ban transgendered Americans from serving in the military. We close the show with Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, who reviews new WDC research showing that between January 2010 and December 2016, mostly out-of-state school voucher interests doled out about $8.5 million in direct campaign contributions and outside election spending in legislative and statewide races – nearly all of it to support Republican candidates.

We discuss whether the health care repeal crisis or the Russian scandal are diverting too much attention from other Trumpian threats and dig deeper into the next steps in the health care fight. Anna Dvorak, organizer for the Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative, joins the panel to update listeners on the movement for fair elections that is sweeping the state. Mike Crute, of the Devil's Advocates and the owner of a new progressive radio station in Milwaukee, joins us to discuss the shady and undemocratic effort by mega station 620 AM WTMJ in Milwaukee to prevent Resistance Radio 1510 AM from getting an FM station signal to allow 24 hour programming.