Battleground Wisconsin

With special guest political consultant Jason Rae we discuss Do-Nothing Sen. Ron Johnson's stance on Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland. We also talk about the Supreme Court's dramatic ruling on Monday to throw out a Texas anti-abortion law, and it's impact on Wisconsin. Speaking of Mr. Do-Nothing, the panel reacts to Gov. Walker's latest jibe at teachers. We also discuss how Trump compares trade deals to rape...yes he did! And finally Sh..Sh..Sh...SHARK! (Or by another name, Payday lenders!) These meat eaters purposefully ensnare hard pressed working people into debt they can't escape. Citizen Action is rolling out a new program against these legalized loan sharks!

We are joined by state representative Cory Mason to discuss the decision to allow Waukesha access to Lake Michigan water and to flush their treated sewage into Racine’s Root River. We also talk about the congressional sit-in supporting expanding background checks in response to the Orlando mass shooting. The panel also reviews Paul Ryan’s new healthcare “plan”, Walker’s invite-only closed door “listening session”, "loose cannon" Bob Gannon spouts off again, and a new report on Act 10’s impact.

Our panel reflects on the hate crime killing targeting the LGBT community in Orlando last week and discuss how national and Wisconsin political leaders are responding to the tragedy. We look at the latest Wisconsin and national polling in important 2016 elections. The new MU Law poll confirms Gov. Walker is still very unpopular, even as his invite-only "listening sessions" convince him otherwise. We also discuss the release of the 2015-2016 legislative scorecard by the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters ranking all state legislators on important conservation votes.

Thanks to Trumpcast for Donald Trump's Orlando tweet. http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/trumpcast.html

We open by discuss Hillary Clinton’s historic week as she won 4 of 6 primaries and essentially wrapped up the Democratic nomination of president. The news for Wisconsin’s economy was not as good. We talk about new federal data ranking the state 36th in job creation in 2015. The panel reviews a bad week for Paul #ImwithRacist” Ryan that included his introduction of a new poverty plan. We wrap up with a discussion about the three elected race-baiting, conservative clowns in Wisconsin who think it’s a great idea to cut state funding for Milwaukee because of crime. Jorna also tells us about this weekend’s Pride Fest in Milwaukee.

With the passing of the candidate filing deadline, we discuss some of the big 2016 election match ups shaping up across Wisconsin. Then the panel discusses the embarrassing open records revelations this week about Scott Walker's ill-fated effort to repeal the Wisconsin Idea, Robert talks about a new federal effort to reign in Wall Street’s corrupt payday lending schemes and new research showing the Affordable Care Act is extremely popular with those covered by the law. Jorna closes the show with a discussion of why one of Donald Trump's top supporters called Speaker Paul Ryan a “yellow bellied coward.”

Sign petition to rein in the worst payday lending abuses by supporting a proposed new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: http://stoppaydaypredators.org/CAW/

We begin with important new legislation to hold prescription drug corporations accoutnable for skyrocketing prices. Then we turn to a huge week in the courts, where the voting rights trial concludes its second week and a trial began on a crucial challenge to Wisconsin's gerrymandered legislative districts. We also talk about a State Appeals Court stay in Wisconsin's right-to-work lawsuit and GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel’s lawsuit against the Obama administration’s protection for the rights of transgender kids. Paul Ryan Watch finds Donald Trump trying to get Speaker Ryan doing the splits with one foot on the Trump Train.

Citizen Action members joined State Reps Debra Kolste and Melissa Sargent today to introduce a new bill and a new idea for WI: make pharmaceutical companies publicize what they spend on manufacturing, R&D, marketing, lobbying and profit for each drug to prevent massive unnecessary price hikes!

Next to them are pill bottles sent from consumers and Citizen Action members across the state, many with personal stories, in support of actions to reduce prescription drug costs. Support lower drug prices

We discuss President Obama’s new rule expanding overtime to 4.2 million more full-time salaried workers, including 198,000 in Wisconsin, a change that will be an economic boon to Wisconsin communities. We look at the horribly slanted coverage of the new overtime rule from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and much of the mainstream media. We review Ron Johnson's embarrassing week where he said his support for Donald Trump does not mean he is endorsing him and he compared the 2016 elections with United Flight 93 on 9/11.The panel also talks about the surprising state supreme court vote against Gov. Walker’s education plan and conservatives in the state senate may reject the new election commission head who was unanimously nominated by bi-partisan commission. Finally, we are joined by Citizen Action organizer Anita Johnson who testified in trial this week for our lawsuit which challenges voter ID and other recent changes to Wisconsin election law.

After a brief update on photo ID law, we discuss the critical role trade and outsourcing is going to play in the 2016 election. We review Citizen Action's tour with Russ Feingold in Green Bay and Milwaukee which featured conversations with workers who have been impacted by outsourcing. Robert tells us about a new report that finds Wisconsin has the 2nd highest medical costs in the nation. Jorna discusses an important CapTimes article on how women in politics have to deal with sexist garbage. This week's Paul Ryan Watch feature finds our fair haired boy preparing to jump on the Trump train while his Tea Party opponent goes on the attack from a motorcycle.

We discuss the inevitable GOP presidential nomination of Donald Trump and whether Republicans from the #NeverTrump camp will publicly oppose him or get in line with Christie, Gingrich, Walker, Fitzgerald and Ron Johnson. We also review another bad week at WEDC that included revelations a New WEDC board member also sits on the board of company that got WEDC dollars after outsourcing Wisconsin jobs and Gov. Walker struggles to explain why WEDC hasn't clawed back money from companies that outsourced jobs. Badger Meter, who promised more Wisconsin jobs if ‘right to work” legislation passed, is exploring a sale and Jorna has our Paul ryan watch update