We debrief the Spring Election, including the right wing’s effort to take over local schools boards on shameful culture war conspiracies and the watershed election of Milwaukee's first Black mayor. The panel takes stock in the historic U.S. Senate vote confirming the first Black woman, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court. Disgraced former judge Michael Gableman shamefully speaks at Trump's Florida resort and is praised by the insurrectionist ex-president. How can Republicans continue the pretense that Gableman is leading an impartial and objective investigation? Claire educates us on the important health care policy behind the big Barack Obama/Joe Biden media event at the White House this week. A Citizen Action member from our North Central Wisconsin Organizing Co-op directly impacted by unaffordable health insurance costs gets a trip to the White House to see the Obama-Biden event. We discuss critical Biden agenda items that still need to be addressed before November 2022. Finally, the panel discusses the implications of new reports tying COVID-19 deaths to poverty, plus the latest Ron Johnson follies.

History Made

Battleground Wisconsin is Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s weekly podcast that features the latest political news from the front lines in the embattled state of Wisconsin. 

The show features:
·         Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin
·         Matt Brusky, Deputy Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin
.         Claire Zautke, Health Care for All Director

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Robert joins us from New Mexico where he was at a People’s Action leadership retreat and a well deserved vacation to hike and bike in New Mexico.

Yet another Walker-appointee refuses to leave office when their term expires, this time a Green Bay area bank CEO on the UW Board of Regents. What does this say about the GOP attitude towards democracy and power, and how progressives must respond?

A blockbuster federal report reveals Medicare Advantage’s $64 billion in supplemental benefits slush fund for the big insurance industry, without democratic accountability. What are the broader implications of the increasingly monopolistic system in search of profits and market share at all costs? Turning to Wisconsin, Robert and Matt layout why news the for-profit OakLeaf is planning to staff a new Eau Claire area hospital is further evidence the system is not healthy and needs state regulation that protects the health of communities against the abuses of the healthcare industry money grab. The announcement of a new public transit Rideshare program to try to fill unplanned transportation gaps in people accessing healthcare in between Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire further reveals the complete failure of our system and the need for our new hospital accountability legislation we announced with State Senator Jeff Smith earlier this month.

Next week is Bike Week! Citizen Action Northwest Coop Organizer, Jeremy Gragert, joins us to discuss the Week’s growth, importance and connection to sustainable and reliable public mass transit and fighting climate change.

Challenging Monopolies

We review the launch of a new statewide campaign for Hospital and Health system accountability. Big hospital chains have used their lobbying and political clout to excuse themselves from public oversight, with disastrous results for patients and communities. In their ceaseless quest for revenue, thy have made health care unaffordable, and created an unstable system which is leading to closures and the elimination of critical services across the state. We will discuss new legislation being drafted by State Senator Jeff Smith to reassert public oversight over the hospital industry.

Fighting Hospital Costs and Closures

We take a dive into the deepening crisis in the Wisconsin hospital system. Neither political party is talking about the fundamental cause, the insatiable appetite by the hospital industry for windfall profits? Will state leaders step up to the challenge? So far, the indications are not positive, as the Governor and the Legislature are in gridlock, and the Department of Health Services refuses to launch an investigation into the sudden and unplanned closure of 2 major hospitals and 90 clinics in Western Wisconsin. We make the direct connection between sky high hospital prices in Wisconsin and the deregulation of hospitals. A new Rand report makes our case, as it finds health plans pay an astounding 318% more than Medicare for the same services in Wisconsin.

We discuss the poor leadership, and the terrible example set for students by top officials in the UW system on the student Gaza War protests, and their failure to nurture free speech and deeper dialogue that challenges us to think deeper about the crisis. Instead, leaders put students safety at risk by unleashing the police on Madison encampment.   

In case you forgot about Donald, this week Trump took timeout from his hush money trial to shake down oil barons for $1 billion to win his election and kill Biden’s climate breakthroughs. Will Big Oil ante up and bankroll Trump's election and his legal defense?

Protect Public Health, Stabilize Wisconsin Hospitals

We discuss President Biden’s visit to Wisconsin for the 4th time this year on Wednesday and his highlighting the difference of his successful economic policies which passed Congress including Infrastructure, CHIPS and Inflation Reduction Acts. Wisconsin is clearly ground zero for the presidential election and important U.S. Senate seat held by Tammy Baldwin. 

Wisconsin Democrats announced this week that they will commit $7 million to TV ads in 5 key state Senate races. We talk about why. Wisconsin still remains the only state where no criminal charges have been filed of the five states where fake electors signed papers fraudulently asserting they were the duly qualified electors. Why? We unpack the racist House Republican scheme this week to determine immigrants are not people in scam to not count them in the next census. We laud Law Forward for calling on the US Attorney to investigate GOP operatives for racist voter suppression texts to Souls to the Polls.

We continue to call for Wisconsin lawmakers to get serious about the developing healthcare system crisis, as another for-profit company announces new cancer clinics Western Wisconsin to take advantage of some of the profitable parts of the collapsed Hospital Sister Health System in the region.

Leaders needed

In Mt. Horeb this week guns, death, and middle school kids in lockdown. We reflect.

We recap Tuesday’s 40th Anniversary event in Eau Claire. Thanks to everyone who attended one of the 5 celebrations of our proud history. As always, we are inspired by our members around Wisconsin and their commitment to building a just multiracial democracy. Please consider joining Citizen Action Today! You are needed.

We update state legislative candidate announcements and remind you to reach out to people you think should run.

We dissect the systemic implications of Marshfield Medical Center in Rice Lake, which paused its labor and delivery services this week. In other hospital monopoly news, Bellin and Gundersen Healthcare merge into the soulless profit seeking Emplify Health, further disconnecting it from its primary mission of meeting community healthcare needs.

A Dane County court overturns the PSC decision that allowed people to lease their solar energy system. Will the big fossil fuel utilities be permitted to block the renewable energy revolution?

We praise the organizing by voting rights advocates who continue their push for removing fraudulent fake elector Bob Spindell from Wisconsin’s elections commission.

We take a deeper dive into the Gaza Protests that hit the UW system and campuses across the country. What do they reveal about the power of organizing and the reality of who runs the modern UW System and other major American universities?

History Made

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