The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week

Three cheers for Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil.
Last week, Steil introduced the Make Elections Great Again -- or MEGA -- Act. The bill would bring straightforward and commonsense reforms to elections nationwide.
Some of these reforms, like requiring photo ID and ensuring only citizens can vote, are already in effect here in Wisconsin.
Others, like ranked choice voting, universal vote by mail, ballot harvesting, and improving voter list maintenance, will make elections in our state more fair.
All in all, Congressman Steil's bill is a serious and important step toward election integrity.
Fair and verifiable elections are the bedrock of our democracy. At the MacIver Institute, we've led the way to enact reforms to bring accountability and transparency to our elections. It is great to see one of our own leading the fight in Washington.
Rest assured, this is an issue we will be tracking very closely.

Whatever happened to Minnesota Nice?
While tensions between federal law enforcement and local liberal activists have spiked in recent weeks, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have been making news for all the wrong reasons. 

They are encouraging activists to obstruct legal ICE actions, of apprehending dangerous criminal illegal aliens. 

The consequences have been disastrous. 

Sanctuary policies and open borders put Innocent lives at risk and cities end up in turmoil. Community safety takes a back seat to scoring left-wing political points.

Wisconsin, we can't let this happen here. Our bedrock principles of limited government, law and order, and free markets have kept our state relatively sane and citizens safe.  But we can't take it for granted.

We do not want Wisconsin to become the next Minnesota.

Right next door in Minnesota, a major scandal is unraveling.
Welfare and childcare fraud have rocked the state. Seemingly empty daycare centers are accused of receiving millions and maybe billions in federal funds through fake claims.
A signal that it may get worse -- Governor Tim Walz dropped his re-election campaign instead of fighting the allegations.
Closer to home, a former Milwaukee Police Department employee has been charged with felony voter fraud for illegally casting ballots in city elections.

This is just the latest example of election fraud that has caused public distrust and demands more scrutiny.
Cases like these, remind us that any type of fraud wastes taxpayer dollars and undermines confidence in our systems.

Lawmakers in both states need to work smarter to reform government —better audits for state and federal programs and tougher voter verification.

Here we are, another year in the books. The holiday season is usually a time for celebration, with all sorts of excitement about the presents under the tree.

But, an unwanted arrival in the mailbox is causing heartburn for many Wisconsinites. Wisconsin taxpayers are finding out just how much their property taxes are going up. For many people, it's a lot.

In no small part because of the 402-year tax increase created entirely by Governor Tony Evers. It's an expensive reminder that under Governor Evers, it's just not working.

From all of us at The MacIver Institute, have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

The liberals in Madison are at it AGAIN, putting the Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex ahead of your freedom.

First is Madison Democrat Lisa Subeck. She introduced a bill to take away your right opt out of vaccine requirements that violate your conscience. Another Subeck bill would let minors get vaccines without parental consent.

Then there's Governor Evers. He said it was "dangerous" and "unbelievable" that the CDC would add an asterisk to a fact sheet to note that there may be a link between vaccines and autism.But it's not about the asterisk, is it?

The motivation is something else: raw power over your life and your decisions.

Chances are you like the idea of making able-bodied childless adults on welfare go through job training programs. It’s an easy sell for conservatives

What you don’t realize is that the government doesn’t actually run programs like that itself. It contracts them out, and it’s always a real feeding frenzy in the Madison swamp. Hundreds of millions of dollars are up for grabs to run government programs that the government can’t run for itself.

Many of those contracts go to non-profits who rely almost entirely on taxpayer funds. And they take very good care of themselves – their executive directors make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The best part for them, there’s practically no accountability or reporting metrics to see if any of these programs actually work.

So just remember that the next time someone in the government comes up with a brilliant new program to solve a problem in society, regardless of whether they’re sporting a “D” or an “R.”

Bill and Courtney tackle two topics in this episode of the MacIver Report: DPI's report cards and the latest campus free speech bill. DPI has revised its standards for the report cards twice since 2012. Bill explains how the latest standards are tougher than people realize and points out how DPI is actually masking underachievement. Check out the full story here: https://www.maciverinstitute.com/research/weighting-criteria,-not-cut-scores,-masking-underachievement-in-wisconsin-schools 

Courtney, as a student leader at UW-Madison, then talks about her experience testifying at a public hearing for AB501 and why she believes the bill is exactly what conservatives on campus need to prevent being silenced. Check out her testimony here: https://www.maciverinstitute.com/videos/special-presentations/maciver-intern-courtney-graves-testifies-in-favor-of-assembly-bill-501

The MacIver Institute's Michael Lucas is joined by Retired Army Sergeant Konrad R.K. Ludwig–combat veteran of Iraq War II, and author of the book "Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City."Sergeant Ludwig is a Californian by birth and now lives in Hillsdale, Michigan with his wife and newborn child where he works for the College as a software engineer. Both he and Michael attended Hillsdale College at the same time–meeting through mutual friends–and spent many an hour musing about the greatness of Ludwig von Mises.A patriot, a veteran, a finance analyst, a programmer, an armchair economist–Konrad has a wealth of knowledge and experience to rival that of many a great man. But above all, he is an incredibly good person, and a very good friend.His book has received hundreds of reviews, averaging 4.5/5 stars on Amazon, where one can also read a free sample of his incredible, and eminently human, experience of the second Iraq War.📕📕📕 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/e16YmfG 📕📕📕----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Media Mentioned:📕📕📕 Israel: Winner of the 2003 Iraq Oil War by Gary Vogler 📕📕📕(Amazon): https://a.co/d/eoqq4S1🎥🎥🎥 Warfare by A24 🎥🎥🎥(IMDB): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434639/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------📰 Stay up-to-date on all things 🏛️Wisconsin🏛️ by visiting the MacIver Institute website.https://www.maciverinstitute.com/Be sure to subscribe to the official MacIver Institute YouTube channel. @MacIverInstituteWI ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Copyright disclaimer:🎥 Reel Intro clip ("FREE 4K Countdown Footage | Retro Film Leader | MP4 | Commercial Use"):Copyright permission is granted under the CC BY 4.0 license.Link to clip:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-YbI98ikk&list=LL&index=7Link to creator's YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/@akopakopyanchannel

Bill and Courtney cover the latest conservative happenings at UW-Madison, the ongoing sexual grooming scandal in Wisconsin public schools, and how the federal government shutdown exposes the true problem with Obamacare.

Find all the story links on the main article on MacIver's website here: https://www.maciverinstitute.com/videos/video-reports/maciver-report-(oct.-31,-2025)-exposing-obamacares-fatal-flaw

Every day, Tony Evers and Tammy Baldwin take to social media to spell out the reason for the government shutdown. Republicans won’t extend the affordable care tax credits – which means the premiums on Obamacare plans will go up. Here’s what they don’t want you to know.

Those tax credits are actually massive subsidies paid directly to the insurance companies, and the insurance companies don’t even have to provide affordable plans to get them. They just can’t charge anyone more than 8.5% of their income, and the government takes care of the rest.

That’s why Obamacare plans still cost hundreds of dollars a month despite the original promise of the affordable care act to provide affordable healthcare. In the years since it was passed, insurance companies have racked hundreds of billions – if not trillions of dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies. No wonder why they’re willing to hold the government, and the American people, hostage over it.