Battleground Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republican members of Congress are running scared from Medicaid cuts and the cowards are starting to do virtual town halls from bunkers, ducking open face-to-face dialogue with their own constituents. So much for the House of Representatives as the government closest to the people. Meanwhile House Republicans left Washington with no budget deal for a St. Patrick’s Day vacation (we didn’t know that was a thing), likely forcing a partial government shutdown Friday. Senate Democrats do the right thing and do not allow House Republicans to extort them into signing off on a bad deal which will give Trump and Musk a free hand to continue their unconstitutional assault on the civil service. As we are hurtling towards the critical April1st Supreme Court and Superintendent of Public Instruction elections, Crawford and Schimel debate. Was anyone listening? We welcome Citizen Action Organizer Kristie Tweed to clue us in on upcoming Medicaid Town Halls in La Crosse, Wausau, and Eau Claire later this month. Also, Citizen Action Climate Coordinator Kat Klawes joins us to discuss the path-breaking Climate Accountability Act and how you can get involved with our organizing. We also review the terrifying Mahmoud Khalil case, which reminds us of Red Scares and other dark moments in American history when civil rights were shredded.

We review the Spring Primary victory by Jill Underly in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction election and the real challenge to public education that is posed by the well-funded voucher advocate who also advanced to the April 1st General Election. Both the DPI and Supreme Court elections will be won by talking directly to voters throughout the state on phones, doors, and one-on one conversations. We urge you to sign up and volunteer with Citizen Action to make calls from home in support of Susan Crawford and Jill Underly in our weekly phone bank starting next Tuesday, February 25th at 5pm RSVP HERE The state budget battle commenced this week with Governor Tony Evers releasing his budget. We review some highlights, including BadgerCare expansion, Prescription Drug affordability Board, and a sweeping set of new regulations on health insurance abuses, including a first in the nation audit of claims denials. This Tuesday, Citizen Action joined Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) and WISDOM in calling for the Governor to leverage his potent constitutional power to veto any state budget produced by the Legislature that fails to finally secure BadgerCare Expansion, include sufficient funding for K-12 public schools, or lacks reforms needed for Wisconsin’s troubled corrections system. We urge you to contact Governor Tony Evers and tell him to fight for his top budget priorities by threatening veto of any budget that fails the public on these key public priorities and others that the governor also deems essential. We encourage listeners to RSVP for our Capitol State Budget Lobby Day on Tuesday March 4th. We close reviewing the week 5 of the Trump assault on the republic, including mounting bipartisan opposition to House Republican leadership’s plan announced this week to gut Medicaid funding to fund a massive tax cut for the wealthy. UW Madison’s research is threatened by NIH funding cuts and we expose the fake energy emergency Trump has declared to ram through an expansion of Wisconsin fossil fuel projects.

Senator Chris Larson joins us to commemorate the life of a major figure in Democratic politics who passed this week, former State Representative and Judge Fred Kessler. Fred was one of the great political organizers of his generation, and left behind a legacy of young progressive leaders he mentored and helped elect to office. We next turn to a deep dive into rural organizing with leaders of Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW). Joining us are Executive Director Jenelle Ludwig Krauss and Organizing Director Bill Hogseth. We discuss a deeper organizing approach to reaching rural voters, and the crisis in affordable housing in rural Wisconsin. What are the implications for the path forward from the 2024 election?

With less than 3 weekends left before this historic election, the presidential and U.S. senate race in Wisconsin is tied. What does it all mean? Early voting starts next Tuesday and we continue to encourage our listeners to get out and talk to voters on the doors and by phone to close the deal and overcome the toxic ads demonizing our immigrant and trans neighbors and friends. We also give our unsolicited advice on what Kamala Harris and Tammy Baldwin need to do to win in Wisconsin. We follow up on a recent Public Service Commission (PSC) public hearing where the PSC tried to ban the media from covering the hearing and the lousy representation of PSC members even attending the public hearing reveals utility capture and their utter failure to represent the public interest. We continue to sound the alarm bells about the need for hospital and health system regulation, as Ascension continues its downward spiral. The latest news is that Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in Milwaukee has switched maternity hospitals from Ascension’s premier Milwaukee hospital to an Aurora hospital. Robert closes with hope that the Biden Administration will follow through the President’s threat this week to cut off Israeli military aid in 30 days if Gaza aid flow does not radically improve. Is Biden finally going to have some backbone?

We open with a discussion of the latest horrific school shooting, this time, it’s in our backyard. We also discuss the significance of the latest Enbridge oil pipeline spill, Attorney General Josh Kaul announces a $1.7 million settlement with a sleazy Milwaukee landlord, and we preview next year’s state budget fight. We welcome Danny Akenson, a field organizer with GROWW to hear more about their community organizing in Western Wisconsin and their recent victory against corporate farms (CAFOs).