Battleground Wisconsin - GROWWING Organizing

GROWWING Organizing

12/19/24 • 49 min

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).

Previous Episode

Organizing for change

We start with discussion of the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealth. We talk about at the immediate public response, connect to the unaddressed healthcare crisis, and the proliferation of guns in America. In Wisconsin, we focus on the upcoming state budget battle and how Gov. Tony Evers has real power in the budget because it is the only bill that Republicans and the governor have to agree on, pass and sign in the next two years. We talk about the new opportunities that exist with 37 new state legislators and closer partisan margins in both the Senate and Assembly. We are joined by Citizen Action member Jill Sexter from Wausau who organized a candlelight vigil outside of Wausau City Council to bring awareness to the fact that an unhoused man, Garrick Dixon, who tragically died in one of Wausau’s parks due to exposure last month. We close by highlighting the excellent and successful community organizing in western Wisconsin by Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW) that led to a huge win in Pierce County resulting in restrictions on large corporate farms in The town of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin.

Next Episode

Welcome to 2025

Welcome back! We head into 2025 with our eyes wide open and ready to organize for the future Wisconsin communities need. We begin with a discussion of the tragic violence in New Orleans on New Years Eve. Robert offers some insights on MU pollster Charles Franklin and former MJS journalist Craig Gilbert’s discussion on polling lessons from the 2024 election. Will Wisconsin remain the ultimate battleground state? We remind our listeners of some important 2025 Spring Elections. Candidate nomination papers are due on January 7th. We preview the potential political and organizing opportunities in early 2025. On the federal level, what will become of Speaker Johnson and what the turmoil in the House around his pending Speakership tells us about the House and organizing opportunities for the progressive movement. What should we expect in Trump’s first 24 hours? On the state level, we lay out critical state budget opportunities for progressives on public education and health and child care. Robert highlights a new report demonstrating that climate change is warming Wisconsin winters. The report found more days above freezing in the last decade, which creates a ripple effect throughout Wisconsin. Also, how is conference realignment in college sports damaging the climate?