Battleground Wisconsin - Welcome to 2025

Welcome to 2025

01/02/25 • 56 min

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?

Previous Episode

GROWWING Organizing

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).

Next Episode

America’s Fire

We open reflecting on the horrific climate generated fires burning in Los Angeles as we record the show. The scale of the fires is unprecedented, yet they are already being politicized by Donald Trump as families are being evacuated, a likely preview of future presidential efforts to divide us when we need unity to make it through such horror and pain. In Wisconsin, we can see how the AI revolution is threatening the climate. Microsoft Data Center will be Wisconsin’s largest energy user, consuming more energy than all the houses and apartments in Milwaukee combined. Can we do this, and a second data center in Port Washington, and meet the climate emergency? We review the latest massive health system merger in Wisconsin that will surely continue to drive up healthcare costs. The state budget battle has begun. This week Speaker Vos took a shot at reasserting total control of the Legislature and the budget process, as he has for the last three state budgets. Vos threatened to do nothing to increase public school funding if he didn’t first get massive tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. Will the Governor or other state legislators stand up to Vos’ threats? We preview the 2025 Spring election as nomination papers are submitted and a new Voter ID constitutional amendment passes the Senate and heads to the Assembly for certain placement on the the April 2025 ballot We close by highlighting the great work of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), which finalized a new rule so Medical debt will no longer appear on credit reports for all Americans. The effort was part of a broader final push on anti-trust by the Biden Administration.