Battleground Wisconsin

We welcome Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes to discuss his first couple of months in the office and the his vision for creating opportunity in Wisconsin over the next few years. In our third installment of Sarah “what the Godlewski does the state treasurer do?” We review her effort to help UW system graduates refinance their student loan debt and GOP State Rep. Michael Schraa failing to honor his promi...

This week we do a deep dive on the Foxconn mess with two special guests: State Senator Chris Larson and State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff. Will we have a thriving new manufacturing hub in 2 years in Racine County, or an post-industrial ghost town? We also look at advances in civil rights in the Evers budget, including automatic voter registrations and drivers licenses for immigrants.

This week progressive Democrats in Congress introduced the gold standard in healthcare reform, Medicare For All, with an impressive 100+ co-sponsors. We talk about why the bill matters despite its dim prospects for immediate passage. Turning to Wisconsin, we look at the official announcement by Governor Tony Evers that he will include BadgerCare Expansion in his first state budget. Citizen Action...

We debrief the Spring Primary elections and discuss the latest news in the important State Supreme Court election on April 2nd. The panel tears apart the junk Koch Brother funded research Republicans unveiled this week in effort to provide cover for their shameful opposition to expanding BadgerCare. We talk about Evers’ new proposal to add $28 million in the budget for women's health care. We clos...

We discuss the latest state news including Gov. Evers plan to expand access to dental care for low income people and fixing lead pipes throughout the Wisconsin. We welcome state treasurer and Citizen Action member Sarah Godlewski for the 2nd installment of “What the Godlewski does the state treasurer do? This time Sarah has some shocking news about censorship on climate issues. State Senator Chris...

We discuss the latest on the Foxconn scandal, including a devastating new investigative report exposing the fraud and lies behind boondoggle of the century. We contrast the political cynicism behind Foxconn with the bold vision for a “Green New Deal” introduced this week by freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Ed Markey, and other progressives. Finally, Trump sides with payday...

We welcome State Representative Jonathan Brostoff to discuss the predictable implosion of Foxconn’s manufacturing plant in Wisconsin and the implications for Wisconsin and the progressive movement. We also talk about new scandalous and hateful revelations about the bigotry of Scott Walker's handpicked Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn.

We review Gov. Tony Evers’ first State of the State address this week, and the GOP lock step propaganda message in response. We discuss new reporting revealing the Walker campaign and its dark money allies spent an astounding $58 million in 2018 election, and its implications for democracy. We also check in on the latest GOP legislator attack on the Wisconsin Idea. Finally, we welcome Angelina Cru...

We welcome Eric Marsch, Citizen Action of Wisconsin co-op leader and executive director of Southeastern WI NORML, to discuss news that Tony Evers supports legalization of marijuana. Evers announced this week that as a first step to full legalization he will include medical marijuana in his state budget. We discuss the junk GOP pre-existing conditions bill that is moving with lightening speed throu...

We welcome the new state treasurer and Citizen Action co-op member Sarah Godlewski to discuss the her first week in office. Sarah will join the show every 2nd week of the month to educate us on priorities to strengthen and improve the office’s financial watchdog functions. We talk about Governor Evers’ healthcare executive order and his direction to new AG Josh Kaul to reverse Wisconsin’s stance o...

We welcome in 2019 by discussing the upcoming state budget fight. We look at the budget priorities Tony Evers rolled out this week in the media, the potential timeline for his expected battle with the GOP-dominated Legislature, and how the fight for Medicaid expansion will be central. We review new GOP legislation that yet again fails to protect those with pre-existing conditions. Finally, we also...

We close out 2018 by contrasting the legacies of House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker as they prepare to leave office in early January. We review the lame duck session fall out, including the latest on the motion filed in Citizen Action's early voting lawsuit with One WI Now to block voting restrictions. We also discuss Tony Evers’ first cabinet appointments and a new audit revealing WEDC...

We discuss the latest on the scandalous GOP lame duck, including the pending legal action against the early voting in Wisconsin. We welcome Citizen Action North Central Co-op organizer Joel Lewis to review the Wausau budget listening session with Tony Evers, which in openness stands in sharp contrast with the infamous GOP lame duck session. Former podcast panelist Jorna Taylor joins us to discuss...

We debrief the undemocratic Lame Duck power grab with the panel and special guest State Rep. Greta Neubauer. Thanks to everyone who contacted their state legislators, made calls to constituents, or went to the Capitol to testify and bear witness. We also welcome State Rep. Evan Goyke to look towards 2019 and the potential for criminal justice reform. Moving to the next critical election, we interv...

After debriefing Rebecca’s much needed vacation, we discuss the latest news on the GOP lame duck legislative session scheduled for next week. Contact your state legislators today to voice your opposition to the Republican power grab! Robert educates us on Evers’ newly minted healthcare policy advisory council, Evers' plan to expand Medicaid, and what we can expect the next Congress to do on health...

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! We thank everyone who attended our Brew Fest fundraiser this week, including speakers Mandela Barnes, Gwen Moore and Judge Lisa Neubauer, candidate for State Supreme Court in April 2019. We discuss the potential GOP lame duck session in the State Legislature where Republican leaders want to take power away from Tony Evers before he is inaugurated the 45th Governor of Wi...

We review Tuesday’s historic election that swept Tony Evers, Mandela Barnes, Josh Kaul, and Sarah Godlewski into statewide office and overwhelmingly re-elected Tammy Baldwin to fight the Trump administration in Washington. We look at highlights and a few lost opportunities. We welcome Anita Johnson to discuss her organizing work and her role in the Citizen Action lawsuit the expanded access to ear...

We welcome Citizen Action coop member Sarah Godlewski who is in the final stretch of her amazing campaign for State Treasurer. Sarah reminds us how important it is to vote all the way down the ballot on Tuesday, November 6th. We discuss the terrorist attack by a white nationalist in Pittsburgh and how the tragedy is a direct consequence of the hatred sewn by Donald Trump, and the Republican politi...

This week Wisconsin is ground zero for the 2018 election with the visits of Presidents Trump and Obama. The panel discusses the effort by Trump and Wisconsin Republicans to inject immigration and other conservative issues into an election dominated by GOP failure on healthcare. We encourage listeners to vote early and volunteer on election day or work at a polling location. We close with a discuss...

We discuss how healthcare, particularly pre-existing conditions, remains the top issue in Wisconsin elections. The panel forecasts their top 3 agenda items for progressives in 2019 if Tony Evers wins the Governor election and Democrats gain control the State Senate. Gabriel Gomez, a Citizen Action co-op member and candidate for State Assembly District 21, joins us to discuss his campaign.

This week the panel is forced (yet again) to interpret the infamous Marquette University Law Poll, which now declares a dead heat in the Governor's race. We dig through the electoral and movement ramifications of the disturbing confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime SCOTUS appointment. Will it energize right-wing voters in November? Will it build the strength of the #metoo movement? We take...

We discuss the sham FBI investigation into the credible charges of sexual assault leveled against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and predict the likely outcomes of the shameful Senate confirmation process and the electoral fallout from Donald Trump's latest degrading remarks. We also talk about the Fight for $15 movement’s victory this week at Amazon, and the strike in Milwaukee that resulted in...

We discuss the shamefully rushed Brett Kavanaugh confirmation process that played out this week and what does it mean for the progress of gender equity in America? We then welcome Citizen Action co-op member and candidate for State Assembly candidate Chris Rahlf to discuss breaking news this week that her opponent, Rep Rob Brooks, made racist and sexually abusive comments to 3 female GOP state leg...

Our panel analyzes the latest MU Law poll. We review how healthcare is becoming a dominant issue in the election, particularly Walker’s support for allowing discrimination against people with pre-existing health conditions. We also discuss the sleazy effort to divide the Bryce family by featuring Randy’s brother in an ugly negative ad that drew a heartfelt angry response from Randy’s mother. We we...

Scott Walker’s dive into the gutter has our attention this week. Not only did Walker try to blame Tony Evers for racial disparities in education, his latest TV ad erroneously claims that Evers plans to release rapists. murders, and kidnappers. Continuing the low lights from Wisconsin conservatives, we discuss a barely coded racial slur by the editor of Right Wisconsin, who called MPS students "lit...