Battleground Wisconsin

With our regulars Matt Brusky and Rebecca Lynch on furlough, we welcome State Senator Chris Larson and State Rep. Evan Goyke to discuss the tumultuous end of the Legislative Session. We dig into some of the most dangerous eleventh hour proposals being considered by the radical conservative majority, and their panic over the impending blue wave that is swamping conservative candidates around the co...

We discuss the evolving political debate on guns following the Florida school shooting, including the split between Gov. Walker's and Attorney General Brad Schimel on arming teachers. We talk about a new lawsuit, led by Eric Holder, which challenges Scott Walker's refusal to hold special elections in two open legislative districts. The panel also discusses: Wisconsin shifting of up to $90 million...

We review this week’s Spring Primary Election results and looking forward to April 3rd General Election. Robert reviews the latest Gov. Walker healthcare scheme which vainly attempts to cover one of his greatest political vulnerabilities. We dive into Attorney General Brad Schimel’s shameful election year call for arming teachers in Wisconsin schools in an effort to fire up gun advocates. Finally...

We welcome Tim Burns, Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s endorsed candidate for State Supreme Court (primary next Tuesday, February 20) to discuss his novel willingness to run on his progressive values and fight for average people against the big corporate interests that are rigging the system. We also talk about the latest mass school shooting in Florida and the GOP’s serial appeasement of gun extremi...

We discuss Gov. Walker’s plan to lure Kimberly-Clark with a Foxconn-style public subsidy. We then dig into what elected Democrats from the region and the some of the Democrat governor candidates are saying and proposing as alternatives. We preview our Democratic Governor candidate forum in Eau Claire this Saturday at 9:30 am that will kick off Citizen Action's endorsement process. We also talk abo...

Gov. Walker rightly understands that he and Republicans are in serious political danger heading into his 2018 campaign. In an attempt to cover up political failings, Walker called a special session this week to further punish the working poor and struggling families in Wisconsin. Instead of calling a special session to address the shortage of family supporting jobs in most parts of the state, Walk...

Our panel reviews Gov. Walker’s State of the State (SOS) address which reveals a massive re-branding effort heading into the 2018 election. Robert analyzes Walker’s 11th hour conversion on health care designed to address his biggest electoral vulnerability. We welcome AFSCME Council 32’s Mike Horecki to talk about Walker’s belated effort to close Lincoln Hills after 7 years of pressure from worker...

We start with the electoral wave that hit the west coast of Wisconsin on Tuesday with the surprise victory of Democrat Patty Schachtner in Senate District 10. We welcome Eric Couto, executive director of Wisconsin Progress, to discuss the implications of the SD 10 upset and the critical role of recruiting and training great candidates to run for office. Our panel takes a closer look at the Governo...

We discuss the Trump administration’s decision to legalize the imposition of Medicaid work requirements designed to force people off health coverage. We look closer at the historic number of GOP House resignations that are increasing the odds of a Democratic sweep in 2018. The panel analyses the state of Wisconsin’s gubernatorial election with this week’s addition of Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, and...

We welcome Mark Thomsen, Chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, to discuss the highly partisan and potentially slanderous attack by Senate Leader Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Vos on commission administrator Michael Haas. We also talk about the increasingly combative GOP Senate primary between Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson, revealing deepening fault lines within the Republican Party. We...

After reviewing the draconian implications of the GOP tax scam bill that was forced through Congress this week, we welcome State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff to educate us on the GOP effort to expand Foxconn’s wetlands exemptions statewide, putting one million acres of wetlands at risk. Republicans are looking to ram the wetlands destruction bill quickly through the Legislature. Robert also tells us abo...

We are joined by former state representative and Citizen Action Board member, Mandela Barnes, to discuss lessons from Tuesday's Alabama Senate election. Robert educates us on this week’s launch of the End Child Poverty campaign that Citizen Action is leading with WISDOM, Kids Forward and Wisconsin Council of Churches. We also discuss: New legislation from Rep. Goyke to cut Wisconsin’s prison popul...

This week two GOP senators unintentionally reveal the malicious motives behind the GOP tax scam bill. Next, we dig into the latest in "the Foxconn" scandal and Walker's sudden about face on federal health care funding. We welcome Eric Couto, executive director of Wisconsin Progress, to educate our listeners on the candidate recruitment and training program they offer progressive candidates. We als...

We discuss the rushed vote in the U.S. Senate on the GOP tax cut scam and Walker’s plan to spend $7 million on an ad campaign to “get more bodies” in the state. We also welcome Emerge Wisconsin executive director Erin Forest to discuss their growing training program to inspire and train Democratic women to run for office with the goal of changing the face of power, politics, and leadership in Wisc...

We welcome state Representative Jonathan Brostoff to discuss new GOP wetlands destruction legislation, modeled on dangerous Foxconn wetlands exemptions, which could result in a loss of an estimated 1 million acres of our wetlands. We talk about the GOP federal tax cut plan approved by the House Thursday, including Sen. Ron Johnson's opposition. Robert also highlights the tax bill's sabotage of the...

On the week Gov. Walker launched his quest for a 3rd term, former panelist Jorna Taylor joins us to review election results on the east coast and predict their implications for Wisconsin in 2018. This week Wisconsin officially joined the Koch Brother-fueled right-wing conspiracy to radically reconstruct the U.S. Constitution. Ken Taylor, executive director of Kids Forward, joins us to talk about t...

We discuss the latest Foxconn news including a new Democratic appointment to WEDC and the GOP desire to keep the details of the deal from public scrutiny. Kevin Kane joins us to educate listeners on the ACA open enrollment process and our role in preventing health care sabotage. We review Gov. Walker’s dirty effort to deregulation of CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). We also discuss...

We welcome WEDC board member and State Senator Tim Carpenter to discuss the secrecy surrounding the Foxconn contract with WEDC, which is so extreme that board members are expected to vote without seeing the contract. Ahead of open enrollment sticker shock on November 1st, the panel reviews new Citizen Action research documenting that because of Scott Walker's sabotage Wisconsinites will pay thousa...

This week the panel digs into Donald Trump and Scott Walker's reckless sneak attacks on health care, before turning to potentially explosive developments in the $3 billion Foxconn giveaway. We then discuss Scott Walker's soft announcement for re-election though a misleading video, the Governor's bizarre attempted intervention into the NFL national anthem protests, and finally Cory Mason's victory...

This week we dig into Donald Trump's latest illegal attempt to sabotage ObamaCare, and a new initiative by Legislative Democrats to reign in price gouging by prescription drug corporations. We evaluatue a shocking move to expand charter schools in Wisconsin coming from a surprising source. We also bat around a bizarre statement by Scott Walker panning an industrial hemp bill being moved by GOP leg...

We introduce the show's new panelist, Rebecca Lynch, the political director for Wisconsin Working Families Party. We welcome the director of the Fair Elections Project, Sachin Chheda, who attended the oral arguments this week at the Supreme Court for the historic gerrymandering case challenging Wisconsin’s legislative maps. The panel also discusses the economic dynamics that enable conservative ef...

We welcome Acción Ciudadana organizer Luz Sosa to discuss the disgusting and immoral abandonment by the Trump administration of Americans in Puerto Rico, Vieques and other U.S. territories following last week’s devastating (climate change induced) hurricane. Luz also tells us what members are doing to help. We review this week’s implosion of TrumpCare 3.0 and talk with Healthcare for All Organizin...

The GOP health care zombie bill is back and worse than ever! We discuss the latest conservative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and welcome Healthcare for All cooperative organizer Katie Dunn to discuss next Monday’s 1:30pm rally in opposition to the GOP repeal plan at Sen. Ron Johnson’s Milwaukee office. We also welcome cooperative organizers, Jeff Smith and Joel Lewis, to discuss the We...

We discuss Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s support for new Medicare for All legislation introduced this week in the U.S, Senate. Baldwin's forward looking vision is in sharp contrast with Sen. Ron Johnson and his conservative colleagues who introduced yet another effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The panel talks about the long delayed special interest laden state budget that passed the assembly on Tu...

As Hurricane Irma rampages toward Florida, we discuss the political implications of Hurricanes and other human-made climate disasters. The panel considers the latest Foxconn news, including a likely vote in the senate next week, and a new amendment that sends lawsuits directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The GOP continues to wrangle over the state budget. Accion Ciudadana organizer Luz Sosa jo...