The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week

Wisconsin voters deserve better.  For the second time this year, the Green Bay City Clerk’s office mailed duplicate absentee ballots to voters due to yet another printing error. In April, 152 voters received duplicates ahead of the spring election. Now, just months later, an unknown number in multiple wards have been sent extras ahead of the August primary.  Once is a mistake. Twice is a pattern t...

As America marks 250 years of independence, few states have done more to feed our growing nation than Wisconsin. We are America’s Dairyland.  Wisconsin leads the country in cheese production, turning out billions of pounds each year. We are also number one in cranberries, ginseng, snap beans, and more. From corn and soybeans to potatoes and world-class bovine genetics, Wisconsin farms and processo...

As we continue to celebrate America 250 and Wisconsin’s unique place in our nation’s story, let’s raise a toast to liberty, freedom, and common sense. For 13 long years, the 18th Amendment created an era of Prohibition across America. But whatever good intentions might have been behind it, Prohibition led to bootleggers, speakeasies, and federal overreach. In December 1932, former Governor and the...

 As we prepare to celebrate 250 years of American independence, it’s the perfect time to recognize the vital role Wisconsin plays in keeping our nation strong and secure. During World War II, Sturgeon Bay shipbuilders launched dozens of vessels that helped secure victory. Today, Fincantieri Marinette Marine continues that proud tradition, constructing advanced Navy ships right here in the Badger S...

his week, as we approach Flag Day on June 14th, we’re reminded of the timeless symbol that unites our nation—especially as Wisconsin and America prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of our independence in 2026. On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes: thirteen stripes of red and white, with thirteen white stars on a field of blue, representing a new constellation...

Two weeks ago, we warned about the so-called "deal" the lame duck leaders of the legislature and lame duck Gov. Evers were trying to fast track into law. It would have spent down a PROJECTED surplus -- not money the state actually has on hand -- by sending one-time checks to taxpayers and adding millions of long-term recurring spending. By now, you're probably aware that deal went do...

What is Memorial Day? Between the extra-long weekend, the cookouts, warmer weather, parades, and the Indy 500, it's easy to lose sight of why we take pause this time of year. But as fun as that all is, it comes with a cost. The lives of our nation’s heroes who gave it their all for our freedom. We owe our gratitude to those brave men and women who stepped up and swore their allegiance to Ameri...

Breaking news occurred just minutes before Cong. Bryan Steil joined MacIver last weekend to discuss election reforms he has diligently been working on: Act Blue’s CEO will testify in a public hearing before his Committee on June 10, over whether she misled Congress regarding foreign donations on its payment processing portal.   Grassroots activists have long advocated for legislators to pay attent...

By now, most of you have heard about the negotiated so-called "deal" announced Monday.  A lame duck speaker of the assembly and the lame duck senate majority leader teamed up with the lame duck governor to negotiate away $2.5 billion dollars of taxpayer money.  About $900 million of that will supposedly go to education spending. It’s a ruse! Guess where a big chunk of that money will act...

The May Day protesters pushed values and mottos of No Work, No School, and No Shopping.  This is a far cry from our history to achieve the American Dream.     Their mottos easily convert to realities of No Business, No Economy, No Learning, No Future, No Path Forward. No Hope!   America’s founding was built on values that moved us forward. It’s our state’s motto!   As we celebrate America’s 250th ...

Butler, Pennsylvania. Charlie Kirk. Now this: Another attempted assassination happened this past weekend, this time at the White House Correspondents' dinner. Thankfully, the Secret Service intervened before the gunman could make it into the room where President Trump was about to give a speech. Since then, we have seen and heard countless examples of hate-filled speech. There is a segment of...

Two hundred fifty-one years ago, Paul Revere rode through the Massachusetts night on horseback, yelling: "The Redcoats are coming."   The Declaration of Independence was signed a year later. This year, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country, we need to remember its core principles of liberty, freedom, equality - and socialism??!?   Oh, definitely not socialism, but you if y...

Buckle up, Wisconsin.   The election results in last Tuesday's Supreme Court election means one thing: reforms will be on the chopping block.   Act 10 reforms that have saved taxpayers more than $35 billion over the last 15 years is in danger of repeal.    A new redistricting lawsuit may find its way to the Supreme Court, upending congressional district boundaries.   School choice, now in its...

If you thought that politics as usual couldn’t get lower, then hold on. It's not working, Wisconsin! This past Friday, Good Friday, when you were not paying attention to politics, Governor Evers showed just how much he does not respect the citizens of Wisconsin. In a jazzy social media post, Governor Evers told all taxpayers to deal with it and vetoed the bill attempting to nullify his 400-yea...

The legislative session ended with a lot of controversy, and the top leaders in both houses are exiting.   Governor Evers, who is also exiting, is deciding which bills passed are worthy of being signed or vetoed based on liberal ideology of what is good for Wisconsin.   Attorney General Josh Kaul has once again signed onto a lawsuit against the Trump Administration.   And it doesn’t appear that th...

It might not make the headlines, but lawfare is alive and well in Wisconsin. Last week, Attorney General Josh Kaul joined yet another lawsuit against the Trump administration. That makes more than 40 multi-state coalitions to advance the far left’s agenda.   That's not all that’s happening at the Department of Justice.   Retired Judge Jim Troupis has been in AG Kaul's crosshairs for years...

The MacIver Institute's Michael Lucas is joined by Robert G. Natelson, a lawyer, professor, historian, and authority for the United States Supreme Court. He recently received his 41st citation from United States Supreme Court Justice Thomas during the Learning Resources v. Trump case. Rob Natelson has authored dozens of academic articles, hundreds of blog posts, several books, and is a frequen...

The legislative session is ending in Madison, and there are plenty of Issues that need to be addressed.   Democrats still want more spending on education, even though DPI spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a lavish conference, and they are failing to teach our students at proficient levels.    Gov. Evers and Speaker Vos -- both of whom are leaving office -- are talking about spending down a...

MacIver Institute's own policy analyst, Michael Lucas, is joined by two current UW-Students and our brilliant MacIver interns, Courtney Graves and Rebecca Draeger, who discuss a myriad of topics such as China, unrest in Iran, Gov. Tony Evers, the economy, education, sports betting, and go over some of our most recent projects and articles. www.maciverinstitute.com #freespeech #personality #pol...

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ final State of the State Address was delivered last Tuesday, marking the beginning of the end of the Evers’ Era. This last State of the State hit the usual notes for Evers: take credit, blame republicans in the legislature, then propose more spending with bipartisan support. He did NOT accept accountability for his failing policies, however. He blamed Republicans for...

15 years ago, Governor Scott Walker and conservatives in the state legislature faced a dilemma. Years of overspending left Wisconsin broke. Walker announced the budget repair bill.  Badly needed reforms that would eventually become Act 10 that has now saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than 35 billion dollars. Tens of thousands of union members, professional protestors, and anti-establishment liberals...

"Just give us more money," the public education establishment says. "That will solve all the problems in our schools."  We've known for a long time: this isn’t true. Per-pupil spending keeps going up, while test scores are flat or falling.  We released a report last week with the American Experiment. We found that lack of knowledge and skills is partly to blame for Wiscons...

After a long break, MacIver's policy analyst, Michael Lucas, and resident healthcare expert, Courtney Graves, are back to discuss a litany of topics: the WI Supreme Court race, the WI gubernatorial race, the recent reclassification of marijuana, recent research and perspectives at MacIver, and even touch on national issues such as unrest in Minnesota and recent developments regarding the Epstein f...

Three cheers for Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil. Last week, Steil introduced the Make Elections Great Again -- or MEGA -- Act. The bill would bring straightforward and commonsense reforms to elections nationwide. Some of these reforms, like requiring photo ID and ensuring only citizens can vote, are already in effect here in Wisconsin. Others, like ranked choice voting, universal vote by mail,...

Whatever happened to Minnesota Nice? While tensions between federal law enforcement and local liberal activists have spiked in recent weeks, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have been making news for all the wrong reasons.  They are encouraging activists to obstruct legal ICE actions, of apprehending dangerous criminal illegal aliens.  The consequences have been disastrous....