Battleground Wisconsin

We lead off with Trump’s gun boat diplomacy in Venezuela and the shocking bloodshed perpetrated by ICE in Minneapolis. What does it mean and how is the resistance to authoritarianism responding so far? We welcome State Representative Ryan Clancy to discuss three game changing progressive tax bills that would transform how Wisconsin funds K-12 schools, local governments, and other public services. If enacted, Wisconsin would become the first state to fund K-12 schools primarily through a progressive income tax, leading to a 44% reduction in the median Wisconsin property tax bill. The two other bills restore Wisconsin’s estate tax for those valued higher than $15M, and create a new local option income tax on the ultra wealthy. We review new analysis by Wisconsin Watch that 46% of State’s private school students get public-financed vouchers and 96% are in religious schools. We close with the U.S. House revolt against Trump and Speaker Johnson on the expiring ACA affordability subsidies. Nine Republicans defied Trump and Johnson, forcing the vote, all from swing districts, but not Derrick Van Ordin. Does it have a chance in the U.S. Senate? At the state level, some legislative Republicans are advancing a bill requiring transparent hospital pricing for “shoppable services” that has split the big corporate business interests from the hospitals. Is there an opening among Republicans and corporate interests to rein in Wisconsin’s astronomical hospital prices, which are the highest in the Midwest and the 5th highest in the country? Robert also asks why Senator Chris Larson is the only Democrat co-sponsoring the legislation?

We start with an analyis of the latest health care melodrama in D.C., where four House Republicans unexpectedly broke ranks, joining Democrats in forcing a vote on the renwal of ACA subsidies. Speaker Johnson will not hold the required vote until January. But even if it passes in the House, it will face an almost certain filibuster in the Senate. Meanwhile millions of Americans will lose healthcare coverage, and those who decide to pay skyrocketing premiums will be forced to cut back on other basics. We welcome State Representative Angelina Cruz to discuss the budget bait and switch on special education funding. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) announced l that the state will fail to meet the 42% special education reimbursement promised in the recent state budget., and by elected leaders of both parties when they celebrated the budget "compromise." Rep. Cruz tells us about new legislation to ensure all schools get special education funding they were promised Following Rep. Cruz, we discuss a new three bill package that transforms how Wisconsin funds K-12 schools and other public goods in Wisconsin. If enacted, Wisconsin would become the first state to fund K-12 schools primarily through a progressive income tax, leading to a 44% reduction in the median Wisconsin property tax bill. Another bill restores Wisconsin’s estate tax for estates valued higher than $14M and creates a new local option income tax on people who make $1M a year or more. These tools provide new, fairer options to raise revenue at the state and local levels, and begin the long process of unwinding record levels of income and wealth inequality. We also talk about this week’s highly publicized trial of Judge Hannah Dugan Trial in Milwaukee, data center opponents launch a recall effort against Port Washington Mayor, and the "Monsters of the Midway" threaten to move to Indiana, the latest move in their failing (but on-going) campaign to shake down Illinois for unneeded public subsidies at the expense of schools, health care, and other public priorities. So far Illinois elected leaders are holding firm, in stark contrast to Wisconsin's bipartisan cave in to the Brewers billionaire owner last year.

We welcome Corrine Hendrickson, with Main Street Alliance, to talk about the upcoming Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN) Lobby Day on January 20, 2026 at the state Capitol where childcare, education and healthcare funding will be center stage in day of action. We encourage our listeners to attend. Next, we are joined by Amy Barrilleaux, Communications Director at Clean Wisconsin, to encourage our listeners to sign their petition calling for a statewide pause of approvals of A.I. data centers until we can get better, transparent data necessary to develop a comprehensive plan to protect the environment, avoid massive increases in utility costs for residential customers, and prevent a massive increase in climate-busting greenhouse gas emissions. We discuss Department of Public Instruction’s report this week that the state will fail to meet 42% special education reimbursement promised in the recent state budget. In a classic bait and switch, the state will only pay 35% of special education costs, dumping the rest on already underfunded public school districts.. Democratic lawmakers are proposing a new bill to ensure schools get special education funding at the rate promised in the state budget process. Robert does a deep dive into the health care drama in Washington, D.C. where Senate Republicans advance a junk alternative to renewing Affordable Care Act subsidies. We give you a full account of why the GOP plan would be a disaster for Americans already struggling to afford health care.

We discuss the latest shocking affront to basic human decency by the Trump Regime, starving food insecure American families by cutting off SNAP to states that have not shared the private personal data of recipients with the regime's security forces. Governor Evers and Attorney General Kaul are right to tell Trump to pound sand. Will the federal courts or Congress stop them from triggering a hunger crisis in the U.S.? We review a fascinating discussion earlier this week at a U.S. Senate panel which began as a discussion of extending ACA tax subsidies but evolved into a broader bi-partisan discussion of the broken and unaffordable healthcare system. Senators Bernie Sanders and Tammy Baldwin point out there is a consensus the system needs fundamental reform. We dig into the details and its implications for progressives and healthcare reform advocates. We are joined by State Representative Darrin Madison to discuss the 2% of income utility rate cap bill. The legislation is still seeking co-sponsors until Monday December 8th. We urge our listeners to call their legislators today and email them by following this link. We look at how this bill connects to the current data center explosion, and the increasingly vehement and bipartisan protests, which are being ignored by most politicians.

We lead-off with Milwaukee Area Labor Council President Pam Fendt to discuss a successful organizing campaign by union workers at the City of Milwaukee to win a Common Council vote to override the Mayor’s budget vetoes, including his effort to scale backe to pay increases for city employees who live in Milwaukee. We connect this worker-led union effort to the possibility of the 2026 state elections leading to a Democratic trifecta which could set the stage to overturn Act 10 and other anti-worker policies in Wisconsin. Will a new Democratic majority be ready to raise the additional revenue to make up for all the lost ground caused by Scott Walker's union busting? We update the co-sponsor count for the Utility Rate Cap bill, bringing the total of sponsors to 19. We encourage our listeners to contact your state Senators and Representatives next week before the December 5th co-sponsorship deadline. Robert updates us on the latest indications of an AI data center superpowered stock market bubble that could generate another financial meltdown, and leave Wisconsinites deal with abandoned data centers and unneeded methane gas plants. Citizen Action is an early supporter of Clean Wisconsin’s petition to pause AI Data Centers until a comprehensive plan to deal with climate emissions, water, and energy costs for consumers is developed. We discuss why this is so important, especially considering the potential for a historic AI data center bubble bursting and leaving us holding the bag. Robert helps us better understand the policy question embroiling federal politics: Is Trump really trying to extend ACA subsidies as he announced this week? And will WisconsinEye halt its unique coverage of state politics on December 15th without more funds, further reducing the transparency and accountability of state government.

We discuss the pathbreaking Utility Rate Cap bill which is currently circulating for co-sponsors in the state legislature. We praise the current co-sponsors and encourage our listeners to reach out to their state legislators today. We expose the continuing perversion of democracy and human decency that finds Speaker Robin Vos unilitarially blocking the latest effort to pass a PostPartum Care Expansion bill in the Assembly with overwhleming bi-partisan support. It already pased Wisconsin Senate 32-1. We continue the conversation on the un democratic rush to approve and throw tax giveaways at AI data centers owned by the world’s richest people and largest tech companies. We look at the public uprising where conservatives, independents and democrats agree the data center assault on communities is corporate welfare in the guise of economic development. We close with a dive into the new national MU Law Poll that trumpets Trump vulnerability. We are not as sure. We also look at how voters’ clear top issue is the cost of living and how no matter where you live in Wisconsin you should shuld make enough income to afford the basics of life. House Democrats call on Trump to act on an epidemic of claims denials in employer-sponsored health care. And, Group Health Co-op board to discuss motions to recognize the nurse and healthcare workers union.

This week America met the “Benedict 8” – who pursued a craven, cynical, and ultimately unstrategic betrayal of the American public. We dive into how the “Benedict 8” and the leadership that enabled them exposes what’s wrong with Democratic leadership and how it fails to deliver on its goals. Does this low point provide a moment to break with failed policies of the past and craft a new vision for the Democratic Party rooted in fighting powerful wealthy interests and winning on issues that dramatically improve the lives of the American people. We discuss the successful Citizen Action of Wisconsin Climate and Utility Justice Lobby Day this week at the Capitol where 150 citizen lobbyists from around the state met with legislators and attended a media event to announce the 2% of Income Utility Rate Cap Bill. We unpack why the new legislation is critical. The U.S. Catholic Bishops overcome the ideological cleavage in the church to condemn Trump immigration policies. What are the implications for the gestapo-like tactics of ICE? We discuss the new campaign against AT&T, who is helping ICE identify and pursue people across the country. AT&T contracts with ICE, CBP, and DHS—the agencies running Trump’s deportation machine—and the terror that comes with it. We urge listeners to attend an event exposing AT&T in Illinois this Saturday.

With Matt under the weather, Robert goes solo with the help of podcast producer Mollee Albinger asking the questions. We dig into the aftermath of the Democratic sweep in the off year elections this week. What does it mean for the ending of the government shutdown and the fight to save liberal democracy? Meanwhile, still unwilling to negotiate with Democrats over health care costs, Trump doubles down on his calls on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster, and Ron Johnson flips to support the President. Is ending the filibuster one of the only good things for democracy Trump may accomplish? We also dig into the trumped up political scandal focused on the Department of Instruction's handling of teacher misconduct cases, more revelations on the massive environmental and economic costs of the Data Centers, plus Marathon County cooperation with ICE, and book banning in the Milwaukee burbs.

We take a deep dive into the on-going data center debate in Wisconsin for the entire show. We welcome IUPAT District Council No. 7, Director of Governmental Affairs Office, Andy Buck to tell us why their union supports the current data centers that will be built union and how IUPAT members get work and sustain work. Next, State Senator Chris Larson joins us to provide his political perspective and educate us on the state’s role in enabling the current dynamic and how we need to see the current organizing opportunity the data centers provide. Finally, 620AM WTMJ’s Kristin Brey returns to the show to discuss her insightful observation that there is a unique coalition of political forces aligned against and for the new data centers and what does it say about the current political environment.

As Trump takes a bulldozer to the White House and liberal democracy, we take a deep dive into the devastating potential impact of the tech oligarchs here in Wisconsin. Foxconn 2.0: the Data Center Invasion, shows that as in the movies the sequel is even worse than the original. Robert tells us about economist Jerrod Bernstein’s forecast that there is an AI bubble that will pop the stock market and leave Wisconsinites holding the bag on huge new fossil fuel plants and infrastructure when AI goes bust. We review how state and local officials continue to ignore growing public opposition and lavish the tech giants with generous state a local tax subsidies. In addition, opposition to the transmission lines for massive data centers is growing and producing unique new political alignments. Also on this week’s show: Congressman Brian Stiel’s bill that would cut funding to Milwaukee, other major transit systems; Flu vaccination rates plummet in Wisconsin in the wake of anti-vax disinformation from the top of government; and Wisconsin federal food assistance runs out in 8 days, leaving over 700,000 Wisconsinites in peril.

We are back after a week off! We welcome State Representative Vinnie Miresse to the show to discuss new legislation to protect the ‘rights of nature’ and reinstitute a state anti-mining law. We take stock in the state of American democracy and why Saturday’s No Kings Rally 2.0 will communicate by the number of people who turnout widespread opposition to the authoritarian usurpations of the Trump Regime. We encourage our listeners to attend an event near you. Find No Kings Rallies here. We look at a current Supreme Court case that could deal a death b low to America’s multiracial democracy by legalizing racial gerrymandering. Robert helps us understand why the United Healthcare and Ascension deal unintentionally lays bare the corruption of hospital and insurance pricing and why it’s long overdue for the hospital industry to be regulated in the public interest. We also discuss the toll of over a decade of austerity in Wisconsin, as a new report ranks Wisconsin 46th in the nation in public college affordability. We close by highlighting the overwhelmingly approving by the state senate of a bill to require health insurers to cover all necessary breast cancer screenings, including women that are hard to diagnose, without co-pays and deductibles.The bill is named for a Neenah woman who died of breast cancer because of inadequate screenings. Outcome in the Assembly unclear, as the health insurance industry has killed the bill during the last two legislative sessions. But word in the Capitol is that Robin Vos will block it in the Assembly, just as he has done with postpartum care for women and their children.

We start with discussion of the new fighting spirit of Congressional Democrats, and the central role the health care cost crisis is playing in the impasse. Are Democrats finally learning how to resist an increasingly authoritarian president? We review the latest MU Law Poll and whether we agree with what veteran political journalist Craig Gilbert calls the Trump paradox, where despite low popularity, Trump 2.0 has been one of the most powerful presidencies in recent American history. We welcome Heather DuBois Bourenane and Chris Hambach-Boyle from Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) to discuss how the growing private, voucher school program is defunding Wisconsin’s public schools and how their Voucher Transparency Project is exposing the scheme and organizing people in defense of our public schools.

We start with the on-going invasion of many Wisconsin communities by energy and water sucking data centers. While profiting Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Big Utilities these projects threaten to accelerate runaway climate change and spike already unaffordable utility prices. While state and local economic development boosters, including the Evers Administration, throw public money at data centers without considering the massive environmental costs and limited economic impact, a few brave communities are standing up in places such as Menomonie and Caledonia. We need to refocus public policy on addressing the climate crisis, not economical development boondogles that light the planet on fire. We encourage people to attend this Sunday’s Climate March at the Capitol in Madison at Noon. Meanwhile Trump, Vance, and their minions rush to politicize the violent attack on ICE office in Dallas before the facts are in, blaming Democratic and left wing truth-telling about the abuses of Trump's immigration crackdown. There is a problem with political incendiary language, that it come from the President, Vice President, and MAGA, not elected progressives and mainline Democrats. We talk about the potential of a government shutdown, and the Trump Regime impact in Wisconsin this week, including Derrick Van Ordin’s demand to cut off federal dollars to the City of Eau Claire, Ellsworth, and Mayo Clinic in retaliation for social media posts. Citizen Action Board member and former state Representative Sandy Pasch joins us to warn our listeners about a terrible new bill in Madison that restricts free speech in the name of fighting antisemitism by making legitimate and First Amendement protected cricism of Israel into hate speech. The bill is yet another authoritarian attempt to empower governmet crackdowns against civil society groups and free speech. Sandy calls for our listeners to reach out to their state representative and senators to oppose AB 446, and support alternative legislation that meaningfully addresses antisemitism. Finally, we welcome Chris Gooding, Theology professor and union leader at Marquette University, to update our listeners on the Jesuit university’s union busting in the name of God. We discussed how this anti-union strategy spread this month to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where the university walked away from negotiations with their workers, prompting outrage on campus and a strike vote.

On this week's show Robert Kraig is joined by special guest co-host State Senator Chris Larson. Robert & Chris discuss the shameful effort of the Trump Regime to use the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to unleash the full force of the federal government to crack down on progressive groups, celebrities such as Jimmy Kimmel, and millions of everyday Americans exercising their First Amendment rights on social media. Next, we preview the 2026 elections in WIsconsin where governing power is in play. Does this consolidation of authoritarian power call for different kinds of candidates and a new politics in the Democratic Party? Finally, Chris & Robert dig in on the latest state news, including the Evers Administration's efforts to protect access to COVID vaccines, and the decline of an alternative to predatory corporate health insurance.

We discuss the murder of Charlie Kirk this week and how despite the shooter still being at large (as of our tapping of the show), many in the MAGA movement rush to make political hay, including Wisconsin’s Derrick Van Orden, with some even calling for retribution against progressives and the news media when the killers motives are still unknown. This is both dangerous, and distracts attention from lack of gun laws and mental health interventions to make the public safer. Turning to much better news, we focus on the organized fight back against factory farm pollution in Western Wisconsin by local residents with the support of (GROWW) Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin. We talk about the critical role this authentic brand of community organizing can play in rebuilding our democratic institutions. We announce Citizen Action’s involvement in a Climate March at the State Capitol, Sunday, September 28th @ 12 Noon, which is to national climate actions around the country. Robert updates us on Caledonia residents pushing back against another data center and the politics behind it. We also discuss a federal court blocking enforcement of EPA Ozone Standards in Southeast Wisconsin. Why is a Democratic AG siding with the business lobby? We take an early sneak peek at the 2026 elections, where more Democratic candidates have entered in the last month. Finally, the controversy continues on charges that Senate Democrats are picking primary candidates and trying to squelch competitive primaries. RSVP for the Climate March, Sunday, September 28th, Noon >> https://secure.everyaction.com/nVZ3Fxvm60idMFKwBjoEsA2

“The State of Working Wisconsin” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast We welcome Laura Dresser from the High Road Strategy Center, a think-and-do tank, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Laura is the lead author of the 2025 State of Working Wisconsin report which presents the Wisconsin workers’ perspective on the economy including, what’s going on with work and jobs, who is winning in this economy, and who is being left behind. We discuss the report’s key findings, including the role a $20/hour minimum wage in Wisconsin could play in improving the lives of Wisconsin working families. We debrief Labor Day 2025, and take a deep dive into Wisconsin’s brewing AI Data Center Scandal that could threaten the Great Lakes water supply and accelerate the state’s carbon emissions at a time they must be dramatically slashed to head off runaway climate change. In addition to the environmental impact, they are a terrible economic development investment on a par with the Foxconn boondoggle. We also review the scandalous last couple weeks at Ascension Wisconsin which wants to charges such high prices that even United Healthcare is threatening to cut them off. The ongoing implosion of Ascension continues to highlight the need for the Hospital Accountability Act we are developing with state Senator Jeff Smith.

On our special Labor Day show we welcome Peter Rickman, President of MASH (Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union), to discuss making work pay a living wage in every corner of Wisconsin with a $20/hour minimum wage. We also discuss the central role of organized labor in creating a fair and just economy, highlighting significant labor organizing in Wisconsin headed into Labor Day Weekend 2025. Also, we discuss the attempt to steal the 2026 election by re-gerrymandering Texas. Should the Democrats respond in kind?

Will the 1000 year flood in Southeast Wisconsin finally convince policymakers that the climate crisis is already impacting Wisconsin? The appropriate response would be to quickly enact the Climate Accountability Act, which requires Wisconsin for the first time to adopt an accountable climate action plan that cuts greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and maximizes the economic benefits especially for people in urban and rural areas currently locked out of economic opportunities. We encourage our listeners to contact their state legislators and urge them to support the new Climate Accountability Act We get into the weeds of the scandalous news that Ascension Wisconsin will outsource its ICU Doctors, further imperiling care for patents. This is what happens when you put big profit-maximizing monopolies in charge of health care with virtually no oversight. Robert tells us about developing state legislation to re-regulate the hospital industry in the public interest. Fair maps advocates are rightly appalled by the national gerrymandering fight instigated by President Trump and apparently matched by California Governor Gavin Newsom. But, is it realistic to ask Democrats to unilaterally disarm in the face of attempted authoritarian consolidation? Robert tells us that Ruth Conniff makes a strong case for holding onto the principle, but can progressives hold onto abstract norms in the face of the shredding of democratic norms by a would-be authoritarian movement? Robert argues that outcomes have moral consequences, and that pro-democracy forces must find a way to uphold the principles of democracy while being effective in preventing Trump and his MAGA allies from rigging the 2026 election. We close with an honest conversation about the short-sighted state budget, which leaves a structural deficit for the next two year budget, potentially forcing cuts to critical services even if the Democrats win a trifecta, unless they are willing to reverse decades of regressive tax cuts dolled out to corporations and the wealthy.

Following Tony Evers photo op at a besieged free clinic in Eau Claire, we discuss the serious structural problems with our current healthcare delivery system. While hospital monopolies siphon off billions in profits, we pay some of the highest costs in the nation, and yet hospitals across the state are either closing or cutting vital services such as emergency care and birthing units, especially in rural areas and urban neighborhoods. The hospital monopolies are non profits in name only and are acting like highly regulated for-profit industries like Wall Street banks and fossil fuel utilities. It is long overdue for the hospital industry to lose its special protections and be regulated in the public interest A new report finds Wisconsin is struggling to keep teachers who are leaving the state or profession. We make the direct connection to lack of state funding for more than a generation. It’s why we need candidates in 2026 who will fight for this funding and raise the revenue needed to meet our most pressing priorities. We discuss contrasting town halls last week by Republican Congress members Brian Stiel and Tom Tiffany. While Stiel had the guts to stand in front of his constituents, unlike Tiffany and the infamous Derrick Van Ordin, the reaction of his constituents shows the growing public anger over Trump’s massive cuts to Medicaid and Food Shares. Meanwhile, Wisconsin legislators express phony outrage over Canadian forest fires and file faux complaints with an international body that requires cooperation not dictates from one country. If they really gave a darn about wild fires they would help address the cause of worsening global warming, the massive over burning of fossil fuels that could be replaced by clean renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. We close with a briefing on some state labor movement news, including the ongoing strike by healthcare workers at Janesville’s MercyHealth East, workers at Pathfinders in Milwaukee announce organizing drive seeking employer recognition, and Wisconsin video game workers who were first to unionize at a major U.S. studio, now have their first contract.

In the aftermath of Tony Evers’ announcement that he will not seek re-election, we discuss the wide-open primary for the Democratic nomination. Who are the likely candidates and what should they run on? Is this an opportunity for progressives and everyone who craves a Democratic Party willing to fight? Robert tells us about an early attempt by Senator Chris Larson and our allies to lay out a 2026 agenda for candidates for Governor and state legislature. We talk about how the new report from the Center for Working-Class Politics shows there is a pathway to win in 2026 on an clear agenda that excites working people, including many who defected to Trump in 2024, and brings them back into the pro-democracy fold. We start to tackle the state fiscal elephant in the room. The tax cuts in the just completed state budget, on top of years of tax giveaways to the wealthy and corporations, have set the state up for a fiscal deficit to start the next session. No candidate can promise full funding for public education, child care, and for the expansion of health care who is not serious about generating more revenue by rolling back past tax giveaways to the rich and most profitable corporations. Finally, we also look at gerrymandering in Texas which threatens to rig the 2026 midterms in favor of Trump’s allies. From and pragmatic and ethical point of view, must the Democrats must respond in kind?