Battleground Wisconsin

We review Congress’ inadequate COVID relief bill that was immediately trolled by Trump, calling it a disgrace and demanding $2000 relief checks he has previously opposed. The Fox con has now cost the state $1.4 billion for nothing aside from a failing real estate project. We ask the question what could the state leaders have done with $1.4 billion to invest in the creation of new green jobs throughout the state. Guest panelist Rafael Smith discusses what needs to be in Gov. Evers’ next state budget to make real advancements in creating a green economy that addresses historic racial inequality and heads off a climate catastrophe. We close by welcoming In These Times magazine fellow Alice Herman to discuss her feature story about how the toll of COVID 19 on healthcare workers, and the lack of employer or government concern, is prompting many to take labor actions and to seek to form unions.

We check in on the federal COVID-19 debate in Congress. After months of failure, are the nation’s lawmakers about to deliver meaningful relief? Claire presents new research quantifying the deep financial hardship the pandemic has inflicted on American families and why the failure of political leadership is so devastating. The Electoral College declared Joe Biden the winner this week as all legal options for the snake oil salesman-in-chief have now closed. That didn’t stop Sen. Ron Johnson from embarrassing himself this week with his sham hearing on the election. We talk about disturbing news that the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association emailed a document to thousands of law enforcement agencies comparing Black Lives Matter activists to terrorists. Also the City of Milwaukee Common Council is prepared to turn down federal money for more police officers.

We review a surreal week that saw Texas and 17 states sue Wisconsin and other states where Trump lost narrowly to overturn the election. In Wisconsin, Rep. Tussler, the chairman of the Assembly Elections committee, is holding a sham hearing Friday, and has already said he is willing to defy the will of the voters. We talk about the issues the do-nothing-good Wisconsin Legislature and US Senate are ignoring, especially COVID 19 , and laud Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes’ broad Climate Task Force plan which was released this Wednesday. Will its provisions make it into Governor Evers’ state budget? Finally, we welcome Shawn Phetteplace, Wisconsin State Manager of the Main Street Alliance, to discuss the budget priorities of small business owners.

We discuss the adolescent and divisive COVID-19 legislation introduced by Robin Vos and Assembly Republicans that cuts funding for school districts and fails to address the historic pandemic bludgeoning Wisconsin families. We review Trump’s illegitimate lawsuit which seeks to change the rules of the game after the election and throw out hundreds of thousands of legal ballots in Milwaukee and Dane County. We kick off the State Budget fight that commences with Governor Tony Evers’ budget that he must present early next year. We discuss our top budget priorities, including a BadgerCare Public Option, Pharma Reform, and Green New Deal initiatives, and encourage our listeners to contact the Governor. Become a Citizen Action member and attend our Annual membership meeting this Saturday, December 5th, 10am – Noon.

On a special Thanksgiving edition of Battleground Wisconsin we dig into the question of how Joe Biden can govern effectively in the face of a Republican Party whose base is supercharged and will do everything to undermine his administration. First we talk with Rick Perlstein, the author of 4 major books on the rise of the radical right, including the recently released Reaganland, about the prospects for passing progressive reform when 73 million American believe a dangerous and counterfactual ideology. Next, John Nichols joins the conversation to discuss what we can learn about Biden's strategy from his early cabinet picks. Is this a group that can move progressive policy on the pandemic, economic reconstruction, structural racism, and the climate threat, or is it more of the same from establishment Democrats?

We have a special interview with Wisconsin Election Commissioner (WEC) Mark Thomsen about Trump and the GOP’s baseless accusations that every Wisconsin election clerk conducted illegal election activities. Wednesday evening, Republican WEC commissioners asserted, with no evidence, that Milwaukee and Dane County would illegally restrict access to GOP recount 2observers. Commissioner Dean Knudson said he was willing to throw out all absentee ballots requested online through WEC, which if it happened would likely swing the election to Trump. Our panel also discusses the escalating COVID-19 crisis in Wisconsin, including Governor Evers’ extension of the mask mandate and his new COVID-19 legislation. We welcome Racine Education Association president Angelina Cruz to discuss the very strong letter WEAC leaders sent to Gov. Evers and DHS Secretary designee Andrea Palm asking for clear state standards on in-person schooling. We also talk about other local elected officials who are receiving threats for proposing loca

As COVID-19 surges dangerously out of control, we look forward to national and state course corrections. Next, we discuss the prospects for national healthcare reform in the coming Biden/Harris Administration. We evaluate Gov. Evers’ new COVID-19 Executive Orders, as health care workers and hospitals are on the brink. We preview the 2021-22 state budget process and the importance of pushing to include BadgerCare Public Option and other structural reforms in Governor Evers’ next two year budget.

We review this week’s historic election that saw huge turnout nationally, including Wisconsin. We discuss how the blue wave this year was met by an almost equal red wave resulting in some disappointing results down ballot based on expectations buoyed by failed polling and the Trump campaign’s ability to expand its base. We shout out Milwaukee and other cities where Black and Brown communities successfully organized and turned out in large numbers putting Biden over the top. We analyze significant progressive gains in the Milwaukee suburbs that resulted in 2 new state assembly members and some heartbreaking narrow defeats for Emily Siegrist and few other state legislative candidates. The panel previews healthcare reform in a Biden Administration that must contend with a likely GOP U.S. Senate. We close with a call to action to get serious about combating COVID-19 outbreak in Wisconsin and America.

We discuss the big election and the prospect of making major Democratic gains in the State Legislature. Next, we dissect Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ 11th hour turnaround on addressing the raging COVID-10 pandemic. Has he finally been persuaded by science, or is he desperately fighting for his political life? In a Battleground Wisconsin exclusive, we release a shocking voice mail of a disgruntled parent left for a union leader which perfectly reflects the hatred and disrespect of public employees fomenting by radical right politicians. Finally we delve into what progressives are organizing for protecting the vote on election day and post-election challenges to the vote count and majority rule from from Trump, radical right judges, and the State Legislature. Subbing for Claire Zautke on the panel this week is Citizen Action Movement Politics Director JoAnna Bautch.

We welcome documentary filmmakers, Susan Peters and Jim Cricchi, who will be debuting their outstanding film “Can You Here Us Now?” next week on Wednesday at 6pm. The film looks at the ways that years of one-party rule in Wisconsin have reshaped democracy in a state once known for its progressive history. We also talk with State Assembly candidate August Schutz who is running the gerrymandered 62nd District in Racine County. We discuss the shocking COVID-19 numbers in the state and our failed response from Republican leaders like Ron Johnson who asserts we are flattening the curve and State Representative Joe Sanfilippo who said the government has no role in helping deal with the pandemic. We released a report this week finding Wisconsin billionaires are getting richer during the pandemic. Also early voting has started in Wisconsin with long lines in many cities as the state prepares for potential militia activity on Election Day.

Another week, another set of record COVID-19 infections, deaths, and hospitalizations in Wisconsin. Will the do-nothing Republican Legislature start doing its job at this moment of great perril, or is undermining Govenor Evers all they care about? We discuss the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett, who has been the most evasive Supreme Court nominee in modern history. She would not even commit on the right to birth control, or that climate change is a threat, let alone Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act. Robert talks about the civil rights violations by Wauwatosa Police in their outrageous and discriminatory response to peaceful protesters. Finally, we are joined by State Assembly candidates Kriss Marion and Shaun Murphy-Lopez who are challenging Republican incumbents in the “driftless” region of the state.

We discuss the continued failure to control the COVID-19 outbreak in Wisconsin, including the deliberate Republican state legislative effort to undermine any state response. We debrief the new MU Law Poll and the VP debate. Yet another police officer will have no charges brought against them for the killing of a Black teen in Wauwatosa. We close the show by welcoming State Assembly candidates Jacob Malinowski and Jessica Katzenmeyer to discuss their suburban Milwaukee campaigns.

We debrief the presidential “debate” this week, discuss the potential of a Trump strategy to use the state legislature to overturn electors and appoint new electors that support Trump, and sound the alarm on the deepening COVID-19 crisis throughout Wisconsin. We are joined by Kristin Lyerly and Kathy Hinkfuss who are running for State Assembly in the Green Bay area. Both are healthcare professionals who are running outstanding campaigns to win in gerrymandered districts.

We discuss the grossly insufficient indictment brought against only one of the Louisville police officers who killed Breonna Taylor. We welcome Citizen Action president Mark Thomsen to educate our listeners about new state legislation (LRB-6434/2) providing a blanket COVID-19 liability shield for businesses and how you can fight it. We continue our interviews with state legislative candidates talking with Deb Andraca and Sara Rodriguez who are making serious challenges to GOP assembly members in the Milwaukee suburbs. They tell us why these Republican gerrymandered districts are changing and ready to elect Democrats this year.

We discuss Wisconsin’s rapidly rising COVID-19 infection rate supercharged by the ill-conceived reopening of colleges and K-12 schools. We talk about the role of individual responsibility in containing the pandemic in the face of the worst national and state response in the developed world. Claire reviews a large national survey released this week finding the uninsured rate rose just before the country was hit by the coronovirus. We look at the huge opportunity Democratic State Assembly candidates have at winning seats previously thought safe for Republicans due to rigged district lines. What does winning these races have to do with creating fair maps? We welcome Citizen Action co-op member Emily Berge, who is a candidate for State Assembly in District 68 in the greater Eau Claire area, to discuss her campaign and what she is hearing on the ground.

Our panel discusses this week’s revelation that Trump knew the coronavirus was ‘deadly stuff’ in February and lied about it to the American people. Next we dig into the explosion of positive COVID tests on Wisconsin university campuses. What are the ramifications? Finally, we kick off post Labor Day campaign season with two Citizen Action co-op members who are running for State Assembly in western Wisconsin: Sarah Yacoub (District 30) and Kim Butler (District 28).

We discuss the electoral politics of the Kenosha controversy and the push for meaningful action against structural racism with our regular panel and special guests Supreme Moore Omokunde and State Rep. David Bowen. How are the events of the last two weeks playing in the presidential election? Will they finally prompt action by the Legislature? We take a deep dive into the Trump Administration’s newly announced evictions moratorium. It is a rare humanitarian act from a callus administration or something else? We close with a discussion of the Wisconsin Department of Health Service's new policy of suppressing public information on COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. What are the dangers? Why is a Democratic administration withholding vital public health information?

We are on tape from last week's from the Democratic National Convention, in our long planned counter programming to the proto-fascist Republican National Convention. Will not be able to comment on the latest racist atrocity in Kenosha until next week (our latest statements are at citizenactionwi.org). For this week's program, on radio row at the Democratic National Convention we taped 4 interviews about a central question for the future of racial justice, economic equality, and the future of the planet: will a future Biden Administration, if we can elect him, be boldly progressive? The alliance between Biden and Bernie Sanders on policy is a great sign, but there are huge challenges to making this alliance between moderates and progressives really happen after the election. We ask two moderates and two progressives for their views. We start the moderates, leading off with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, whose storied political career in state and national politics has made him a very well informed player within

We discuss this week’s all digital DNC Convention – what worked and what didn’t? We break news about a legal effort by Legislative Republicans to remove Attorney General Josh Kaul from an important voting rights lawsuit involving Citizen Action. Again the Republican Legislature thinks it is the only true governing body in Wisconsin! Next we discuss the importance of the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We close with Citizen Action Northeast WI co-op member Emily Tseffos, who joins us to talk about the effort to organize #SaveUSPS events across Wisconsin this Friday and Saturday. This is a critical fight both for this election and for the future health of American democracy.

We lead with the historic selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s Vice Presidential candidate, the first African American women to ever appear on a major party ticket. Will it help Biden win in November? Is there any progressive unrest about the choice? We review Wisconsin’s partisan primary election this Tuesday, where progressives and many candidates of color swept a series of closely contested primaries. We focus in on Citizen Action co-op member Kristina Shelton’s huge victory in Green Bay and Citizen Action organizer Supreme Moore Omokunde’s win in Milwaukee. We discuss the latest MU Law Poll and a new WEAC Region 7’s “Report Card” grading the opening plans of school districts in southeastern Wisconsin. Is your school district opening safely? Finally, we are joined by Citizen Action co-op member and state legislative candidate Emily Siegrist, to discuss her race and the rising prospects of Democratic pick ups in the previously deep red Milwaukee suburbs.