Battleground Wisconsin

Brian Wooldridge

Battleground Wisconsin is Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s weekly podcast that features the latest political news from the front lines in the embattled state of Wisconsin. The show features: · Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin · Matt Brusky, Deputy Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin . Claire Zautke, Health Care for All Director

  1. Progressive Caucus in Wisconsin

    3 gg fa

    Progressive Caucus in Wisconsin

    Robert opens the show with the latest Tick Report (aka Nature’s Revenge) Report) which includes a rash of tick-related livestock deaths in TN, a DMV region tick infestation to match the swampy reflecting pond on national mall, a USDA educational campaign with an image of 5 ticks you can’t see, and tick solutions you will need to navigate the outdoors this summer! We look ahead to the avalanche of Supreme Court rulings set to be released in the coming days before the MAGA justices retreat to their summer resorts and junkets until the first Monday in October. How lucky for them. Robert tells us what the NYC primary sweep for Mayor Mamdani backed candidates means for the 2026 elections and the reinvention of the Democratic Party. We look at any lessons for Wisconsin’s upcoming election, including the governor’s race. What would a progressive Congress in 2027 and beyond do? We welcome Catherine Rowland from the Progressive Caucus Action Fund to discuss a Town Hall Wednesday, July 8th, 6pm in Racine, Wisconsin featuring members of Congress, Rep. Gwen Moore, Rep. Mark Pocan, and Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal, among many other progressive luminaries. RSVP NOW We look at a new report from the High Road Strategy Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison finding 458,800 Wisconsin workers would see higher wages (16% of the state’s workforce.) if Wisconsin passed a $20 minimum wage next year. 277,700 Wisconsin workers would be “indirectly affected”, as people earning just above the minimum wage would see raises as pay scales adjust upwards. We close with a review of the 2026 election steal efforts by President Trump, including Postmaster General testimony that U.S. The Post Office will not deliver mail in ballots of states (like WI) that do not hand over their voter files to Trump’s corrupt DOJ.

    51 min
  2. Celebrating Climate Action: An Interview with Ted Kraig

    18 giu

    Celebrating Climate Action: An Interview with Ted Kraig

    We wish everyone a happy Juneteenth Day and encourage everyone to attend an event near you. Look for us at Milwaukee and Eau Claire events. Robert provides us with the latest Tick report: emergency room visits from tick-borne illnesses are at 10 year high and a Univ. of Rhode Island Tick website finds 9 ticks active in Wisconsin in June, the highest the Black Legged Deer Tick. The Lone Star Tick (which makes you allergic to meat) is present as well. Following a brief discussion on the Trump effective surrender to Iran, we dive into new data demonstrating the devastating impact of Republican cuts to food assistance for families and children. More Than 770,000 Children are no longer receiving SNAP benefits after Trump's savage cuts to federal food program. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 4.3 million fewer people received SNAP nationwide in February 2026. Embattled MAGA Congressman Derrick Van Ordin, himself a food stamp beneficiary during his childhood, justifies these cruel cuts as an anti-fraud measure. We discuss the Trump Regime on-going efforts to steal the 2026 midterms. including Kash Patel’s rogue FBI effort to intimidate social justice groups engaged in voter registration by raiding the homes of leaders of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. We stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Ohio. Learn more at Hands Off Ohio. Robert also explains how Trump is tying the U.S. Senate in knots in his latest attempt to force his supersized voter suppression bill through. We welcome Citizen Action member and climate organizer Ted Kraig to the show to to discuss the 3rd anniversary of the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan. You are invited to celebrate this Saturday morning at 9 AM at the Urban Ecology Center-Washington Park, in Milwaukee. Ted discusses the depth of the climate crisis but also gives us hope that that organized people can make systemic change in the next few years that can put us on a path towards stabilizing the climate crisis.

    51 min
  3. Climate Justice at Walnut Way: Special Interview with Bryan Rogers

    11 giu

    Climate Justice at Walnut Way: Special Interview with Bryan Rogers

    Following the Tick Report, Robert updates us on Trump's pattern in Iran of threatening escalation and then pulling back. Wisconsin unveiled its new procedures for dealing with BadgerCare work requirements in the Big Ugly Bill. But the Trump/Kennedy HHS’s last minute changes to the final rule makes it much worse than the language of the bill, risking coverage for people with serious conditions such as life threatening cancer. With health care at risk for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, including people too frail to work, is Wisconsin prepared? We revisit the last minute budget gimmick engineered by the big hospital lobby, Evers, and Vos but disallowed by the Trump Regime. We dive into a new Brookings Report finding 45.5% of U.S. households did not earn enough to make ends meet. The report concludes that moving the needle on affordability requires action on both sides of the equation: lowering costs of living and dramatically increasing household incomes. We preview 4 newly scheduled $20 Wage Town Halls in Fond du Lac, Madison, and two in the Milwaukee area We close with an in-depth interview with Bryan Rogers, the environmental justice director at Milwaukee’s Walnut Way. Bryan, who is a regular podcast listener, tells us more about Walnut Way and discusses why they are co-hosting a governor candidate forum on Saturday, June 27th, 10am at North Division High School. Bryan explains why their members are so deeply involved in fighting climate change and higher utiilty costs that fall disproportionally on predominantly Black neighborhoods in Milwaukee.

    54 min
  4. Low wages and worker power

    4 giu

    Low wages and worker power

    Welcome to June, it’s Pride Month! We encourage our listeners to RSVP to Citizen Action’s Annual Meeting this Saturday, at 10am. Robert gives us the latest tick report amid national concern about tick-borne illnesses. Spurred by global warming, tick activity continues to surge in Wisconsin while the national media descends on Martha Vineyard as the island is beset by ticks, and victims are forced to avoid red meat. Trump visits Western Wisconsin, the home of Wisconsin’s pivotal Congressional District 3. Is he an anchor on embattled MAGA incumbent Derrick Van Orden and other Republicans on the ballot or does Trump know how to generate a massive turnout of MAGA voters? We dive into a critically important Wisconsin Health Assessment, a periodic report mandated by the State Legislature.Rarely do such radical findings come from an official state government report. This year’s report finds that a stunning 1 in 10 Wisconsinites skipped needed health care due to cost. The report also contains shocking revelations on low wages, the growing unaffordability of housing, massive under investment in public education (especially in low income BIPOC majority schools), and a chronic under investment in public health. Will the next legislature act on this searing indictment of status quo policies or kick the can down the road? MASH union president Peter Rickman joins us to discuss the state health assessment, building worker power, and to update us on newly scheduled $20 Wage Town Halls in Fond du Lac, Madison, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and more locations. We close with news that Boss Vos vows to try again on the failed surplus budget deal. With Governor Evers continuing to complain about the failure of the first effort, will they get another kick at the cat?

    50 min
  5. Organizing Worker Power & Political Expectations

    7 mag

    Organizing Worker Power & Political Expectations

    We welcome Peter Rickman, president of the Milwaukee Service and Hospitality Union (MASH) to discuss the union’s big organizing victory this week at Landmark Theater in Milwaukee, the rapid growth of the union, and the union's commitment to the Living Wage Coalition pushing for a $20 minimum wage bill. We take a dive into new national polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing health care cost is a dominant election issue in 2026, even for Republicans and treasured independent and swing voters. Seventy-two percent of Democrats, 63% of independents and 47% of Republicans said the cost of healthcare will have a major impact on which party’s candidate they will support. Robert updates us on the continued fight for a BadgerCare Public Option and the grassroots leaders and legislative champions making it happen. We also highlight the dysfunction of our health care system, as evidenced by news this week that Ascension Wisconsin now has tele-ICUs at some hospitals… that’s right, no ICU doctors on-site! We close with the scandalous news that more massive “hyperscale” data centers are coming to Wisconsin, according to the head of WEC (the parent company of WE Energies and WPS), who arrogantly bragged at a recent shareholders meeting about the boon it will be to their windfall profits. This is only happening because Wisconsin state political leaders green lighted data center development with huge tax giveaways ($2 billion and counting) while failing to pass any guardrails to protect the climate, rate payers, and public health.

    53 min

Descrizione

Battleground Wisconsin is Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s weekly podcast that features the latest political news from the front lines in the embattled state of Wisconsin. The show features: · Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin · Matt Brusky, Deputy Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin . Claire Zautke, Health Care for All Director

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