MILWAUKEE - We discuss growing tensions within the illegitimate Republican Legislature between the old Scott Walker and Trumpist factions. Speaker Vos finally testifies on Trump’s efforts to overturn the Wisconsin 2020 election, becoming the last witness to be interviewed by the historic January 6th Committee. Meanwhile the Wisconsin Election Commission deadlocks and blocks (for now) MAGA Republican Representative Janel Brandtjen’s scheme to acquire personal data of every Wisconsin voter. We talk about the entry of conservative celebrity judge Jennifer Dorow into the 2023 WI Supreme Court election – who surprisingly agrees with Mandela Barnes that Wisconsin’s cash bail system is broken and not keeping us safe. Senator Baldwin successfully passes historic marriage equality legislation, achieving a huge progressive bipartisan win. We close by discussing the proposed Albertsons-Kroger grocery mega merger and the Biden Administration’s intervention into a rail workers strike.

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WERC decision goes against UW nurses.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/thanksgiving-family-dinner-s5.jpgMatt Rothschild of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is thankful for 3 things in 2022 as far as the pro-democracy prospects go here in Wisconsin.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s a little piece I just wrote for this Thanksgiving holiday about three promising developments here in Wisconsin for the pro-democracy movement:

Three Things to Be Thankful For

And I want to take this occasion to thank you for all that you do for our democracy, and for all the support you’ve given us, here at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

I hope you have a nice, long, and scrumptious Thanksgiving holiday!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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MILWAUKEE - As the 2022 election results continue to come in, the voters deliver a split decision. We continue our analysis of the election and what it portends for governing and the future of democracy. We look at why inflation didn’t kill Democrats in the election and how Biden’s policies played a role in midterm success, even if not fully understood by pollsters and the media.

We celebrate Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s masterful effort to shepherd a bi-partisan Same sex marriage codification through the U.S. Senate, protecting marriage rights for millions of Americans from Trumpist judges. In Wisconsin, we preview 2023’s state budget battle between the winner of the popular vote, Governor Tony Evers, and an illegitimate gerrymandered Legislature. In addition, we assess the developing civil war between MAGA election denier Rep. Janel Brandtjen and Speaker Robin Vos, who expelled Brandtjen from the Assembly GOP caucus. We close by previewing the pivotal 2023 Supreme Court Election next April. Citizen Action is hosting a Supreme Court candidate forum featuring the progressive candidates on Wednesday, January 11th, 7pm.

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MADISON - In Wisconsin’s recent elections, we saw the ugly results of gerrymandering.

Gov. Evers won by 90,000 votes but still the Republicans gained more seats in the Legislature, coming within a whisker of a veto-proof majority.

And it’s not just because Democrats congregate in Milwaukee and Dane County, like Republicans like to claim.

Take a look at the Evers victory map. He won up in the northwest, taking Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland counties by about 57 percent each.

And guess what? Those Democratic voters of Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland counties now have zero representation in the State Legislature.

No State Senator, no Assembly person.

Why?

Because Robin Vos drew the maps not to abide by the county lines but to distort the districts by bringing in Republican voters from nearby red counties.

When he testified about the maps last fall, Vos admitted he “used partisanship” in drawing them. Basically, he confessed to the crime of gerrymandering.

But he bragged that it was legal, so we got to make it illegal.

There’s a huge grassroots effort in Wisconsin to ban gerrymandering. Already, 56 of our 72 counties have passed resolutions and referendums urging the Legislature to outlaw it.

And there’s a huge Wisconsin Supreme Court race coming up in April that will determine the ideological balance of the court. If a justice is elected who believes that gerrymandering undermines the will of the people, as guaranteed in our Wisconsin Constitution, then it’s possible that the Court could ban it.

Please go to fairmapswi.com to follow this issue and to see how you can help.

MADISON - I’m still exhausted from the elections here in Wisconsin, but I’ve tried to make some sense of them, especially in the context of the ludicrous campaign spending and the outrageous racism of the ads against Mandela Barnes.

Here’s the text of a talk I gave last night to the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, where I address those issues, along with gerrymandering and the broader battle for democracy, justice, and freedom ahead:

Campaign Finance Reform and the Work Ahead for Justice

I hope this resonates with you, and I hope you find time to relax and rejuvenate this weekend.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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MADISON - Obscene amounts of money have been flooding into the race for governor here in Wisconsin.

This money has shattered the old record, with more than a staggering $100 million being spent here on this race. Here’s our post on it:

Spending in Wisconsin Gov Race Smashes Record

For the details on the biggest donors to the campaigns of Gov. Evers and Tim Michels, see these items:

See Evers’s Largest Contributors
See Michels’s Largest Contributors

And for a glimpse at the biggest spenders by the outside “independent expenditure” groups, see this posting:

Outside Spending Hits Horrifying New High

Enough already! We need to put a limit on all this spending because it’s not only splattering our screens with mud, it’s drowning out our voices.

Here at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, we’ll press forward on this crucial issue of campaign finance reform.

You can count on that!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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MILWAUKEE - We discuss the razor tight Wisconsin election, and ask listeners to challenge themselves to do at least one phone or door shift by November 8th. See our list of GOTV opportunities this weekend (below). We dig into new polling showing combining climate change and the rising cost of living is a great electoral argument. Why are the Democrats not talking about renewable energy and energy efficiency as solutions to inflation? We welcome Antonio Butts, the Executive Director of Walnut Way, for an interview on the new ME Energies coalition against We Energies’ massive rate hike request, and his organization’s intervention in the rate case now pending before the Public Service Commission (PSC). We close the show with our in-house economist Dr. Michael Rosen to review newly released Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau data showing Tim Michels’ flat tax only benefits the richest 3% of Wisconsin residents, while actually raising taxes on everyone else.

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MILWAUKEE - We discuss how self-interested billionaires are dominating the critical U.S. Senate contest, reflecting on the news that Diane Hendricks has so far given $16 million and Richard Uihlein $20 million to pro-Johnson Super PAC. The dark money group is running trashy and racist ads against Mandela Barnes. Similar ads by the WI GOP and other dark money groups have prompted the NAACP to file an FCC complaint over the racist ads and call on Broadcast corporations to refuse to air them. With billionaires setting agenda for voters, does Wisconsin still really have one person one vote?.

Meanwhile in the equally toxic Governor’s race, Tim Michels flip flops on abortion as he schemes to break up DNR and Milwaukee Public Schools. We discuss a proposed merger in the grocery industry that will only make higher food prices worse and Robert debriefs a rally last week against a proposed We Energies rate increase and the energy burden it places on low income families, especially communities of color. We close with progressive economist, Dr. Michael Rosen, to discuss a likely Federal Reserve rate increase. Will the move spark a recession on the backs of the most vulnerable workers, particularly African- Americans? We dig into other potential other options available to President Biden, at a time when Congress has abdicated its responsibility to make economic policy.

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