The Democratic Voice Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Democratic Voice
From La Crosse to Madison to D.C., La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia and WIZM's Rick Solem break down the politics impacting Wisconsinites.
Wisconsin Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor candidate Sarah Godlewski joins for a quick-hitting dive into the state’s political landscape.
(This interview happened before Mandela Barnes dropped out of the governor's race)
Godlewski breaks down why she’s seeking the Lt. Governor’s office to serve as an effective economic partner for Wisconsin's next governor.
Drawing on her financial background as former State Treasurer, Godlewski addresses the pressing costs facing working families — from skyrocketing healthcare premiums and hospital closures in the Chippewa Valley to closing corporate tax loopholes like the "dark store" loophole.
She also talks about being 1st Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Godlewski shares why a competitive Democratic primary strengthens the ticket against extreme opponents, how the party maintains strict neutrality while building statewide infrastructure, and why the best way to listen to voters might just be a statewide supper club tour.
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Dylan Helmenstine joins to tells us why he’s running for Wisconsin state treasurer what he feels is and isn't happening with that position and the experience he brings to take on that the job.
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For 37 years, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has helped protect Wisconsin’s land and water.
A program that’s been renewed every two years as part of the state budget — until now.
Republicans in the state Legislature are letting it expire. They stripped it from the last budget to pass as a standalone bill and then never passed it out of the Senate.
We dive into what the program does, how it got started under GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson and how all the Democratic governor candidates are hoping it can be renewed next year with control of the government.
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Yee Leng Xiong joins to tells us why he’s running for Wisconsin state treasurer, helps us understand the role of that office, plus he shares the incredible story of how his family made it to Wisconsin after Vietnam.
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We break down the endless angles to a failed bipartisan deal to spend $1.8 billion in budget surplus property tax relief, rebate checks, education funding and no tax on tip/overtime. The deal was negotiated behind closed doors by three retiring politicians — Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican leaders of the Legislature (Robin Vos and Devin Lemahieu. It was rolled out on a Monday and a vote was taken three days later. It easily passed on both side of the Assembly. But no Democrats and three Republicans killed it in the state Senate. And all but one candidate for Wisconsin governor supported it.
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Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez stopped in La Crosse to discuss why she's running for governor of Wisconsin and some of the issues happening in the state and beyond. We got to know some of Rodriguez's backstory in the healthcare field and discussed some of the things she's both seeing with healthcare and wants to do about it. We also discussed matters dealing with childcare and her plans to help in that industry.
Sticking with children, Rodriguez talked about her plans for big tech and protecting kids from the harms of social media and holding those companies responsible.
Later, we talked about the recent deal by Gov. Tony Evers and the two retiring Republicans leading the state Legislature to spend $1.8 billion of the budget surplus and Rodriguez's thoughts after it failed to pass.
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Donald Trump's gerrymandering war intensified last week and the fake outrage by Republicans is deafening. Democrats keep fighting back against the GOP rigging the 2026 election and Republicans don't know how to take it.
In a recent special election, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to enact new US House maps that could lead to a 10-1 Democratic majority — shifting from the current 6-5 split. We discuss the irony of Republicans complaining about the move in a war that began when Trump told Texas Republicans to redraw their maps — with no vote by its citizens.
NOTE: Since this episode was recorded, Florida's GOP-led Legislature approved a new map from Gov. Ron DeSantis, also without a vote from citizens — shifting their 20-8 GOP advantage to 24-4. The move effectively bypasses Florida’s own voter-approved constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering by unilaterally declaring those protections unconstitutional.
We dive into the legislative response from Democrats with bills in both the House and Senate designed to ban mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering once and for all — bills that have of course been stalled by Republicans in leadership.
We also talk about the ripple effects this has and the high stakes for Wisconsin with Gov. Tony Evers' push for a nonpartisan commission before the 2030 census likely drops the state to just seven House seats — a special session that has been all but ignored by the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Closer to home, we take a look at a "civically illiterate" graphic from the La Crosse County Republican Party that fundamentally misses how elections actually work.
And, we break down Wisconsin's political landscape and how statewide candidates for governor will affect the rest of the ballot. An unpopular candidate — like, perhaps U.S. House Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is the GOP candidate for governor — won't do any good for someone like Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd District, or vice versa.
Meanwhile, Democrats have a field of candidates for governor with much more fanfare that could bolster those U.S. House and state legislature races on their side of the aisle.
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Joel Brennan joined to talk about why he's running to be the next governor of Wisconsin. We get to know a little about where he came from, how he got into politics, his time in government and beyond, and then policy. We hit on things like the budget surplus and how to spend it, as well as big policy dilemmas like healthcare, childcare, housing and education. Brennan is one of nine Democratic candidates for governor, though that number could shrink some as the signatures deadline looms.
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We dissect why Republicans in Wisconsin's 7th US House District of aren't happy about the White House picking their candidate. Donald Trump has endorsed 26-year-old Michael Alfonso, who is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's son in law. Duffy, a former US House member, is also funneling $1 million of his campaign money to Alfonso. Meanwhile, half the other GOP candidates in the race just moved to the district to run.
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Wyatt Molling, the new La Crosse County Democratic Party chair, stops in to tell us about himself, how he got into politics and what he'd like to do with his new position. We also get into a recent complaint the party filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission over illegal campaign finance use by the La Crosse Republican Party in this upcoming spring election. Along with that, we discuss some of the complaints that have been asked of the Democrats in the same election.
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It was the longest-ever State of the State address and it may have had — if not the most lies ever, perhaps the least "truths." We break down some of the biggest and most ridiculous lies President Donald Trump gave during his State of the State address. Also, this was recorded on Friday afternoon, hours before Trump sent us into war with Iran.
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Wisconsin candidate for governor, David Crowley, joins. The Milwaukee County Executive discusses his motivations for running, his vision for the state and the importance of addressing key issues like affordable housing, education, and healthcare. We ask Crowley how he can bridge the rural-urban divide and he talks of uniting Wisconsin around shared values and goals. Crowley also shares his personal journey, highlighting the challenges he faced growing up and the lessons learned along the way, ultimately calling for collective action to create a better future for all residents of Wisconsin.
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A bit of a precarious position Republicans have put Democrats in with the ICE killing of Alex Pretti — a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA and a lawful gun owner from Green Bay. To defend Pretti's death, the GOP has abandoned the one thing they claimed to be most loyal to — the 2nd Amendment and the idea that it exists specifically to prevent the government from treading on U.S. citizens. So now it's Democrats who have to oddly defend the standards that Republicans have upheld — though it's more about ICE killing a US citizen and there being no transparency, let alone repercussions for those actions.
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They fly under the radar until they end up on the ballot. The 2026 midterm elections will see three more Wisconsin Republican constitutional amendments for voters, trying to rile up their base with culture war nonsense. We discuss the absurdity of each amendment, the word salad written by the GOP to manipulate voters into confusion, and how this is just another reason why Democrats need to take control of the Legislature. In 2023 and 2024, the Wisconsin GOP put seven constitutional amendments on the ballot. The rest of the midwest — Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota — had a total of six.
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Following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis mother by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, the federal harassment of Minnesota residents has only intensified. We discuss the ongoing military-style occupation of Minneapolis, the administration’s racially-profiled focus on the Somali community, and the growing dangers to both citizens and refugees, as President Donald Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act.
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We talk with public education advocate Kristina Reser-Jaynes, who pulls back the curtain on Wisconsin’s private school voucher system.
While Republicans frame the recent property tax spikes as "the Evers 400-year tax hike," this conversation digs into a much more complex reality — a systematic shift of public funds into private hands that is leaving local taxpayers to pick up the tab.
We talk the "hidden" costs of vouchers that many Wisconsin residents may not see on their bills — from rural districts writing checks to Milwaukee-based online academies to the $200,000 the La Crosse School District spends just to bus private school students.
Reser-Jaynes argues that while public schools are held to strict standards of transparency and must serve every child, voucher schools are operating with a "free pass" — legally allowed to discriminate.
From the "double-dipping" of extracurricular activities to the lack of teacher certification requirements in private systems, this episode is a wake-up call for anyone who values the local school as the heart of their community.
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Viroqua native Missy Hughes joined the Democratic Voice podcast, with La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia and WIZM’s Rick Solem, to discuss why she’s running for governor of Wisconsin.
The Democrat discusses what sets her apart from the dozen candidates running on both sides, plus her top priorities for the state if she were governor. That list includes education, childcare, healthcare and more.
Hughes has been a lawyer, worked for Organic Valley and was CEO of the state’s economic development organization, WEDC.
Garcia is also the chair of the 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party.
New episodes come out each week. To find them, just search The Democratic Voice wherever you download podcasts or find all the episodes on WIZM here.
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Wisconsin state Sen. Kelda Roys was recently in La Crosse and took some time with us to discuss her bid to be the next governor. We deep dive with Roys on funding education, helping with childcare and buying into the state's healthcare and pension plans. We also discuss how control of the Legislature and governor is on the line and how some Republican legislation is changing, including on IVF, which Roys explains is hypocritical — a bill Democrats have had for years.
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While the Wisconsin state Legislature works just 17 more days before taking off until 2027, it did vote on around 50 bills in one day.
We discuss some of the Republican bills are simply passed for culture war purposes to be used during the campaign season with the governor’s seat up for grabs in November.
Those bills include defunding public education, redefining abortion, using undocumented immigrants as pawns in healthcare, and creating added bureaucracy to create more hoops for those who apply for welfare.
We also discussed a bill to create a candy and soda database at the tune of $6 million to make sure people on food stamps can’t spend it on such things, and another bill on human trafficking that would put children at risk of unnecessary punishment.
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We discuss how a Wisconsin bill to help pregnant mothers get healthcare is related to the fight over releasing the Epstein Files.
The bill would allow pregnant mothers to get postpartum Medicaid coverage for 12 months. Wisconsin is one of only two states not to do this.
How it’s related to the Epstein Files is the way Democrats tried to push the bill to a vote, bypassing Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who has — like House Speaker Mike Johnson — blocked the bill being voted on.
The Wisconsin bill passed 32-1 in the state Senate. Vos has not brought it for a vote in the GOP-controlled Assembly, despite the fact that it will easily pass.
We talk about how Democrats tried to force a vote and the tricks Vos played to even block that. So, unlike the Epstein files, the bill has still not passed and the Legislature only works 17 more days before taking off until 2027.
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We discuss some of the ongoing controversies surrounding President Donald Trump that aren’t related to the Epstein files. That includes Trump pretending he’s going to just give people money — from $2,000 tariff checks to “Trumpcare” cash, the healthcare plan that still doesn’t exist.
We also discuss the lunacy of 50-year mortgages to solve the housing crisis and the controversial pardons Trump is doling out, as long as your money and gifts are good.
We did everything but dive into the Epstein files too deep, because news on that seems to be changing by the minute.
We began, though discussing the Democrats giving in on the shutdown and reasons behind it — and to be infuriated by it.
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Democrats are riding high after last Tuesday's elections, with wins at multiple levels of government across the country — from the New York City mayor's race to Prop 50 in California to US House and governor wins in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively. Is it a sign of things to come, despite being an off-off year election? Do Republicans need to change course or was this a blip on the radar?
This conversation was recorded Friday, as the US Senate now is currently voting to end the government shutdown.
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We discuss Republicans’ unwillingness to lower healthcare costs and reopen the government. The fight right now over the shutdown is healthcare subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. We breakdown the thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, more in healthcare costs families will have to pay if Republicans get their way in reopening the government with the continuing resolution.
Along those same lines, Republicans are using the end of SNAP benefits on Nov. 1 as a way to get Democrats to give in and vote on reopening the government. But, there too, we discuss how there’s already a SNAP emergency fund the Trump administration is refusing to tap into, putting those who rely on food stamps at risk, on top of raising their healthcare costs.
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We recap the No Kings Rally that happened in La Crosse, across Wisconsin and the U.S. and relate that to what Republican priorities are right now — like Donald Trump getting his ballroom. At least 1,700 showed up for La Crosse's No Kings rally. We talk about some of the reasons behind having these protests and why it's important to keep showing up, despite the GOP rhetoric trying to denounce them. On top of that, we point out some of the extraordinary things the Trump administration is doing, like the DOJ looking to pay Trump for past lawsuits with $230 million in taxpayer money, using federal agencies to punish enemies, blowing up suspected drug boats and on and on.
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While the Donald Trump looks to bail out Argentina with $20 billion in taxpayer money, we look at how the administration’s tariff policy is affecting Wisconsin farmers.
China has retaliated against tariffs by not buying any U.S. soybeans — instead buying from the aforementioned Argentina. This podcast was also recorded before Trump announced quadrupling Argentine beef imports while US ranchers fume.
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We break down how Democrats are trying to hold the line negotiating during the government shutdown to keep health insurance costs down, while Republicans continue to lie. The GOP, in charge of the entire government, is somehow trying to blame Democrats for the shutdown. We get into those lies and what Democrats are trying to hold the line on when it comes to Affordable Care Act subsidies and how those keep all health insurance costs down.
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From over 700 social media posts in a matter of days to an unconstitutional bill proposed in the US House, Derrick Van Orden's behavior has been unhinged — even more so than usual. We discuss the Republican's double-standard when it comes to political violence, the unhealthy amount of social media he is posting and the bill he proposed to block federal funding for those that employ people who "condone and celebrate political violence."
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We start things off recapping JD Vance's visit to La Crosse, avoiding protesters by veering the wrong way down a one way street, plus Derrick Van Orden's involvement in the event.
Vance was in La Crosse touting the Big Beautiful Bill.
After that, we get into this giant stretch of political visits to the area. That includes Wisconsin governor candidate, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez heading to La Crosse for a meet-and-greet at the Concordia Ballroom on Sept. 8. Before that, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor is at the Democratic Party headquarters Saturday (Aug. 30). Before those visits, we recap the visit by US Sen. Bernie Sanders to Viroqua, and the Brad Pfaff corn roast, which saw multiple candidates, including David Crowly, Sarah Godlewski, Kelda Roys, Rebecca Cooke, Emily Berge, among others.
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We discuss Donald Trump ordering a military takeover in Washington, D.C., how Congress is absent in curbing any of this power grab and what it could mean down the line for other Democratic cities.
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We try and highlight some of Donald Trump's biggest controversies eight months into this presidency.
But, with Trump's "flood the zone" strategy, we did not discuss his latest authoritarian move to send the military after US citizens in D.C.
What we did hit on included:
- The $200 million White House ballroom
- Giving Trump a $1.4 billion jet after he leaves office
- ICE arresting regular workers instead of criminals
- Trump firing labor secretary because “numbers bad”
- Demanding new census and how to count people to rig elections
- Destroying $750 million climate satellites in orbig
- Secret Service raising an Ohio river’s level for JD Vance kayak trip
- Tariffs on every country — retaliation just going to make everything more expensive
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Republicans in Texas are trying to help steal the 2026 mid-terms by rigging their US House maps more than they already are — and redrawing the maps five years before they're supposed to be redrawn. We break down the plan and how states like California and Illinois would have trouble combatting this on the Democratic side. We then tie that all into Wisconsin's gerrymandered maps, where there is another lawsuit to redraw them. This podcast was recorded before Democrats left the state to break quorum, which has actually started an entirely new set of radical GOP tactics that we didn't get into.
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He beat Scott Walker, then Republicans — in the month before Tony Evers took power — changed all the rules. It wasn't a great way for the GOP to begin a relationship with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. As he announced he won't seek re-election for a third term, we look back on Evers' legacy, how he managed to work with and around Republicans, how Democrats have dominated dominated statewide elections since and what comes next for Democrats in the governor race.
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With the passage of Republican's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden has some explaining to do. The problem, however, is he doesn't answer anyone's questions directly. When someone asks him about Trump's bill, he sends out an FAQ with answers aren't exactly truthful. So, we breakdown what's true and what's BS — which is most of it.
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The US House recently passed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or TOBBA. We break down how the 1,100-page document, passed in the middle of the night, will disproportionally harm working class people while being a wealth transfer to the rich. It cuts Medicaid and SNAP, sends billions more to the military, cuts taxes for the rich, raises taxes on the poor and has little provisions within it like tax breaks for gun silencers and tanning beds.
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The Wisconsin state budget is due at the end of next month. Wisconsin Republicans stripped over 600 of Gov. Tony Evers’ provisions from it.
Things like legalizing recreational marijuana, continuing the child care subsidy, creating a tax bracket for those making over $1 million or funding for water quality — from removing lead or fighting PFAS.
Since this podcast, Evers did meet in person twice with the top two Republicans in the Legislature. What came of those meetings, we’ll see.
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Just recently, Donald Trump endorsed Derrick Van Orden for the 2026 US House election in Wisconsin's 3rd District here, which comes at a peculiar time. Trump, if you haven't noticed, isn't all that popular right now — as compared to the past 80 years of presidents. We talk about why that is, how Van Orden has pretended to do town halls and positioned himself on upcoming votes to cut benefits for things like Medicaid.
We began the episode with a note about a recent incident Van Orden shared, saying a letter he received was a "credible threat" to his family and is being handled by the proper authorities. This podcast was recorded before that news and we do not condone violence.
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Democratic Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Francesca Hong joins to talk about her bill Health School Meals for All, hoping there’s a way to work it into the budget.
The bill would provide breakfast and lunch to all students in all schools — public or private. We discuss the benefits of the bill but also how Republicans will likely withhold it from even getting a public hearing.
While a bill to advance postpartum Medicaid coverage in the state passed the Senate 32-1 in back-to-back sessions now, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos won’t even let that bill get a vote — let alone let one to feed children sniff a committee hearing.
Hong, though, tells us that it’s not because Republicans are afraid to speak out against the bill.
Minnesota just passed a free-school-meals bill last year and the federal government did this for a time during COVID but let it expire.
In La Crosse, 52% of students are on free or reduced school meals. But, what this bill would do, is end the red tape that parents have to jump through to get enrolled. Instead, with Hong’s bill, if parents didn’t want to partake in the free school meals, they could simply opt out.
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We recap the spring elections that saw incredible turnout that saw Democratic wins for Susan Crawford on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Jill Underly to lead, again, the Department of Public Instruction.
We hit on how Elon Musk's money couldn't buy the Supreme Court seat and how Donald Trump still needs to be linked to all of this.
We also talked about some of the potential cases that the new state Supreme Court would take up, including Act 10, the 175-year-old abortion ban and one to potentially redraw the US House district lines in Wisconsin. That comes as Republicans claim that with Crawford's win, those lines will be gerrymandered toward Democrats, which is hilariously untrue — not to mention they've been rigged to benefit Republicans since 2011.
We also discussed the local races out of La Crosse and the Republican constitutional amendment that did pass.
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Legislation was recently introduced by Democratic Wisconsin state Senators Brad Pfaff and Sarah Keyteskiu to help improve housing affordability. One of the highlights from the bill is prohibiting hedge funds from buying single-family homes. Those hedge funds suck up all a majority of housing stock in a particular area, which skyrockets prices.
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We don't know if Elon Musk has ever stepped foot in Wisconsin, but he's spent more money here these past few weeks than most of us will ever make in our lifetime. We discuss the many ways Musk is entrenched in Wisconsin politics from trying to fund Brad Schimel in the race or bash Susan Crawford over the airwaves. We also discuss the potential lawsuit that would affect Tesla sales in the state, depending on how this race goes, plus many other ways Musk involved in things he shouldn't be.
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The townhall that wasn't by US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden, and the smug video to troll constituents in La Crosse trying to make it look like he showed up. Van Orden has been scheduling and cancelling town halls in Wisconsin's 3rd District, including in La Crosse and Eau Claire. William Garcia talks about having a ticket to go to the La Crosse event, before it being rescheduled and moved to a secret location. Hours later, Van Orden attempts to troll the La Crosse County Democratic Party on Twitter but this comes after he can't show up to a scheduled event.
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We break down the $4.5 trillion tax cut for the rich that just passed the Republican-controlled US House budget committee along party lines. We discuss how the GOP plans to pay for that off the backs of working class people, calling for “mandatory” cuts for Medicare, Medicaid and food benefits known as SNAP.
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If you read any stories about Donald Trump and Elon Musk freezing what's called USAID (United States Agency for International Development), you'll understand the impact that it has on people in other countries. We discuss some of those impacts, but also look into the impacts of pulling the U.S. out of foreign relations in this way.
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We break down some of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' budget proposals when it comes to education, healthcare, prices and gun reform, as compared to what Republicans in the state are doing to help the working class. We talk about Evers on education funding, free school lunch, background checks, mental health initiatives and medical costs. All things Wisconsin Republicans have called dead on arrival, as they again make it a point to say they are going to throw out Evers' budget and create their own. We also discussed how Republicans in Minnesota tried to grab all the power with a temporary two-week window where they held a one-seat majority.
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William Garcia, chair of the La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party, in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk discussing Donald Trump “saving” TikTok and the inauguration, plus the priorities of Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin state government.
We also took a couple of calls, including one from a listener accusing him of disrespecting President Trump and another on alleged Democratic corruption.
In reference to Trump, Garcia addressed the controversial TikTok “ban,” the metaphor of moving the inauguration indoors, and the president’s new cryptocurrency venture, which Garcia warned could lead to corruption.
In the second half of the show, Garcia discussed the contrasting priorities between Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled state legislature and the Democrats. He highlighted the GOP’s push for a Voter ID amendment, while Democrats focus on bills for free school meals, as well as initiatives to lower taxes and healthcare costs.
The show wrapped up reading listener text messages, that were clearly meant to flatter Garcia and offer praise for his insights.
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Wisconsin's state Legislature has been at work for a week and Republicans in control have already done some outrageous things to both grab power and spark outrage where it doesn't exist. With a Wisconsin Supreme Court race on the April ballot and control of that court between "conservatives" and "progressives" up for grabs, we start the conversation in North Carolina. There, the GOP-led Supreme Court has refused to certify the Democratic candidate who won the latest election, setting the stage for more ways Republicans can ignore voters.
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It's already started, and Donald Trump hasn't even been sworn in yet as president, but Republican chaos is brewing and it's only going to get worse. We talk about how this isn't normal, even though this has been the norm for the past decade — and for those who turned 18 and began voting in 2015, that's all they've lived with. Part of the conversation hovers around two feuding factions in Donald Trump's orbit — all the billionaires that he has running the show and Trump's voting base. Those two groups aren't seeing eye to eye with what the vision is the next four years with Trump as president.
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President-elect Donald Trump made grand promises about grocery promises and is now re-negotiating that deal.
In his Time Person of the Year interview, Trump flip flops on bringing prices down.
“It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up,” Trump said in his Time Magazine “Person of the Year” interview published Thursday, referring to grocery prices. “You know, it’s very hard … But I think that they will. I think that energy is going to bring them down.”
We discuss how Democrats knew that was an impossible campaign promise and all the factors that surround prices going up, plus how Trump's policies on tariffs and deporting immigrants will actually raise prices.
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Two weeks later, the dissection of the 2024 election continues. La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party chair William Garcia breaks down how Wisconsin fit into the mix, both nationally and locally, in the past election.
We break down how Donald Trump’s gains across the nation match up to what we saw in Wisconsin.
We also look at the Derrick Van Orden-Rebecca Cooke race in the 3rd US House District and the Tammy Baldwin-Eric Hovde US Senate race, plus how Democrats did in the state Legislature , including a clean sweep in the La Crosse area.
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Republicans in Wisconsin, again, are putting a confusing question on your fall ballot that could take away your voting rights. Multiple organizations, nonprofits and the Democratic Party are saying vote no on this question:
Voters must be prepared to answer this question on the November 5 ballot ⬇️
❌ Question: “Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?"
We get into the reason why this question is not only confusing, but dangerous for voting rights of everyone in the state -- "every" being the key word.
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We take a look at the wild flyers from the Republican Party of Wisconsin on behalf of candidate Ryan Huebsch that are ending up in potential voters' homes attacking Democratic Assembly Rep. Steve Doyle. We also discuss how no debates are happening in Assembly races, as Republicans cite "scheduling conflicts."
See the flyers here.
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Tom Vilsack, former Democratic governor of Iowa, joined to talk about how Democrats can win back more of the rural vote. And he might know the secret formula, because, back in 1998, Vilsack was the first Democrat to be elected as governor in Iowa in over 30 years — plus he won a second term. Before Vilsack joined (10:20), we opened the pod basically game planning what to talk about with him. And, afterward (21:35), we do a bit of a wrap up.
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Garren Randolph, Wisconsin Democratic coordinated campaign manager, joins to talk about near every level of government that's on the November ballot, including Donald Trump, the state Assembly and Senate races under new maps, and the US Senate race. Began the podcast on Trump, Project 2025 and Kamala Harris taking the reins from Joe Biden. After that, we got into the competitiveness of state Legislature races with new, fairer maps. Lastly, we talked about the race between Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republicans bringing in challenger Eric Hovde.
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Donald Trump has a plan to solve the US deficit. The only problem is, it won't fix the deficit and it will make the price of everything go up. We can't explain why Trump is obsessed with tariffs, but we do talk about why his plan to put tariffs on all foreign goods, especially China, will cost households thousands of dollars a year. We contrast that with some of the things the BIden Administration has done to boost manufacturing in the US, plus some of the policies that Kamala Harris has proposed in her bid to win the presidential election.
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William Garcia, the La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party chair joined La Crosse Talk on WIZM. He took some calls a day after the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate and his take on how things went down. Also, Garcia spoked about the visit from Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Gov. and VP candidate, Tim Walz, who spoke at the debate watch party at the Concordia Ballroom.
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Harry Dunn is a former Capitol police officer, who was on the job during the Jan. 6 riots. We discuss who he's endorsing as president, the irony of Donald Trump and Republicans being the "law & order" party, despite their actions, and the constant fearmongering that Trump continues. Dunn, who also ran for political office, testified in front of the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6. His efforts during the attack earned him both the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Citizens Medal.
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We rehash Donald Trump's quick visit to La Crosse, where he held a town hall that lasted 35 minutes. We also brought up the fact that, despite Trump being an hour and 15 minutes late, no Republican candidates in the area spoke to the 7,800 supporters in the crowd, who were left to their own devices. Republicans in the area, also didn't post on social media about Trump at the La Crosse Center. We also discussed Democratic counterprogramming, including Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Minnesota US Sen. Tina Smith and La Crosse Assembly Rep. Jill Billings all in town, discussing the economy, as well as Kamala Harris' CNN interview.
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We recap the August primary election in Wisconsin, including Tara Johnson moving on in the 96th Assembly District, Rebecca Cooke winning (12:00) the 3rd District for US House and Republicans losing (3:20) on the partisan constitutional amendments they put on the ballot. We also, at the end, talk a bit about the Democratic National Convention that runs Monday-Thursday this week in Chicago — in which William Garcia will be in attendance.
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As Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continue to spread their message, enthusiasm among Democrats is through the roof. We talk of how the campaign seems to be one on vibes over policy, at this point, while Donald Trump's campaign has little to combat the message, after going all-in on anti-Joe Biden rhetoric. We also talk about how that rhetoric is very ironic now, considering Trump's latest public appearances.
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La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia stopped in the studio to discuss his role as a delegate, nominating Kamala Harris to the ticket for president. We also talked about VP picks (before the news came out). Garcia got what he wanted to MN Gov. Tim Walz, but he had a great prediction about MN Lt. Governor, Peggy Flanagan. Lastly, we discussed this bodycam footage from the RNC in Milwaukee, where Republican US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden claimed he was assaulted by a young woman and claimed it was an act of political violence.
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We rehash the events of the past week, beginning with Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race and Kamala Harris looking like she'll be the Democratic nominee. We also discuss potential VP picks, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz making some noise after not being on the initial list. Also, are Republicans regretting JD Vance as their VP pick and could they make a switch.
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A lot of things to talk about in politics today, but we narrowed down to three (in this order):
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The Republican-written Constitutional Amendments on the Aug. 13 primary ballot, in which multiple groups, including Wisconsin Democrats, are saying vote "no."
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The assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
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The Republican National Convention being held in Milwaukee this week.
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No Democratic Voice podcast this week, but William Garcia did join WIZM's La Crosse Talk with host Mike Hayes. The two talked about voter ID, mentioned the Biden visit to Madison very quickly and then got stuck discussing the notion of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
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Recapping last week's first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, including whether there are meetings among Democrats to replace the president on the ticket — in which William Garcia is one of the delegates.
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Donald Trump just held a Racine, Wis., campaign event and set the unofficial LPM — Lies Per Minute — record for the ex-president. We discuss some of those biggest lies — saving the best/worst for last about Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. Before that, however, we talk about Foxconn. Trump didn't mention Foxconn at his rally. It was literally in that county, where he, six years prior, said the deal he made with the Taiwan company would be the "eighth wonder of the world," this biggest tax incentive handout to a foreign company in U.S. history. Instead, it's failed and President Joe Biden recently championed a deal with Microsoft at the same site — a deal that has La Crosse implications, as well.
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For the second consecutive election, Wisconsin Republicans are putting two confusing questions on the ballot that could change the state Constitution. These questions are over emergency funding, and who gets to distribute it. When it was GOP Gov. Scott Walker, and the Legislature was controlled by Republicans, there was no problem. But, after Walker lost to Gov. Tony Evers, Republicans, again, set in motion, a plan to seize more control from the governor. They're also doing it on very low turnout elections, with ballot questions that are written intentionally to confuse the voter. Republicans control who and what gets to go on the ballot. They've denied the governor and Democrats in the Legislature multiple times to have other questions up for a vote.
Here are the questions, that the Democratic Party and other groups say to vote "No" on:
Question 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?"
Question 2: “Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”
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It's no joke, Republicans are really going after women's access to contraception and trying to stop allowing no fault divorce. We argue a lot about "culture war," and what legislation is real and what is for show. Last week, the US Senate tried to pass a bill to guarantees women's right to contraception -- things like birth control -- and Republicans voted down the measure. Same thing happened weeks ago in Wisconsin, when Republicans wouldn't pass a similar measure. The GOP will argue state's rights, but we talk about two examples where both federally and at the state level, the GOP wouldn't vote for women's rights. Meanwhile, other states are blocking access to contraception and Republicans are making it a priority to stop women from being allowed to get divorced.
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We take a look at Republican Stacey Klein, who is running for Wisconsin state Senate in District 32. We begin with the ethical controversy of where she lives, and then get into her far-right positions on the issues. While her opponent, Democratic incumbent Brad Pfaff, was voted the most bipartisan Senator in the state, we do not see that here with Klein, like most candidates Republicans are throwing into races.
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A lot of attention went to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a few weeks ago, about a worm having eaten part of his brain. And while that sounds interesting and we spend a little time on it, what we get into here are his policies — for those thinking about voting for him over Joe Biden. We get into his stance on Israel, the environment and how Republicans are funding his campaign — along with his VP pick, the ex-wife a a Google founder.
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Republicans in Wisconsin's state Legislature called themselves back into session last week to override 36 of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' vetoes. Well, half the Republicans did. First, the Legislature has been off since mid-March and was scheduled to be off the rest of the year, despite its full-time status. But, the Senate met to override these vetoes, including on PFAS, where Republicans have been withholding $125 million in funding to help communities like the Town of Campbell, despite the release of those funds being signed into law back in January. We discuss how the GOP only did a third of the bills they wanted to, plus the other half of the Legislature didn't even meet, leaving anything the Senate did moot.
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A recent audit has shown half of Universities of Wisconsin schools across the state are in financial trouble. Altogether, if these seven universities as they're currently running and funded, they would be $254.9 million in debt by fiscal year 2028. We dissect why this is happening and what can be done. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers put over $300 million in funding in the state budget. Instead, Republicans, who control the Legislature didn't increase funding at all and, in fact, withheld staff raises and $32 million for DEI.
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In an another attempt to bring in a rich out-of-state candidate to run for a major political position in Wisconsin, Republicans have managed to unearth Eric Hovde. The multi-millionaire, who couldn't win a Republican primary 12 years ago in the state, is now running against Democrat Tammy Baldwin for US Senate. The California banker has managed to say something to alienate just about every voter. From the elderly and is recent comments on those in nursing homes to farmers and young people over their work ethic, Hovde has a message for you, and we break them all down. PHOTO: A screenshot from a Hovde tweet, where he proves he's Wisconsin by sitting in a cold lake.
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A recap of the spring elections in La Crosse County and statewide. First, we look at the La Crosse County board races, where Republicans supported nearly twice as many Democrats, and saw nearly the same amount of members re-elected or elected. Plus, from what we know so far, the La Crosse County Republican Party also out spent Democrats 8 to 1. Statewide, we look at, essentially, the no-votes Joe Biden and Donald Trump received, plus the repercussion of the two Republican state constitutional amendments that passed.
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As the spring election season wraps up Tuesday, we look at the strange, alarming ways Bill Feehan, the 3rd Congressional District Republican Party chair and La Crosse County board candidate, is involved. We discuss the attack fliers he's sending out against his opponent Kelly Leibold, as well as fake letters to the editor in the La Crosse Tribune, also attacking her. Those letters were taken off the site, proved to be fake. Plus, a bit on Feehan's consulting firm taking money from conservative candidates in the spring elections. Before that however, a quick update on Tim Alberts for La Crosse School Board. He has come out publicly against being named on the 1776 PAC flier, which was discussed on last week's podcast.
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We look at how La Crosse Republicans differ from the La Crosse County Democratic Party in these local, spring elections for school and county board. In Part 2, we talk La Crosse County board, where Republicans are spending over $6,000 for candidates, and the timing of that funding stands out. Also, we break down some of the campaign fliers that are going around, and how dishonest and misleading they are.
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We look at how La Crosse Republicans differ from the La Crosse County Democratic Party in these local, spring elections for school and county board. In Part 1, we talk school board, where two candidates are on the ballot and both are endorsed by the far-right wing group, the 1776 Project. Just a note, since this recording, candidate Tim Alberts has come out and said he was included on the 1776 mailer "without my knowledge or endorsement." Nothing on social media on Adam Manka, in which the 1776 Project highlights a made up statistic from Manka on drugs in La Crosse schools.
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Randy Erickson is the second Vice Chair of the La Crosse County Board. First appointed in November of 2019, Erickson represents District 12 and is running for a fourth full term.
He talks about what good things the board has done, what continues to happen and some of the misinformation that's coming from the more conservative candidates on the board.
You can follow Erickson's county board Facebook page for a lot of updates.
Early voting starts Tuesday (March 19). The election is April 8
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We talk about the upcoming membership drive and what it means to join the La Crosse County Democratic Party. On Monday, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler and former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes are the headliners for the La Crosse County Democratic Party membership drive. The event happens from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Capella Arts Center (721 King St.). Many others from the state party will be at the event, where attendees can sign up to be a member and hear from party officials, as well as candidates up and down the ballot.
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Kelly Leibold is running for La Crosse County Board, to represent District 1, which is the north side of La Crosse. Leibold talks of her bout with brain cancer and how that gave her a new perspective on helping others. She also talks about what she's seen from the county and county board, so far, plus the needs of the north side, as well as La Crosse County.
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Em Anderson is running for La Crosse County Board in District 5. That's the district that contains UW-La Crosse. Anderson is a UW-L student. We discuss what brought her to UW-La Crosse, what's she's studying, why she's running for county board and what and how she's learning about the issues.
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Explaining that time Donald Trump said he'd encourage Russia to invade NATO countries, and just what his endgame is with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
At a South Carolina rally last week, Trump conjured up a vague story of telling an unidentified NATO member that he would withhold U.S. help and “encourage” Russia to do as it wishes with allies that do not contribute enough to military spending. Trump said, "'You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”
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The special counsel that the Biden Administration's Justice Department hired to look into the president's classified documents case came out late last week. It exonerated President Joe Biden of criminal wrongdoing in having those documents. But, all the attention has gone to what the Donald Trump-appointed counsel focused on and that's Biden's inability to recall details from years ago — his memory. We get into how, again, Democrats walk the line and allow these investigations into their own people to go about, and release the report to the public. Remember "Hillary's emails" right before the 2016 election? But, when it's Republicans, these reports are hidden from the public. Remember Republican Robert Mueller looking into Trump-Russia and then Trump's Attorney General, Bill Barr, releasing his one-page summary of what the report said, withholding it from the public? So, we call out what is another hit piece on the Democratic president in an election year, when the GOP has nothing to run on when it comes to policy or helping the American people.
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A bit of a conundrum for Democrats — or those against strangely powerful executive powers — as some Republicans have proposed curbing the Wisconsin governor's powers. Of course, the timing is peculiar, with Democrat Tony Evers at the helm, and the way in which the GOP wants to get this bill passed — through a manipulatively worded constitutional amendment. We discuss why it's happening now — perhaps because Evers' used it to extend public school funding for 402 years — and how governors of the past — both Democrats and Republicans — have abused this power.
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The US House, last week, passed another continuing resolution that will keep the government partially funded and open through early March. It's a bill 3rd District Rep., Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) voted against. Part of his reasoning was because Congress needs to agree on a full spending plan that includes doing something about the southern border. But, Republicans also just tanked their own deal to do something on the southern border, apparently taking the order from Donald Trump — because that would look good for Democrats and Joe Biden. So, we discuss the consequences of Van Orden's vote against the continuing resolution and the straw man of saying it's, in part, to solve the southern border crisis.
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After venting a bit about how Wisconsin draws voting maps, we look at the latest iteration, where the Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide amongst seven groups that made submissions. We look at the criteria for drawing new legislative maps set up by the state Supreme Court, the groups that drew new maps and how those submissions look in the 3rd US House District.
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We will know what seems inevitable that Donald Trump is going to win the Iowa Caucus on Monday and therefore, we look at the 2028 presidential candidates. Rick and William argue if it's still going to be Trump. After that, more discussion on 2024 from Joe Biden not being on one ballot, to why Wisconsin has, so far, kept the two other Democratic candidates (Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson) off the primary ballot. Plus, can Trump's opponents get any momentum to bump him, like Bernie Sanders did a bit in 2016. Also, sticking to 2016, does Joe Biden have voter enthusiasm or could there be a Hillary Clinton-like turnout that allows Trump to win again? We also talk about GOP controversies, including a US House Rep. already saying they won't certify the 2024 election unless Trump wins, plus Trump's argument that he can do whatever he wants as president — including hiring killers to take out political opponents.
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A celebration of the Top 10 things Democrats did in 2023 — five federally and five in Wisconsin. Before that, however, we duped Garcia into being a Grinch for a few minutes on some of the Republican 2023 highlights, before getting into that Top 10 list.
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It's been over a decade since former Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker's legislation that destroyed union rights in the state through what's called Act 10. A recent lawsuit looks to restore collective bargaining rights for unions. We explain what Act 10 did to unions, such as educators, and how this lawsuit might give rights back to workers.
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There are two ways you can approach things Donald Trump says and does. One of those is to find the funny gaffs and mistakes or literal missteps that he takes, while continuing to bounce between court hearings and campaigns. Another is to take the things that he says he plans to do if he were re-elected president. This podcast is about the latter, as we go through documented quotes Trump has said while campaigning that he plans to do if re-elected.
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As the Wisconsin legislative session comes to a close, and the Legislators get set to take a long holiday, we compare and contrast the priorities between Democrats and Republicans.
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We dive into the farm bill, which needs to be re-upped every five years and Congress let it expire back in September. The estimated $428 billion package is as much about feeding people, as it is about farms, but the political fights are in both areas. A large portion of the farm bill has to do with food stamps and we explain why and where the lines are drawn to pass the next five-year spending package.
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We take a look at the newest US House Speaker, after 22 days without any leadership, as the government ticks toward a shutdown. Republican Mike Johnson was a near-unanimous pick. It was near unanimous, because one Republican didn't vote for Johnson — and didn't vote at all. So, yes, we also talk about why Derrick Van Orden, Wisconsin's 3rd District Rep., wasn't in DC to vote. As for Johnson, we look at his viewpoints on certifying the 2020 election, his stance on, not just gay marriage, but legal sex between gay people, and his take on climate change.
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Another first time in history by Republicans in the US House of Representatives, as they fail again to elect a new Speaker. And, instead of grinding that out over the weekend, they took off. Meanwhile, turmoil in Israel, there's no farm bill, there's no budget. It's not just the House, however. In the US Senate, a Republican is holding up countless military positions because women are seeking healthcare out of state, when they're banned to do so where they live. It's all shows that the GOP can't govern. In Washington and in Wisconsin. Republicans in Wisconsin are trying to impeach the newly-elected state Supreme Court Justice, despite their secret panel of conservatives advising them not to. It's a multi-faceted approach by the GOP to retain power through rigged voting maps.
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Hannah Dull and Grant Mathu join to talk about the launch of the La Crosse Young Democrats, who will host their first meeting Monday, Oct. 9, at the county party headquarters (2318 State Rd.) before heading to trivia at JavaVino, across the road. We discussed why they've decided to launch the group, what kind of issues they see as important and some of the future plans, which may or may not include a Republican-themed haunted house. You can check them out on Facebook, Instagram or the website.
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Last week, Wisconsin Republicans again ignored a special session called for by Gov. Tony Evers. At least 12 times, the GOP has ignored these calls for action. Part of that session was to take a look at the childcare crisis the state is facing. This comes a week after the GOP passed multiple bills that they claim will help childcare centers. We dissect those bills and look at what Evers has proposed.
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Wisconsin Republicans are fighting to keep their power in just about every facet of state government and we try to break down some of that battle.
Here are just the highlights of the GOP's efforts:
- Impeaching newly-elected state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz
- Creating an entire new voting map system and forcing it through the Assembly in 48 hours, with no public hearings
- Recruiting bias former state Supreme Court justices to be a deflection on justifying impeaching Protasiewicz
- Firing the nonpartisan Wisconsin Election Commission administrator, due to outrage from far-right conspiracy theorists
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A furious Ben Wikler joins to explain the fight — and how to fight — Wisconsin Republicans' attempt to impeach newly-elected state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Wikler, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair, shoots down the excuses the GOP is trying to make as its reasoning for impeachment — like Protasiewicz's campaign statements or donations she received. He also talks about how the Republicans' attempt to subvert an election because they're afraid to lose power can be pushed back by the voice of the public. The site DefendJustice.com shows where each Legislator stands on impeaching and provides the public ways to contact them and voice your opinion on the matter.
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Spent most of the show breaking down each of the eight questions in the Republican presidential nomination debate that happened in Milwaukee last week, from climate change (a hoax) to education (teachers are the devil) to that Rich man from Richmond song (yes, that was a question) or whether to support Donald Trump (why not?). Rick, of course, hijacked the beginning of the show, though, to ask whether there would be a Democratic presidential debate between Joe Biden and the candidates running on that side, which is at two as of now.
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While President Joe Biden was touting his economic policy in Milwaukee last week, we looked at another story in the state and rehashed some proclamations by former Gov. Scott Walker and former President Donald Trump over the Taiwanese company, Foxconn, coming to Wisconsin. Then we got into Biden's economic policy wins, including the Inflation Reduction Act bringing jobs to Wisconsin — while Ron Johnson literally pushed jobs out of the state. We also talked about the upcoming GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee. But first, Foxccon, in what was called the Ninth Wonder of the World by Trump and Walker wanted to rename that part of the state Wisconn Valley, after Silicon Valley. But, while the initial deal was the biggest tax giveaway in US history to a foreign company, it disappointed once again last week.
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Last week, US Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned a special counsel to look into Hunter Biden. His name is David Weiss. And, with another one (Jack Smith) already assigned to Donald Trump's dealings, we dive into just what exactly is a special counsel and what are the matters that they're looking into when it comes to Trump and Hunter Biden.
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Talking climate change from a couple of different angles, including how the inaction in Washington and beyond is merely political. We dive into why that's the case, as we see both sides beginning to come to the conclusion that something needs to be done and quickly.
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We discuss the newest of embarrassing Derrick Van Orden incident. This time, the 3rd District US House Rep. cursed out high school-aged Senate pages for lying down and taking pictures of the US Capitol Rotunda ceiling around 1 a.m. during their final week of work. Van Orden doubled down on his poor reaction, swearing at the pages, saying they were being disrespectful.
https://www.wizmnews.com/2023/07/27/us-house-rep-van-orden-curses-out-high-school-aged-pages-for-taking-pictures-of-rotunda-says-they-treated-us-capitol-like-frat-house/
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Hit on two topics in this one, and while we said we were going to start with culture wars, we actually go off on a new third party being created for the 2024 election called No Labels. William tries to explain its strategy to peel off Democratic voters and boost Trump for an electoral win. After that, we discuss how the double standard in the left wanting the Jason Aldean "Try That in A Small Town" song cancelled, versus the right wanting to cancel the Dolly Parton-Miley Cyrus duet, "Rainbowland."
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From Ronald Reagan's trickle-down economics to Bidenomics, we look at the release of President Joe Biden's economic plan heading into the 2024 campaign. Biden hopes to change the economic direction of the US, rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up. The plan is centered around three key pillars:
- Making smart public investments in America
- Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class
- Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive
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Three decisions this week by the US Supreme Court sending the US back decades, if not longer, and they have William Garcia fired up. We discuss the Supreme Court stripping Affirmative Action from colleges, ending the possibility of cancelling some student loan debt, and allowing more discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community.
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Two weeks ago, at around bar time in Madison, Republicans on Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee, which writes the state budget, voted to end a childcare funding program that had been working solid for three years. We discuss what the plan was and what the affects on the state will be. We also discuss why the GOP may have ended the funding, but it's a Hail Mary to say the least.
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We discuss the Wisconsin Republican plan to strip diversity, equity, inclusion from the UW System budget. Then we break down what DEI is and what it does for people, students and college campuses. You will have to excuse Garcia, who does go off on a tangent about "new math," though it is a solid example of evolving education.
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We discuss how Wisconsin's school voucher system is taxpayer funded discrimination. Wisconsin Watch had a story on a Fox Valley Lutheran couple that faced expulsion because of their relationship. We also talk about how the voucher school system is a drag on public schools and some possible solutions to fix the dilemma.
WISCONSIN WATCH: "False choice: Wisconsin taxpayers support schools that can discriminate"
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-voucher-schools-discrimination-lgbtq-disabilities/
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Democrats in Wisconsin continue to fight for a paid family leave program, that was stripped by Republicans out of Gov. Tony Evers' budget. We go over what the program looks like, how Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee were silenced to even discussing it, and the hypocrisy by Wisconsin Republicans to cease talking about it now, when it was a big part of their plan less than a year ago.
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It sounds legit, requiring unemployed people to look for work to get welfare. But, it only works for as long as it takes to read the sentence. We dissect the 10-second Republican soundbite that goes after poor people on welfare and how it simply doesn't work for those people and wastes more taxpayer money on administrative costs than what could be benefiting those in need.
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Breaking down the GOP-controlled Wisconsin state Legislature's plan to fund local governments and why state funding has remained stagnant for decades. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers put his plan out months ago as part of the state's budget. Republicans, however, pulled the process out of the state budget to pass separately and, despite objections and a veto threat, they are ready to pass a plan that severely limits local control. Some of those limits remove county election referendums and add police quotas to things like traffic tickets.
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An explanation of the debt ceiling, the reasoning why US House Republicans are holding it hostage, the repercussion from that — including losing veterans' benefits — and what happens if it doesn't pass. Also, William and Rick argue about who's going to get blamed if this it doesn't pass — the GOP in the US House or President Joe Biden.
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After 100 days in office, US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden has made some big statements now on allowing abortions, term limits, and saving Social Security and Medicare. William Garcia and Rick Solem argue whether his flipping on such issues is legitimate, after campaigning for years on the opposite.
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A lot gets made out of gender affirming care, when it comes to transgender people. Right-wing talking points will say something like "mutilating children." So, we define gender affirming care and how it relates to children. After that, we discuss the basic topic of transgender people and how it's thought of so differently — or not thought of at all — by the older and younger generations.
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A bit of a recap on the spring elections, where Janet Protasiewicz beat Dan Kelly, three statewide ballot questions all pass and an abortion question on the La Crosse County ballot passes by a landslide. We listen to Republican-backed Dan Kelly's concession speech, discuss what might come before the Supreme Court and point out some of the double-standards between the GOP and Democrats that were on the ballot.
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A few local La Crosse school board candidates were mentioned by a Political Action Committee (PAC) called the 1776 Project. We take a deep dive into the money behind this PAC and the problems with PACs in general.
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Spring voting for the nonpartisan races that aren't quite nonpartisan ends April 4. We discuss in different ways what's on the ballot, what Get Out The Vote means and why La Crosse turnout is so high. With the Wisconsin Supreme Court balance on the line, we talk about how things like gerrymandering could end based on this election. We also discuss some of the ballot questions you'll see, including possibly one dealing with Wisconsin's abortion ban, which was created in the year 1849.
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We discuss the pros and cons of term limits, after a Republican US House rep. from Wisconsin announced he would be running for a sixth term, after promising to retire from Congress after five. A promise similar to what GOP US Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin just did, as well.
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A discussion in what it means to be part of the La Crosse County Democratic Party, ahead of a party of sorts happening Monday, March 20. Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and 2022 US Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski will headline the La Crosse County Democratic Party member drive, which happens from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Capella Arts Center, near downtown at 721 King St, La Crosse, WI 54601.
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Covered two things in relation to the University of Wisconsin schools — a tuition hike proposal and building projects and renovation proposals. The UW System is looking at a modest tuition hike after a decade of tuition freezes. Is that a good thing? Also, Gov. Tony Evers has a lot of funding in his budget for building projects, including a science center at UW-La Crosse that's been in a holding pattern for five or six years. Is that too long to wait on science and technology plans?
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Last week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers released his two-year budget. We dive into some of the highlights, as the state has a $7.1 billion surplus to play with — a surplus that hasn't been touched by the GOP-controlled state Legislature in over a year. Some of the highlights include: Paid Family Leave, Minimum Wage, Education , Funding ($1,000 increase per student, End Vouchers, Teacher Training, End Racist mascots, Increase School Mental Health Services, Naloxone in schools, Free School Meals, Literacy Coaches and Computer science courses), Medicaid expansion, Tax Cut, PFAS, Automatic Voter Registration.
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Chris Taylor, currently a Dane County Circuit Court Judge, is running for District IV of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. We get to know Taylor, her views on the importance of the position she's running for, how the Wisconsin Supreme Court has been politicized, what she currently does as a trial court judge, and how she feels about things like bail reform being on the April ballot.
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court race will get cut from four candidates down to two when primary voting ends Feb. 21. We first discuss how important the race is, not just for Wisconsin, but nationwide, and some of the issues the state Supreme Court could rule on over the coming years. After that, we take a look at the four candidates: Judge Jennifer Dorow, former justice Dan Kelly, Judge Everett Mitchell and Judge Janet Protasiewicz. The first two have aligned themselves with conservatives, and the latter two are aligned with progressives.
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Todd Strasser is the president of ATU 519, here in La Crosse, otherwise known as the bus union president. Strasser talks about the MTU workers looking for a pay increase in respect to what was given to management, as well as how it relates to inflation. The ATU 519 is looking for the mayor's support, as the city is coming in well under what 519 union is asking for.
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The April election nears and, typically, it's a low-turnout vote. But this election in Wisconsin, with the political balance of the state's Supreme Court on the brink, getting "your" voters is the goal for Republicans and Democrats. To do this, Republicans have put three questions on the April ballot they think will drive conservatives to the polls. To counter that, Democrats proposed a question of their own to get the voters' opinion on a nationwide issue. Republicans, who control the Legislature, however, denied that question. We break down that entire saga.
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We're back, and we're breaking down some of the early details of what to expect from a Republican-led US House of Representatives. That includes on some of the concessions Kevin McCarthy gave up to become Speaker and the repercussions from those concessions, what kind of governing to expect out of Republicans and investigations, investigations, investigations.
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La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia crunched the numbers from the midterm elections in Wisconsin to show just how gerrymandered the voting maps are in the Assembly, Senate and US House of Representatives.
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While the midterm elections just ended, another cycle has already begun. Spring elections for things like city council and school board have already begun, with signature collections. We break down the steps needed to run for these positions.
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The Respect for Marriage Act passed one more hurdle last week and will eventually hit Joe Biden's desk for signature. We look at what the bill actually is, in terms of protections for gay and interracial marriage, as well as how the media fails on bills like these getting passed. We also discuss how Ron Johnson lied before the election and then voted the opposite after the midterms, as well as how the bill could affect people who wish to get married in Wisconsin.
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A recap of the midterm elections out of Wisconsin, including how national entities bailed on Brad Pfaff in the US House race against Derrick Van Orden and some of the reasoning why Mandela Barnes lost to Ron Johnson. In between those conversations, a discussion on Gov. Tony Evers winning reelection, as well as Assembly Reps. Jill Billings and Steve Doyle.
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Every once in awhile, Republicans are caught saying the quiet part out loud. That happens with the future of social security. Here, we discuss what Republicans are saying about social security and what their intentions are with it, which are two different things. We also discuss how Republican US Sen. Ron Johnson fits into the mix.
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Dr. Chris Unterberger is a volunteer with 350 Wisconsin Action, who has been working with the organization’s Political Action Team to promote climate activism in the upcoming midterms and elect climate champions. He is a lifelong Wisconsinite hoping to see the state reclaim its progressive heritage primarily by leading the country in climate action.
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We discuss the opinions you don't get to hear when a candidate doesn't choose to debate or speak often to the media. It took someone in a crowd recording at a campaign stop in Sparta for the rest of the public to hear GOP candidate Derrick Van Orden's views. Van Orden has chosen not to debate his opponent, Democrat Brad Pfaff, in the 3rd US House District race. A growing "strategy" by the GOP to not get too out there with their opinions.
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Wisconsin state Rep. Steve Doyle joined the podcast. The Democrat representing the 95th District talked about how and why he got the name Mr. Bipartisan. We hit on issues like how competitive districts like his are necessary for government to function, money in politics, women's right to choose and criminal justice.
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U.S. House Rep. Mark Pocan joined, days before he is the keynote speaker for Saturday's La Crosse County Democratic Party fall dinner fundraiser at the Concordia Ballroom in downtown La Crosse. Pocan doesn't hold back on why Republican US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden isn't qualified for office. Pocan also speaks as to why Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff should represent the 3rd Congressional District that includes Western Wisconsin. Pocan represents Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District, that includes Madison area.
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Jill Billings joined the podcast. The veteran Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. for the 95th district, which includes La Crosse, talked about her priorities while she seeks re-election. Billings talked big picture state issues on the ballot, like women's healthcare and the right to choose and the elections themselves. She also talked more specific priorities she's been trying to get passed a Republican-led Legislature, like bills for disabled hunters, fighting both opioids and human trafficking.
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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has called for another special session to update the 173-year-old law on the books banning abortion in the state almost outright — a law created before women had the right to vote. We go back and forth on whether Republicans should not gavel in and out of the session — which would be the 11th time doing so. We also hit on how GOP Senators have flip-flopped on overturning Roe v. Wade being a states' rights issue to now wanting a complete abortion ban. This leads to the Democratic Party sponsored Rally for Reproductive Freedom happening from 12:30-2 p.m. on Oct. 2 at Myrick Park, where Lt. Gov. candidate Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. and US House 3rd District candidate Brad Pfaff, and Assembly Rep. Jill Billings will speak, before the rally marches to the corner of Losey and La Crosse Street.
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John Siegel is the Democrat running for La Crosse County Sheriff. Siegel, the Investigative Captain for the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department, discusses the responsibilities of deputies and jailers, how the department could work with other groups in the community and how he handles phrases like "defund the police." Siegel also breaks down some of the inner workings of the department and what he would like to do as sheriff.
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La Crosse Schools Superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joined to talk about the district's consolidation plan that's headed for the November ballot. The La Crosse School District hopes to pass a $194.7 million referendum to build a new high school on the south side, consolidating Central and Logan. Some of the discussion included how the property taxes work, if this plan helps teachers' salaries and the location of the potential new school.
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We dive into the details of the $10,000 student loan forgiveness plan ($20,000 for those will Pell Grants) for people making $125,000 or couples at $250,000. Garcia also knocks down some of the arguments brought up against the plan and points out the hypocrisy within some of those arguments.
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With the introduction of the Forward Party, created by Andrew Yang after he lost handily in both the Democratic presidential primary and the New York City mayor race, we break down why third parties in the U.S. don't work — anymore.
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The Biden Administration is marking up wins all over the place. We discuss some of the details and some of the internal politics — almost tricking Republicans — to get some of these bills passed. The bills include the CHIPS Act, Honoring our PACT Act, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and something that just passed the Senate this weekend, the Inflation Reduction Act.
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We bring in UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky to help break down the Aug. 9 Democratic primaries. Spent most of the time on the two big ticket items, the US Senate seat in Wisconsin and the 3rd Congressional District, where four Democratic candidates are vying to replace 13-term Ron Kind.
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The overturning of Roe v. Wade was based on the right to privacy. A lot of other rights held up in Supreme Court were based on the same thing. We discuss what could fall next, including gay marriage, gay sex, contraception, porn.
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Kick off the show venting a bit about Supreme Court decisions, both federally and in Wisconsin, as well as why the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention was held in La Crosse. After that, we break down the resolutions that were passed -- and ones that were not -- at the convention.
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7 Rivers LGBTQ Center executive director Alesha Schandelmeier joined to convey some history behind the LGBTQ movement, talk Pride Month and what the 7 Rivers Center is all about.
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We preview the two-day Democratic Party convention that happens this Saturday-Sunday at the La Crosse Center.
https://wisdems.org/wisdems-2022-convention/
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Before diving into where the US is at with guns (this podcast was recorded before the Senate announced its gun reforms) La Crosse Democratic Party chair William Garcia shares a short story about his experiences with active shooter drills, and how the massacre in Texas hit close to home. After that, we discuss some of the US House proposals on gun reform, what Wisconsin's governor has done already and how polling shows just where society stands on the issues.
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The Republican Party of Wisconsin recently wrapped up its state convention. We break down into five categories, what the GOP voted on for its platform. Those categories: Conspiracy Theories, Yee-Haw, Attacking Personal Liberty, Mismanaging your tax money and Resolutions William agrees with. Before that, we discussed a bit about whether political party should endorse a primary candidate.
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A breakdown of the GOP's decades-long plan to destroy the Campaign Reform Act, better known as McCain-Feingold — named after Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and Arizona Sen. John McCain. The latest in creating a free-for-all of money in politics is Sen. Ted Cruz intentionally breaking campaign finance laws, which leads to those rules simply getting changed in Cruz's favor at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Reaction from news last week that Republican US House candidate Derrick Van Orden was caught with a loaded gun, going through airport security. It's one of quite a few incidences from Van Orden, who is the only GOP candidate in the race, looking to replace Democrat Ron Kind, who is retiring after 26 years representing Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Also discussed are other Wisconsin Republican candidate controversies, including Tim Michels, who is running for governor.
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A bit of a different take on the eventual overturning of Roe vs. Wade by the US Supreme Court, and how that "privacy" issue could lead to — and has already led to — Republicans coming after a lot of other things happening in your bedroom.
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Aaron Richardson is one of three Democrats running for Wisconsin state Treasurer. Richardson is currently the Mayor of Fitchburg and also works in the Oregon School District's tech department. Before that, Richardson was on the Fitchburg city council and had spent 16 years in marketing. We discuss on the podcast not only why he's running for state treasurer, but also what is it a state treasurer does. We also dive into some of the things he's doing as mayor in Fitchburg, comparing them to what's going on in the La Crosse area.
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The catch phrase for Republicans is always how they want to "cut taxes." But they never do reveal exactly who they're trying to cut taxes for. On this episode, we break down some of those tax plans, including a "flat tax" floated by Wisconsin GOP governor candidate Rebecca Kleefisch.
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We talk with US Senate candidate Peter Peckarsky on all the big issues and one we haven't spent a ton of time on — election security. Peckarsky has a background and experience is seemingly endless. From legal and national security work to consulting on strategic nuclear weapons forces to investigative reporting. The Milwaukee native has degrees in electrical engineering, political science and law.
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William Garcia joined La Crosse Talk PM on Monday to preview the U.S. House of Representatives debate among the five Democratic candidates, looking to replace retiring Ron Kind. The debate will be held at UW-La Crosse's student union and online here: LaxDems.com/2022Debate/
Along with the debate preview, Garcia did talk some other politics happening — or not happening — in Wisconsin.
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Sara Rodriguez currently represents the 13th District of the Wisconsin Assembly. The registered nurse flipped a Trump district in 2020, democratic. She's a mother, a small business owner, a granddaughter to dairy farmers and also worked as a VP for a Fortune 100 company. Rodriguez was also one of 70 chosen annually to be an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the CDC, where she led national and international outbreak investigations, and she worked to address chronic disease for a state healthcare agency.
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Rebecca Cooke joined the podcast to talk about her run for the US House of Representative in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Cooke grew up on a dairy farm, went off to college and now runs both a small business and a nonprofit in the Eau Claire area. She was also appointed by Gov. Tony Evers to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Cooke discusses the economic and social challenges facing the small towns and rural communities. We discuss healthcare, farming, the environment, broadband and how all those affect Wisconsin on a local level.
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As election day nears for La Crosse County board and school board races in the area, William Garcia responds to how the La Crosse County Democratic Party has handled this cycle of local elections vs. La Crosse's Republican Party. This is in response to LaX GOP Party chair Bill Feehan's discussion on local elections.
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Brett Knudsen is one of five candidates running for the US House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Knudsen, a navy veteran, is a Holmen resident who works full time in the La Crosse area. Knudsen is the only candidate that declared he was running in the 3rd Congressional before Ron Kind announced his retirement. Knudsen, along with La Crosse County Democratic Party Chair William Garcia and WIZM's Rick Solem discuss issues like farming, Democrats and rural voters, capitalism, the war machine and more.
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Dr. Mark Neumann is one of five candidates running for the US House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. Neumann, a pediatrician for 35 years, is currently a city council member in La Crosse. He also ran against Ron Kind back in 2020. Now, Kind has announced his retirement after 13 terms in Congress. We discuss some of the key components of his campaign, including of course, healthcare, but other topics as well.
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News out just an hour before we recorded this is that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has accepted to use the "least change" maps of Gov. Tony Evers for Wisconsin redistricting. To help us shed light on the matter, we brought in expert Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, a nonpartisan group that has pushed for a redistricting process that takes the map-making process out of the politician's hands.
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Adam Murphy is one of nearly a dozen Democrats running for Senate and, ultimately looking to unseat Republican Ron Johnson. Murphy started a software and tech training company, where he taught. But, in prelude to his run, Murphy returned college to, what he says, study things "politicians should know about," which includes working on a Master's in economics, while also studying political science, constitutional law and ethics. He says "we have to listen, learn, share, and ultimately, teach, and that requires a 21st Century campaign. It starts with our Political Learning Center, and will grow into our political workshops." The Democratic Voice podcast has invited and will be interviewing every Democratic candidate that wishes to come on the podcast.
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Deb McGrath is one of five candidates running for the US House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. McGrath served over 25 years in the Army, the State Department and the CIA, facing many of our nation’s most important challenges abroad. Her father is a WW2 and Korean War vet, who also served in Congress. Her mother was a teacher. McGrath grew up understanding public service and has spent her life protecting our country. A mother and wife, she also understands what families need to thrive in Wisconsin. In Congress she wants to fight for the issues that keep Wisconsin strong.
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Wisconsin has a $3.8 billion budget surplus. These are the highlights of Democrats and Gov. Tony Evers' plan to use it, as well as the Republican plan.
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Brad Pfaff is one of five candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, which has been held for 13 terms by the retiring Ron Kind. Pfaff is currently a Wisconsin state Senator. Before that, was the Secretary-Designee for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, before Republicans chose not to confirm him after 11 months on the job. The Democratic Voice podcast has invited and will be interviewing every Democratic candidate that wishes to join.
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Dr. Gillian Battino is one of nearly a dozen Democrats running for Senate and, ultimately looking to unseat Republican Ron Johnson. Battino is a doctor of radiology, a breast cancer radiologist at the Marshfield Medical Center. The Democratic Voice podcast has invited and will be interviewing every Democratic candidate that wishes to come on the podcast.
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Though local races aren't pitted in partisanship, Republicans in the area are putting candidates on the local ballots in hopes that mid-term elections, often that see low turnout, will help snipe seats. It's a strategy that the La Crosse County Democratic Party does not practice. LaX Dems encourage candidates to run and hope everyone votes but does not strategically try and put Democrats into local seats.
That said, the La Crosse County Democratic Party does want to inform voters of important dates and other information with local elections coming up fast.
Monday (Jan. 26) the League of Women Voters in La Crosse is hosting a La Crosse School Board forum at 6:30 pm online More info can be found at:
LWVLaCrosse.org
Eight school board candidates are running in a Feb. 15 primary to fill six spots for the general election, which happens April 5. Also, District 7 of the La Crosse County Board is having a primary Feb. 15.
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Alex Lasry is one of nearly a dozen Democrats running for Senate. He's the Milwaukee Bucks Senior Vice President, who is on a leave of absence to run for Senate. The Democratic Voice podcast has invited and will be interviewing every Democratic candidate that wishes to come on the podcast.
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While we thought this was only going to be a year in review, it ended up being a lot more. We discuss the legislative battle that was 2021 and how important having Tony Evers hold onto the governor's seat coming up, as it most certainly looks like Wisconsin will remain gerrymandered for Republicans. Also discussed the importance of holding a state Senate seat vs. the US Congressional seat that encompass La Crosse County. And we played pundit on Tommy Thompson or Rebecca Kleefisch running against Evers for Republicans in the governor race.
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Before diving into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, we talked a bit about how Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and President Joe Biden have been doing. Then, we get into Jan. 6, including Derrick Van Orden's being there, what the committee has been looking into and some argument on what should happen to those who were inside the Capitol — from your average person to White Supremist groups who had something planned. New episodes release every Monday. Subscribe to the Democratic Voice Podcast wherever you download pods or go to WIZMnews.com/podcasts.
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It's being called "The Great Resignation," the idea that unemployment is so low (including a ridiculous number in La Crosse County), businesses are trying to cater to the worker to fill jobs. We talk about some of the causes to that and other factors helping workers' ability to move job.
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Islamophobic rhetoric from one House member leads to a ridiculous statement from Donald Trump. We discuss why the Republican Party has come to accept these views and how this just moves the needle on other things the party does that could now be seen as less extreme — like multiple election investigations.
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Republicans in Wisconsin are still perpetuation the "big lie" in the 2020 presidential election. Since the vote didn't go their way and the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) investigation didn't bring the best GOP news, prominent elected Republicans are now just saying they should control the elections completely. We discuss why having the government conduct elections itself with no oversight might not be a great idea.
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Former critical care pediatrician, Dr. Mark Neumann, joined sat down with us to discuss the U.S. healthcare system, the flaws it has and how universal healthcare would be much more beneficial — and efficient — for the country.
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Republicans are about to pass a bill in Wisconsin to increase hours teenagers can work. We discuss the consequences of that and how this is just another step in a long plan by the GOP in the state to strip education and avoid avenues to get working people a living wage.
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We bring in the political expert to recap last week's narrative that Republicans won big in elections around the nation. UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, help decipher what those elections — like the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races — mean heading into 2022.
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The concretive effort by conservatives to manufacture outrage over things like masks and critical race theory at local school boards to prolong divisive ideas, which don't play well with a majority of people but might help win local elections, where only a small number of people vote.
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While companies like John Deere are brining in over $5 billion in profits a year, and CEOs are getting 100% raises, increasing their salaries to $10-20 million a year, workers are getting a pittance of that — if anything — and it looks as though they're sick of it. We talk about #striketober happening across the country, from Danny DeVito siding with Nabisco workers and getting banned from social media for it, to the suits getting on the Deere assembly line, then having to call an ambulance by 8 a.m. the first day.
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Ranked-choice voting: A topic that probably doesn't get a lot of attention but one that could be vital in giving a chance to candidates from other parties and candidates who aren't millionaires. Bare with us, as we navigate what is a fairly broad idea that gets better defined as we go through the podcast.
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While Republicans do nothing in Congress, Democrats are debating a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy through what's called a Wealth Tax — on those with assets over $50 million. All this stems from recent news that Ron Johnson paid around $2,000 in taxes in 2017, despite making at least $450,000. Johnson also signed onto Trump's 2017 tax plan, that directly benefitted him.
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A flurry of Republican bills passed recently in Madison by the GOP-controlled Legislature. Mandates on education. Bounty-like bills going after teachers and school districts. The GOP intentionally misconstruing the definition of Critical Race Theory. We discuss these bills and how Republicans continue to create a culture war to divide people.
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin executive director Mike Murray joined to talk about that Texas abortion law, how it could effect Wisconsin, as well as a Wisconsin law from the 1800s outright banning abortion could come into play if Roe vs. Wade gets overturned. Murray also discussed what Planned Parenthood is doing in Wisconsin.
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Explaining the importance of immigrants under DACA, as we gear up for a scholarship fundraiser supporting DACA students at Western Technical College in La Crosse on Sunday, Sept. 26. It's called DACA Dreaming our Future Fundraising Dinner. From noon-4 p.m. Mexcal Mexican Cuisine on Main Street in downtown La Crosse will serve as host, along with the Coulee Region Immigration Task Force, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the La Crosse County Democratic Party. Cost is $20. Proceeds go to DACA Scholarship fund at WTC.
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Rebecca Kleefisch is officially running for governor of Wisconsin. We break down some of her 56 proposals that were included in the conservative policy group she created, called the 1848 Project. Some of those proposals come in the field of policing, education and healthcare.
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The second installment of "What's Ron Johnson been up to lately?" We take a look at the Wisconsin Senator's continuation in pushing conspiracy theories on COVID-19, the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, the election ... as well as his recent voting history and whether that's actually helping his constituents.
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The census numbers are in. What does that mean for La Crosse County, for Wisconsin, for district lines and for gerrymandering?
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Two infrastructure deals are waltzing through Congress. Call it dueling infrastructure, the US Senate is trying to pass. One cost $1.5 trillion. The other, $3.5 trillion. We discuss some of the details in the bills and how they might get passed in Congress — both the Senate and the House.
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After 13 terms, Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse announced Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, he would not seek reelection to the US House, after representing the 3rd Congressional District since 1996. La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia discusses the impact that has for both Republicans and Democrats in the state and the House.
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We talk about Republicans trying multiple election audits in Wisconsin of the 2020 November election. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has an audit on the taxpayer dime. Assembly committee chair Janel Brandtjen wants another audit. Audits have already been done. Voter fraud was minuscule. Why these are being done? How long could they go?
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The unvaccinated are prolonging the pandemic. How did we get here? We discuss where those unvaccinated reside in the US — Wait, is that a HIPAA violation? — and the politicization of COVID-19, as partly to blame for its continued existence. Not discussed at any great length was if Donald Trump is a Star Trek fan (Operation Warp Speed, Space Force ...).
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We break down how Wisconsin will be deciding if the US Senate is controlled by Republicans or Democrats after the 2022 election. Will it be Ron Johnson running on for Republicans and who will he be facing from the Democratic side of the aisle?
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Pretty self-explanatory, this one. Joe Biden came to La Crosse last week, spoke at the MTU building on Isle La Plume, then headed downtown to get ice cream before going back to DC. But we talked about the optics of his visit, in that we haven't had a Democratic presidential candidate that would draw huge crowds since a certain nominee spoke at the OmniCenter, and other places we'd have liked to see Biden speak, other than the bus building.
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Seriously, what the (bleep) is the filibuster? La Crosse County Democratic Party Chair William Garcia tries to explain THE FILIBUSTER to WIZM's Rick Solem. How it's being used. How it came to be. How it's changed over the years. Whether it's a verb or a noun.
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Late last month, Republicans in the Wisconsin state Legislature gaveled in and out, in under a minute, a special session called by Gov. Tony Evers to expand Badgercare. In not expanding Badgercare, Wisconsin has lost out on billions of dollars and will lose $1.6 billion over the next budget cycle. We discuss how why the state should be expanding Badgercare — at least debating about it in session — and why Republicans are denying the federal funding.
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We recently learned Wisconsin could lose out on -- not $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money for public education -- but $2.3 billion for K-12 schools because Republicans who control the state Legislature are planning on under-funding education by federal ear marks. We discuss how ridiculous that is and how important education is to working families — as important as anything else considered "infrastructure."
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Recently, (white) Republicans in Wisconsin introduced legislation banning Critical Race Theory in the state's education system. We discuss what Critical Race Theory is, why the attack on it (now) and some history surrounding it.
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A lot of reasons discussed as to why Washington DC should become the 51st state. Why it isn't, has to do with racism, power and politics, of course. But it's not just DC. We talk about why other territories, like Puerto Rico, are in this limbo, as well.
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We discuss some of the ins and outs of the local Democratic Party — from La Crosse County to the congressional district to the state.
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This week's episode is about the fight over transgender rights in Wisconsin, as the state's GOP has submitted bills to ban trans girls from girls sports. There have also been attacks like the bathroom bills and in healthcare against trans people. Locally, the La Crosse School Board recently passed a resolution affirming the rights and dignity of trans students.
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First, we explain quickly where the term Gerrymandering came from. After that, how Wisconsin is so affected by those legislative maps and what should be done this time around, when the lines are redrawn.
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We discuss six laws that would slow the horrifying gun death rate in the US, including background checks, red-flag laws and banning assault weapons. Also, how the 2nd Amendment does not mean what the GOP tells you it means. Contact host William Garcia at LaxDems.com
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Part 2 of breaking down Gov. Tony Evers budget. This time, looking at fiscal policies — tax increases on the wealthy, tax breaks for the poor. Also how much would a marijuana tax bring in, COVID-19 disaster relief for small businesses. Lastly, looking at fixing the unemployment system and a minimum wage increase — the one place Garcia and Evers disagree, kind of.
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Talking Governor Ever's Bounce-back plan.
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