Would allow voters to directly repeal Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban.

On today’s POW/MIA Recognition Day, remember and honor the bravery and sacrifice of our service members.

MILWAUKEE - We shed light on the misleading media coverage of the latest MU Law Poll, which finds both the Governors and U.S. Senate races are a dead heat. Did the TV saturation of racialized attacks on Mandela Barnes influence any specific subset of voters? We applaud Sarah Godlewski’s new PAC to expose Sen. Johnson on abortion and support 6 women candidates running for important state legislative seat. Robert reviews new campaign contribution data that reveals Corporate America as the real power behind MAGA and the assault on democracy.

We welcome UW Health nurse Shari Signer to discuss this week’s narrowly avoided strike, next steps for the nurses, and their role in helping inspire a rebirth of labor organizing. New data reveals the lowest child poverty rate in America ever measured thanks to President Biden’s policies, especially the Child Tax Credit. Will Democrats in the Senate make it permanent? We close with Matt ranting again against the un-elected Federal Reserve Bank.

Download Mp3

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/coronavirus-nurse-tired-s448.jpgScheduled strike to start Tuesday averted by agreement.

MADISON - Our research team just did an interesting study of the top 10 donors to the legislative campaign committees in Wisconsin. See if you can guess who was number 1. Also on the list: a Wal-Mart heir who lives in Arkansas. Here’s our post:

Check Out the Top Contributors to the Wisconsin Legislative Campaign Committees

This week, as you may have heard, a judge down in Waukesha tied the hands of municipal clerks, forbidding them from fixing even the most picayune errors that the witness – not the voter! – made in filling out their address. Here’s what I had to say about that:

Waukesha Judge Sides with Republicans on Petty Disqualifications

I’d also like to share with you what I wrote about Pres. Biden’s speech late last week in Philadelphia:

Three Cheers for Biden in Defending Democracy

Biden and all of us need to keep calling out the anti-democracy forces for what they are. Now’s not the time to pussyfoot around!

I hope you have a nice weekend.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

P.S. If you appreciate the work we do, please send us a tax-deductible donation by clicking here, where you can pay by credit card or PayPal.

MILWAUKEE - We welcome Citizen Action’s Movement Politics Director, Priscilla Bort, to discuss our Fall election program which centers grassroots conversations with pivotal voters. Our first phone night had great turnout, and this weekend we launch our general election door deep canvass in Milwaukee and Green Bay Saturday morning.

Our panel reviews President Biden’s visit to Milwaukee Laborfest and his continued call-out of MAGA Republicans who are imperiling American democracy. MAGA millionaire Tim Michels demonstrated his anti-democratic Trump instincts by calling for pitchforks and torches. We close with a special interview with Sulma Arias, the new Executive Director of People’s Action, Citizen Action’s national organizing network. In that indepth interview, Robert and Sulma dig into the crisis in American democracy and the role grassroots organizing must play in recreating a sense of community and shared purpose.

Download Mp3

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all our listeners. We hope you get out and participate in your area’s Labor Day events. In this episode, we take stock in the resurgence of labor organizing in America as new Gallup Polling shows 71% support unions, the highest since 1965! Will it lead to a rebuilding of the depleted ranks of organized labor, shifting power in a progressive direction, or is more structural reform needed to restore the right to form unions?

The end of summer means the November Election is just around the corner. Behind in the polls, Ron Johnson goes on the attack while getting help from some Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters who distort public perceptions in the name of balanced coverage. In the real scandal fest that is the MAGA wing of the GOP, it is revealed that Tim Michaels’ Foundation Gave to Anti-Abortion and Anti-LGBTQIA+ groups. We also review the latest attacks on our democracy, including the shameful end of Vos and Gableman’s sham election review and his crusde to imprison elected officials and mayors who push for access to voting. The Democrats seem to be surging in the polls. What does it mean for the prospects of building a true governing majority in the second half of President Biden’s first term?

Download Mp3

Federal Judge overrules Wisconsin Supreme Court, along with a state statute, that violated the rights of voters with disabilities to obtain assistance in the delivery of their absentee ballots.

MILWAUKEE - We discuss President Biden’s announcement that he will use his presidential powers to cancel $10,000 in student loans for those making less than $125,000 and $20,000 for those who were low enough income to qualify for Pell Grants. Robert discusses how this benefits all middle class students and is especially targeted to the most financially challenged, including BIPOC students with very high student debts. We talk about the vote of over 2,000 UW Health nurses to authorize a 3 day strike in September to demand recognition of their union from hospital administrators. We review a new report finding public employees are leaving the sector at the highest rate in decades. Robert previews our “How to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act” training this Thursday at 6pm (WATCH recording of event below.) This week Citizen Action announced 32 new candidate endorsements for the November 8th election and discuss why it is so important for everyone to volunteer this fall to elect Mandela Barnes to take the next steps in passing a bold progressive agenda.

Download Mp3

MADISON - I was honored to be invited to give a talk to some faith leaders in Wisconsin earlier this week who are working boldly on the issue of racial equity.

So I discussed some ideas I’d sketched out in my book, “12 Ways to Save Democracy in Wisconsin,” and I also examined the anti-democracy movement in our state and in our country. Here’s the text of my talk:

The Tall Tasks Before Us

Also this week I weighed in on Speaker Robin Vos’s decision to finally fire Michael Gableman. Here’s what I said about that:

Vos’s Tardy Heave Ho of Gableman

And our research team uncovered the names of the big Wisconsin donors to two groups that are throwing a lot of money around in the tightening race for governor:

Gubernatorial Electioneering Groups Get Nearly $2M from Wisconsin Contributors

For a comprehensive and up-to-date list on candidate and outside spending, please go here:

Campaign 2022 Updates

I hope you find this information useful.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

P.S. If you’d like to support the urgent work we’re doing, please do so by sending us a tax-deductible gift today. It’s easy: Just click here and donate by credit card or PayPal. Or send your donation in the old-fashioned way by making your check out to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and mailing it in to us at 203 S. Paterson St, Suite 100, Madison WI 53703. Thanks for supporting us!