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Battleground Wisconsin

Battleground Wisconsin

Written by: Battleground Wisconsin
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 Battleground Wisconsin is Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s weekly podcast that features the latest political news from the front lines in the embattled state of Wisconsin. The show features: · Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin · Matt Brusky, Deputy Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin . Claire Zautke, Health Care for All DirectorAll rights reserved Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Freddy Peralta trade, wage floors, and the politics of MLB

    Freddy Peralta trade, wage floors, and the politics of MLB
    Jan 22 2026
    The Milwaukee Brewers’ billionaire owner traded All-Star Freddy Peralta yesterday for prospects, leaving fans upset at the trade and the financing of Major League Baseball that created and normalized such a lopsided and unfair trade. We welcome Simon Rosenblum-Larson, a former minor league baseball player who helped organize a union for minor league players, to provide his perspective on the trade and take a deep dive into the financing and politics of MLB that enriches billionaires while extracting money from taxpayers. We close the show with Lisa Lucas the co-host of the Brewers Babes Podcast to get her take on the trade and MLB’s broken system.
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    50 mins
  • Greenleaf Data Center: Organized People Win!

    Greenleaf Data Center: Organized People Win!
    Jan 15 2026
    We applaud a victory for local democracy this week in little Greenleaf, Wisocnsin. When Big Tech came calling, local residents pushed back so quickly on a proposed data center that the developers immediately pulled out. We put the Greenleaf story in perspective, taking a deep dive into the details of bills from Legislative Republicans and Democrats, and commitments so far by candidates for Governor, to create a framework for regulating data centers. Are the current proposals enough to make sure the data center binge will not jack up already high utility rates, and prevent a response to global warming at the scale and urgency of the crisis? We also evaluate the first 2026 Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers in the aftermath of the end of enhanced affordability subsidies. Will the enrollment numbers get worse without meaningful action by Congress? We close with the ongoing attempt to criminalize dissent at the state Capitol.
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    49 mins
  • Venezuela, ICE shooting and taxing the rich to fund schools and public goods

    Venezuela, ICE shooting and taxing the rich to fund schools and public goods
    Jan 8 2026
    We lead off with Trump’s gun boat diplomacy in Venezuela and the shocking bloodshed perpetrated by ICE in Minneapolis. What does it mean and how is the resistance to authoritarianism responding so far? We welcome State Representative Ryan Clancy to discuss three game changing progressive tax bills that would transform how Wisconsin funds K-12 schools, local governments, and other public services. If enacted, Wisconsin would become the first state to fund K-12 schools primarily through a progressive income tax, leading to a 44% reduction in the median Wisconsin property tax bill. The two other bills restore Wisconsin’s estate tax for those valued higher than $15M, and create a new local option income tax on the ultra wealthy. We review new analysis by Wisconsin Watch that 46% of State’s private school students get public-financed vouchers and 96% are in religious schools. We close with the U.S. House revolt against Trump and Speaker Johnson on the expiring ACA affordability subsidies. Nine Republicans defied Trump and Johnson, forcing the vote, all from swing districts, but not Derrick Van Ordin. Does it have a chance in the U.S. Senate? At the state level, some legislative Republicans are advancing a bill requiring transparent hospital pricing for “shoppable services” that has split the big corporate business interests from the hospitals. Is there an opening among Republicans and corporate interests to rein in Wisconsin’s astronomical hospital prices, which are the highest in the Midwest and the 5th highest in the country? Robert also asks why Senator Chris Larson is the only Democrat co-sponsoring the legislation?
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    58 mins
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