Defending core values of democracy

We start with the on-going invasion of many Wisconsin communities by energy and water sucking data centers. While profiting Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Big Utilities these projects threaten to accelerate runaway climate change and spike already unaffordable utility prices. While state and local economic development boosters, including the Evers Administration, throw public money at data centers without considering the massive environmental costs and limited economic impact, a few brave communities are standing up in places such as Menomonie and Caledonia. We need to refocus public policy on addressing the climate crisis, not economical development boondogles that light the planet on fire. We encourage people to attend this Sunday’s Climate March at the Capitol in Madison at Noon. Meanwhile Trump, Vance, and their minions rush to politicize the violent attack on ICE office in Dallas before the facts are in, blaming Democratic and left wing truth-telling about the abuses of Trump's immigration crackdown. There is a problem with political incendiary language, that it come from the President, Vice President, and MAGA, not elected progressives and mainline Democrats. We talk about the potential of a government shutdown, and the Trump Regime impact in Wisconsin this week, including Derrick Van Ordin’s demand to cut off federal dollars to the City of Eau Claire, Ellsworth, and Mayo Clinic in retaliation for social media posts. Citizen Action Board member and former state Representative Sandy Pasch joins us to warn our listeners about a terrible new bill in Madison that restricts free speech in the name of fighting antisemitism by making legitimate and First Amendement protected cricism of Israel into hate speech. The bill is yet another authoritarian attempt to empower governmet crackdowns against civil society groups and free speech. Sandy calls for our listeners to reach out to their state representative and senators to oppose AB 446, and support alternative legislation that meaningfully addresses antisemitism. Finally, we welcome Chris Gooding, Theology professor and union leader at Marquette University, to update our listeners on the Jesuit university’s union busting in the name of God. We discussed how this anti-union strategy spread this month to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where the university walked away from negotiations with their workers, prompting outrage on campus and a strike vote.