Badgers for Healthcare

We celebrate the late night victory of the Milwaukee Brewers that has Matt tired during the morning recording of the podcast. Go Brewers! Robert has a packed Tick report this week, including Alpha Gal Syndrome, spread by Lone Star ticks rising in Illinois and the theatrical release of a new horror movie focused on ticks. We take a deep dive into healthcare costs and coverage as a top election issue with new Kaiser Family Foundation research showing Democrats are significantly more trusted on healthcare costs than Republicans. We look at the huge opportunity David Crowley’s embrace of BadgerCare Public Option provides to make real progress on making health care truly affordable and accessible for all. We encourage our listeners to RSVP for Citizen Action’s Political Education Issue Series: BadgerCare Public Option & other Health Care Policy, next Tuesday, October 13th, 6pm. Wisconsin’s election system has devolved into”legalized bribery,” where 3 billionaires (Diane Hendricks and the billionaire couple Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein) have given more than $73 million to Republican committees and candidates in 2026, dwarfing the combined donations of everyone else. When self-dealing billionaires are the largest funders of political campaigns can we have a healthy democracy? Meanwhile, Trump tries to bribe upper middle class voters with $500 ACA refund checks only for people who make 4xs poverty wages or more. More signs of an authoritarian security state? Records obtained in a FOIA request show that using surveillance authority passed after 9/11, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security probed millions of records of nonprofit groups in witch hunts for voter fraud. The report includes mention of undercover agents. One faith based group in MN did not even know it was under investigation until the records were released Wednesday.