The Democratic Voice Podcast

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Garcia, chair of the La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party, joined WIZM for a discussion covering a range of topics, including Donald Trump, TikTok, and political priorities in Wisconsin. Garcia addressed the controversial TikTok "ban," Trump’s indoor inauguration, and his new cryptocurrency venture, which Garcia warned could lead to corruption. During the show, Garcia took a couple of calls, including one from a listener accusing him of disrespecting President Trump. In the second half of the interview, 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 with a look at some of the more positive text messages Garcia received, offering compliments and praise for his insights. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La Crosse County and 3rd US House District 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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.