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Now back to Brian and Jamie.
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you're listening in Appleton and Oshkosh on WISS or in Wausau and WXCO or even in Eau Claire on 93.5 the tap, we are glad that you're here.
And Brian, we would be remissed this hour if we did not remind people to go get the Civic Media app because on Monday, Monday is the day.
In fact, Monday at this time, we will be giving you a chance to qualify for cash and prizes through our multi-state text-to-win contest.
There you go.
And this is a good weekend to have that app because the weather is supposed to be dicey at best.
So while you're not listening to us or our podcast, which you can find on the app, you can always check out the weather, you can check out the music stations, you can do all of that.
So download that.
Then if you're thinking, Well, I can't go outside, I might as well just stay in with my laptop, and
perhaps
So I have fired myself.
I banned myself from my own accounts.
It's very tricky how I do that.
Well, this is news.
I can't even throw an edge into it like the administration.
The administration has launched new investigations into foreign trade practices, a move that could lead to new tariffs on imports later this summer, which again, according to the president, other countries will pay for.
the fact is you pay for them.
The announcement comes after the Supreme Court recently ruled that many of Trump's previous tariffs were unconstitutional.
That doesn't stop him forcing the administration to find new legal pathways.
or not.
I kind of wish something stopped him at this point, but the new investigations will be conducted under, oh, this sounds very official, section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.
That's a law that the US had previously used to challenge unfair trade practices by other countries.
Now, while they're examining this, what they're really looking at is manufacturing policies in more than a dozen countries, including China, the European Union.
Japan, Mexico, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and several others.
All places where our goods happen to be made, by the way.
Officials say that this investigation will focus on, quote, structural excess capacity in manufacturing, essentially meaning countries may be producing large amounts of good with heavy government support that undercuts American industries.
And according to the administration, subsidies and trade barriers in some of these countries are making it harder for US companies to really
compete or even sell their products abroad, which contributes to the long-running US trade deficit.
The administration also argues that tariffs are needed to protect American manufacturing jobs and push other countries to trade more fairly.
Here's a fact, manufacturers don't want your tariffs and a lot of them are suing you because of your tariffs that were deemed illegal.
And many of these companies have had to lay off several employees, maybe in some cases, tens to hundreds, depending on the size of the company because of these said tariffs.
But again, digression, we dabble in the facts here.
I know sometimes it's hard.
Well, it's and, you know, everybody, everybody can look at this and say, boy, this is not working out the way that you said it was going to work out.
And I don't know where all this money that you claim is coming in from tariffs is coming from.
But it doesn't seem to be coming from the other countries because then they're imposing tariffs on us.
And, you know, things are things are just getting worse.
But yeah.
reality doesn't come into play here.
And so they're doing everything they can to try to look, because if, if these tariffs go away, what does that prove
that he
We've already talked about this in many other cases, not only this morning, but every day.
He will not admit to being wrong.
He will not admit that he had no idea what tariffs were.
And that finally, the people caught on to what tariffs really were most of us.
have have figured this out because we've listened to every economist every businessman we've been paying more for goods that are brought in so we who didn't really understand tariffs now we do now we get it and the basic thing is we pay more right so
He can't fool us anymore.
And when he can't fool us anymore, he's going to desperately try to find anything that even for a short period of time he can hang these tariffs on.
They may get ruled unconstitutional again, but then he'll just have his legal
And again, I don't disagree because this administration is hell bent on tariffs.
I mean, they are hanging their hand on this come hell or high water.
But it could also be about something entirely different.
Policies that ultimately benefit the president, his inner circle and his wealthy donors.
It could also be about that because we know that some of these wealthy donors are passing on the money to
basically passing on the tariffs to American people and some of them are still creating some sort of profit.
And so there is that part of it too.
And look, here's what I'm gonna say this morning, Brian.
When Donald Trump came into office, the economy was not perfect, even other Joe Biden.
Yes, it was doing much better than it is right now.
I won't deny that.
But it also was not perfect.
It was in a very precarious situation and it was kind of teetering right there on the brink of it could become really, really good with the right
president, or it could become what it is under this current administration.
But the Biden administration did leave some serious challenges.
Donald Trump, though, campaigned on America first.
He talked constantly, and he still does, about creating the strongest economy the country has ever seen.
So here is the question, and especially if you were somebody who supported him that I have, legitimately have, are you actually better off financially right this very minute than you were under Joe Biden?
I mean, that's a question that I keep coming back to and I don't know, I don't know if you'll- It
Right.
If you ask, if you ask some people, sure, I heard the Dow was up, it's back down, just, but there's a certain group that their self-interest is tied to
how much they're making.
It doesn't matter.
I'm doing okay.
I don't care if the country is burning around me.
I'm doing all right.
I'm making more money.
I'm profiting from this.
And we know that when Donald Trump says America first, he really means me first.
Yeah.
He is the one he's been he and his family have been making loads of cash over the last year, while you and I are struggling and deciding well, how many how many nights this week can we have meat with our dinner?
And
Man, I was gonna take that trip just for fun, but gas is so expensive.
All right, I'm not gonna, or I'm gonna, I have to plot out everywhere I go so that I can try to squeeze in as many trips close together as possible.
So we're not doing better.
He's doing great.
Right,
And I think there's another...
point to this that really, really bothers me when you look at what's happening in Wisconsin and you see how people are struggling.
Our Republican representatives just continue to fall right in line with these policies, right?
And we're talking about our lawmakers like Ron Johnson, who made his fortune in manufacturing and knows exactly how tariffs impact businesses.
There's representatives Brian Stiles, Eric Van Orden, Tony Weed and Glenn Grossman.
They get out there, they say that we want to help Wisconsin.
and we want to do all of these things better.
We want to make life better for you."
And they don't because they understand how these, the consequences of these tariffs.
They know that manufacturers right here in the state are being completely squeezed right out of profit, out of potentially jobs for employees.
But instead of pushing back on what this administration does, they continue to support the agenda.
that a lot of businesses say is actually hurting them.
And I think that bothers me the most because they know.
They absolutely know.
And at the end of the day, they're doing absolutely nothing to make sure that life here is better for the state they represent.
You said, he made his money.
Yeah.
Brian Johnson made his money.
He doesn't, you know, whatever.
Yeah.
He's set.
you know, when he's out of the Senate, he'll be able to go around and get paid to give speeches and make do talks and things like that.
Those guys are those guys are set.
They don't need to worry.
And they'll come back and they'll do, you know, they'll pay lip service to their constituents.
Unless you're Derek Van Orden, then he's going to tell you if you don't agree with me, then don't vote for me.
And my fingers were crossed.
I thought, God, for the first time, I hope people listen to him.
But that's me, you know, again.
But but
They don't, there's no real concern.
The divide between the, and this sounds like I'm being literary or I'm being dramatic.
The haves and the have nots is getting wider.
And even the people who still have a little are starting, the little they have is getting smaller.
And yeah, you, if you have a job and you have a place to live, and yes, groceries are more expensive, but thank goodness you can still afford to eat.
You're a little you don't feel as bad But then there is that for every person has their own trigger their own tipping point and that you know when summer comes and maybe you're you were gonna go up to a place in the north woods and you have a boat and Suddenly your jet ski or your boat fuel cost so much more that now you can only go out on the lake one day because you can't afford to do it for three days Everybody's got that trigger so
But then there's people who don't have to worry about the trigger.
push through, would also replace a temporary 10% global tariff that the administration imposed using yet another law.
That was section 122 from the same trade act.
The temporary tariff can only remain in place for 150 days, meaning this administration wants permanent tariffs ready before it expires.
So this investigation is going to move quickly and it's going to include public hearings and discussions with trading partners before decisions are finalized.
But remember, you're already a few weeks into this already.
Already, so what are those public hearings gonna be like?
It's gonna be like kangaroo court because they're gonna be pushing through so fast to make sure they get through this deadline.
And by the way, all of the Republicans from the state of Wisconsin already said that they'll support whatever this looks
We've talked to small business owners on this show who have told us how rough it is for them because they're the ones paying.
the longer these kind of things go on the more small businesses are always on the brink anyway.
So the longer this goes the more danger of small businesses going under.
And the legal challenges are going to continue because there's several companies that we've talked about right here in the state all across the country that are suing this administration for that first round of tariffs that the Supreme Court deemed illegal and it's going to just continue.
So again, why so hell bent?
Maybe just bend.
Maybe just say this wasn't the greatest plan.
Now.
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Happy Friday!
Oh, it is one of our favorite parts of the day because we get to not talk about the politics of the world for just a moment and focus on some other subjects.
They're a whole lot more fun.
It is time for Swiper Stay, our producer Frank joins us.
Good morning.
How are you?
So Live Nation, aka the Darth Vader of the entertainment industry.
confirmed what we all suspected after their internal messages were released.
A live nation employee mocks customers as, and I quote, so stupid and says the company is, again, quote, robbing them blind, baby.
Wow.
These messages have been made public as over two dozen states weigh whether to continue their antitrust trial against the entertainment.
industry with Ticketmaster and Live Nation.
Knowing that most of us have had to buy our tickets through a ticketing website, right, that is associated with Live Nation, it should make all of us feel really awful about our life decisions.
And the fact that we just love to go to live shows?
Because, I mean...
right.
Wow.
Brian just so you know it would take the second coming of Led Zeppelin to get me to the venue you're talking about.
That's just really they go on to say
The messages go on to say, these people are so stupid.
I almost feel bad taking advantage of them and then writing in all caps.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Now, if I, if that's not grounds enough to continue this
Can't get a good joke for Train Dreams, which maybe means there is no good joke for Train Dreams.
And let me ask this audience, who has seen Train Dreams?
Go live.
OK, let's do it again.
That's eight people.
No.
help.
This is a quote from Fox after getting the boot from his old preschool Stewie is forced to enroll in a new one.
That's not exactly top of the line
It's attended by a handful of kids he doesn't know and a 75-year-old class turtle with a half-cocked theory on just about every subject.
Stewie's miserable, the other kids are miserable, and even the turtle is miserable until Stewie begins rolling out his trusty array of devices to take them anywhere in space and time.
Turning every boring day at school into an insane and surreal adventure.
Local voices and statewide impact.
It's Daybreak with Brian and
And I know that's
up on all my
I love it.
It's crazy windy.
And then it's supposed to snow horribly over the weekend.
I'm too put out to even talk about it.
Thank God, Mace Michaels is not.
He's a civic media and severe studios meteorologist.
He joins us now to give us what can only be described as the most horrific news I've heard so far this spring.
Mace, thank you for being here.
We do appreciate the help this morning.
How bad is it going to get?
Let's just
start
Are we talking storm one or storm two?
Oh, one is almost through.
Okay.
Let's go
here.
Sure.
Sure.
Sure.
Sure.
The storm one here again is almost done.
So so that's the good news.
But expect a howling wind through the rest of the morning.
I saw your peak gust was 45.
There are spots in the state that have been above 50.
But yeah, not not great.
Just crazy wind.
Are we going to lose that
Yes, okay.
The gusts should start to back down through the rest of the day today, but still a lot of spots are in high wind warnings.
So just, yeah, take note, you're really going to be having quite a breeze here throughout the morning.
What causes the winds to go from, you know, every little wind is fine, but all of a sudden to get 40, 50, 60 mile an hour gusts, what?
And I know this is probably something I'd need a semester or three of college to But if you can boil it down for a dummy like me in about 12 seconds
sure quick version This is an intense low very strong one jet stream is very intense along with it If you looked at the satellite, it's really wrapped up as a curly Q and it dropped across the Dakotas It's one of those clipper type lows streaming across Minnesota and now into our area the pressure is so deep and strong with it and it kicked out the
high from yesterday, a lot of pressure change.
And when you have a lot of pressure changes, especially in a short amount of time, the way the atmosphere releases that is wind.
So there's your short version.
It probably wasn't 12 seconds, but close.
That was very good.
It was thorough, and it did explain it.
Thank you.
Great.
Now, I'm the one who did the sidebar here because we haven't even gotten to Sunday yet.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, storm two.
Here we go.
Let's
Yeah, the hard part is exactly the track and then there's going to be mixed moisture in southern parts of the state But an intense low instead of one coming from the northwest like today's this one will be moving in from the southwest
A lot of strength like the one today, the difference is it will have a significant amount of moisture and as it moves to the northeast, just to our south and tracking close to the area and up through the Great Lakes, it will bring amazing amounts of snow and over towards the lake, it will have a lot of lake enhancements.
So it will be a, yeah, one of those record setter type snowfalls for sure.
Yeah, I was chatting with many of folks yesterday and you could have variances this far out and again, that's yesterday.
So it's an additional day three days out where we would see, you know, some models kept it all snow and you'd have 20 inches in some areas or more.
And then others would be no, I think there's going to be a little more warm air.
There could be some rain freezing rain sleet that would bring your snowfall total down to maybe five to 10 inches.
But you could have a half an inch ice.
So
The water content amount isn't changing.
Half an inch to an inch of just pure water, if you melt everything down, will be brought up with the storm.
Does it fall as liquid?
Does it fall as a mix?
Does it fall as all snow?
Madison area, it looks like it's going to be a lot more of a mix.
Starting more as a rain, snow, sleet, or maybe initially snow, then transition to rain, sleet, and then back to snow.
Again, estimates in the 5 to 10 inch range of the snowfall side, maybe up to a foot.
The problem is, is how much ice do you get before that and after that?
A lot of it may be sleet.
That's not as bad, obviously, as freezing rain.
But still, that mix is in there.
You venture maybe towards Baraboo, Oshkosh, Northward, up towards Wasa, Green Bay.
That's going to be all snow.
And we're, you know, talking in the, get out the yardstick type measurement thing, a foot in many areas or more.
Oh, it is.
This is one of those you see only once a decade type.
Wow.
Last time I think of one that did this, 20 plus inches, widespread area.
There was one five, six years ago, and then we didn't have anything after that for a long time.
I can't think of anything.
So they're usually there those decade to a dozen year type storms.
Yeah, I was just going to say that Madison High on Monday is 20 ish.
I mean, I, and I also don't want to say there won't be any wind.
I mean, the
storm is going to have wind.
It just isn't going to match today's wind.
So throw that in there.
And it's your full on Blizzard type storm, you know, in
it
Plan ahead.
That's my thing.
Plan ahead now.
Going through all the facts and the craziness and complicated measures of a filibuster is kind of mind-melting.
But I am trying to figure out the differences between the talking filibuster and a different kind of filibuster.
And Ron Johnson just wants to eliminate the filibuster altogether for a good reason if you are a Republican because they got to get the votes.
The discussion is happening as the Senate prepares to take up the Save America Act.
Majority leader John Thune, I should say, said it'll probably be sometime next week.
This is that Republican-backed elections bill, and it is expected to face strong opposition from the Democrats.
This was actually what Senator Johnson had to say on Newsmax earlier this week.
Let's hear from Ron Johnson, please, Parker.
show us their hand.
When they get power, they will eliminate the filibuster.
I think that's almost without dispute.
I may be wrong, but I think that's really the fault line in the Republican conference.
So I'm sympathetic with people that like to retain the filibuster.
I don't think it's going to be retained once Democrats gain power.
So I agree with President Trump.
We ought to end it now.
And when we do it, we're going to do it for the benefit of the American people.
We will secure our border.
We will secure our elections.
We'll do it for greater prosperity for every American.
When Democrats do it, it'll all be about obtaining and maintaining their power.
turn DC and Puerto Rico into states, four new Democrat senators.
Again, they will nationalize the elections and make it far easier to cheat so they can turn America into one party nation.
But that's all the stuff that you guys are doing right now.
they don't
Some conservative senators had suggested that talking filibuster that you brought up, which would force Democrats to physically hold the Senate floor to delay the bill rather than simply blocking it procedurally, which means you might see another guy like Hakeem Jeffries
or Cory
I'm sorry, Cory Booker was the one that did the 24 hour.
You know, this is where you get into those talking filibusters where
Nancy Pelosi, that infamous story she stood on the floor in those six inch heels for hours on end.
That's the talking filibuster that you're referring to.
This idea has run into resistance from other Republicans who worry that Democrats could use this process to essentially stall the Senate for weeks or months before the midterm elections.
Yes, the SAVE Act is going to very much change the midterms
if it is
Johnson now says that the Senate should hold the vote to eliminate the filibuster entirely, mainly to force lawmakers from both parties to go on record where they stand.
Johnson, though, does acknowledge, Brian, that there's likely not enough votes to actually eliminate the rule.
But we're going to spend our time doing this instead of real
Which is a telling thing.
Very telling when the Democrats take power.
The writing is on the wall, so they're very nervous about that.
Because even though they say Newsom can't read, they can read.
And they're reading the polls.
They're reading the opinion pieces.
They're reading their constituents' letters and emails.
They can read and know what's happening.
And so now it's all hands on deck trying to make sure that they can get this thing jammed through and keep as many people from voting as possible.
Keep the right people voting.
and the wrong people from voting.
And I guess as somebody who lives in the state of Wisconsin, this irritates me to no end.
And it goes back to something we were talking about earlier this morning, if you joined us, about Wisconsin representation doing their job.
Because Ron Johnson right now could be focusing on the bigger issues.
He could be putting up some resistance to tariffs.
He could be putting up some resistance to some of the immigration
policies to maybe, I don't know, make life better for the people who put him in Washington DC.
Instead, this is what Ron Johnson is essentially spending his time doing.
Some no-nonsense filibuster ending movement that he knows isn't even going to pass because when the Democrats take office, we don't want them to have too much power.
All of it.
All of it is so
is such a tell this morning if you're listening to what he is saying and why he's saying it.
And he's right.
I mean, let's be honest.
Well, he's not right, but the people who the other Republicans who object, they don't want the Democrats to have this power because what's good for them for the Republicans is also good for the Democrats.
Yep.
Whoever's in power calls the shots and they're all short-sighted.
Because they call the shots thinking they're always going to be in power.
And as we've seen through the history of this country, nobody stays in power forever.
Right.
And as much as this administration wants to stay in power forever, they're not going to.
We're going to talk to Mandela Barnes.
748 right now at the Civic Media Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website,
I'm Brian Noonan.
You know here in Wisconsin, your electricity bills continue to rise at a rate faster than eight other Midwestern states.
In fact, they've exceeded regional averages for the last 20 years and active and proposed data centers could raise your rates even higher.
Now you know Mandela Barnes is the former Lieutenant Governor.
He's now a Democratic candidate for governor and he has pledged to freeze utility rates if he is elected.
He's here now as our guest to explain how he's going to do that.
Mandela, thanks for being here.
We do appreciate your
time.
Okay, so how did Wisconsin get in this position and what is your plan to change this?
Well, we have a long track record in this state of allowing our utility companies to become monopolies and ultimately be able to get over and escape.
most forms of accountability and responsibility to ratepayers.
You know, when you think about the fact that these utility companies are publicly traded, the interest isn't the rate payer.
It is the shareholder.
And that is the problem right now.
There's shareholder and executive pay.
And that's exactly why we've gotten to this point where the average rate payer is being taken advantage of in such a way.
And it has happened for so long that they come to expect government to respond to them
with any sort of request and that has been the c that has to end immediately bec across the country for t has to show an example of w and that's why my plan will take on these grea continue to exploit peo as you mentioned, the
high as profit margins in
Utility companies Mandela are saying that these rate increases are usually tied to the fuel costs and the infrastructure upgrades.
Obviously, we know that there's other things attached, as you were just referring to, but how would this plan that you're proposing balance keeping those bills down and still maintain the grid?
well I can accept that you know there are capital expenditures of course for sure we need our grid to be strong and reliable uh but at the same time we see executive pay skyrocket as well and that's why my plan calls for capping executive pay so they can have some money left over for those capital expenses we'd also been a rate payer dollars from being used on lobbying and other political expenses our money shouldn't be used against us uh to charge us more money at the end of the day and also uh we are calling
to in that revolving door that allows commissioners to become utility executives.
I think that the goal of any PSC commissioners should be to protect the interests of the public, not curry favor with these utility companies in hopes that they'll get a golden parachute once their time is done.
Well, yeah, you get these shutter plants, these decommissioned plants and their loopholes that exist have forced ratepayers to pay for those debts.
So not only are you paying for energy, the energy to be generated, you're paying for the debts of these shutter coal plants just so they can rake in more money.
It will be different.
it will be a much different conversation if we're talking about struggling utility companies.
Last time you heard of a struggling utility company.
You heard of a struggling energy provider.
You just have not.
And it is because we absorb the cost.
We are struggling as Wisconsinites as we continue to pay higher costs and higher bills.
The money is there.
It's being spent in so many other directions.
And I'm happy to work with, you know, responsible utility companies and those who want to do the right thing
by their customers, but that's just not the dynamic we're experiencing right now.
And that's why we do need real leadership to step in and say enough is enough.
you take the politics out of it.
You know, obviously cost of living is top of mind for everybody.
But we're talking about actual livelihoods.
We're talking about the decisions people have to make every single day, whether to keep the heat on or how much food they're going to be able to put on the table, whether they're going to be short on rent or short on utilities and see their bills continue to rise.
And there are some energy companies across the country that are doing the right thing, that are acting responsibly and in the interest of the people.
But here in Wisconsin, we are going to demand that our energy companies do the right thing.
That's not too much to ask.
It's not a lot to ask for companies that are doing business and serving such a broad interest as utilities and energy, which everybody needs.
It's not far-fetched.
To call on them to act responsibly and see the challenge that people are facing instead of handing out these large CEO bonuses, you need to give the people some relief.
You can't just continue to charge these costs and put people out of a house and home.
We're talking with Mandela Barnes to use the former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, a current Democratic candidate for governor.
I think if you're here this morning talking with us, we would be remissed if we didn't bring up data centers, because we're also seeing all these proposals all across the state of Wisconsin, which could dramatically increase the electricity demand, Mandela.
So how do we make sure that everyday customers, as you're referring to, aren't paying for that infrastructure bill for those companies?
absolutely and what needs to happen if there's gonna be data center construction in this state uh if we're gonna develop these projects there has to be a statewide study uh initially to address the energy uses to address water uses to address land use potential air pollution as well and all these other considerations that have come up time and time again at these town hall meetings now the problem is people have long
been taken advantage of by these large tech companies, the most profitable companies in industries to exist in the history of this planet.
And what the data center feels like is a physical manifestation of everything they have done over all these years to sort of get over on us.
And when people show up at town hall meetings, make their cases plain and clear about what their concerns are and they feel like they aren't being heard.
That's the problem.
We have to end these non-disclosure agreements.
We have to have disclosures for project approval and construction.
And there has to be ongoing public reporting as to what that usage has been.
If they can't adhere to these simple set of standards, then I don't see a way where they should be developing construction.
Thank you.
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