Transcript
How Politicians Talk And Rifts In Wisconsin Political Parties (Hour 3)
Daybreak w/ Brian and Jamie · Thu May 28, 2026
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Across the state of Wisconsin, Daybreak with Brian and Jamie is back.
I'm Brian Noonan.
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All right, Jamie, Jamie.
was hot last night.
She was hot about hypocrisy.
She doesn't like it, she won't put up with it, and she's ready to go.
I mean, politics, if you were listening in our last hour, politics is rough enough on people as it is.
People don't actually agree with their own party.
The party's in fight.
We're gonna actually get into that discussion a little later on about the parties here in the state of Wisconsin.
That comes up at 8.30.
Politics is rough enough.
And Tom Tiffany, if you've been paying attention to the gubernatorial race, you know that he is the candidate for the Republican governor here in the state of Wisconsin.
He is very active on social media.
So over on his official Tom Tiffany, Congressman Tom Tiffany page on Friday, May 22nd,
He posted a graphic, and if you're on the stream, you can actually see what he posted.
So in this particular graphic, if you haven't seen it,
It is the campaign, the Tom Tiffany campaign is assuming that Francesca Hong and Mandela Barnes are the front runners, which according to the most recent polling, they are for
the
is
And in that, more red X's, it says defund the police, end cash bail, empty prisons.
radical is the tag under him.
Then we get to the third column, and it's Tom Tiffany, Bright Green, wearing his Wisconsin home hat, and it says, support law enforcement, tough on crime, keep Wisconsin safe.
Normal is how they've tagged
This was seen by thousands of people, this particular post, this particular graphic.
Tom Tiffany was at a press conference in Madison.
It was like a media kind of outreach thing earlier this week on Tuesday.
And he was asked specifically about the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and whether January 6th defendants should be compensated from said fund.
This is what he had to say.
In regards to that, I'm asking the administration to give us more as far as how exactly they expect to implement this.
Yeah, I mean, I would want to take a look at what was the harm that was done to those victims.
If it's significant enough, perhaps they should receive compensation.
What?
Obviously, the graphic that he posted on Friday, May 22nd, he's going to lean hard into this law and order.
I'm the only one who can save this state kind of mantra, right?
If you just look at this graphic, he's also said things similar over the past few weeks on the trail.
Is this law in order?
Is what he said about the anti-weaponization fund?
Is that the type of law in order that we're talking about where you
have
there is no line and this is the simplest most to to borrow a comedy term hack argument and campaign thing when you're you're still going back to I want law and order and my candidates want lawlessness nobody wants lawlessness
I don't care how progressive you are.
Nobody, even the most progressive, does not want crime in the streets.
They don't want serious criminals outrunning around.
They can argue about police.
The problem is police reform, which is 100% needed, always in every department, you have to constantly be looking at how things are done.
But that's been painted as not only abolish the police and defund the police because
people have used those terms and and they are they are bad terms and they're gonna turn off a lot of people but how about how about we campaign on things that we really need right Tiffany how about
lowering property taxes.
How about making Wisconsin more affordable?
How about taking care of our schools?
He
And that's why I think we're leaning into the law and order of it all.
One, it appeases the man who basically endorsed him for the state of Wisconsin, Donald Trump.
Two, he can't run on those things because his record, his congressional record, shows that he has voted against every bill.
every bill that has come across in Congress that would have allowed people extended SNAP benefits, better health care, hospitalization.
He's voted against all of those things.
So it feels like they're hedging their bets.
Like if we don't talk about it, nobody will ask about the record,
And just paint paint the Democrats.
And again, we don't know who the candidate is going to be.
At this point, you're right.
Francesca Hong and Mandela Barnes.
are polling, but there's so many variables between now and then.
So he's picking out candidates that may not even be his opponent and painting them with really wild accusations.
But that's political advertising.
It shouldn't surprise us.
This happens.
It's going to start happening very soon.
it is for the democratic primary and we're going to see all of these and the democrats will turn on each other as they as they are trying you know that's the
She asked, why isn't the Democratic Party putting out ads against Tom?
It's so easy.
Just use his words, post, show his voting record.
Don't let him have all of the ad time.
Dems get your ish together.
Thank you for that, Tiffany.
If you want to chime in 1-855-752-4842-185575 Civic.
I have seen, not specifically from the Democratic Party, but I will say that certain PACs who have already started the ad campaigns against Tom Tiffany, especially since the GOP in Wisconsin has now had their state convention, and he was pretty much the presumed, you know, heir to that
And
It was a photo of James Tellerico, and if you're watching the stream, you can see that post.
He's standing in front of the Texas flag, and the caption is, fired up, ready to go.
It's time to take back Texas.
Well, Stephen Miller, who we know is one of Trump's right-hand men, gets on social media, reposts it, and says, the Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender Senate candidate.
Gross, awful.
basically
untrue
like
Here's what I care about, is this what we want?
I get Democrats need to be meaner.
But is this why people are shunning politics?
Because this type of attitude is just stupid, and nobody has time for it.
Do we really care that much what Stephen Miller has to say, that this was the response that the National Democratic Conference Committee gave to Stephen Miller's post?
Why give it any more light at all?
Because
I think that that post with that language is...
the most dismissive language you could use.
And I think it backs up.
It goes to your point.
We're not even going to give you anything.
Just shut up, you ugly.
That's how you dismiss someone.
You know, maybe they could have said by Felicia.
That would have been fine.
No, but we also said one of the top reasons that people are upset with the Democrats, even Democrats, are that they don't fight hard enough.
This is the exact kind of language.
And listen, I wish we were a little more civil.
Sure.
X is not the place to be civil.
X is a cesspool.
It is that's the kind of language.
If you want to if you want to get through on X, that's what you have to do.
Now, is it is it the best?
Is it an ideal situation?
No.
But I have no problem telling a guy like Stephen Miller to shut the f up and, you know, and calling him ugly because
He needs to and he is and how dare you but instead of getting into all these long how dare you?
Why would you say that about our James Taylor Rico is a wonderful man?
It's just like shut up.
I don't know.
It's Daybreak on The Civic
Media.
I'm Brian Noonan.
So do you think it's time to cut back on screens in the classroom?
855-755-CIVIC.
855-755-248-42.
Now...
You remember right before the pandemic and especially during the pandemic every school district Oh every kid had to have an iPad or they had to have a laptop and we had to oh, it's all gonna be screens and it did Pardon me.
I'm all worked up.
It did make sense during the pandemic because it allowed schools to keep teaching it allowed it allowed kids to stay connected.
It was fine.
So
Districts around the country poured billions of dollars into laptops, tablets, learning apps.
Oh, there's a million different apps and they change all the time.
Now schools around the country are facing a digital reckoning.
Classrooms have become saturated with screens.
A growing number of parents, teachers and districts around the country are saying it is time to scale back.
They're using Los Angeles Unified School District, which is always a nightmare district.
But they're using this as an example because they recently became the first major school district to say it will stop giving devices to its youngest students.
It's part of a new screen time policy taking effect in the fall across the country's second largest school district.
The crackdown is adding momentum to calls for reform emerging around the country.
It makes a lot of sense for the younger kids
now when
have very rarely by hand
So the fact now that people are like, whoa, we need to scale this way back, right?
I do find that fascinating.
And you talked about LA being kind of the test case for this.
At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools.
And the federal government actually had to issue an advisory just last week, warning that any sort of access
of screen use among youth is becoming a growing public health concern.
That's what we're worried about.
Okay.
But I did look into it and Wisconsin has a new state law.
It's called 2025 Act 42.
And under that law, public school districts must restrict students from watching personal electronic devices during instructional time.
So that includes the cell phones, the smartwatches, the gaming devices, unless a teacher specifically allows them for educational purposes or a student has some sort of medical emergency need.
However, it doesn't say anything about what they need to actually do their assignments, which
And for some schools, it does vary.
It's actually varies in Wisconsin district to district.
Some schools now have bell to bell policies where the only things that they can use are what the district provides them, especially for
younger kids, but as far as the tools needed to educate Wisconsin, we have no rules
now have
is
and the
But then you always have, you have a disconnect, but during that, that's the only time teachers can actually bring small groups of students up and give kids either more help or give the accelerated kids some extra work.
So it's become, it's become
the norm rather than the exception.
And I keep thinking back, well, how did we all go to school before we had those devices?
We all did.
We all did the
Or your teacher would have you up front to do something else and then you'd go over your work together.
It was, you know, much different.
And some teachers now have
tried to do a hybrid where, okay, the kids will work on their app, but then the whole class goes over the work together and explains the problem and does it that way.
But I can see it's because then with all these screens, especially in the younger kids, it's hard for them to hold their focus once they're not on their screen anymore.
Because the apps, as you can imagine, these educational apps are set up like video games.
to keep the kids engaged and teach the lessons.
So when all of a sudden they have to just sit in a circle and listen to the teacher or look at the whiteboard, it's very difficult.
So it would, you can't do this cold turkey, but weaning them off, I think, is a good idea.
from the Civic Media Network.
Local voices and statewide impact.
It's Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
Well, you know the story.
Last week, Governor Evers and Republican legislative leaders unveiled a $1.8 billion spending plan.
It was met with immediate backlash on several fronts.
The bill failed in the Senate and now that failed bill has caused rifts in both the Democratic and Republican parties.
even amongst their own, not just back and forth.
But no, Democrats are mad at Democrats, Republicans are mad at Republicans.
What is going on?
I don't know.
You don't know.
But Brittany Carloni knows.
She's been covering the story as the state government and politics reporter for Wisconsin Watch.
And Brittany's back with us.
Good to have you back, Brittany.
So this is...
this whole thing went from zero to 60 in a couple of days.
So I mean, and I think I want to highlight the big news this week was that the Marquette University Law School poll that came out on Tuesday showed that 80% of...
Adults who are surveyed by the polls said that they wanted that bill to pass and I think the way the questions were worded I've seen a little bit of criticism of the of the poll but I think the way the questions are worded when somebody asks you if you want right
all this money for schools.
If you want to get a $300 or $600 rebate check, if you're a married couple, like that, I think people would say, yeah.
And one of the things we pointed out with that is that that poll was done May 20th through the 21st.
The story broke on the 21st then that it would have actually put the state deficit billions into the red, right?
And so you have to wonder if people would have had that information.
That was one thing we discussed here on the
I remember
But no, I think some of the big takeaways.
So the bill, the deal, I should say, was introduced on May 11th.
And so not even quite two weeks ago at this point.
This was a unique thing because Governor Evers negotiated this with the Republican legislative leaders that he's basically been fighting with for the last eight years.
So when you think of Governor Evers making a deal with Robin Voss and Devon Lemahue, when the last
eight
with that group of
people, that already was kind of an oddball piece to this and take away to the story that, hey, these
People are coming together to compromise on something.
But then you saw immediately how the Democratic candidates for governor, specifically Francesca Hong and Calderois, came out swinging saying that this is a really bad idea, concerns about if the state could match growth to actually pay for this projected surplus.
And then you saw folks like Tom Tiffany agreeing with the Democrats who really objected to this bill saying,
that he also didn't like the bill, but from Tom Tiffany's perspective, he wants to return the entire surplus back to taxpayers across the state.
And then you saw in the Senate how all of the Senate Democrats voted against that bill, but then you had a couple Republicans, especially like...
fiscally conservative Republicans
like
the
I mean, from your perspective, what you're hearing from leaders in the Capitol, are they worried about the fallout in the governor's race based off of this one surplus bill that, I mean,
taxpayers just see it as getting checks in their mailbox, right?
They
see it as
Yeah, I mean, I think folks are looking at that poll on Tuesday and kind of going, oh, what do we do going forward?
And I think a lot...
A lot of folks that I've talked to and just general in politics, say voters' attention spans are very short.
So maybe there are people who are thinking, hey, maybe once we hit late July into August for the partisan primary or once we hit November, maybe there will be a different conversation that we're talking about
at this
But I think especially as the state.
Wisconsin Democrats have their stay convention in a couple of weeks.
I'd be curious if there's more pushback from folks like Missy Hughes, who was the only Democratic candidate who really came out to say, this is a good idea, bipartisanship should be a good idea, compromise should be a good idea.
So especially as in the next couple of weeks as the Democratic candidates are trying to differentiate themselves with the convention on the short horizon here, I think we might see more of this continue to be a conversation.
She is the state government and politics reporter for Wisconsin Watch.
WisconsinWatch.org is the website where you can read all of Brittany's stuff.
All right.
Now I, the answer may have shifted a little since the poll came out, but as you were talking to people on at the Capitol, did this really come down to fundamental disagreements with the policy itself or was this more
politics like no we don't want to give up the chance for us to spend it if we were if we for the democrats if we take the trifecta in november or for the republicans if we take the governorship back we want the money we don't want to we don't want to use it now is it all just politics as usual or
from what I was able to see and the conversations that I was having that week specifically, nobody's going to directly say, hey, nobody's going to come out and directly say, hey, we want to keep this money so that way we can spend it.
But there was.
In pretty much all of the conversations and statements and comments that people were making that week, I think about on the Senate floor Diane Hesselbein, who's the Democratic minority leader, she directly addressed, hey, if Democrats were in the...
in the majority in the Senate next year, we would focus on making sure that everybody has a voice at the table.
We would talk about how we want to actually spend this money.
And I think that from what I was able to see, that was the underlying conversation at this point because people were...
Especially Democrats were
really
in the
That was a really big standout.
Hey, this is pretty odd considering just the in the last couple legislative sessions, Democrats had to be ready to defend any evers vetoes from being overturned by Republicans.
So for them to come out.
Swinging that weak and saying this is a bad idea.
It was pretty
it'll be interesting to see, especially in these next six plus months, the last months of the Evers term, how much more of a separation those candidates and even Democratic legislators, lawmakers, there's not a lot happening right now, but it'll just be interesting to see if there's an even further separation from Governor Evers at this point.
I mean, that deal was introduced at 11am that Monday and like almost immediately Kelderoy's had come out with her statement really hitting that very hard.
So there was the surprise that that
that kind of statement was out there.
And then I think that was just a signal of like how fast things were going to be moving.
That it was like, okay, this is announced, people are already upset.
This is gonna get moving through the legislature.
But I do think even just going back to the way that Democrats have been pretty locked up with Evers over the last eight years, given the fact that they hadn't, prior to 2018, they hadn't had a Democratic governor to...
Do we know
Hey, we're seeing that this projected surplus will be much better than we even expected when they were negotiating the budget last year.
And then in February, as the assembly was trying to wrap up their work for the year to get folks out on the campaign trail, there was a very similar, very fast pace week where Robin Voss was really trying to put the pressure on Evers to get some sort of deal negotiated so lawmakers wouldn't have to come back to the Capitol.
And Evers was like, hey, I don't really like what you're proposing.
um, Voss and I think once Voss and Devin Lemma, Devin Lemma, he got on the same page, there were still conversations happening.
So pretty much since February, since like mid February that these conversations have been happening.
If that, if the, if the conversations were happening that long, have you heard any Scuttlebutt about why the information that came out Tuesday?
or the report that came out on the 21st saying, you know, it would actually cost the state so much more and put us at a deficit.
How that either was ignored or how they didn't realize it.
Is there any answer to that to go, hey, wait, you presented it as one thing.
And then the day after you kill it, we find out boy, it was completely the opposite.
This has been an interesting thing to see because the Legislative Fiscal Bureau had information about that that they presented to lawmakers, but it's this like separation fight on what the state's growth might look like.
And I think Republicans and Democrats that were in favor of the bill said, hey, like Wisconsin's revenue growth has not been stagnant over the next.
over the last like several years and it's still expected to grow in the coming years where Democrats and folks who were concerned about the bill looked at what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau put out and said, hey, if we don't have, if we have bad economic conditions, if we don't have certain growth over the next several years, this could put us.
in that major deficit.
And so I think for folks especially who are looking at who controls the capital next year, that was a big question of what things should be moving forward.
Network.
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Now back to more of Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
five five
uh
actually hamburgers are among america's favorite foods they often come as you know paired with another favorite french fries french fries have the top spot in you gov's the most popular american dishes poll hamburgers come in fourth grilled cheese and cheese burgers are number two and three so
Americans love hamburgers.
Look, anytime you drive around
from
We love hamburgers.
Consumers actually spent $115 billion at U.S.
Burger Chains last year.
That's according to the senior director of industry research at Technomic.
Burger Chains account for 20% of all consumer spending at chain restaurants.
Not bad.
No.
So today, of course, there are burger deals all over.
if you are looking for a burger deal.
But I know you've talked about your smash burgers.
Is that your ultimate burger, Jamie, the smash burger?
I do the
It's my family's ultimate.
I can live without the Juicy Lucy.
They're delicious.
Don't get me wrong.
But at the same time, I'm kind of okay with not burning my chin because the cheese gush is out of the middle kind of thing.
So there's that.
For me personally, I think burgers are different because I have
I have definitely my favorite fast food burgers, but then I know
if I'm gonna
My favorite place of all time to get a burger, it is located at Elk River, Minnesota.
The name of the restaurant was Daddy O's, and it was like this old diner that was set up.
It was originally like a Tex-Mex type of place, and then new owners came in, and so they still have like the Tex-Mex stuff on the menu, but then they parlayed into the burgers, the fries, and the shakes, right?
So
when
It is, they say it's a third pound burger.
I would venture to say it's closer to half pound.
It's very, very large.
It fills the entire bun.
It's thick, it's juicy.
They cook it to perfection every single time.
They have several different reiterations of the burger that you can get depending on what you want.
You can make your own.
I am a good, I am a fan of what they call the California burger, which
is your
I'm
that.
That's my
Yeah, there's a difference, 100%.
Fast food, the Whopper is the top burger.
No question.
Followed very closely and I can't get it because it's small places Frank would know this there's Mickey's is like a Greek diner kind of place
and they're peppered all over and they have everything.
You can get rib tips, you can get a Euro, you can get, but they're cheeseburgers, they're big Mickey is a double cheese and they're those really thin patties, not a smash burger, just a real thin patty, a ton of melted cheese and they put these grilled onions on
the choice.
burger specials at Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, Red Robin, Shake Shack, a lot of places around Wisconsin.
Enjoy a burger today.
We will enjoy saying goodbye to you only because we then get to say hello to you again tomorrow.
So we will be back for our Friday edition.
Thank you for listening and be a part of the show.
I'm Brian Noonan.
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