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Across the state of Wisconsin, Daybreak with Brian and Jamie is back.
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We've been talking a lot about the new requirements for SNAP and Medicaid and everything else while the work requirements don't take effect officially.
until January, but there are states that are already spending millions of dollars to prepare.
Many states have to hire additional workers, upgrade technology systems, verify employment records and determine who qualifies for medical exemptions, and the states are saying, hey, these new requirements are costing us a lot of money, and we're already having
trouble with the budgets.
So we've got lower tax revenue and now you're making us pay all this.
Several states estimate that implementation costs of these new rules that are basically keeping you from benefits that you need are costing states between four and more than 30 million dollars.
between 4 million and 30 million with some expecting ongoing annual expenses for staffing technology maintenance and eligibility reviews and it's just one more one more log that is being
sent
on a who's calling i'm sorry
no you're good you're good you're good
no i don't know who's calling
so
why add why my phone
they want to enter the text to win contest obviously i guess i hey i don't
have any inside information i can't
I can't help you.
So don't text me.
It's not like I have an in.
You don't see me going to the Dells with a prize package
or getting a hundred
bucks.
That's right.
So, no.
But...
What I think
is... This is unusual.
It's a quick side
by side.
I never
have the volume on my phone on.
But because I've been dealing with all this stuff
with my
mom, I have the ringer on and I forgot to turn the ringer
on.
Oh, it happens.
It's off now.
No, you're good.
You're good.
It happens to the best of us.
When it comes to the Medicaid, though, a couple examples of what's happening to these states.
North Carolina, for instance, estimates that it's going to spend about $31 million per year enforcing these new rules.
Ohio expects about $28 million over two years, while New Mexico projects $24 million over 18 months.
Pennsylvania says that it's gonna need to hire nearly 400 additional employees to manage work requirement, verification, and other new Medicaid eligibility rules.
Now, of course, there is some help from the federal government, but a lot of these states are gonna be required to do this on their own through, you guessed it, taxpayer money.
So here in Wisconsin, these new work and reporting requirements are expected to cost tax...
taxpayers about $74.2 million per year in just administrative expenses.
An estimated 63,000 Wisconsinites could be at risk of losing coverage because of the paperwork, the reporting requirements, or the eligibility reviews.
And over the next decade, Medicaid spending in Wisconsin is projected to decline by about $7 billion under these new rules.
But I
thought we weren't having any cuts to Medicare.
Medicaid.
That's what we were told, right?
And that the system while
the system was not the smoothest or the best run, it was still working.
It was and people were getting the care that they needed.
Well, but that money.
So where's all that federal money going?
If it's not coming to Medicare and Medicaid, it just must be benefiting somebody.
We can't be just building up a surplus because I hear the debt is just skyrocketing.
So
It's got to be going somewhere.
It's just not to us.
So how do you feel when you hear this news like, oh, well, I'm all for fiscal conservancy.
And I'm
glad I, you know, I'm all for that.
But oh, wait, now I'm losing my medical coverage.
And
having to pay for the upgrades to the system through your tax money.
That's the second part of it.
We're already paying huge property taxes.
We're being taxed back and forth now.
They're saying Yeah, those cuts that we didn't make you have to pay more to implement
them
So eight five five seven five civic eight five five seven five two four eight four two you hear this news What is it?
What does it make you feel?
How do you how do you?
Balance this
with what
we were told of what's actually happening.
And here's the thing too, because I feel like this is always important to reiterate.
Research from KFF.
found that about 92% of working age adults on Medicaid already work.
They already attend school,
they care
for family members, they have disabilities, or they qualify for another exception.
And when states say that this is what, states are actually telling the federal government, one of the biggest challenges is going to be tracking self-employed workers, the gig workers, which we know a lot of people are using right now, those jobs to make ends meet, seasonal employees,
and people whose work hours fluctuate from month to month.
And counties and local governments are gonna maybe have to shoulder some of this as well because the burden is going to be on them to figure out and do the eligibility reviews and case management for all of those recipients.
So this isn't going to be an easy process.
Now,
here's the
other thing that states are finding.
They're not getting a lot of help from the federal government.
read it right now for something that is shocker.
I know I saw your face shock.
Yeah, raise your hand if you're surprised.
Of course they're not.
You know why?
Because this administration and this federal government that we have now is all about crazy big pronouncements.
They're not about actually getting those pronouncements done or working through them following through making
Making a case or clarifying what they want.
It's just we're doing this and then they walk away.
Yeah, it's like it's like having a really bad boss who go who tells you Some vague project that has to be done and then gives you no guidance Mm-hmm, and you're like, what do we do now figure it out?
Yeah
No, we can't figure out $30 million.
Right.
I mean, and that's just it.
A lot of these states are already in budget shortfalls, and now you're asking them to come up with all of this other money through taxpayer funding, which means your taxes in some of these states and some of these places are going to go up because there's going to be so many requirements that these agencies have to fulfill.
Now, just in case anybody's wondering, the federal government does help cover some of the technology costs, but
Again, taxpayers are responsible for a significant share of implementation and ongoing maintenance expenses.
Now, the problem- But
isn't it good, Jamie, that we're rooting out fraud in the Medicare system?
This is what it is.
So many people were gaming this system and cheating.
Point zero one percent.
Well, that's still something.
Here's the thing, I'm not going to sit here and I'm not going to pretend that there are several parts of our government that don't need some sort of regulation, overhaul, oversight.
Oversight is
important everywhere.
That's not the point.
But here's the thing about this.
Some states right now, including in Wisconsin, are concerned that any of the savings that they were going to get from removing people from Medicaid is actually going to be offset by the cost of administering
this new program and by the increase in the uncompensated care when uninsured people eventually seek treatment in those emergency rooms.
Now, the federal government says that if you can't get onto Medicaid because of our new requirements, just go to the ACA.
That's their answer.
Wait a minute.
The ACA?
Yes.
That's Obamacare.
It's Obamacare.
Isn't it?
That's that horrible plan that they were going to do away with
a
decade ago.
It was so bad.
So bad that they had to, they were, oh, they vowed a million times we have a better plan coming in two weeks.
Yeah.
Two weeks it'll be here in two weeks.
Two weeks has come and gone how many times?
A
lot.
250
let's say well yeah you figure there's like 27 two-week periods in a year times 10 that's 270 about
yes
it's a lot of two weeks but the point is it's a horrible program even for the people who were on ACA not knowing that it was Obamacare
right and
then now they're like well I don't have Obamacare I have the ACA
well not to mention the fact that there has been so many changes to the ACA that that's becoming harder to do
because premiums, deductibles, the out of pocket costs continue to rise.
It's pricing people right out of the insurance market.
There are several insurance companies that won't be a part of the ACA anymore and leaving families without insurance or scrambling for new plans, new coverage.
And there are a lot of people who also are going to, when they look at this, they're going to not be able to hit the Medicaid work requirements, which they did maybe just a year or two ago.
But now you have no option through the ACA because
because it is literally pricing people right out of insurance.
And it again becomes a question, just like when we were talking about last hour about the housing, what are people supposed to do?
Because at the end of- I think
they're just supposed to either die or go away.
Because at the end of the day, if you don't have insurance and you go into the doctor emergency room,
the rest of us who do have insurance are paying for that because our premiums are going to go up so that that can be paid for.
I mean, it's a never ending vicious cycle.
I'm sorry.
Continue with your
point.
No, no, no.
I'm listening.
I'm listening because you're saying all correct things, but weak people get sick and weak people don't.
We don't want weak people here.
We want only top tier, healthy.
homeowners to stay in this country, white, healthy homeowners to stay in this country.
So if you can't afford insurance, well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten sick.
If you can't afford a house, educated, they also want us having more children.
They also want us working with one incomes in each house.
I because we are
creating.
We are creating a level of this society that is for nothing but labor for the ultra rich corporations.
that's what because and also the less educated the populace the less questioning they do because if we don't if we don't know any better how are we going to say something is wrong or how are we going
to
stand up so we stay we stay uneducated have more kids well you can't really afford those kids but though we don't want you to have an abortion so you're going to have all these kids and then they're going to be just more people in the workforce they're going it's
It's a whole vicious cycle that is playing out when you take away people's abilities to have a place to live and health care and you make getting food benefits so complicated.
You can't always blame it on corruption and misuse.
Sometimes you have to blame it on yourself.
Go in, fix the problem.
Yeah, that's the don't fix.
Don't punish the recipients.
Fix the problem.
Here is literally where we're at.
People are going to lose coverage because they missed paperwork or they couldn't navigate the reporting system.
They work seasonal jobs.
Maybe they drive for, you know, a rideshare company.
Maybe they farm.
Maybe they're self-employed.
Then taxpayers are going to end up paying twice, once for the bureaucracy.
And again, then when the uninsured people delay care until they end up in an emergency room, that is essentially what this new program has created by taking away.
uh, ACA benefits by making it harder to be on Medicaid.
We are, we are essentially paying twice if not sometimes three times for, for this coverage.
And then, all right.
So everybody goes to the emergency room.
The emergency room has to treat them.
But then the emergency room isn't getting paid.
So how long does your rural emergency room last?
Not very long.
How long do people stay in trauma centers as doctors and nurses?
Not very long.
So then what?
Then hospitals start to close because they had to treat people who couldn't pay.
I don't know.
I do know I have to rename my wireless network because
I'm going to be
flying.
And I guess that's a thing now.
We'll talk about it daybreak.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get
started.
good morning i'm brian newton and i am never surprised by uh i'm gonna say it the stupidity of some people this is you may have seen this story
A United Airlines flight that would left Newark, New Jersey to Palma de Mallorca, Spain turned around after being in the air for about four and a half hours.
And we just were looking, a flight from New Jersey to Spain is anywhere from seven to eight and a half hours.
So they've been in the air four and a half hours, which if you know anything about geography, puts them pretty much right over the ocean.
Yes.
Anyways, oh, what happened?
Why did they have to turn around?
Well, because somebody.
on the plane had named their Bluetooth device, bomb.
So very clever, I guess.
Like my, my phone is Brian's iPhone.
Very, oh, very inventive.
I know, very creative.
It doesn't say bomb or explosive
or kill
everybody on the plane or, you know, terrorist phone here.
None of that.
No, but it does.
Just a simple phone, simple description.
It took him four and a half
hours, Jamie, to find this.
Four and a half hours.
They played attention to ask passengers to turn off Bluetooth devices while the crew attempted to identify the source of the signal.
And you know that one person was going to.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
My
little joke has backfired.
Right?
And of course, airlines have to treat any possible bomb threat seriously.
Yes.
So they did officially have to turn around and go back to Newark.
And passengers were evacuated while authorities conducted this full security search of the plane in the cargo areas.
The flight was delayed by roughly nine and a half hours before departing again and arriving safely in Spain.
Upset, are you, if you are one of the other passengers on that plane and you are now stuck in the, and I've been to the Newark, New Airport.
Trust me, it's
awful.
The nine and a half hour delay is about three times the life expectancy of this person once we find out who he
is, or she,
or them, or they,
whoever they are.
Oh, see, that would be the part.
Okay, fine.
Four and a half hours in the air, United finally figures it out.
They turn me back around.
But I am so upset at the person.
Imagine if that's a person you're traveling with.
Oh,
and you don't know when they go, come on, I was just kidding.
Or your husband or your
wife.
You just own that right there.
You leave them in Newark and you are going to Spain by
yourself.
I can't with you anymore.
This is the last straw.
You put assassin on your device when we went to the White House tour.
You are the dumbest human being on the face of the planet.
You
need to go away.
Not everything that you want to do in life is funny.
Trust me,
I know
it is no matter how much of a joker you are, you have to be a complete imbecile to think you can joke about an explosive on a plane.
I fancy myself.
Fair, you know, I make a lot of jokes about things where I'm at.
I have never made a joke in an airport.
You know why?
Because I don't want to be taken in a back room, stripped down to nothing, and have them look at every orifice for some explosive device.
They will find an explosion if they look hard enough, but it won't be what they're looking
for.
Why a dog sits there and watches you just in case you have an itch on your nose or something, right?
Because, yeah, nobody wants to do that.
Nobody wants to be in that position, but that's where, as soon as I saw this story,
thing that hit my mind is I would be so mad at this person.
Like there wouldn't even be words at that moment in time if I was stuck in Newark for nine hours.
You were already
there.
You
were
almost there.
You were already speaking Spanish.
Right.
You were tasting the vino tinto.
You were ready.
It was going to be oh my goodness.
I
can't
wait to get to Spain.
No, and then because you think that you have to- You're going back to Newark?
That's very disappointing, by the way.
That's super disappointing.
And you're in Newark for nine and
a half hours.
Yeah.
Now, United also had a run-in here in Wisconsin.
Oh, good.
Did you see this story as well?
I did.
A United flight from Chicago to Minneapolis had to be diverted to Madison Friday night because of a passenger disturbance.
Now, this one wasn't quite as dramatic or stupid.
This was a 75-year-old passenger who was having a mental health crisis.
He was detained after the plane landed.
No criminal charges are expected.
There was no threat to the public.
And I don't believe that they were detained at Dane County for nine and a half
hours.
No, they
just grabbed the old guy, took him off the
plane,
and that was it.
Because once you get on a plane, at least me, and I don't think I'm unique in this, you have a mental...
Time
yes table
of how much I know exactly how long I have to be pent up
in this
tube
Yep, I
know exactly when I'm going to land.
I've budgeted out my bathroom break.
Yes,
you know,
I don't have to go water So I don't have to use the bathroom already.
Yes,
that's it and then something like this happens.
You're like, oh I have no I'm very impatient and I have no good will for these people like even I feel bad
Hearing this story about this gentleman having a mental health crisis in the moment.
I wouldn't have no sympathy.
No
all I would all I would see
was you don't know the details right you don't know the details at the moment so it turns out that at the he was having an actual crisis but at the moment he just looks like a disgruntled passenger who's creating havoc for everybody else and now I am inconvenienced in my flight and that's just it that's the main thing I don't want to be you know we've done we've done so much traveling way too much probably my quota for the rest of like the next year um and we've done so much air travel uh but at the same
time, we were inconvenienced by little things like a piece of carpeting that was a tripping hazard that took over an hour to fix while we sat on the plane.
Yes, I'm not joking.
We sat on the plane.
Cory didn't have duct tape in his carry-on that he could
just jump down and
we sat on the plane for an hour waiting to taxi because there was a piece of carpet.
the corner was up and in order for us to take off and get in the air because it was a tripping hazard, they had to bring maintenance over and then not only did they have to bring maintenance over to fix it, they had to write a full report before we could actually taxi and be on our way.
No.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
Nope.
Nope.
I don't even want to hear this story.
It is unacceptable to me on so many levels, but.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is thinking of drawing another congressional map, so we'll get to hear about gerrymandering, which Jamie loves to talk about, so we'll do all that.
After this, it is daybreak,
and this is the Civic.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us today on the Civic Media Network.
It is 8.35 right now.
If you're in Hayward listening on WBZH or in Appleton and Oshkosh on WISS or in Eau Claire listening on 93.5 the Taft.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
We always appreciate it.
I am Jamie Martenson.
And good morning.
I'm Brian Noonan.
I know you're thinking, boy, Brian, you and Jamie haven't really talked a lot about the gerrymandering or Wisconsin politics today.
What happened?
Are you slacking off?
No, no, we're just we're just waiting.
All
these follow-up stories are starting to come as we get closer to midterms and more elections, so gotta do our due diligence.
Make sure we all know what's happening with voting.
We're not gonna leave you hanging because there's always something.
And in Wisconsin, a lot of it centers around maps and congressional districts.
And how what about what about this drawing?
What about that drawing?
Well, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal involving a lawsuit that challenges the state's congressional maps as an anti competitive gerrymander.
The lawsuit argues that Wisconsin's congressional districts are drawn in a way that protects incumbents and makes elections less competitive, regardless of the political party.
Currently, Wisconsin has eight congressional districts, with Republicans holding six seats and Democrats holding two.
The case doesn't seek changes before the 2026 election.
Instead, supporters are hoping for a trial in 2027 that could potentially lead to new congressional maps for the 2028 cycle.
Jamie, we all know gerrymandering is one of your pet products.
You don't enjoy gerrymandering,
but you enjoy
pointing out gerrymandering.
to remedy gerrymandering.
Well because as I've said before it's it's essentially a way for our incumbents to feel like they're safe and at the same time it is a way for our elected officials to basically pick their own constituents and
that is
the problem with it.
It takes the power right out of the hands of people and we've seen this happening across the state.
Wisconsin was was the test case for for years.
We don't need to litigate all of the history
of it but
the fact that we
have fairer maps now is good.
That is absolutely a positive good thing.
The fact that I do believe that this is when you look at gerrymandering and the way the state is laid out, I don't disagree with the premise of this particular lawsuit that it does make it easier for incumbents to stay in power, no matter who they are.
And which makes elections just not as fair for other people, for people, right?
It really makes people feel really comfortable.
There's not as much people, not as many people jumping into races.
There's not as much of actual idea.
because well they just assume that they're safe and because they've always been elected and that party has always been elected in that particular district that's what's gonna happen again that's why I hate gerrymandering and that's why I don't necessarily disagree with this now the fact that our maps in Wisconsin are only secure through the end of this year and we need new maps anyway it would make sense that they're asking for changes for 2028
so sure so we'll see how it how it plays out as the
Now, these maps, as you mentioned, fairer than they were before.
But
not perfect.
And nothing's ever going to be perfect
as
much as we want it to be.
Even if you redraw the maps, they're still going to be an edge for an incumbent.
But if there's a little more of a challenge there, to your point about them becoming too confident, that's the problem.
If you believe that nobody who runs against you has a chance, if your party has a lock on that district,
no
matter who that is, there is a temptation, and we've seen it, to take things for granted, let's say.
Or do things that are...
a little bit questionable because well I'm you know I'm in this is my this is my gig and instead of it being a four or six year job
right
it becomes your lifetime career and
Right.
Once you're in, you're in, you do what you want to do, basically.
Well, and that just leads to my other pet peeve in politics, right?
It's how people get rich being in office, depending on what position they're holding and that, which also creates issues and why then people get so complacent and why they
continue to
keep running for that job.
It's not a fair system for the actual people that it should be fair for, which are
the voters, right?
That's what it comes down to.
Now, a special panel of judges in this particular case actually dismissed this lawsuit in April, ruling that only the Wisconsin Supreme Court could decide whether congressional maps should be overturned.
And attorneys challenging those maps argue that their case is not about partisan advantage, but about whether the maps unfairly limit electoral competition.
And now there's some concern because it's a liberal majority on the
Wisconsin Supreme Court, and they voted to hear the appeal why the court's conservative justices criticized the decision and questioned why the case is being considered.
Because we want elections to be fair for everybody, not just for some.
I mean, and I get it, it's a hard concept for some people.
Those people, do they really need to vote?
I mean, we're all say, oh, everybody's vote should count.
Should they?
that's kind of what the republican justices are thinking that's people are oh we knew we didn't like you yeah i didn't know that's not my that's not my thinking that's you know the
judge but it
here's here's my question though and i i don't know there's no way to tell there's no way to get an accurate answer but alright so we finally get good maps is that going to be
Is that going to make the change that we hope comes to the system?
Is it just because there's a little more competition?
Is that there's a little more competition, say, in the first race?
But then once somebody's in, most of us, unless somebody does an egregious job as a representative, we're like, oh, they know what's going on.
We're going to keep them around.
So are we always chasing something we can never catch?
I think it's a good first step.
It's not the end all be all because we do need so many reforms, right?
We do need to take the money out of politics in this country, not just in Wisconsin.
But
if we stop, I guess is my question.
If
we
stop with that, we go, well, we got rid of those gerrymandered maps.
Everybody's votes can account.
We still have, we can't just say that's it.
That's not
the end.
And we can't be complacent in that because that's just it.
It is only one tiny step in what needs to happen in election reform.
And when I say election reform, I don't mean what has been put up by the GOP to make it harder to vote.
What I mean by election reform is making it easier, making it fairer and taking the money out, making sure that we do have
things like term limits so that our representatives and do have to be accountable and actually campaign and tell us what their ideas are, what their record is, because that's where we start getting into this area of all of a sudden we have millionaires representing us in office.
And that doesn't work for most people.
It doesn't work, but we also have to take some responsibility ourselves.
You said complacency.
We have horrible voter turnout
in every
election.
That's the main story.
complacency.
A lot of people will couch it in, well, there's nobody I want to vote for.
I'm not voting.
I'm not picking the lesser two evils.
Well, you have to sometimes that you have to you have to pick the lesser two evils.
Yeah,
you have to.
So complacency isn't just, you know, politicians getting into office and then staying there forever.
The reason they're able the reason they keep getting elected, the reason they can stay in is because of you and me and Jamie and everybody else.
If we're not if we're not
If we get complacent and we get apathetic and we decide we're not going to vote, well then, how do you ever expect things to change?
And yes, it's fun to stay on the sidelines and grouse and grumble and complain, but it's not that hard to go vote, to be honest with you.
So there's really no excuse and yet we want to...
It's easier to push the blame.
Yeah, absolutely.
And there's
plenty of blame to go around.
And here's the thing.
On Friday, if you were listening to this show, we got a lot of pushback from listeners because we brought on a GOP strategist talking about... I don't know what you're talking about.
...Tom Tiffany's campaign.
Here's the thing about that.
If you were angry with us, that's cool.
That's your prerogative.
But here's the thing.
If you were so angered that you felt like you needed to reach out to us, put that energy into campaigning for your favorite Democratic...
candidate right now.
Go door to door.
Do all of the work.
Put in the grassroots effort.
If you were that angry with us that we had that conversation and then turn that around.
You didn't still write us
about
it.
And then turn that
around.
Of course, we want to hear from that.
You don't need to agree with everything we do, but then put that into action.
Because then after the primaries, if your candidate that you work so hard for doesn't get elected, put that same energy into the candidate who did win the primaries and is running against Tom Tiffany, if you didn't like that conversation.
But that's how that there, there's the problem.
And this is not, well, it is a Democrat thing.
Sure.
You can't
You gotta back the horse that you're
yeah,
it's what the one who brought you and whether you whether you like that person or not weigh the pros and cons But you can't we can't become complacent because that's how you get these people staying.
Yes.
All right We've also talked a lot about absentee mail-in
voting
You remember, there were a couple of ballots that got to Madison.
I think it was eight minutes late
on
election night.
Can't
count
them.
And then
they went, no, you can't count.
And then they're like, well, now the top election officials here in Wisconsin are asking the Postal Service to improve mail delivery after report that.
Could you guys like do your job?
better.
That's why this story is funny to me because that's essentially probably going to be the response, right?
Hey, you know what you're getting.
We're the
post office.
I appreciate election officials going out and asking if we could, you know, they could do the job a little bit better.
But at the same time, this is
It's not going to work.
I think
it's going to be easier for the election officials to go, all right, we've got a window of the polls closed at eight.
We're going to give it to midnight.
Yeah,
just in Canada.
Maybe we don't.
Maybe we don't put a hard stop when the postal service is involved and no shade on the postal service.
I still think it's magic that I can drop something in a box outside my house and it could end up on the other side of the
world.
So no shade, no shade on the postal service, but we've all been to the post office.
Right.
Not always the friendliest human beings working
at the post office.
And I get it.
I get it.
I do too.
They have to
work with the public.
Yeah.
I can imagine that their job is not easy.
But I do appreciate about this.
I only
want one stamp.
We only sell them in books, ma'am.
But I don't need a book.
I need a stamp.
Because nobody's using stamps in 2026.
I
have to mail something today.
And I'm like, do we have stamps?
I had the same problem yesterday.
I have to go to the post office today because I have the exact same problem.
Yes.
Wow, I
don't remember the last time I watched it.
What I do appreciate about this story, even if it's funny to me, is that it's a bipartisan group of commissioners who sent this letter to the Postmaster General, because both parties are displaying concerns about these mail delays and how that basically treats the ballots and voters' trust in the election.
election process.
Um, about two thirds of Wisconsin clerks actually reported problems with absentee ballots during the recent elections, two thirds, two thirds of our clerks.
So that tells you that we, we might need to refine what we're doing in this state when it comes to absentee ballot, if we can't actually, you know, count on the post office.
And not because they, I don't think they're doing their job.
I also think that they're over understaffed and don't have the funding to actually make things happen as quickly as they once did either.
Well, and I also, you know.
And voters are stupid.
Get your ballots in the mail on time.
See, that's a thing.
That's what the Wisconsin Election Commission keeps saying, you know, if you mail your ballots 10 days ahead, yeah, and if I had a pony, I'd ride around
the neighborhood.
And if you can't get it in the mail, then make plans to drop it off at your local voting precinct.
I mean, you don't have to stand there and do the vote if your ballot's already filled out.
But
also, I get it.
Come on.
The post office is crazy.
We talked
about this.
If I mail something in Madison, it's got to go down to Milwaukee.
Then it goes, then it's got to circle back around.
It's like, it's, I can see where the bail has to be.
It shouldn't go on a, the mail doesn't need to take a road trip to enjoy Wisconsin's beautiful scenery.
The mail just needs to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible.
Don't tell me about your sorting stations and blah, blah, blah.
How much, how much can it be to get.
Get ballots done right.
Make them a priority.
That's it.
Post office.
Jamie, I don't know.
You said this story.
It's going to cause huge conundrums.
We will talk about a large roll of toilet paper that could be yours.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
All facts, no fiction.
It's Daybreak with Brian and Jamie.
It's 8.52 right now.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
My name is Jamie Martinson.
And I'm Brian Noonan.
Jamie, I'm going to let you
You you found this one.
I'm just wondering how much toilet paper do people go through?
Sure.
Depending on the season,
probably go through a
lot
more.
I know my wife likes to pretend she's in a hazmat unit when she's using the bathroom and is completely covered.
Sure.
We go through a lot of toilet paper.
I've never thought of getting a role so big that it would quote might last forever.
You know, after
I looked at today's show, I figured going out into our last break, I had to get the bee out of my bonnet by talking about gerrymandering and talk about something much
funnier.
Because the Charmin Forever roll.
This is a thing and you can now purchase this.
It is a giant toilet paper roll designed to last much longer than traditional rolls.
It measures about 12 inches in diameter, roughly the size of a small tire or oversized wheel.
Each forever roll contains about 32 times more sheets than a standard toilet paper roll and roughly four times more paper than Sharma's mega triple X rolls, making it one of the largest toilet paper products available to consume.
Now, here's my favorite part about this.
Sharman is launching this as a Father's Day potential gift.
Because apparently, Dad's like to- I'm gonna stop you right there.
Dad's like to poop a lot.
Anybody gives me
toilet paper for Father's Day?
Well, listen.
That's, it's not, here's the secret.
I'm in a boat, sorry dads.
I'm giving it away.
That's the only place you don't bother us.
So we're not
in there, we're not actually, we don't need the toilet paper.
We just are looking
for a
place where for five minutes we can go in and not be bothered.
Cause you're gonna go, oh, cause dad will go, don't come in.
It's really okay.
And then he can stay in there.
Oh, your breakfast didn't agree with me.
Even though he's not doing anything.
He's scrolling on his phone.
He's standing in the mirror flexing.
all kind of stuff.
The one thing
he's not doing is availing himself of a giant industrial roll of toilet paper.
I just love that for Father's Day, dads get tools, golf, grilling, cars.
or a giant roll of toilet paper.
That's what we give dads, you know, car stuff, because that's what dads do, right?
Like they wax their cars, they clean their cars.
This is how we market to dads on Father's Day and now we've added a giant roll of toilet paper.
I guess maybe in some universe,
I don't, a lot of it, a lot of dad stuff on Father's Day is so they can do more work for the family, like grilling and things
like that.
Of
course, of
course.
Same thing.
But toilet paper does not weigh into that.
If
now is dad the only one who can use it, because if you're giving that to me for Father's Day, I'm keeping it where only I can get
to.
Well, of course, because it's your gift.
And I'll be
like a little kid.
I'll be carrying it into the bathroom
with me.
That's good.
My toilet paper.
It's good because it won't actually fit on a standard toilet paper holder.
So the Forever Roll Starter Kit includes two oversized rolls.
and a custom stainless steel floor stand that's about 21 inches tall and is designed to fit in most bathrooms.
Now, Sharman says a single roll can last about one month for an average household.
That's not forever,
Jamie.
No, no.
That's what I
was gonna say.
How is it
a forever
starter kit?
Yes, and meaning that the starter kit provides approximately two months of toilet paper because if you're just doing the standard roll, right?
While reducing the need to constantly replace the rolls.
So you get two months in toilet paper.
Is this
really a problem for you lazy folks?
That it's too hard?
Ugh.
Ugh.
I gotta replace the toilet paper.
I don't know.
We ran out of toilet paper this weekend at our house.
I had no idea the Costco like mega pack was gone and we had to make a run to the bathroom because the kids have been dealing with the cold and he doesn't use a Kleenex.
Oh, so he uses toilet paper to blow this?
Yes, because he's like, why do I want a slimy Kleenex when there's two ply?
That's actually what he says to me.
And so... Use three Kleenex.
We ran out of toilet paper and so it was an emergency conundrum.
I would have given
I haven't given anything to have the forever rule sitting in a drawer
somewhere.
But that's different.
I
don't
know what kind of toilet paper drawer you got.
I have a junk drawer.
I don't have a, you know, a TP drawer.
I have to say this and she's not listening.
My wife is the, the, uh, roll.
She leaves the one square
on there.
So
there's just enough to cover the cardboard,
but
you pull, you get one square and I'm like,
What is that supposed to do for me?
I always keep a
full pack nothing except aggravate me I keep a full pack right under the sink
right
in the cabinet So there's all you have to do.
We don't have a giant, but it's not like she has to walk 50 yards
to
get more
toilet paper
Right there.
She has to bend over and take it and and I even got the kind of toilet paper holder that you don't even have to do the squeak It's open-ended.
It's
the easiest thing.
Yes.
I Oh sloth one of the seven deadlies.
Do not enjoy
it
My thing in our house is when I walk into the bathroom because I drink a lot of water.
So sometimes we're like an emergency like levels, right?
And I also hate going to the bathroom.
It is such a waste of time.
It interrupts stuff I'm doing.
So it really upsets me.
All right.
That's a hot take.
I've never heard it.
You know what I hate?
I don't know.
Racism?
Nope.
You know what I hate?
Uh, civil unrest?
Nope.
Go into the
bathroom.
Every time I'm in the middle of something, I'll be like, now I have to pee.
So I have to stop what I'm doing.
I have to go in the bathroom.
I have to do my thing and I'll sit down and I'll look over and I'll be like, huh, there is not even a square on that toilet paper roll right now.
They have cleaned it completely off.
They've left me nothing.
And then I'm stranded.
And that's why now we have a cupboard in the one bathroom so that there's always toilet paper there.
and then all
I have to do is
reach around in my, see, this is why I have my bathroom, because I don't have to worry about this.
I fill the toilet paper roll.
I make sure that I am not Sam's toilet paper in the middle of an emergency.
I don't care what they do in the boy bathroom.
Well, and you would think after, you can imagine, I've pointed this out to my wife.
I go, could you please not just leave one piece of toilet paper?
Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know.
Okay.
Hey, could you please now after about how many times you think it would take to change somebody's behavior?
I haven't reached that point So all your guesses would be for naught because there is no number.
There's no number that makes it
okay
We have been married 34 years and yes, there has never she loves to just and God forbid like
God forbid, one day, I forget to put the seat down.
Oh, you would think I set the house on fire, but she could leave one square on the roll.
There we go.
I got it all out.
It's Monday.
I feel better now.
The
rest of the world's problems are still
on
fire.
But we'll be back tomorrow to dissect all of those.
Thank you for listening and being part of the program.
I'm Brian Noonan.
This is Daybreak.
I'm Jamie Martenson.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
You are listening to the Civic Media Network.
Another chance to win with Teps to Win coming up at 9.
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