Best Of Mornings: Remiker, Keyeski, Zepecki, Driever(Hour 3)

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You're listening to Mornings with Pat Critello, powered by Up North News.

Now, from our Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Critello.

Hey, good morning,

and welcome back to a program with some of our highlights from recent interviews.

And that would include, in just a couple of minutes here, an interview with Devon Remaker, one of three candidates to be State Democratic Party Chair.

We talked to William Garcia in our last hour and we'll hear from Joseph Peckie later in this hour.

Before we hear from Devin Remaker, just to let you know, tomorrow we are back live.

We'll have author Laura Bird on and she will talk about some of the hot new summer reeds coming out and how she finds out about these hot new reeds before everybody else does.

We'll also talk to a Dan Schaefer on Wednesday this week instead of Tuesday.

Also on Wednesday we'll talk to Matt Brusky, part of a coalition of groups that is asking Governor Tony Evers to veto the state budget bill if it does not pass to a level that supports schools and other vital services in the state.

We'll also talk to Jeremy Granger from Citizen Action on Thursday.

Sean O'Malley.

talking all about the markets and money, and we'll have Melissa Baldoff with our climate check.

That's all coming up.

But first, here's my conversation with Devin Remaker, one of the three candidates running to be state party chair.

We started by talking about the state of the race so far.

Tell us more about the campaign.

You've picked up some very key endorsements and met a whole lot of people along the way.

Absolutely.

Well, picked up a lot of mileage, that's for sure.

I have traveled the state from Hayward to Kenosha and to Chippewa Falls all over.

And I think my campaign now has hit 100 public endorsers, some folks who are also supporting me but not ready to slap their name on the website yet.

But I'm really proud to have, you know,

Chair Ben Wickler, former Chair Martha Lanning, former Chair Martha Love, former Chair Jeffrey Newbauer, and over 20 county party chairs from every corner of the state, along with a host of other party delegates, leaders joining my team.

And I think folks are really just ready and itching to get back in the fight as quickly as possible this year and are excited to support me as the candidate who can do that.

I don't know if the endorsement from Ben Wickler, how much of it comes as a surprise to folks if they thought that the outgoing chair was was not going to endorse throughout this race, or if it's something that makes sense.

Since as he said, he's, you know, been working side by side with you for a big chunk of his time as chair here.

Would you would you say that Ben's endorsement was were you expecting him not to endorse throughout the entirety of this race for chair?

You know, I got into this race, not it.

knowing if he would or would not endorse me.

But I'm very glad he did.

Obviously, Ben is someone that I have worked closely with for the past six years.

About half of his tenure, I was his executive director, so working as his right hand.

And honestly, I think that a lot of folks are just hoping that a lot of the great things that we have built together over those six years can continue and that we have the resources we need to compete, that we can keep running the best in class program and be the strongest state party in the country.

absolutely honored to have his endorsement and really excited about the reception I've already got from having that out there in the world.

Does that, how does, how do you feel like that is going to translate?

Because obviously Ben was well regarded in the state and one could certainly say very well regarded outside of the state of bringing so much attention to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin that wasn't there previously.

Do you feel, though, that that puts a little extra pressure on you to be following in Ben and keeping that national spotlight on Wisconsin?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I think all of us candidates felt like, you know, there was some pretty big, big shoes to fill at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

And, you know, I think my unique strength is I just happen to know how big those shoes are better than anybody else having worked with them so closely.

But certainly it does add a little bit of pressure having his direct support to make sure I can rise to the occasion.

But I feel really confident, given my experiences, whether it was heading up the people we must in the effort that not only helped Susan Crawford

offered win the Supreme Court race, but also, you know, sort of send Elon Musk packet from the White House.

And as we heard yesterday, maybe from politics in general, I think I have a pretty good track record of being able to excite people in the state and engage audiences nationally as well.

We're talking to Devin Remaker, a candidate for chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

That decision will be made by delegates to the State Democratic Party Convention in Wisconsin Dells next month.

I've asked before and I will ask all three candidates again to

help break past any initial say.

geographic assumptions about candidates that, you know, you'll be seen as the insider candidate slash the Madison candidate.

Uh, Joseph Pecky might be seen as the Milwaukee candidate or the, the outside of the current party candidate, William Garcia would be seen more as like the out state or the, the rural candidate.

But in all cases, since we can't combine the best of all of you into a, into a blender and get one, uh, you know, super chair, we have to ask all of you, how do you break out of those?

perceived boxes, what is it that people should know about you beyond, you know, what what makes up that initial feeling like, well, you've been inside the DPW.

So if we vote for you, there won't be much to change.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I mean, I think I sort of came to DPW from a bit of a different background.

I was born and raised in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

out in the country, as we called it, out on County Highway 42, which a lot of people know as they're driving up to Door County through two rivers.

And I was on an acre of land surrounded by farm fields that my great grandparents bought from a farmer.

We weren't farmers ourselves.

So, you know, definitely was was a very rural upbringing.

And

then

I went to school UW La Crosse.

I sort of was kind of like the outstate political operative for the first half of my career in politics, working for state representative Steve Doyle.

And then Congressman Ron kind after that.

uh, over the sprawling th So although I've certainly for a while, I think I do perspective given my politi ground.

Uh, and I've been really that because it helped me fig we need to make sure co more support all around th we did through the kind c to support you around office Democrats and it makes a c to be able to have that ho

Well, I know, Devin, you've you've hit on a lot of these themes already.

I think Tony writing on YouTube gives me a good opportunity to let you kind of put these a lot of what I've asked you about in your own words, in terms of one overarching view.

And from Tony, it says, What is your vision?

Why should I be excited about Devin Remaker leading the Democratic Party of Wisconsin?

Great question, Tony.

Thank you.

So, ultimately, my vision is

about how we evolve the party to its next iteration.

And I think each cycle we learn something.

It is a learning experience in wins and in losses.

And I sort of think about when I look at the long view of what the party's been able to do, starting a lot of our work with year round organizing under chair Lanning and built upon by chair Wickler, really taking everything we do to new heights.

And we now have an organization that both organizes year round supports candidates up and down the ballot, no matter how tough their districts are, we have to figure out how we sort of push to that next level.

And I think that the way that we're going

to do that is by making sure that we are allocating our resources to expand our program and open new programmatic tracks.

That can really make a huge difference.

How do we sort of get 80% of the return on 20% of the investment?

And when I look at sort of our county party structure and our party structure, I think that is a place where we have the most room to grow.

I think part of the reason why as Democrats, we have sometimes struggled to reach people is that even if we're

knocking on doors and we're doing it year round.

There's something that just feels inherently a little transactional about someone kind of asking you questions, taking notes.

I think that we need to expand into more of a holistic community presence all around this state.

And quite frankly, we need to rebuild trust with voters that have lost faith in the Democratic Party.

And a lot of that comes down to sort of national trends and national campaigns that we don't have full control over here in Wisconsin.

But I think we all have to do our part and make sure that we are showing up.

listening to folks and that they can see themselves and believe in the Democratic Party again.

And I think this year is going to be a lot of putting in that work, rebuilding trust so that we can lock arms and march forward in 2026, because ultimately to me, this comes down to making sure that we can win a trifecta

and

actually deliver a real policy change for the people of Wisconsin that's going to improve their lives and put to bed the era of Republican obstruction that we have had for over a decade here in Wisconsin.

Yeah, so in terms of what are you building toward, I think that word trifecta probably captures it as well as anything else we could say, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah, I mean, that's really what it's about.

I mean, I think that winning is great.

I've helped to win a lot of elections in Wisconsin since 2018 and onward and even before that in my other roles, but ultimately winning isn't the measure of our work.

the measure of our work is being able to pass policies that improve people's lives.

That's why we're all in this fight.

And that has to be our North Star.

Yeah, I mean, again, as somebody who was there the last time there was a trifecta, and it was only for two years, you know, 2009 and 2010.

And then along came the Tea Party and everything else as a result of it.

Most importantly, the Great Recession, which, you know, was

the seeds were planted long before that.

So there was only so much a democratic trifecta could do.

And yet we see from a national standpoint, the first two years of the Clinton administration, the first two years of the Obama administration, the first two years of the Biden administration, you see tremendous progress that can be made when, you know, when Democrats are given that trifecta, whether in Washington or Madison.

So, I mean,

party organization is nice finances are nice but it really does come back to that trifecta that that is kind of the metric for anybody running for DPW chair I guess is the way I'd put it.

Absolutely, yeah.

And that's why I'm honored to have the support of leaders New Bauer and Leader Heselbein for my chair campaign because they believe I am the candidate that can help them win that trifecta.

And this is just, I think, finally having fair maps, finally having a political environment where it really feels like people are waking up to the Trump administration and what the Republican agenda has been for the working class in this country and in this state.

I really think this is a unique opportunity, but we don't have time to waste.

Just like you said, Pat,

who knows what the future holds.

So if all we have is two years, we have to make the most of it and we have to take the shot while we have it.

And I think that's 2026.

We have to win big and send a message across this country, just like we did on April 1st by electing Susan Crawford to the Supreme Court.

We can be a beacon for the entire country.

And that was the last thing I wanted to close on was the note that appeals court judge Chris Taylor announced that she is going to be running for state Supreme Court next year against far right justice Rebecca Bradley.

Again, it's a

nonpartisan election, but increasingly these are nonpartisan in name only.

Chris Taylor is a former Democratic legislator.

I would imagine and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but there are a whole lot of Democrats that are thrilled that Judge Taylor has announced for this race.

Count me as one of them.

You know, I haven't heard of any other progressive candidates looking to hop into this.

So looking forward to working hopefully with Chris Taylor next year to support her and her Supreme Court bid.

And I think that ultimately, you know, Rebecca Bradley far right is almost an understatement.

She is by far the most radical Supreme Court justice on the bench and for the conservatives.

And she is, you know, I think.

someone that we absolutely have to take down.

Democrats cannot rest on their laurels.

We have to expand that majority.

She is just, uh, you know, completely toxic.

And so look for that big race with Chris Taylor and whether any other candidates get in, uh, still many months to go.

Devin Remacher, candidate for Wisdom's chair.

Devin, good to connect with you again.

Thank you so much.

Safe travels.

Thanks for

having me

on.

Still to come, we'll hear from Joseph Pecky.

That'll round out our interviews with candidates for state democratic party chair.

But before we hear from Joe, a visit with State Senator Sarah Kieske about a new bill that's designed to protect affordable housing here in the state of Wisconsin.

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I'm Pat Krightloff reporting from Chippewa Falls up north here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

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If you've listened to the show long enough, it won't surprise you to hear any comments that I would make about hedge funds and the nature of what I would call vulture capitalism.

You have to keep in mind that you can be a capitalist, you can be pro-capitalism, but that can mean a lot of different things.

same as democracy.

You know, the way that we have democratic with a small d elections here is not the same as the way they hold elections in the UK or other places.

You can have many different flavors.

Well, the different flavors of capitalism often find a way to run astray almost to the point of oligarchy if you don't rein in some of the excesses.

And I'm going to say that again from Adam Smith on down.

to say capitalism free markets does not mean no guardrails.

It does not mean no government.

It actually relies on responsible government oversight to allow for a capitalist society to operate in this most healthy manner.

Unfortunately, vulture capitalism has struck the housing market even, and we have an affordable housing crisis in the state and in this country.

So some folks are connecting the dots and looking at ways to look at hedge funds and ask themselves, should Wall Street really be a landlord in Wisconsin?

Let's talk to State Senator Sarah Kieske about that.

She's author to Bill that would restrict single-family home ownership by hedge funds.

Senator, good morning.

How are you?

Good morning, Pat.

I'm great.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me

on.

It's so nice of you to be here for this.

I know you're still getting your feet wet in the new role here.

There's a lot to learn and I also know from being a when you're a new state senator, sometimes, you know, ideas come up and you may or may not have run on them, but you might be just the right person to

author this bill or that bill and speak on it.

And so it was refreshing to see your name next to this one, this bill that would restrict hedge fund single family home ownership in Wisconsin.

Can you help people connect the dots as to why that would be a good piece of legislation?

Yeah, so you're right.

I am brand new.

I've been in my position now for months.

And one of the things I heard oftentimes when I was going around the district was about the affordability crisis.

As you mentioned earlier, people can't afford housing and this is causing all kinds of dilemmas from where you can live to how much you can pay for basic necessities.

And so that was one of the issues that as I was working on thinking about if I were to bring any legislation forward,

what meaningful legislation could I do?

And so my office and I worked on figuring out, is there anything maybe even out there that has been looked at that we could contribute in our state of Wisconsin?

So there's a Virginia law that we're framing ours around that is similar.

It is about preventing hedge funds and hedge funds for anybody that doesn't quite know.

It's basically investors that pool their money.

So it's a bunch of investors that put their money together.

so that they have better access, higher revenue to be able to make bigger purchases or more purchases.

And so it gives them basically high, high, high buying power and then ability to be a monopoly really.

And so hedge funds are what we're trying to prevent from buying single family homes in the state of Wisconsin.

And what's happening is when we take homes off the market,

Either these hedge funds are holding them and waiting for time when they can then gain a huge Proceeds if they if they sell it down the road They don't really need people to be even living in it because they're so rich that it doesn't matter if they miss a bit of income But they can make a high dividend on it

or they're turning them into rentals and being able to decide where their rental prices will be and be able to really price people out of the rental market and or they're turning them into vacation rentals.

And so the dilemma then is all of these homes are not available for families to purchase.

And one of the things that we know is purchasing property is one of the ways to

build your own wealth.

And so if we take that away from families, we are taking away something very critical for the middle class, lower income individuals that could help them build up in a capitalistic society, right?

And I fundamentally feel like that is wrong.

As these single family homes are plucked out of the stock of available homes to purchase, obviously it's going to lift prices for all the others.

Now, if you're one of those homeowners, sure, it's good news for you, but the crisis we're talking about is

affordable housing writ large, having that supply of single family homes that is available.

So I know that there's been some bipartisan talk about the idea, but I would, I think it's fair to say that Republican lawmakers aren't exactly racing toward the bill en masse, or are you receiving encouraging words either from Republican legislators or people in the community who may be Republican, but understand the market situation?

Well, the great news is when I propose this, I did write about it a little bit on social media, for example, or when I've been going to my town halls, I've had at least seven listening sessions all across my district.

And I will say across the board.

99% of people are really excited about this didn't really understand that this was happening and really recognizing oh my gosh so supply and demand right if we're taking away more of the supply then the demand will not be able to meet that and then those prices again will be pricing people out that need affordable homes so I've been having a ton

of interested in it and support of it.

41 other legislators have signed on to this bill, which is huge.

It is bipartisan, but only one of them is a Republican.

And what I've heard is that when a bill is proposed by a Democrat, again, I'm new, so I'm kind of learning the lay of the land, it is rare if you're an author that the other party will sign on.

So

And so I'm hopeful that like even just getting the news out can help people recognize that this is going to help everybody.

This is going to help your constituents wherever you live.

If we do this proactive deal in the state of Wisconsin so that we don't become a place where we have this kind of monopoly of ownership.

State Senator Sarah Kieske from Lodi.

Thank you so much for your time.

We really appreciate it.

Take care out there.

Oh my gosh.

Thanks so much, Pat.

More after this, you're up north.

It's fair to say that Joe's got a thing or two to say about the the bill that passed the house and the damage that it could do to people all across Wisconsin.

Joseph Pecky, good morning.

How are you?

I'm okay.

How are you doing?

Good to see your face.

We missed you last week.

Well, thank you.

It was great to get away.

It is really great to be back.

It's nice to have the sun out again.

And we saw the note this morning that Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock is going to be the keynote speaker at the State Democratic Convention next month in Wisconsin Dells.

Good get.

tremendous get one of the most compelling and dynamic leaders within our party.

You don't have to be religious to know that when you are listening to Rev Warnock, you are going to church.

And so anybody who is not already signed up to attend the Wisconsin State Convention for the Democratic Party and the Wisconsin Dells on June 14th and 15th, don't miss out.

You can still get your tickets and you can still get a little, a little, a little bit of preaching in your soul.

It'll be good for all of us.

And I don't doubt he's going to have some things to say about where they are in the federal budget process, which I hasten to add is far from a done deal.

It now goes to the Senate, where Republicans there are not necessarily in alignment with Republicans in the House.

But regardless, Joe, the final product probably isn't going to be great for a lot of folks in Wisconsin.

But let's start with what we know.

And that's what passed the House early this morning and just how

How bad could this thing be?

I want to start by quoting the distinguished gentleman from, where is Tom Massie from Kentucky?

Thomas Massie last night on the floor said the following about this monstrosity, quote, we are not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

We are putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg.

If something is beautiful, you don't do it after midnight."

And so that was one of the two Republicans who voted against this.

There were other Republicans who took what is sure to go down in the annals of this country's history as profile and courage moments where they voted

present, which made it a 215 to 214 vote, which means that every single Republican member of Congress was the deciding vote for legislation that will make health care more expensive, make your energy bill more expensive, explode the debt, make it harder for people with low incomes to feed their families.

Also, Elon Musk can get another tax cut.

And that is, you can't argue with any of that.

And Republicans know it.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office have laid out the facts that millions of Americans will lose health care, that this bill is an incredible redistribution of income in this country, where those at the bottom will be hit the hardest.

and having a harder time getting by.

And those at the very top, the Mark Zuckerbergs and the Elon Musk's and the Jeff Bezos of the world will get extraordinary benefits.

So I guess my question is, what the hell is populist about any of that?

About redistributing wealth from the working poor, from working families, from people working their tail off to get into the middle class?

Just so Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg can buy, I don't know, another Hawaiian island, another mega yacht, this is madness.

And it is not what people who voted for Donald Trump voted for.

We're going to hammer this point a lot about how this isn't actual, the spending cuts aren't actually any kind of savings because they go to tax cuts because we're going to take nothing for granted all throughout 2024.

I said, you know people should know that Trump killed that immigration bill just so he could campaign on the issue and yet

it worked for him even though he killed the bill he campaigned on the issue and he won on it so how do democrats avoid making that mistake again where we we point out the obvious that this isn't going to you it's going to millionaires and billionaires and yet somehow i think everybody fears that republicans are just going to get away with what derrick van orden just said that somehow this is this is about cost savings when it's anything but have you been watching and or

I have not.

Oh, my God, it's the greatest thing on TV you've seen in quite some time, whether or not you're a Star Wars fan.

But I want to I want to share something remarkable.

This is, of course, a spy thriller just before Luke Skywalker saves the galaxy.

But Andor is this interregnum and there's a speech from Mon Mothmar, who is one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance.

And so for the first time in the last couple of weeks, people saw her speech to the Galactic Senate.

And I want you to listen to this quote and tell me if any of it sounds familiar.

The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss of all the things at risk.

The loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous.

The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.

When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest.

Well, that doesn't describe what you see on C-SPAN every day.

I don't know what does.

I have to ask you where you are in the campaign for state Democratic Party chair.

We had all the congressional district conventions.

What you up to these days?

Working my tail off, running around like a head with its chicken cut off.

I'll be up north next week.

Going up to Washera later today was in Ozaki County last night.

It's going great because people know that all is not well with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

People know that as Bernie Sanders says, change never comes from the top down.

And while we certainly are surprised that Ben Wickler went back on his word and commitment to stay out of this race, which no one made him do, by the way, he chose

to do that on its own and then a month into it decided he knows best and frankly I think they and I have been a little surprised by the response which is people going wait a minute you said you were gonna stay out and it is the delegates to the convention who should decide this thing so I'm feeling great picking up support every single day and if you're going to convention I'd be honored to earn your support as well.

Uh, Joe's Becky's with us.

We've been talking about his run for state party chair.

And before we get back to that, I did want to ask you about one development, uh, during the week here.

And that is appeals court judge Chris Taylor, a former state legislator, announcing that she'll be running for Wisconsin Supreme court.

Most likely conservative justice Rebecca Bradley will be running for reelection as well.

A lot of folks see that, uh, that matchup between Rebecca Bradley and Chris Taylor.

as, uh, you know, the best possible view.

If you're a progressive view, you want to see this election.

I'm sure a lot of people on the right feel the same way about Chris Taylor.

What's your early view on the way the race looks right now?

Well, I'm not sure that Chris Taylor will be the only candidate, but Chris is certainly a proven progressive with a track record.

What I want to focus on is telling folks why this matters.

I know it seems a little strange that seven weeks after the last court race, we're at this again, right, with a 45-week campaign.

Because we all just heard that after Susan Crawford won, we've locked in the progressive majority on the state court for a while.

And we have

And here's why I would ask folks to buckle up and strap in and lock in and get ready to go again.

That progressive majority is guaranteed through August of 2028.

In November of 2028, there will be a presidential election in Wisconsin.

We have seen Republicans try to steal elections before, try to strike at the very heart of our democracy.

And if you care about that, if you care about the will of the people being reflected through elections, we need you to, you know, saddle up and ride one more time to ensure that

Progressives control the Wisconsin State Supreme Court through the next presidential election.

So buckle up, folks.

We got to do this all over again.

And, you know, coming out of the convention next month, you know, whatever the outcome of the chair's race, that will certainly be

top of mind for the next state party chair is knowing that before even the midterms, before we wonder if Governor Evers is running or isn't running for a third term, that there is this state Supreme Court race that's going to be coming up first.

So we got an overall update on your run for chair about Ben Wickler deciding to make an endorsement in the race.

You've been making these tours around the state and I've asked you all, all three of you, the same kind of

You know, don't let yourself be boxed in question.

You know, Devon Remaker as the party insider or the Madison person.

And like he said yesterday, he's actually from the La Crosse area and he's worked around the state.

I'm sure William Garcia tomorrow will say, don't just think of me as the outstate candidate from La Crosse.

I've done, you know, a whole lot and know a lot about the party.

So likewise, we have to ask the question again.

Joe Peck, he's the guy in Milwaukee.

He's from outside the party.

You know, he's done this work as a strategist consultant.

You know, how do you as well break out of that

Pigeon hold box and say, Hey, look, I'm I'm the full product over here.

Well, I nobody nobody ever succeeds when they try to put me in a box.

Okay, baby, nobody's

putting you in the corner.

Let me tell you.

That's

right.

No, I listen, I think our differences as candidates are most clearly visible when you look at the totality of our experience.

There's only one candidate out of the three of us who has worked in other states.

And that's me.

I've worked on the ground in places like Nebraska and Iowa and Nevada.

There's only one candidate who has worked nationally in the headquarters of a federal agency managing 30 staff, 26 of whom are career federal civil servants, and then across 68 district offices around the country at the U.S.

Small Business Administration for President Barack Obama.

You know, Devin and William are great Democrats and good friends and their experience is not.

equivalent in terms of what I have done and the experience that I will bring to bear on this.

And so that's the case I'm making to delegates is that, you know, talk is cheap and easy.

And what actually matters is making change.

Making change is really hard.

And listen, if folks think that everything is A-OK and hunky-dory within the Democratic Party, there's a candidate in this race who is, you know, whose messages stay the course and who comes from inside the party.

I don't think that that

is how Democrats are feeling.

And if I thought that the right approach to curing what ails our party was to have the same people in the same positions of leadership in the same rooms, I wouldn't be doing this, right?

Because if that's what the appetite for Democrats was, then I would have said, okay, then those candidates, you know, that candidate's in the race.

But I don't think that's what people want.

And that's what I'm continuing to hear around the state.

Well, and that's where I don't mean to take it in a negative direction, but I'm going to wrap up by asking this.

When you talk to people, what among party members, what is their top

fear or worry or concern about switching chairs and what do you tell them?

What are their concerns?

Well, I don't think there is any concern, right?

I mean, like people, everyone is worried about the ability to sustain the fundraising challenge, but none of us know whether we'll be able to raise money like Ben Wickler until we're in the chair.

But

What people are asking is, you know, and concerned about is a top-down approach, a one-size-approach, you know, fits all that doesn't work for county parties, right?

And so that is a real frustration among the grassroots of our party.

and real challenges with how it comes to communicating our messages and our values.

Our brand is busted.

The communications aren't landing.

People know that we need to be better and do better.

And the more I talk about the ways in which we can do that, the more support.

I'm getting.

And that's the case that I'm going to continue to make, which is we have to make changes.

Listen, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And there's things within the party that are going well and going strong.

But there's also a ton of work to do.

We've lost two out of the last three presidential elections.

Ron Johnson is still our United States Senator.

So we've got work to do.

And if you're listening to this and you agree with me, come on board.

We'd be we'd love to have your support.

Joseph Pecky, thanks.

It's always safe travels to you.

Talk again soon.

Thanks, Pat.

Before we take our final break, a reminder that on this Memorial Day, the Milwaukee Brewers are back home for a quick three game series with the Boston Red Sox before they take off for another road trip.

Today's game is at 1-10, so you can catch the pregame at 12-35 on several civic media stations.

Then it's a 6-40 game on Tuesday.

Then another day game Wednesday against the Red Sox, 12-10 is the first pitch there before leaving for Philadelphia.

I'm Pac Wright, low in Chippewa Falls, and this is the Civic Media Radio Network.

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 right, let's talk for a bit about comments that were made by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy.

When talking about a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the rates of autism among children in the US, he spread a lot of falsehoods.

He offended a lot of people, not the least of which was this quote, and I'm not gonna play the tape, I don't need to give him extra publicity, but here are the words he used.

These are kids who will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem, they'll never go out on a date, many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.

That's all garbage.

and people are rightly calling it out as such, some in very strong terms.

And we happen to notice online the comments of Sarah Driever, who joins us now as well, a mother of two who can tell us much more about family life with autism and what it means to have a Health and Human Services Secretary talking like this.

Sarah Driever, good morning.

How are you?

Hi, good morning, Pat.

I'm doing well.

Okay, let me just leave it very open-ended for you because obviously when you heard Secretary Kennedy's comments you went online and Really called him to task.

So tell us a bit more about what you said and why

Yeah, I know that your team found me by seeing my comments on Facebook, but I Most of my response was actually directly to the quote that you already

read specifically calling out things that autistic individuals will never be able to do.

And I brought up my kiddos as an example.

As you said, I'm a mother of two, so I have twin boys.

They're five years old and they're both on the spectrum.

They both have autism spectrum disorder.

So when I heard that quote, obviously I kind of went into mama bear mode and thought about

my children and the fact that they are absolutely capable of all of those things.

In fact, they're already capable of reciting poetry.

They will likely do a lot of the other things that he mentioned as well.

My kiddos speak three languages.

So I would argue that they can communicate better than a lot of neurotypical.

people and neurotypical children at age five so they're incredibly impressive and I also identify as a neurodiverse individual for being on the spectrum.

I would argue all of us are on the spectrum because it is a spectrum but I have ADHD and I also took it very personally when he says things like these

folks will never pay taxes or hold a job.

I have a doctorate.

I have a job.

I'm a contributing member of society.

I volunteer often.

I consider myself a good neighbor and community member.

And I show up.

So I think it's really scary.

And I think a lot of parents and advocates were rightly scared because the language that he was using

also lifts up and brings about messages of eradication, ending here instead of using language like better understand or accommodate or advocate.

So now with mention of Robert Kennedy Jr.'

's idea of wanting to have an autism registry, obviously a lot of us are scared.

We're thinking about other things that he said like autism destroys families.

I'm here to say that autism is very much a part of my family and it makes my family better, incredible.

It's really something that we're talking about these comments on the fifth anniversary of

President Trump making comments about, you know, injecting disinfectant into the body to cure COVID or shining a light into it because it would seem like this would be the perfect time for a president to say, no, this, my health and human secretary, health and human services secretary got it wrong.

This is not where I stand.

But clearly based on Trump's previous comments,

there may be more than a little bit of support for what Robert Kennedy Jr.

had to say.

And this whole notion now that in his quest to find a, quote, cause and cure for autism, he wants to begin collecting Americans' private health records is more than a little disturbing, Sarah.

Very disturbing.

And as I mentioned, I think that's why a lot of the response from especially parents, caregivers, family members is fear.

I'm also confused.

I think a lot of the leadership currently and the executive orders that have been passed are a lot of them that have to do with halting federal funding and slowing down or ceasing medical research.

Those seem directly contradictory to a lot of the things that RFK Jr.

is saying he wants to do.

My kids are both medically complex, and I think that means they will face a world that will not always be accommodating.

So I think their ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, will help them find new and better ways of participating, communicating, thinking, perceiving.

And that's, again, provided that we continue to improve

the, the environment that's out there, the, the attitudinal environment that's out there, which unfortunately, uh, Robert Kennedy Jr.

espouses the, you know, the opposite of that.

And so I'm so thankful that folks like you are willing to speak out.

Sarah Drever, Eau Claire native, uh, joining us from Minnesota.

Thank you very much for your visit, for your words, for your advocacy.

Take good care.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And so with one more personal view of what Trump cuts and RFK quackery are already doing to families, we wrap up this Monday edition of our mornings together, along with a personal prayer of thanks for the men and women who gave their lives serving to protect our nation, its people and its ideals.

Values we've learned cannot be taken for granted anymore.

Remember those heroes as we go about our daily lives and seek to ensure liberty and justice for all.

I'm Pat Critello from Up North News.

We'll see you tomorrow morning here up

north.

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