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Hey, good morning.
806.
Nice to have you back here up north.
It's a Wednesday morning, December 3, 2025.
Parker Olson is producing things down in Madison Studio A2.
Coming up at 835, we'll talk to Dr. Kelly Snooks, a pediatrician.
We'll talk about some of the misinformation about Tylenol in kids and about flu shots and about other infant ailments and try to get everybody back on the right track and
terms of the things that are actually, you know, factual, evidence-based, shall we say.
That's all coming up.
We will not have Earl Ingram here in this particular segment this week.
He's a little busy.
He's getting an interview with the new candidate for governor, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, is talking to Earl first in terms of giving interviews as part of his new campaign for governor.
So I am betting that we will be able to have some excerpts from that interview to play as early as tomorrow and then we'll certainly talk about it with Earl Ingram on the show next week and he'll tell you all about that and what's happening on his own podcast through Civic Media the what's going on with Earl Ingram podcast learn more over at civicmedia.us Let's see.
I also wanted to
See if we got a check-in here from Robin Tigerton.
Well, yes, we did.
Good morning from Tigerton.
It's cloudy in 25 with a half inch of snow overnight.
I've been plowing snow since 3 a.m.
Just finishing up.
I go to a doctor's appointment in Shawno.
plus getting an MRI done on my right knee, which has been bothering me for the last few weeks.
I hope I don't need knee surgery.
Same here, Rob.
But as you know, we've got our favorite knee specialist who's also an OBGYN, Dr. Kristen Lierly.
So, Rob, don't try to do a me too on this.
Just because Kristen had work on her knee done doesn't mean you do.
And by the way, congratulations for knowing what part of your body was getting the MRI.
You're already a step up on the president of the United States 8 5 5 7 5 civic is the number 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 our question of the day is all about your musical guilty pleasure We ask it because there is a movie coming out Christmas Day about a couple from Milwaukee
who back in the eighties and nineties did a Neil Diamond tribute band and actor Hugh Jackman was in Milwaukee last night for the hometown premiere of the movie and having a lot of fun.
It seems doing it as well.
He was scooping frozen custard at a local cops custard stand down there and interacting with some of the folks.
So nice to have him there.
Nice to have another movie that is set in Wisconsin.
And since it's about a Neil Diamond tribute band, we thought we'd ask about some of your own musical guilty
pleasures as well.
And it's okay if it's Nickelback, you know, or Coldplay or Spice Girls or, you know, Carpenters, whatever it might be.
We want to hear about it and find out that you, you might not be alone out there in the universe when it comes to your own musical guilty pleasures.
So I mentioned a president who cannot or will not tell you where he had an MRI done.
It's the same guy who was rage tweeting the night before last up well into the wee smalls of the morning and then falling asleep during his cabinet meeting yesterday.
It was a two and a half hour celebration of bootlicking to put it bluntly.
The things that were coming out of some of these cabinet secretary's mouths.
But more importantly is the stuff that came out of
the president's mouth as well.
And Daniel Dale, who was the longtime fact checker for the Washington Post, I believe he's just a free agent now.
Well, he's still in the fact checking business.
And this is only a partial list that he put together of the false claims that were made in yesterday's cabinet meeting.
Trump claimed grocery prices are down.
They're up.
2.7% year over year as of September, 1.4% since January.
He claimed, Trump did, that he is cutting prescription drug prices by 500% to 900%.
That makes no mathematical sense.
That would mean people are getting paid to acquire their medications.
Here's my question to you.
When you picked up your meds the last time you're at the pharmacy, were you also given a wad of cash?
I'm guessing not.
So when the president of the United States says he's cutting prescription drug prices 500% to 900% that math ain't mathin.
He claimed he has stopped inflation in its tracks since January.
The September year over year inflation rate, 3%, is the same rate as in January and September is the fifth consecutive month that the year over year inflation rate has increased.
In other words, inflation has been getting worse since the guy came on board who said he was going to lower prices on day one.
And there were people saying, you probably shouldn't believe that.
And this is their told you so moment.
Trump claimed he inherited the worst inflation of all time.
He inherited inflation at 3%, the same as the most recent rate.
Even the Biden era peak of 9.1% in June of 2022 wasn't even close to the all-time high.
And then it declined.
So for Trump to say he inherited the worst inflation of all time, not even close.
Trump has claimed he secured, this is all in one cabinet meeting yesterday, by the way, all of these whoppers.
Trump claimed he has secured more than $18 trillion
in investment commitments since he returned to the White House.
That is nearly double the nine and a half trillion dollar figure that the White House uses on its own website and a detailed review shows even that number is wildly inflated.
So they essentially puffed up to the point of making up
a number of 9.6 trillion and the president puffed it up even more to make the lie even bigger to say that there was all this investment.
Now there has been investment in America.
That's a good thing.
But you shouldn't have to lie about it to make yourself feel good.
Trump claimed he has ended eight wars.
Again, this was all just yesterday in one cabinet meeting.
Among other issues, his list includes two
Wars that did not actually exist during his presidency Egypt, Ethiopia and Serbia Kosovo and a war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Congo that has not actually ended Trump claimed the US gave 350 billion dollars in wartime aid to Ukraine a US government inspector general says 187 billion was appropriated for the war response through June
including money spent in the US and broader Europe.
So again, there has been wartime aid to Ukraine.
You have no reason to lie about it or to at least be wrong about it.
It's not 350 billion.
It was 187 billion.
And by the way, I add as an aside, a lot of that money that people think is being like shipped over Ukraine and being dropped out of airplanes or something like that.
No, a lot of that money
is right here in the US for some of the defense aid that is going out there.
Some of the material that is going out there.
So it's not that the money is all going out.
A lot of the money stays right here in the US.
Trump claimed that Washington DC now has no murders since he put troops on the streets.
That wasn't even close to true.
even before the attack on National Guard troops last week.
So why would you even say that?
That there have been no murders since you put troops in the streets.
When it's demonstrably false, these things called statistics exist.
He also claimed the 2020 election was rigged.
Oh, my God, man, get over it.
You lost.
This is not a mistake at this point.
It is a lie.
The thing is,
It always was a lie.
The evidence was there that as early as the September before the 2020 election, they were plotting ways to overturn the election, which in any other country, we would call an attempted coup.
And for some reason, we're being too nice about the actual circumstances of what happened in 2020 and in early 2021.
And somehow, because enough people have believed all of these many whoppers that have been told, he managed to get back in office and everything else that has happened since then.
And then of course, in that cabinet meeting was an absolutely garbage filled racist tirade about refugees from Somalia and what has been done here.
And the thing is, we did get some reaction to what I said about it earlier in the show about, you know, the refugees that have come here.
And guess what?
They're not all Eagle Scouts.
They're not all honor students.
Nor has that been the case with any group of immigrants that have come here.
We got something on the text line earlier from somebody who describes himself as an actual patriot from Oshkosh who writes
This morning show host is so mad about Trump calling Somalia a terrible country and you scoff at the embezzlement in Minnesota and just deflect to assuming conservatives are also embezzling.
Well, you have no facts to that.
So why are you speculating?
That's not news.
That's a radio DJ giving his one-sided opinion.
Maybe when your grandparents or a relative of yours becomes a victim of Somali pirates, you would understand.
Do you even know what Ilhan Omar says about Americans?
And you aren't reporting on that.
This morning show just
that both sides are doing nothing but mudslinging, do better, unite the people, stop being involved in the divide.
First off, decaf.
Second, again, the points all stand.
I did not say that conservatives engage in embezzlement.
What I did say was, are you trying to tell me that none of Donald Trump's buddies
in the corporate world have engaged in any kind of business fraud because you know who has?
The president himself.
He is a convicted criminal for business fraud related to having to cover up an affair with a porn star.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg of the record of the Trump corporation.
Yes, the situation with embezzled funds in Minnesota is serious.
It would be serious no matter who did it.
Because embezzlement does come from every end of the political spectrum because it's not political, it's human greed.
So to take an entire group of people, I don't know, an entire nationality, an entire color of people and say they must all be garbage.
And for Trump to say in the cabinet meeting, we don't want those people here.
Simply proves my point.
And really, when you say unite the people, stop being involved in the divide.
Let's make clear, calling out racist garbage isn't dividing people.
It is about calling out those who are trying to divide us and who do not want to be part of the solution.
There should be law enforcement on things like embezzlement.
And yet the resources to investigate these kinds of crimes have been diverted.
And a lot of white collar crime is not being looked at as deeply as it should.
You know why?
So that there can be more masked secret police on the streets, rounding up people by skin color and ethnicity rather than any probable cause.
That's a racist based policy, which again is not to say there aren't criminals there.
But that's not how a system is supposed to work in a free democracy.
That's how it works in a garbage country.
I would then suggest in conclusion that Donald Trump would be the perfect president for Somalia.
Could we maybe deport him there in the very near future?
Dr. Kelly Snooks is on the way in 15 minutes from the heart of America's up north, live from Lake Wissota.
Thanks for making this the place to spend part of your mornings.
I'm Pat Crightlow.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
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Time for a climate check with Melissa Baldoff and well, Melissa, first off, good morning.
Good morning.
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend.
I
you?
It was a weird mixed bag where Sherry was supposed to be on call for Thanksgiving day and night, and then her replacement was not able to arrive, and so it turned into 48 hours of call.
So it was 48 hours of me scrounging her on for kitchen leftovers.
But I got caught up on a lot of work, so that's the blessing and the curse of having a home office.
The work is always there.
Um, but then again, so is folding laundry.
So, you know, it's up to me to do all that.
Uh, let's start first with governor Evers being in Brazil at a climate conference because, uh, you know,
Honestly, I have not heard much about it since he was down at that global conference in Brazil, but John Imes has written a column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and talks all about the value of having Governor Evers there and some of the policy discussion that could help create jobs and cut costs.
You've had a look at that column as well.
So I thought maybe we'd get your view on, you know, the overview of having the governor of Wisconsin actually want to take part
in being part of the solution rather than, you know, a president who is part of the problem when it comes to a changing climate.
Well, I think that what stood out to me about, what has stood out to me about Governor Evers' leadership on the U.S.
Climate Alliance as co-chair and about his approach to clean energy and John, you know, really, I think.
captured this well in his column is that idea of being able to, you know, as the governor likes to say, walk and chew gum at the same time.
We are able to do this in a way that stays true to our, you know, Wisconsin roots and our Wisconsin values, you know, and be pragmatic and take an approach that is very practical, achievable, locally driven, that we know is going to
help the climate improve health, reduce emissions, save the planet for future generations.
But it's also about economics.
It's also about creating good jobs, strengthening our manufacturing industry, helping people afford to pay their bills.
So it's just really that very pragmatic approach.
And that's what we're seeing around the world.
And that's what John really pointed out here, which is so, I think, just so compelling as a way to get people to connect to this.
Because I think when just regular folks who don't have the time to dig deep into climate news all the time, they care about what's going on.
They are concerned about how much their utility bills are going up.
They want to make sure they're
kids, their grandparents, they themselves are breathing healthy, clean air.
But you hear about a bunch of dignitaries meeting up in places like Brazil, and you kind of wonder, what does that have to do with my day-to-day life?
Well, it turns out it has everything to do with your day-to-day life.
And having somebody like Governor Evers there and being part of it, I think really just helps bring that message home in a way that's really important.
John Holmes, by the way, is the co-founder and executive director of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative.
He was there at the conference as well.
And he notes, for example, that 75,000 Wisconsinites now work in clean energy positions, more than 350 Wisconsin companies supply clean energy or energy efficiency products.
Schools, farms and small towns, he writes, are saving money with efficiency upgrades and solar and tribal and low income households are receiving targeted weatherization and building improvements.
And he concludes by talking about how Wisconsin is perhaps better positioned than
almost any state to benefit from the kinds of climate commitments that were made in Brazil.
There are just so many ways, Melissa, where we still are leaders in innovation as well as responsibility.
And, you know, we should continue that.
There continue to be more opportunities to invest in that clean energy workforce, get people
and apprenticeship programs, reskill people who are in jobs that are, you know, kind of phasing out and get them into the training they need to succeed and the jobs of the future.
So I think that there's only growth opportunities for Wisconsin when it comes to making investments in clean energy.
And so in the minute or so that we have left because again, we always have to talk about the other side of the coin.
Here's the headline from the Guardian newspaper.
Trump ordered to keep Michigan power plant open, cost taxpayers $113 million.
Critics say the coal-fired plant in Western Michigan is expensive and emits high levels of toxic pollution, but Trump is saying it's got to stay open.
I don't know what else to say about that except, of course, he did.
Wow, and
is.
Well, unserious and costing us so much money, again, on a daily basis.
Melissa Baldoff, thank you for the check-in.
We'll talk to you next week.
Sounds good.
Bye.
Coming back with pediatrician Dr. Kelly Snooks.
We're going to be talking about flu shots.
We're going to be talking about infant ailments.
We're going to be talking about Tylenol misinformation.
And what's the real deal when it comes to Tylenol use and kids?
I'm Pat Critello from Up North News.
Follow us at upnorthnewswi.com.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
Nice to have you back on a Wednesday morning.
It's December 3rd, 835.
The time I'm packed quite low up here in Chippewa Falls.
Parker Olson producing things in Madison and we're joined by Dr. Kelly Snooks, pediatrician and who does a video series for us at Up North News, Raising Wisconsin, talking about things that can impact the health of your kids and your family.
And we've got a few topics to cover today that she's covered in her video series.
and other things that have simply been in the news.
I know last month we talked about measles and the outbreak there.
We'll get into pertussis and flu shots in just a little bit.
But we're going to start with Tylenol and kids.
Dr. Kelly Snucks, good morning.
How are you?
Good morning.
Thanks for having me this morning.
How are you?
Absolutely fine.
Thank you.
So nice of you to be here.
And we're going to start with Tylenol because, again, it goes back a couple of weeks now.
But there are people in high places, people who I believe should know better, who are saying things about Tylenol and kids that are, well, to put it mildly, confusing parents and probably confusing some doctors as well, wondering why this kind of information is coming out.
And so we wanted to have you tell us a bit about
the overall issue, why there might be concerns and then to what degree we can address them with fact-based information that parents need to know.
So what's your best overview of why we're even talking about Tylenol in kids?
I think, you know, like you said, there has been so much information out there and we are constantly getting like water hosed with information.
It's like drinking from this water hose of
you know, do I give Tylenol to my child?
Do I not?
Is vaccines causing autism?
Is it not?
And I can't blame parents for hearing all this and being just confused.
The reason we're talking about Tylenol in the first place is recently there was a press conference that I think we all remember where the president got on stage and said, Tylenol is linked to autism diagnoses and pregnant women shouldn't take Tylenol and they should tough it out and you can't give Tylenol to your kids either.
And that's just false.
And they're not using evidence-based information to back this up.
What that came from was a systematic review that came out in 2025 that looked at about 48 different articles that went between the association of Tylenol use during pregnancy and the development of autism.
And only eight of those actually looked at autism.
There were a lot of other neurodivergence and other neurological diagnoses that they looked at the association with.
I want to stress they looked at an association.
They didn't look at causation.
Of the eight that looked at autism, there were five of them that showed a positive causation.
But there's a lot of biases in these studies.
So you have individuals that are interpreting scientific studies and research studies without actually being able to go in and look at the biases that exist in these studies.
And they're taking association and they're saying that this is actually causation.
One of the examples that I use in my video is
both shark attacks and ice cream sales go up in the summertime.
But does that mean that eating ice cream causes shark attacks?
Well, no, there's likely a third link, the warm weather, that causes an increase in both of them.
So those two aren't a cause together, they're associated, but that doesn't mean that one necessarily causes the other.
I love that.
I can't believe I'm using that forever now.
Thank you.
Yeah, that's a good one.
And well, you know, the comparison that I used to what you said a moment earlier is that, you know, for all kinds of reasons, TV, radio, online people, they love to do these polls.
Well, they're not
scientific polls and you know folks need to know that actual actual public opinion polling can be quite scientific and you really can build in a true margin of error that reflects society but when you just do a you know hey call in and tell us your thoughts you know that is not
anything that is scientifically rooted in what actual public opinion would be.
And medical studies are in that same vein in that you can't take any one single study and say, yep, whatever that said, that must be the case.
Medicine relies on just series of and years worth of all kinds of studies that look at all kinds of variable factors.
And so to bring it back to Tylenol, what you're saying is to
to leap to a conclusion based on a subset of studies is I mean my word would be irresponsible.
Exactly and I think what I didn't mention in that last part was that there have actually been so many other reviews that have discredited an association between the two so again you have to look at an entire
like plethora of studies that have been done on this and not just take one single one and cherry pick it and say, oh, this is what I'm going with because it proves my point.
That's the opposite of what we try to do in science and medicine.
Okay, so now you have a parent that says, well, would you give Tylenol?
You've seen all of this stuff.
Would you use Tylenol?
And, you know, if you would, what are the things that parents should keep in mind?
Yeah, I think Tylenol is perfectly safe when it's given in the appropriate quantity that it's supposed to be given in.
You know, talk with your pediatrician about the dosing that's appropriate for your child.
Make sure that the right age infants are the ones that we try to not hide fevers in just because fevers can be a sign that there's something a little bit more severe going on and they should be evaluated.
But myself, I take Tylenol all the time, probably just took it a couple days ago.
And you know, I would give it to my children as well.
safe when it's given in the right quantities and the appropriate dosing.
Talking to Dr. Kelly Snooks, she has the Raising Wisconsin Video Series that you can find on the social media channels for Up North News, search for Up North News WI.
If you're not already following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, all of the things like that.
We're in the time of year now where you also hear information about vaccines.
For example, last month we talked about
you know, what's real and what's not about the measles outbreak and the vaccines.
Now we're in flu season and pertussis as well.
So you can take them together or one or the other and tell us, you know, what is happening right now and what patients, I'm sorry, what parents should be aware of when it comes to flu shots and avoiding pertussis.
Yeah, I think I can lump them all together because it's what pediatricians fear the most.
It's like our time of year that we prep for, especially those of us that are in the hospital, but it's viral season.
People are no longer outdoors.
They're indoors.
They're close together.
You know, we're sitting cozyed up on the couch.
But if our five-year-old brother comes home from school and has something, this is where he's going to pass it along to even younger little siblings.
A viral season is a peak time where respiratory viruses can kind of spread throughout the community.
The one we're seeing on the rise now is flu A. I think we're starting to see it in other parts of the country.
We haven't necessarily seen a major rise just quite yet in Wisconsin, but what we are seeing is it is starting to peak.
So we definitely want to be on the lookout for influenza.
It's usually mild, can be treated at home, but there are some serious complications that can come with it.
So be sure to talk with your pediatrician about your flu shot for this season if you haven't gotten it already, or get your flu shot for yourself as well.
And then the other one is pertussis.
Pertussis is actually really scary for young infants that get it, because what it does is it can actually cause them to stop breathing, and that can be a high concern.
They can come in and eat the intensive care unit.
Um, pertussis again is a vaccine preventable illness, but we have seen recent outbreaks here in Wisconsin with that.
And the one thing I think with pertussis that is important to know is that the immunity, we get the T DAP, which covers that pertussis is the P and T DAP.
But the immunity can wax and wane.
That's why you have to go back for your boosters throughout your lifetime.
I think it's important for older individuals, people that are in maybe their 30s, 40s, or grandparents that are gonna be around young infants this holiday season to make sure they're up to date with their pertussis vaccination because they themselves can be carrying the disease and then give it to the younger infant which can cause some severe complications.
So stay up to date on your shots.
And get that record.
I was very surprised when I went to my local Walgreens to get this year's flu shot and COVID shot at just how very detailed a record you can get of your shots.
And it includes not just Walgreens, but the other places because they're all in a database somewhere.
So you don't have to guess at this.
No, you can go online.
The Wisconsin Immune Immunization Registry, WIR, has all of your vaccine records up there.
So you can go online and your vaccines, I believe, that have been given in the state of Wisconsin.
You'd have to check me on that.
But you can go on and check your vaccine records and make sure you're up to date.
And it should tell you what you're actually due for.
Dr. Kelly Snucks is with us from the Raising in Wisconsin video series at Up North News.
And one of your recent video reports talked about something called infant botulism.
Can you tell us more about that?
Yeah, so there was a recent outbreak of botulism that has been linked back to an infant formula called by the brand by heart.
They've recalled all of their infant formulas.
I would check the FDA website for the most up to date information on that.
But they've been linked over 30 cases of what's called infant botulism.
So
Botulism is caused by a bacteria that is found in like soil and dust and different spores.
And basically when it's ingested, especially into young infants systems, it can cause a neurotoxin, which prevents the muscles and nerves from kind of talking together and causes what we call a flaccid paralysis.
So some of the things to look for, because the muscles and nerves aren't working properly, babies can develop constipation.
They can develop like a weak
cries, so their cry doesn't sound as strong as it usually does.
Their facial expressions might not be as strong as they usually are, just kind of like weak overall when you go to lift them up, their head lags behind.
So these are all signs that you really should be evaluated, especially if you had that by heart formula, be sure to talk with your pediatrician.
There's some good information on the CDC and FDA website about the outbreak, but this is also one of the reasons that we say don't give honey to any baby under 12 months old because honey is known to carry these botulism spores.
Wow.
And that gets me into the final point here before we wrap up.
And that's just seasonal food issues overall.
Again, especially with infants or toddlers who, you know, might be eating somewhere else for the first time.
We've we heard a lot about food safety last week in the run up to Thanksgiving.
And are there are any things you want to make sure that parents of the young ones know in terms of, you know, seasonal foods and, you know, just food safety overall?
I think the one thing, especially as an intensive care unit pediatrician is choking hazards when it comes to food.
So like there's, you know, grandparents might not think and be giving full grapes to toddlers that shouldn't be giving him or hot dogs or sausages.
So just be sure if you have a young toddler, you know, everybody loves to give food to the babies, but make sure it's appropriately cut up.
And then any food allergies, I would just, you know, make sure that everybody's aware, have an EpiPen on you if you need it.
If you know that your child has an anaphylactic allergy.
So those are just some of the things I can think of.
Oh, no, I mean, it's all basic sense.
And it's, I mean, I can't imagine how many times you've heard, I know this stuff, I just didn't think about it.
And there went the grape or didn't bring the EpiPen with me or anything like that.
Are you working on anything in particular for your next video installment?
Next couple videos.
So there should be one that's coming out this week.
I'm talking about car seat safety during the winter.
So, you know, we think we want to keep our babies as warm as we can, but wearing thick coats underneath the car seat harness is actually a huge risk for the infant.
So we'll talk a little bit about that.
And then with the last couple videos for this year, just kind of talking about some winter things protecting frostbite outside because it's
way too cold up here in Wisconsin right now.
And then I'll do a little bit of a pediatrician's Christmas wish list.
So what are some toys that I would like for a child to kind of promote their development and that I think would be good for kids this winter?
Oh, that's great.
And I'm really glad you mentioned the the snow suits and things because I was with my grandkids in Michigan a couple weekends back.
And again, had the heavier coats on for the first time is like, Oh, the car seats getting a little snug here.
Yeah, got to make the proper adjustment for the season.
So all right, for all that and more, look for Dr. Kelly Snooks in the Raising Wisconsin Video Series, a pediatrician who helps us out with family health over at UpNorth News on all of our social media sites.
Kelly, thank you again.
Good to talk to you.
Have a great day.
Thank you.
All right.
Yeah, we'll have some final news and notes from Lake Osoto when we wrap things up here in just a bit.
First reminder that we've got sports for you coming up across the Civic Media Radio Network.
That would be College Men's Basketball.
The Badger Men are taking on Northwestern.
Coverage begins at 7.30 on several Civic Media radio stations.
The Badger Men's hockey team is playing at Notre Dame on Friday.
And of course, we've got the Packers and Bears game.
Sunday afternoon coverage begins at 1 o'clock kickoff at 3.25 on some of the
of the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pat
Critello.
You're up north.
Tomorrow on the program, Congressman Mark Pokhan will be joining us.
The government shutdown is over, but the gridlock appears to be rolling on.
And that's just within the Republican caucus.
We'll talk more to Congressman Pokhan about the things that are and are not happening in the nation's capital.
And Sean O'Malley will be along to talk about your money and the markets and the data that we're getting.
Now that the shutdown is over how reliable it is or or what still seems to be missing and then the question that I Feel like it's growing with more and more people How much of this economy is built on an AI bubble and we have talked about this before and I want to get an update from Sean on this because there are a lot of factors that indicate that we're at not for
the rapid growth of AI and the stock prices of those companies.
All the other economic indicators would have us in bad shape right now.
So those AI numbers might be artificially inflating the state of the health of our economy.
Small wonder that we have a president and others who are doing all they can to keep fluffing up that price and those AI companies because that's the thing that's providing them with some cover right now.
But it always seems like for these folks, it's just that there's always money lying around and that the answer for everything is a tax break.
And I noted that in a Wisconsin Public Radio article about the dueling bills in the legislature about bills that would reduce the cost for in vitro fertilization, IVF.
And we have talked to State Representative Jodi Emerson from Eau Claire before about her measure, which would
require health insurers in Wisconsin to cover the costs of IVF and fertility preservation treatment.
She said that, you know, this is part of health care.
And if you're going to be a health insurance company, then why shouldn't a health insurance company help pay for it?
Well, Republicans call that a mandate and they, you know, their answer for everything is a tax break.
And so that's what they've put in place.
There's a Republican bill in the legislature that would provide a tax credit, a non refundable income tax credit of up to $5,000 for IVF related expenses that aren't covered by insurance.
Now, there would be a cutoff.
It would be for individuals making less than $100,000 a year, or couples making less than $200,000 a year.
So if you're making $190,000 a year as a couple, you can still get this $5,000 non-refundable income tax credit.
Well, by non-refundable, what that means is if you're, say, in a much lower bracket, say you're in the $60,000 bracket.
of income.
And you really want to start a family with IVF.
You don't pay that much in taxes that you may not get that 5,000 back.
A refundable tax credit means you get that amount of money, whatever your tax liability is.
So right from the get go, the Republican bill does not help out with the upfront costs as Representative Emerson points out.
You know, you've got to pay for these things up front and then the tax credit comes later on.
But again, we're talking about a group of politicians for whom everything is about a tax credit and making sure that, you know, we do anything possible to avoid having the super wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
Because after all, they write those really big campaign donation checks, right?
which takes me to our final story, and that is something that is being done by Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Michael and Susan Dell.
On its face, sounds like a nice bit of generosity, you see there are going to be these new
tax accounts for new babies.
And that's a bipartisan idea that's been talked about for some time.
Now of course, because Republicans are in charge, they want to call them Trump accounts.
And these would be investment accounts that are opened up for children from birth and that, you know, a certain amount of money could go into it.
And then the parents and others could keep putting money into it so that it grows over the course of the years.
And that's all fine and good.
It's just that in this new story,
Michael Dell and his wife Susan say they are going to be donating to roughly 25 million children.
And what they're going to do is help put an additional $250 into the accounts of these children.
Now, not all children.
The money will go to children who were born in 2016 through 2024 and
who live in a zip code where the median household income is less than $150,000 a year.
So again, that's a net positive where you have, you know, the help is going to people who would most benefit from it.
Now, if you're doing the math here, what that means is the amount that the Dells are donating to put an extra 250 bucks into every one of these new accounts, six and a quarter
billion dollars.
They're donating six and a quarter billion dollars for these accounts.
Who could possibly have a, you know, a crossword to say about that?
Well, buckle up.
Here we go.
The Dells are worth an estimated $148 billion.
This is roughly 4% of their net worth.
what are you buying with that besides, you know, the feel good aspect of it?
And again, that's a perfectly fine thing.
But it's also a heck of an investment if you're looking to curry favor and get more tax breaks.
Because I mean, the question has to be asked.
How does anybody have $6 billion just lying around that you can give away on a whim and get a lot of good press for?
Now,
If there were a wealth tax, the Dells would still be fabulously wealthy.
And we wouldn't have to depend on the charity of the very wealthy to make sure that we can educate our kids and to make sure that they have investment accounts.
These are things we could be doing amongst ourselves if we had a tax code that was not so out of whack.
There are people who say, oh, well, if there's a wealth tax, the wealthy, they won't innovate.
They won't create jobs.
That, folks, is BS.
We have a broken tax system.
If anybody's got $6 billion lying around.
My thanks to today's guests and to you for being here.
I'm Pat Crightlow from Up North News, part of Courier Newsroom, a pro-democracy newsroom.
We'll catch you tomorrow morning, 6 AM, here up north.
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