Anybody Else? (Hour 3)

Across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Gritlow, powered by Up North News.

Now, from our Lake Wissota studio, here's the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Gritlow.

Well,

hey there,

Wisconsin.

Good morning.

6.06 the time on a Thursday morning, December 11.

2025.

It's another beautiful morning to have you here up north.

Live from Lake Wissota from wherever you're spending your mornings listening all across the Civic Media radio network or on social media podcast.

However, you got here on a morning that's chilly but kinda get a lot colder this weekend.

Stay tuned to that local forecast.

We're going to spend a lot of time below zero in the coming days.

I got a question for you.

Have you seen your property tax bill yet?

We got ours yesterday from down at

the PO box and took a look at it and had kind of the same reaction a whole lot of other folks have had opening up their property tax bill.

I guess the question is, what are you prepared to do about this?

Well, first, you got to know who's to blame for the higher numbers and the real culprit is not a group that is even listed on your property tax bill.

I'll explain in just a little bit.

the numbers and who is actually responsible for the numbers.

People that you can actually hire and fire.

Throughout the course of the day, of course, you can join us at 855-75-CIVIC, 855-752-4842.

And of course, you can also use that Civic Media app and that way you can call us or you can text us or you can leave us a voice note and you'll need that Civic Media app in about an hour.

to give us a keyword in our text-to-win grown-up gift list contest.

But also coming up in an hour is the new candidate for governor.

Joel Brennan becomes the seventh Democrat in the field.

He was one of the top officials in the Evers administration.

He ran the Discovery World Science Center, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and more.

We're going to talk to him live in an hour about why he is running for governor, and we're going to play his campaign announcement ad here in just a few minutes.

First off, we want to bring in Parker Olson, who is producing this final radio program from Madison Studio A2.

Mr. Olson, good morning.

How are you?

Good morning, Pat.

I'm doing all right.

How are you?

I'm good and I'm grateful.

I am, I am so grateful for a particular group of people that I saw last night.

And it's not the people I was drinking with, though I did see them too.

You see the

The ladies in the neighborhood had a gathering at one of the homes on the street here.

And all the men folk were dispatched and said, you, you all go someplace else.

So we all went to a place and got, got together.

That was all fine too.

But the thing is, right across from us across the bridge, basically for folks who know Lake Wissota, you know, there's big old Lake Wissota.

And then south of it is little Lake Wissota.

And there's a

bridge that spans the two.

Uh, the view is one of the bars right there and there's a boat, boat launch.

And we saw some sirens or some lights and things like that over at the boat launch and we thought, Oh no, is there, is there a problem?

Uh, no, there's not.

It was training that was going on for water rescues.

Oh.

And so, I mean, and it was cold out there and they're in those, you know, inflatable suits or whatever in their wet suits and they're in the water there and they've got the tow ropes and everything.

And it was just my reminder that even if I, if I started every show saying thank you to our first responders, it wouldn't be enough.

I mean, just look, that was just one training session that they had to go through in the icy waters, much less everything else that they do to save lives.

So I was, uh, I was very grateful for them.

And I, I.

If you are a first responder of any type out there, I hope that you know that you may not hear it very much, but we appreciate that very much because I'm not going in.

I don't know that Parker's signing up for that training either necessarily.

Rub it now.

No.

Giving my thoughts on ice fishing, you know.

certainly going to look for any reason not to be in the icy water if I can avoid it here.

So thanks to everybody who's doing that.

Also coming up on the program today, Sean O'Malley will talk about your money and the markets.

Look, there's a real lack of government data.

We've talked about it a couple of times before, but there are more reports that are not coming out that would guide the Federal Reserve, that would guide investors.

The only thing guiding them right now is the AI bubble.

And that's just getting bigger.

And Sean's going to talk to us about that.

Joseph Pecky will talk about Joel Brennan getting into the race and whether, you know, does this kind of complete the field?

Is there anybody else in the pipeline who might be on the verge of announcing for governor?

We'll talk a bit about that as well.

Well, we're not going to talk much about sports if you heard Mike Clemens just now.

Parker, what was the final?

It was a 30 point loss.

Yeah, it was a 90 to 60.

90 to 60 losing to 23rd ranked Nebraska.

It was

not good.

It was not a fun watch at all.

I think I said earlier this week or maybe last week that I know exactly what kind of team can beat the Badgers.

Now I know another kind of team that can beat the Badgers.

Yeah, so they've they've got just over a week till their next game So they got time to I mean, I know they're doing final exams probably or something But I think there's some more homework they need to do.

Yeah, they um, they don't play until next Friday and they need it they need the time

because

Yikes,

yeah, 30 point loss is not something that I had on on my Expectations for that team, but

no when just really I think poor

offensive decisions.

You probably shouldn't be shooting 32 three pointers when you've made 21% of them.

Yeah, yeah, little little things like that stop being intimidated go for the basket.

Also, Sharita Booker will be along coming up in less than 10 minutes here.

I'm sorry, exactly 10 minutes from right now to tell us about some of the events going on this weekend.

But let's start with the announcement that Joel Brennan is in the race for a governor a former top official in the Evers administration.

According to Molly Beck's writing in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here, Brennan was one of the few Evers cabinet appointees that was unanimously confirmed by Senate Republicans.

He has been executive director of Milwaukee Discovery World.

He's president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, a group of about 200 leaders.

from business and nonprofits working to improve civic life in southeast Wisconsin.

Why hear me talk about Joel Brennan?

You can hear him talk about it because I never cease to be impressed with the campaign announcement ads and we've run a few of them.

And I tell you what, one of these shows, we're just going to run them all back to back to back so you can hear directly from all the candidates.

But for now, here's the brand new campaign announcement from Joel Brennan running for governor.

I'm Joel Brennan.

I'm a Democrat running for governor.

You probably don't know much about me.

So let's start with some numbers.

That's how many siblings I grew up with right here in Wisconsin.

We were long on potential, although sometimes a little short on resources.

49.

That's how many points future NBA star Nick Van Exel and I combined to score when we played each other in high school.

I had eight.

He had the rest.

Five.

That's how many jobs I had to help pay my way through college, like landscaping, baking copies, retail, and deep frying egg rolls.

Zero.

The number of functioning blinkers on my first car.

I've raised two great kids with my wife, Audrey, passing on lessons like rolling up our sleeves to get things done and showing up for our community.

And for 25 years, I've worked with businesses and nonprofits to create jobs and strengthen Wisconsin's economy.

In 2018, I got a call I never expected.

Tony Evers had just been elected governor and he asked me to help lead our state as his top cabinet official.

It's easy to forget how broken things were after Scott Walker and his right-wing legislature had spent eight years gutting state government.

We got to work putting the state on firmer financial footing, generating a budget surplus of nearly $4 billion and growing our rainy day fund to $1.7 billion.

Then COVID hit and all of that progress was put at risk.

We stood up to the extremists and delivered help to tens of thousands of small businesses, farmers and families across Wisconsin.

But today, thanks to Donald Trump's chaos and

The numbers just aren't adding up for Wisconsin families.

Costs like everything else are out of control.

And coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like.

I'll be a governor who will stand up to Trump's dysfunction and be laser-focused on improving the lives of people across our state.

With fair maps and a Democratic governor, we can stay true to our values and deliver real and lasting change.

I'm Joel Brennan, and it would be my honor to be your governor.

So there it is, there's the campaign announcement video from Joel Brennan that he released early this morning announcing that he was joining a large Democratic field of candidates for governor, counting on his private sector business experience and his position as a top official in the Evers administration as reasons why he may stand out from the rest of the field.

There's obviously motivation for Democrats to hold on to the governor's seat and to also win back the legislature because as you heard...

You know, the maps are fairer now and Democrats have a shot of taking back the assembly or the Senate or both of them.

And that might be necessary, especially if you've had any opportunity yet to see your property tax bill.

There's some numbers in there that aren't pretty.

But let me back up and point out something.

State tax is your state income tax.

That's...

That's progressive.

The wealthier taxpayers pay a higher tax rate.

Paying things from state coffers would be preferable to local coffers from the property tax because the property tax is regressive.

It hurts the middle class and lower income families harder compared to wealthier families.

But Republicans in the legislature can only control the one.

So if they have the choice to pay for something with state tax dollars or pass the buck,

to make school boards and local governments raise the money to pay for our schools.

Which way do you think they're going to go?

Now, this year started with Governor Evers proposing a new state budget with an increase to K-12 education of about $3 billion, and that was to make up for years and years of underfunding that didn't keep up with inflation, forcing property taxes higher.

Again, that's just to keep up with inflation, not to spend a whole bunch of new money.

But Republicans in the legislature did what they do instead, and so the final deal that was worked out was a freeze in state aid to K-12 public schools.

There was also supposed to be an increase in special education funding, but that hasn't really happened yet.

But a freeze in state aid, even as inflation, as you know, eats up a bigger share of budgets.

Family budgets, school district budgets as well.

When that budget passed, let me take you back to what Peggy Words-Olson, WEAC president and teacher said.

She said, quote, let's call this what it is.

A complete betrayal of public schools.

Given the ugly truth about this budget, educators are exploring every option to force politicians to bring forward a long-term solution to Wisconsin's school funding crisis.

The state can't keep shattering the foundation of our public schools and expect the professionals who teach them to pick up the pieces.

Now, as you know, we have talked over and over on this program about fixing the system that we use to pay for K-12 schools.

There have been commissions and studies and hearings and the Republican response this year was, well, we won't cut education, but we'll go along with freezing state aid, which given inflation is a de facto cut because costs haven't gone down.

So where do you think that's being made up again?

Take a look at your local property tax bill.

Now, there are lines on your property tax bill here for the share of your property taxes from your county, from your local government, from the technical college district, and your local school district.

And it's that last line where people are seeing a big jump and thinking, wow, what's the school district doing that my property taxes are going up so much higher?

Here's the problem.

On my bill, the line says at the very bottom here, Chippewa Falls School District.

That's a typo.

And the same goes for anybody where there's a school district listed.

The line should say, here's the cost of 15 years of Republicans running the legislature and trying to kill off public education.

I know it doesn't all fit nicely on the property tax bill, but that's exactly what it should say.

That bottom line should say, here's the cost of 15 years running the legislature by Republicans.

So yeah, they're fair maps.

So when I say, what are you going to do about your higher property tax bill?

You may get an answer next year, or at least that opportunity.

Sharita Booker is coming up to tell us about some weekend events 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 Krightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

All right, here we go.

We're getting that much closer to Christmas, the holiday season here, all kinds of things happening to get you in the mood and the spirit and separate you from some dollar bills in case you want to buy some stuff for gifts or otherwise.

Sharita Booker, our social media manager is here to tell us about three such events today.

Hey, Sharita, how are you?

I'm doing well, Pat.

How are you?

All right, all right.

Let's start first with the the Yorkies Observatory is having an event that's in the Lake Geneva area.

So let's start with what it says here is the world's tallest glass tree festival.

I got to know more about this.

Yeah, and that'll run from Friday to Sunday evening.

Guests can watch the tree take shape in real time through live glass blowing, steel sculpting and woodworking.

All tickets include

entry inside the historic observatory rotunda and access to the big dome, home to the world's largest refracting telescope.

Out on the ground you'll find a heated artisan market, fire pits, a bar with beer and wine, music and a warming tent with hands-on activities for those interested in learning the craft.

of glass blowing.

They'll have that experience available on site as well with the option to add your piece directly to the tree.

Admission is $20 for adults and free for kids 12 and under or $30 for a multi-day pass if you want to return throughout the weekend.

Parking is available offsite at Williams Bay High School with a free trolley shuttle to the observatory.

Full details and ticket information are available through yourkeysobservatory.org.

Uh, and that, by the way, your keys is Y E R K E S observatory.org.

Have you ever been there?

I have not.

I.

We were in there briefly.

I was with somebody who was meeting somebody affiliated with it.

They said, hey, do you want to peek inside?

We said, OK.

I mean, this is one of those old school observatories.

And it was a real treat that I think people would really like to see if they are going to be in the area.

All right, let's head up to Menominee Falls now for a Christ Kindle Market.

Again, just to get some goodies for the holiday season, right?

Yes, so

this Saturday my nominee Falls turns into a classic European holiday village for the Falls Quiz Kindle Market at Centennial Plaza from 10 to 5 p.m.

There will be an outdoor market with tents with artists and gifts baked in seasonal treats and families can stop in for portraits with Santa from 10 to 3, see live reindeer from 10 to noon and meet Elsa and Anna from 1 to 10, from 1 to 2.

carriage rides roll from noon to three, offering the perfect view of the downtown district.

And while you're there, stop by some of the local shops and restaurants, holiday pop-ups and specials from favorites like chocolate falls, banquet flowers, art lounge, and popping in time and a whole lot more.

And for more information on that, visit ChristmasInTheFalls.com.

I have a three-year-old granddaughter that lives in Michigan and I am

kind of thankful she won't be part of this because she will lose her mind.

She is watching Frozen all the time.

And if you say Ilsa and Anna are there, she will put on the princess dress and she would be there in a heartbeat if she could.

My

daughter used to love

Roseanne.

Oh my gosh, she's still very, very much in that phase.

And by the way, some cool stuff to buy too, but I mean, come on, something for the kids as well.

And then finally, we've got up in the Fox Cities at the Performing Arts Center.

We've got a little circus type action in the brand of Cirque du Soleil.

Yeah, so if you're looking for something different to celebrate the holidays, a magical Cirque Christmas is on stage in Appleton this Saturday at Thrivement Hall with two showtimes, 5pm and 8pm.

This is a 90 minute no intermission Cirque show featuring royal class acrobats, aerial performers, and physical comedy.

All set to update it.

takes on familiar holiday music.

It's less traditional theater and more live, high-energy spectacle with stunts and choreography designed to keep all ages locked in.

Tickets start at around $50 and both shows are still on sale.

For more information on to get your tickets, visit FoxCitiesPAC.com.

And again, I said brand, I should have said the styling of a Cirque du Soleil.

It's not affiliated with it, but it is a very popular holiday show that, like you said, features these kinds of circus acts.

And have you ever been to a Cirque du Soleil or something similar to that?

I have not.

There's

one that happens every year over by the mall here, Southridge Mall.

It's like a haunted one or something like that.

I

always see it outside, but I've never

been.

The one that I've been to, and I could not wait to see it, was the one that Cirque du Soleil did.

This was in Las Vegas for the Beatles Love album.

And the Love album is kind of a reimagining of Beatles songs.

And it was put together by George Martin before his passing, specifically for this performance.

And so I already loved the album.

And if any Beatles fan who has not played the Love album through, you really ought to.

And then they set a Cirque du Soleil show to all of these great Beatles tunes.

And again, there's so many different ways you can do this, much like the holiday theme that you just outlined, but just a really cool experience.

And I'll bet a lot of people will have fun seeing this one in Appleton.

And maybe you'll get a chance to see one of these sometime soon.

I'd highly recommend it.

I'll put it on my to-do list.

There you go.

How is your to-do list coming along here?

You still got some shopping to do or?

I think, well, I got my kids.

The kids aren't listening.

You can tell us where the hiding places are,

right?

The closet, but I still have to get stuff from my nephews and I think that's it.

And then I'll be done.

Okay.

I found a great hiding place for Sherry's gift this year.

I hope she's not listening.

I say that more to remind myself because I don't want a Clark Griswold situation where I forget about it.

And then like three years later, I go to that spot and find the gift that I couldn't find before.

Right.

Like I told you, I bought it for you.

Yeah.

I know.

I got you a gift.

I'm just, I did a really good job hiding it from myself.

Yeah.

That could definitely happen.

All right.

Sharita Booker is working on social media for us and helping us find some great weekend events.

Sharita, thanks so much.

Have a good weekend.

You too, Pat.

And to be clear, I've never done that with a gift.

I have done it with cards or I go into a drawer and pull.

It's like, Oh, wait, I already bought a Valentine's Day card or Mother's Day card or whatever the case.

Yeah.

So yeah, I'm guilty.

It's, I don't know all of us.

I don't know if I've ever done that, but I constantly find things.

I'm like, Oh yeah.

That's there.

Yes.

Hiding things from ourselves is a real thing.

One quick note here.

The Senate will be voting on the Affordable Care Act, enhanced subsidy tax credits.

It'll probably go down to defeat.

House Republicans are still looking for their own alternative to a health care plan after 15 years.

And I think they're going to land on health savings accounts, you know, that thing that has never worked and still wouldn't work.

All right, we're going to rock around the Christmas tree to kick off today's history lesson coming up in just a

Bit, live from the lake, I'm Pat Critello.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

It's time once again for today's history lesson on mornings with Pat Cranklow.

To all who come to this happy place, welcome.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the Beatles.

That's one small step for man.

Well, I'm not a

crook.

You believe in miracles

yet?

You know, this depression is going to be so great.

We'll be the ones eating the cats and the dogs.

That's going to be fun.

Once again, it is time to take another revealing peek back into history.

Hey,

let's kick things off for the history lesson with a birthday girl, Brenda Lee, turns 81 years old today.

How old was she when she did this rocking around the Christmas tree?

I always wonder that when we talk about these songs is how old these people actually were because this could be a hit for like the mass majority of your life.

And it's the only thing you're known for, which I think is kind of sad.

The correct answer is 13.

Oh, God.

This is 13 year old Brenda Lee singing the song.

And it has been a hit ever since almost 70 years.

Man.

Wow.

Yeah.

and now she had she did have other hits at the time as well but you do a good Christmas song it lasts forever there you go

that seems to be the case

on this day in 1913 there was a there was a painting stolen from the Louvre I know they seem to have an issue with that there was one it was before 1913 but on this day in 1913 more than two years

After the Mona Lisa had been stolen from the Louvre, it was recovered in Florence, Italy, and the thief was arrested.

That's that's great.

Art

theft is such a like insanely difficult thing to catch people for.

Yes, I know.

Just ask Pierce Brosnan in the Thomas Crown affair.

Everybody's favorite movie about museum paintings being stolen, right?

Add it

to the list.

Mine anyway.

Yeah, I had it to the yes add that one to the list.

You will thank me later.

All right Let's see.

Let's stick in the early 60s here on this day in 1961 Motown got their first ever number one hit on the hot 100 charts from the Marvelettes I Know what you're thinking like

Did he plan that?

Is he so good that he could hit the post on the next record when the one record is ending?

Yes and no.

I could if I really wanted to.

That was what we call a happy accident in that particular case.

But I'll take it.

So anyway, the first of many, many, many, many Motown number one hits came from the Marvelettes on this day 64 years ago.

On this day in 1934, a fellow by the name of Bill Wilson took his last drink, his last alcoholic drink, and entered treatment for the final time, and then later started a group, friends of Bill that you now know as Alcoholics Anonymous.

This was after Bill Wilson.

On this day in 1934, I'm guessing the holiday pressures were a bit much, but then he was all done after that.

This is the anniversary of the birth of Big Mama Thornton.

She was born this day in 1926 and gave us the original version of a classic you know from Elvis.

Big Mama Thornton born this day in 1926.

Happy 94th birthday to Rita Moreno.

Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican actress best known for her role as Anita in West Side Story, both on Broadway and films.

I mean, that girl could dance and sing and is 94 years old today.

See what happens when you take good care of yourself?

You can live that long.

I don't know if David Gates from Bread did the same thing, but he's made it to 85.

Happy birthday to him today.

Maybe another way of staying healthy is just to sing nothing but

Really mellow songs.

Melanus helps you live till your 85th birthday.

What's he on rock?

That's

about as mellow as it's gonna get.

Former senator and candidate for president John Kerry.

This is his 82nd birthday today.

One of the Jacksons has a birthday today that would be Jermaine Jackson.

He is 71 years old today.

It's just it's always funny to hear these things because you don't know at the time that you're being pigeonholed into a type and then

years

later You're here and you go.

Oh, yeah, that's an 80s tune.

That is totally 80s right there.

Yep Nikki six from Motley crew is 67 years old today Birth name Frank Ferrana Jr.

Nikki six was probably the way to go Roy Wood Jr.

Is 47 years old today?

And let's move on from Jermaine Jackson to Michael Jackson, who on this day in 1991, his album Dangerous hit number one.

Dangerous was Michael Jackson's eighth album, and it was number one on the album chart for four weeks.

It had Remember the Time and the song Black or White as well, hitting number one this week in 1991.

On this day, wow, five years ago now, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization on the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.

There was on this day in 2020 an immense sigh of relief.

that went up around the world knowing that a vaccine had been developed to fight this pandemic and that it had been authorized as safe for use.

I don't think it would be possible to predict back then how many people would then look at this and go, no, no.

Some guy with a tinfoil hat told me it's not safe.

So I'm not going to take this.

Yeah, just

I don't understand people.

I really don't.

Oh, that defies understanding.

I mean, it just does.

But anyway, untold millions of lives saved as a result, and that big news came down five years ago today.

On this day, 10 years ago this week, Adele was at number one in both the U.S.

and the U.K.

with her album 25.

My love was one of the singles off there as was when we were young and water under the bridge and of course Hello Thought about playing that but that's in the category of things that have been a little overplayed

all of all of America Everyone listening that has thanked you for not deciding on how well

hello All right, let's see what's on the national day calendar on this December 11th

Kind of connecting back to one of the ones from yesterday.

Today is a holiday food drive for needy animals.

A holiday food drive

for needy animals.

Yes, because

animals

deserve a holiday dinner.

But I would call them all needy since they can't operate a stove or a refrigerator or anything.

They need us for food.

Well,

let me tell you, my dog's awfully needy.

I thought you were going to say, nope, your dog takes care of themselves, can get into the cupboard, can open up the bags.

Oh yeah, he can throw in a bag of popcorn and microwave.

Or

just

this garbage can will do.

I'm sure I can find something to eat in here.

He was having a great

time with

powdered sugar

on the floor last

night.

Oh no!

Not the whole, we were making puppy chow and you know how powdered sugar

tastes.

I'm sure the dog was just a surprise.

What?

What?

What?

What is this smoke stuff?

It tastes really good.

All right.

So anyway, holiday food drive for needy animals day.

All right.

What else we got today?

This is also national apps days.

You have a favorite app.

National apps day.

Yes.

Boy, oh boy.

And

we're talking phone apps, not appetizers,

by the way.

Oh, yes.

Yes.

Thank you for clarifying there.

I am, I am now, I have no idea.

I'm sure it doesn't say here, but I'm looking at my phone right now.

Yeah.

And trying to get even a feel for how many apps are on this thing.

Oh, God.

I mean, I

don't want to know.

I think, I think it might be over a hundred.

I mean, I mean, there's so many of them that, you know, you, you get and you think, well, I might use this and then you never ever use it.

Or you used it one time and go, that's not worth it.

And then you don't delete it.

And it's there forever.

Oh, here's one.

Here's one that sticks out, by the way.

Here's one called the SNL app from Saturday Night Live.

This was an actual app that they put up.

But this was quite a few years ago now, many years ago.

And it was it was built at the time is like, you get this app, you will have a lifetime link to every skit that Saturday Night Live ever did.

Wow.

And for the first couple of years or so, it was an amazing app.

You could put in a date, you could put in a guest name, you could just browse chronologically and bring up all these great skits.

And then one day it just stopped working because of course then they moved on to some other app.

I don't know if it was Peacock or what it was.

Oh, sure.

That makes

sense.

By the way.

Oh, boy.

I see this right last night.

Packers Ravens game is going to be on Peacock.

Saturday.

Oh.

I thought it got moved to Saturday.

Let's see, here it is.

Peacock is going to exclusively stream the Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers on Saturday, December 27th at 7 p.m.

Okay, so we got a couple of Saturday night games coming up here.

We got first off this Sunday, you've got the Packers in Denver taking on the Broncos and let's get in the plug here one o'clock for the pregame 325 for the kickoff on several civic media stations.

And then the following Saturday, which would be the 20th, it is a Saturday night game in Chicago.

And I forgot what network it's on.

I don't know if it's on NBC or what because you can hear the game here on civic media.

But yeah, sure enough, the following Saturday night,

December 27th, Packers Baltimore Ravens Peacock.

You got to have the Peacock app to get it.

Well, and Peacock is where I drew the line to be honest.

I've got a lot of apps.

At some point, I was just like, no, no, no more.

There is nothing on Peacock that I need so badly that I'm going to pay for another subscription.

And then of course they go

Hey, guess what?

We got you Packers.

It's like, it's like they're playing got your nose.

Hey,

got your Packers.

You want to watch them, huh?

Except to pay.

And then everybody says, well, you just take the trial thing and then you cancel the trial.

It's like, you forget or it doesn't work that way or whatever.

So many people are going to go to a bar, sports bar, restaurant, whatever.

And they're going to be like,

we don't have Peacock.

Get out of here.

I wonder, is it possible that it's one of those games that's not pay walled on Peacock?

Because I know that's happened before.

I've watched stuff on there that you didn't have to pay to watch.

I would not be surprised if you could get it for free, but of course you have to then give them like your email address or something and then you will be bombarded with solicitations to actually become a paying subscriber to Peacock.

I'm going off

the grid.

Consider yourself warned on this National Apps Day that there is one more app that you just might have to get.

Any other calendar notes today?

It is International Mountain Day.

International Mountain Day?

Yes, if you're a fan

of a mountain.

Hug a mountain today.

Tell them it's their special time.

All right.

Do you have a favorite?

You're in Wisconsin.

You're

supposed to say rib mountain, rib mountain.

It's the best mountain, of course.

I was going to say Mount Olympus.

This is kind of embarrassing.

One of my favorite sites ever was in Banff, Canada.

And there's a big old mountain there, and I do not remember the name of it.

But anyway, OK, one more.

It's National John Day, J-O-N.

Oh, so if your name is spelled incorrectly, J-O-N, this is your day.

Hey, congratulations to all of you.

You're right for what?

If you have any problems, just send that email to Parker Olson with an E. We can be in that group as well.

I'm Pat Krightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

You

know

the words.

What was that?

This is Jason Kelsey

Singing a song You may guess the name of said song Maybe oh beer Oh beer indeed.

Okay.

Okay.

Yes

This is part of what you can get on it the Jason Kelsey Vinyl that is coming out.

He's gotten that behind the microphone

There are two sides to the seven inch vinyl.

It had they will only be selling a hundred copies.

Oh, beer.

A hundred copies.

A hundred copies of the

vinyl.

I'm sure everybody else will stream it.

I see.

Yes.

Yeah.

I'm assuming.

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

It is part of the Kelsey's Jason and Travis garage beer.

There's a beer, obviously.

And yeah, you can get

You can get the vinyl.

There are readings such as the reindeer and the red drink.

Oh, yeah.

Here we go.

Side B features Jason reading the reindeer and the red drink described as a very real, very true, definitely historical tale about the origins of Christmas and the importance of sharing a beer in your garage.

I can't argue with that.

Merry Christmas, you filthy

animal.

Merry Christmas.

The Kelsey's, they just...

This was their year.

They they own media this year.

Yeah, both the boys and Kylie and what's that it on Taylor who's kind of in the family now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe she can get on the album next year.

Maybe.

I mean, if they literally audition, she may or may not be good enough for that.

All right.

What else do we

have in entertainment news?

Also in entertainment news countries are boycotting Eurovision Eurovision is the European European singing competition Each country sends representative and it's a huge thing Iceland Spain Ireland Slovenia and the Netherlands have all said that they are boycotting Because Israel is going to be participating obviously there

boycotting due to their Israeli involvement in

Palestine.

Who doesn't love international competition that is influenced by global politics?

Yes.

Olympic boycotts.

And I guess I've learned something here.

I knew the Eurovision Song Contest was big and it's been around for decades.

Yeah.

I seriously thought it was just restricted to Europe but I'm learning here that actually other countries began participating in the 70s and that you know it's just it is a big deal.

It's kind of like the metric system of musical competition where everybody else is in it but not us.

We don't want to be part of your reindeer games over there.

We've got our own way of doing things and we'll run

Oh, who's the comedian on Saturday Night Live?

Talked to people at George Washington and all the different ways

that you'll measure things.

Is it

Nick Barghetti?

Nick Barghetti, yeah.

Nick Barghetti.

Yes.

We will call

it a

mile.

Nobody knows.

Yeah, we're kind of that way with the Eurovision Song Contest as well.

So,

all right.

Well,

what else?

The Zach Brown band has stirred up a little bit of...

I don't know what to call this, frankly.

They were playing in the sphere in Las Vegas and there were some images that got the attention of some people that they used.

There was one that was like a giant skeleton with a really jagged crown on basically.

Oh yes,

I'm seeing now it looks like something had a game of thrones.

Yeah, and people have reacted and said that this was a satanic ritual.

Exactly.

So TMZ went to the Church of Satan and said, Hey, what's up?

What do you what do you think of this?

And they're like, yeah, no, that's not that's not satanic at all.

That looks like it's not us.

Yeah, we're not claiming that.

It looks like glorified Halloween decorations, guys.

What are we doing?

Yeah, that's that's just it.

Yeah.

So they went to the the satanic Reverend Jared Mammon.

who goes by his unholiness and thinks it's just decades old hysteria brewing up again.

Whenever the masses interpret that everything that amounts to glorified Halloween decorations must be satanic.

And that that's just backwards thinking.

So honestly, of all the groups that you would have told me are in trouble because they use satanic imagery.

Right.

Zach Brownban?

Not on that list.

No.

Not on that list.

Now, I got to say that this particular image for their concert at the Sphere,

it

definitely does not look like something you'd expect from the Zac Brown band.

Again, it's basically a skeleton with this outcropping from the top of it that kind of looks like the back of the throne in Game of Thrones with all the swords.

It's not, it does not have any deep, you know, or any other Zach Brown song coming to mind when I see that.

So maybe they've learned something from all of this.

Maybe.

If you got a brand, you know, stick to the brand.

Yeah.

That's a good idea.

It works.

It works for them.

So perhaps like Coke, why would you change your formula?

Oh, we're doing, we're doing this again.

Okay.

Fine.

Here's the, here's the thing folks.

We're, we're, we're

getting

some, I don't know if you know this.

I'm not working over the holidays.

So we're putting together some end of the year, you know, best of shows and things like that.

And we've we've had to revisit the list of segments that are going to be played during those two weeks with Christmas in the new year.

And yeah, if you missed it at some point during the year, I was taken aback that Parker never heard of Coke changing its formula to new Coke and how how it was perhaps one of the most earth shattering events.

of the year 1985.

And yet it's not in the history books.

They don't teach this in our schools.

I cannot believe this.

Pat, do

you know that you compared me not knowing about New Coke to you not knowing about World War II?

Yeah.

I think that stands.

I think that's self-obvious if you look at the hullabaloo.

And it was a hullabaloo.

It

was

a major

hullabaloo.

It

was a major hullabaloo that, again, I cannot believe that there's not more in our history classes and our textbooks and all about that.

But anyway, for Parker's first reaction and mine to that, tune in for one of our best of shows coming up over the holidays.

But coming up next here, we are going to have a candidate for a governor.

Joel Brennan, who recently announced, will also have the latest keyword in our grown-up gift list, text to win contest.

I'm Pat Crightlow.

This is the Civic Media.

Network.

Across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Crichtlow powered by Up North News.

Now, for my Lake WSOTA studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Crichtlow.

Hey, good morning.

7 0 6.

Nice to have you back here up north on a Thursday morning.

It's December 11th, 2025.

Parker Olson producing things down in Madison, Studio A2, and we have candidate for Governor Joel Brennan standing by to talk about the campaign that he announced just this morning.

Joining the field of Democratic candidates looking to succeed Governor Tony Evers in the 2026 campaign.

Before we do that though, we've got our grown-up gift list text-to-win contest, a multi-station, multi-state game across the Civic Media radio network.

You take that Civic Media app, you look up one of the stations, you text us the keyword I'm about to give you before eight o'clock.

and you'll be in the running for the daily prize and the grand prize.

And then you can do it again with a different keyword at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1, 3, 5, and 7 p.m.

And then of all those entries today, one will be plucked and will win $200 cash.

Every entry is in the running for three grand prizes, a brand new snowblower, a portable air conditioner, stainless steel cookware set.

For complete contest rules, head over to civicmedia.us.

But for now, until 8 o'clock, the key word to text us is candy.

C-A-N-D-Y, candy.

C-A-N-D-Y, you have until 8 o'clock to text that to us as part of the grown-up gift list, text to win, contest.

From Rob in Tiger Tin, he says, good morning.

It's partly cloudy and nine degrees.

It is a rest day for me.

After a busy day of plowing snow, he said yesterday after work, I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup and it hit the spot.

It would have with me as well, Rob, but I think you probably did a better job taking care of your equipment than I did.

My snow blower kept sputtering out.

I am...

Pretty sure I have a dirty carburetor, and so I have to finish the other half of it after I get that puppy all cleaned out.

So hopefully your day went a little bit easier.

Rob, take it easy on yourself.

Enjoy a little more chicken soup today, if you can.

I hear it's good for your soul.

7-0 is the time right now, and as noted, there is a new candidate for governor in the race, somebody

who is running with a whole bunch of private sector experience and a little public sector experience as one of the top officials in the Governor Tony Evers administration during the first term.

His name is Joel Brennan.

He's president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and he joins us this morning.

Joel Brennan, good morning.

Pat, how you doing?

Very good.

Thanks.

Welcome to the race.

There's plenty of room.

Jump on in here.

I have

10 brothers and sisters, and so I know what it's like to try to elbow your way in at a crowded table, so I'm familiar.

Oh,

there you

go.

OK, yes.

That sounds good.

Tony on YouTube says, is anyone else on the verge of announcing, and is their name Pat Krightlo?

No, Tony.

No.

There are at least seven people who are more qualified than I am, and this guy is one of them.

We've talked to some of the other six and we will throughout the course of the primary between now and August, but Joel is the newest entrance, entrance rather.

So Joel, apart from the 10 siblings, tell us more about your story and how you came to be a candidate for governor.

Sure.

Well, my story is a, is really a Wisconsin story.

My parents, my dad was born in 1927 to a single mom in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

My mother was born actually this day in 1928 in Milwaukee, grew up in Milwaukee and East Troy.

And my dad had a half brother.

My mom was an only child.

They met after my dad was in the service and went to school in the G. K. University, having children.

One of my older siblings died.

They had a child who died of childhood cancer at about a year.

And so I grew up with 10 siblings.

And we didn't have a lot growing up.

My dad was involved in public relations and media and even some political stuff when I was growing up.

But he didn't do a lot of things that were very lucrative.

So we didn't have a lot.

And we all found a way mainly through education.

I worked my way through Marquette University.

And over the last 35 years, I've had positions

in and around public policy, really been a student of public policy that whole time.

I was the head of the Wisconsin's largest science museum discovery world for about 11 years in Milwaukee.

In 2018, when Tony Evers was elected governor, he asked me to serve as the secretary of the department of administration, which is the highest cabinet appointment in the state.

And I did that and was proud to serve with him for three years.

Did things like trying to

restore some of the things we had lost under Scott Walker and the right wing legislature.

By the time that I left after three years, we had a surplus of about $4 billion, a rainy day fund that had gone from a couple hundred million dollars to nearly $1.7 billion.

And it was a time that I was really proud of.

We also, during that time, had to deal with COVID and all the COVID relief dollars and getting resources out to families and farmers and small businesses in Wisconsin that absolutely needed it.

was some of the most gratifying work of my life.

And then about four years ago, just as Tony was heading into the reelection cycle, I left that job to come back to Milwaukee and run the Greater Milwaukee Committee, which is an organization, it's a membership organization that's about civic affairs and how do we...

bring together people from the civic community, the nonprofit community, higher ed, and work on the issues that are most important to southeastern Wisconsin.

I've been proud to do that.

It's a wonderful job.

But at some point, you've got to either be satisfied with the way things are, or you stand up and get in the game.

And people are angry and disappointed and frustrated in Wisconsin.

You see that from the other candidates.

And I think the executive experience that I've had over the last 25 years, the experience

I had in the Evers administration suits me well to be somebody who could not only fight and we all have to fight but get something done.

You know we're all angry at this point and sometimes when people get angry they want to get even.

When I get angry maybe because of the way I grew up and who I am I want to roll up my sleeves and get something done.

So that's part of the reason why I'm inspired to run for this job.

Well that you know getting something done would be you know remarkable in the state capital these days given what's going on but when you first came to it and were you were not

to be Governor Evers' Secretary of Administration.

You were one of the few cabinet members unanimously confirmed by Senate Republicans, people pointing to your private sector experience.

Now, again, I'm not saying that there's gonna be bipartisan love now that you've announced that candidate for governor, but you've got that track record that you think is gonna bring people together.

Tell me more about your...

your lane of the campaign, I guess, is the way I'd put it, because we've got a state senator, we've got a state representative, we've got a county executive, we've got a former lieutenant governor, we've got the former head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, all in this race, and the current lieutenant governor.

So when when when Democratic voters for the primary are looking at this whole field, what is it they see in you?

It's not going to be on the issues.

I doubt that there's a lot of space on the issues here.

So what is it that they're seeing in you in terms of both electability,

but then also what kind of a governor you would be.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's a great question.

And by the way, like, I know all the other candidates, we're all friends and I respect them.

I worked with a lot of them during the Evers administration.

And so, you know, I think if there's a, and I actually sometimes, well, political people are going to do this, I bristle a little bit at somebody saying, Hey, what's your lane?

You know, because I think when we reduce people to an ideological or geographical or demographic lane, we're kind of reducing the opportunities for the party as well.

I'm a proud Wisconsin progressive.

I'm a

The thing I'm going to lean into is I have had over the last 25 years a succession of executive experiences.

And I think executive experiences are different than being in the legislature.

They're different than some of the other experiences that people might bring to the job.

And it truly is about making those executive decisions.

Now, there's none of us who can lay claim to having been governor before.

And you only understand and know once you get the job.

But the opportunity that I had at the Department of Administration, and you worked in state government, and you're aware of what DOA does, sometimes they call it the Department of All, mainly because it has the ability there, it really is the one place where you work across the enterprise.

So whether it's the state budget, procurement,

information technology, all the real estate that gets done, the things like all the human resources across 35,000 people in the in state government.

You know, I had the ability to work on all of those things and work arm in arm with the governor on things like how to how could we kind of bring the state back and start to respect working people after eight years of Scott Walker and a right wing legislature.

And and I think we had some success with that.

And I think one of

One of the things that will be different for the next governor is with the fair maps that we have now and the opportunities that are there in the legislature, we truly have an opportunity to have a democratic majority in either one or both houses of the legislature, and that will afford us the chance to do something that is more on the offensive than we were able to do under Governor Evers.

He has done a terrific job with the decks stacked against him.

People sometimes, they think about this, the gerrymandering that's happening now,

or what Donald Trump is doing at the federal level, you know, just as you left the legislature, that's what the Republicans did in Wisconsin.

And that's been the case for the last 15 years.

We finally have a chance with Fair Maps to...

kind of play on a level playing field.

And so I think there's opportunities we have in areas like healthcare, in childcare, in K-12 education, in reinvesting or investing again in the higher ed system in Wisconsin, which has always been the envy of the state and the envy of other places across the country.

And we have disinvested in it.

So I think there's opportunities there now.

And that's what I'm going to be leaning into as I go around the state and talk to people.

I'd like to think that

the upbringing that I had and kind of having to work four or five jobs to get myself through college, a series of the experiences that I have and the breadth of those experiences, those are the types of things I think that I'm going to try to appeal to people on.

And I want to, you know, if I've invested anything in the 35 year career that I have, whether it's the people in the Chippewa Valley or in southeastern Wisconsin or the Fox Valley, it's in relationships and the depth of those relationships.

And that's what I'm going to try to do when I go around the state and talk and listen to people.

Joe Brennan is a candidate for governor.

His website is Brennanforwi.com.

Brennan is B-R-E-N-N-A-N, F-O-R-W-I, the dot com.

And then of course all the social media sites that will be going up as well.

And just in the time we have left here, just a couple of minutes to talk about obviously the midterms.

That's when Wisconsin holds its gubernatorial elections.

It's also a referendum on the president.

You've worked with a lot of Republicans.

I've worked with a lot of Republicans, and they don't want to say it out loud.

A lot of Republicans not really happy with Donald Trump.

Do you feel that, again, not to oversimplify things, but do you feel like you have more of an in there than maybe some of the other Democratic candidates do?

I don't know.

I think my opportunity is that there is frustration and anger regardless of party right now and regardless of where people are on the ideological spectrum.

People are hurting.

Within the next few weeks, you're going to have 200,000 plus people in Wisconsin who are going to lose their health care, tens of thousands more who are looking at doubling or tripling their premiums.

This year in 2025, we're going to have the first time home buyers now are the average age is 40 years old.

Five years ago, it was 33.

years old.

In the Chippewa Valley, we're creating a society where we're all renters, where people can't be kind of achieving that American dream by being able to be homeowners and build wealth.

And we've got Donald Trump running around the country saying that affordability is a democratic hoax.

He wants us to believe it's the abominable snowman.

It's the wolf at the door for thousands of Wisconsin residents.

And we need to be able to articulate that, but also articulate a vision for where we're going.

So that's what I'm going to do.

The opportunity I think in Wisconsin is that it's not just along ideological lines anymore.

Everybody's frustrated, but they want to know who's going to roll up their sleeves and do something about it.

And I've got a career and a track record of doing that.

And you can learn more about it at Brennan4wi.com.

Joel Brennan is the newest entry this morning as a candidate for governor for the state of Wisconsin in 2026.

Joel, thanks for stopping in, letting the audience get a chance to meet with you.

I'm sure we'll be talking again soon.

I look forward to it.

Pat, thanks for having me today.

All right.

Thank you.

Have a great day.

Again, that is Joe Brennan, new candidate for governor.

And we'll talk a bit more about that with Joseph Pachy coming up in our eight o'clock hour as we look at some of the week's big state political headlines.

But we have much more ahead here on this Thursday morning edition of Mornings with Pat Crightlow powered by Up North News here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Sean O'Malley talking about your money in the markets in just 15 minutes.

See you soon.

Nice to have you back on this Thursday morning.

It is December 11th.

We've got Sean O'Malley coming up in just a little bit to talk about your money and the markets and the whole notion of flying blind as we seem to be doing now with so many different government reports being just cancelled and just trust the AI bubble.

We've been told just do that instead.

Let's see what else is making news on this Thursday morning here.

I have noted with

with the interest that there has been another Sean Duffy citing in the news.

Apparently, he is now wanting to improve airports in many ways, and there are many ways you could, but that includes doing some workouts, play areas for kids, but also workout areas.

Duffy says a workout area

where people might get some blood flowing and doing some pull-ups and some step-ups at the airport, which has one of the Daily Show correspondents saying, you think people want to work out while they're at the airport?

Everyone at the airport is already exhausted from traveling, all right?

We can't even walk to the gate.

You had to invent floors that walk for us.

And this is the same guy in Sean Duffy who wants to dress up when we fly.

So, what, now I'm doing pull-ups in a tuxedo before my 12-hour flight to Hawaii?

Why don't you just throw in a hot yoga room in the terminal so everyone really smells bad when they board the plane?

And Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary in the Biden administration, also had a little fun with this, noting in a different talk show setting.

There are a lot of problems that we could be working on right now that any transportation secretary could be working on right now Maybe fitness centers at the airport isn't where Sean Duffy should be spending most of his time but as Somebody else noted about the US transportation department and some of the things that should be priorities Duffy recently here right here on his Twitter feed says

We've now knocked 9,500 truck drivers out of service for failing to speak our national language, English.

This administration will always put you and your family safety first.

Well, first off, Mr. Duffy, English is not our national language.

We don't have one.

We've been a melting pot since your relatives came here as well.

But it's an interesting flex for the Secretary of Transportation to be bragging about taking jobs away from nearly 10,000 workers.

in an already ailing economy and then figuring out how we're supposed to get goods to market.

But that's where Sean Duffy's priorities are right now.

Nobody has ever said that safety shouldn't be a concern with truck drivers and everybody else.

But again, it's the mass deportations, it's the mass firings.

that are hitting people without any kind of due process or necessarily justification that really make this such this meat cleaver approach to government and to our economy so unhelpful.

And there are people who get impatient with scalpels, but totally understand that.

But sometimes a chainsaw is not necessarily the way that you want to come in there next.

And that's what we're seeing happen with both transportation as well as immigration and other matters as well.

But again, that's the that's the Sean Duffy approached all of this and he's rightly getting an earful on it.

Republicans are also getting an earful this week on the vote that's going to be taken in the Senate all about the

enhanced premium tax credits for affordable Care Act plans.

Now, again, that was a pandemic era subsidy that expired.

and that's been the Republican line.

Hey, they expired.

That's how this goes.

Well, yeah, but so did the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the wealthy, and when Congress made it a priority to renew them, they did.

And Democrats wanted to be a priority, frankly, most American families wanted to be a priority, to also extend the enhanced tax credit that make health insurance more affordable in this country.

As part of a deal to end the government shutdown, Republicans in the Senate said, fine, we will hold a standalone vote, an up or down vote on extending or restoring health insurance credits.

Republicans in this made no such promise.

And so this whole thing is looking, you know, much like political theater anyway.

But as you know, things are already not looking great for Republicans in the midterms in 2026.

That's that's just par for the course.

The

party that holds the White House often finds itself on the defensive.

Well, even more so when everybody sees how much their health insurance costs have gone up.

So there have been some House Republicans, especially from districts that are, shall we say, quite purple, to come up with something.

And it only makes sense that they come up with something because this is the crowd that has always talked about repeal and replace.

They want to repeal the Affordable Care Act and then they want to replace it with something.

And there's never been a replacement plan that comes close to doing what the Affordable Care Act has been doing for people.

And frankly, as mentioned in an article in Politico, House Republican leaders.

did not present any new firm plan on Tuesday and anxiety is rising in the House Republican ranks.

Speaker Mike Johnson told attendees of a closed-door conference there was a list of 10 possible policies that could get votes in the coming weeks or months according to five different Republicans who were in the meeting.

The list did not include

an extension of the expiring tax credits, which are going to impact 20 million Americans.

There was some talk of health savings accounts that that is the ever ready bunny of GOP health care is if we just they only say put the money back in the hands of Americans and let them make decisions for themselves that.

just takes us right back to where we were before the Affordable Care Act.

You have to have the money first off in a health savings account, and then you have to get the insurance companies not to jerky around to the degree that they were before you had some of the requirements from the Affordable Care Act.

But there's also a plan that's called a Pharmaceutical Benefit Manager Oversight, and one other bullet point wasn't quite a plan.

It simply said innovation, which I guess is kind of like concepts of a plan, but we still don't even know what the concepts are.

Sean O'Malley is next to talk about your money in the markets and will continue our 12 days of community kindness as well.

I'm Pat Critello, this is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back, it is 735.

I'm Pat Critello here in Chippewa Falls and Candy, C-A-N-D-Y.

Candy is the keyword this hour in Civic Media's grown-up gift list statewide text-to-win contest, a multi-station, multi-state game.

Every entry throughout the course of the day gets you in the running for a $200 cash prize.

And of course, one of three great grand prizes as well.

Head to civicmedia.us to learn more.

But until eight o'clock this morning, use the Civic Media app to text us the word candy, C-A-N-D-Y.

And then different keywords throughout the day, starting again at 9 a.m.

with Jane Matenair and Greg Bach for Matenair on Air.

We're going to be doing our 12 days of Christmas, sorry, our 12 days of community kindness coming up in

less than 10 minutes and we'll be talking about Project Fire Buddies, but first it's time for our visit with Sean O'Malley to talk about your money and the markets.

Sean, good morning.

How are you?

Good morning, Pat.

How are you doing?

Well, I'm okay.

We certainly 11 months now into Donald Trump's second term.

What do you think of it so far?

Are we winning

yet?

Well, I feel like maybe we're past whatever statute of limitations there is for blaming the Biden administration.

But again, based on the lack of reports and everything, that still seems to be what

I'm hearing the most when it comes to the economy.

It just, it just kind of feels like we're flying blind right now.

Yeah, we will pretty much, I mean, we'll get some data here actually in a few days, but of course they didn't want all that data out before the Fed Open Market Committee meeting, which closed out yesterday with a rate cut of 25 basis points due to primarily softening job market.

You know, Trump is still pushing the

This isn't my economy.

It's all due to Biden.

A majority of Americans do not agree with that.

Well, because they heard him say, I will fix this on day one.

Prices will come down on day one.

Right.

Yeah.

Well, affordability went from being a talking point that he was running on as candidate Trump to now as President Trump.

It's a Democratic hoax.

So I don't know how that happened in 12 months, but for 11 months or whatever.

But, you know, that seems to be the story that they're trying to push out there, which isn't, you know,

doesn't have a lot of traction.

Nobody's saying that he promised prosperity, but he did promise affordability and instead what I'm hearing is, well, your kids don't need as many dolls and your kids don't need as many pencils and things like that.

It just doesn't, again, he's not going to give you the Bill Clinton I Feel Your Pain message, but it kind of feels like he's not even

Trying to get.

Oh, yeah.

No.

No.

And empathy is something that Donald Trump has never felt in his life.

Believe me.

And it's weird that it's always dolls and pencils, isn't it?

I mean, those are the only two examples you don't need.

You need to make do with less is what he keeps saying now.

Okay.

So that's the alternative.

That's the solution now, Mr. President.

Make do with less.

You don't need as many pencils.

You don't need as many dolls.

Okay.

Well, I guess we know what the Trump kids are getting for Christmas.

Good to know.

Thanks for

that.

I think that they'll still do all right here.

So what do we know about economic growth?

Because we've certainly talked about the potential for stagflation.

And in what data you are seeing, is that concern still warranted?

Yeah, I think the stagflation concern is definitely there.

We know that the job market is very soft.

That was the primary reason referenced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in yesterday's comments after the FOMC meeting to cut interest rates.

They usually only cut interest rates when you see economic activity slowing down.

Inflation was the second reason, and he said prices are up.

in his comments after the decision for the rate cut.

And we haven't had any hard data on GDP, but all of the estimates from all of the Federal Reserve governors in the various 12 districts are definitely lower.

They're basically on an annualized rate between like 1.4 and 3%.

So we're definitely shifting downward in terms of economic activity, which really shouldn't come as a big surprise to the tariffs.

especially those related to steel and aluminum have had a huge impact on manufacturing.

I mean, I know Trump wanted to make manufacturing jobs a priority, but he basically sabotaged himself to make sure there was no way that that was possible to happen.

And so much of it is still tied up in courts and so much is still up for debate.

And then there are still the certainty of what's to come.

And those would be, you know, the cuts that are coming, the massive cuts that are coming in the big bloated boondoggle.

And I mean, again, some of it, quite a bit of it has been pushed off until after the 2026 elections.

But that doesn't mean that people won't make an issue out of all these looming cuts that are out there as well.

Exactly, Pat.

I mean, you were just talking about sort of, you know, what's happening with the ACA subsidies, right?

They're going away.

The Republicans don't want to do anything because, of course, dear leader doesn't want any sort of, you know, form of the ACA to continue even though he's had what?

nine years more to come up with some sort of plan.

And all we've heard is, you know, concepts of a plan.

That's not much of a plan, Mr. President.

So I think we'll stick with what we've got that's actually working.

But don't forget, those happen right now.

So we're seeing the price tag hit on those 20 million Americans are seeing the increase.

And as a double smack to farmers, since they're self employed, guess where they get their health insurance?

But

what we've heard, and I mentioned just a little bit ago from the House Republican Caucus, is coming back to a familiar chestnut, health savings accounts.

And of course, you have a lengthy career in finance and ways, you know, good ways to park your money and maybe bad ways to park your money.

Is health savings accounts an adequate replacement for the Affordable Care Act?

No, it's an excuse.

Health savings accounts are a way to save money pre-tax so that you can pay for either deductibles or health insurance.

So what the Republicans are trying to do, what they typically try to do is say, oh, you should just get some sort of catastrophic health insurance and then park money that you would have been using to pay for real health insurance into a health savings account so that you can pay for the deductibles should you have to use.

you know, up to whatever the the self-insurance point is on your catastrophic health insurance.

Um, not a great plan.