(Not) At Your Service (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.

It is 6.06 a Thursday morning, December 18th, 2025, one week to go until Christmas.

It's another beautiful morning to have you here up north, live from Lake Wissota, from wherever you're spending your mornings, listening across the Civic Media radio network on our penultimate show.

It's one of my favorite words.

Why do we need such a big fancy word to say second to the last?

It's our penultimate show, and here we are before we wrap things up.

tomorrow and hope that you will join us for, you know, one more live edition from up here on Lake Wissoda.

By the way, another reminder, there will still be two more weeks worth of shows after this.

They will be mostly best ofs, but to entice you, we've sprinkled in some fresh stuff as well along the way.

Parker and I have been working on that as he produces things down in Madison Studio 2A.

But first, I got a question for you.

Why

is President Grumpy screaming so loudly at the TV cameras.

It's supposed to be a televised speech, you know.

One of those speeches you can just deliver in a conversational tone of voice.

And instead, he's screaming that you're not really feeling what it is that you're feeling.

And by the way, it's Joe Biden's fault.

Did I mention it's Joe Biden's fault?

Joe Biden, Joe Biden this, Joe Biden that.

Why is Joe Biden still living rent free?

And Joe Biden, and Donald Trump's head.

This song seems to say it all.

Kylie Minogue is going to sue me for using the song in this context, but honestly, let it go.

And maybe it's, I mean, personally, it's because he knows he can't.

say Barack Hussein Obama too many more times although I mean the jig is up everybody knows you're a crazy racist but Joe Biden will be the proper substitute for saying you know those people those Democrats and everybody else the numbers don't lie as far as where we are in this country right now and we'll talk more about that coming up this morning as well as something that was once upon a time rare

in Congress.

Something called a discharge petition to force a vote on things and some moderate Republicans are now forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on resurrecting those tax credits that help make health insurance more affordable to more Americans.

We'll talk about that today as well along the way you can join us at 855-757-855-752-4842.

You can also use the Civic Media app to call us or text us or leave us a voice note.

We will be talking to Joseph Peckie here this morning.

Of course, we'll talk about that self-fulfilling prophecy among Republicans that government doesn't work, especially when we're in charge, Republicans say, because we're going to break everything and then tell you that government doesn't work.

So we'll go over some of that.

Sean O'Malley will be here to talk about your money and the markets and the economy and the numbers and the numbers are not good.

Not good right now.

And we'll do a little bit more fact checking of the president's quote unquote economic address.

We'll help connect the dots on your high property tax bills because they are out and they are higher in many cases.

And there is a new report out by a nonpartisan research group.

The report needed more than 2,000 words to describe why this month's property tax bills are higher than the ones you got a year ago.

They really only needed a handful of words to connect the dots.

A Republican legislature passed the buck.

Rather than contribute a fair share to local governments and the education of our children, GOP lawmakers once again are forcing municipalities and educators to look like the bad guys just to maintain a current level of services.

We'll talk to Joseph Peckie about that coming up in a bit.

Chad Holmes will be here from our Civic Media Station in Wasaw as well.

Let's see.

The Up North News Daily newsletter is out.

Ellie Bordeaux, who was marking her birthday here yesterday with us, has put it together.

And there's an article here about the Packers fan of the year who uses Packers games to teach her class of first grade students.

Also, a story on how chatbots

AI chatbots are spreading misinformation about abortion to Wisconsin residents and some lawmakers want to fight back.

So all that and more in our newsletter sign up for it and up north news wi.com.

All right, let's scoot down to Madison now studio a to where Parker Olson is now standing by.

I'm forgetting how these buttons work over here.

I'm already starting to forget the buttons that I won't be needing.

any more after this week.

Now I'm just pressing things willy-nilly.

I got

worried for a second there.

You made me the full screen.

I was like,

oh, God, are you going to tell me something?

Do we need to close up my reaction?

You take it from here.

I got this.

I don't like long goodbye.

So that's it.

We're done.

No, it's not.

You're getting along.

Goodbye.

Yeah, this is this.

I mean, it's not it's not the the year-long, you know, Jane Mattenair one, but it's close enough.

So Alicia says happy belated birthday to Ellie.

Yes, absolutely.

And Alicia's also says on YouTube.

Oh boy, the property tax issue.

There's a few legislators trying to build a case for their 2026 runs blaming Democrats for the consequences of their votes on the new state budget.

That's, that's just not going to fly either.

So, I mean, there's so many end of the year things that we're covering over the next couple of weeks.

In fact, Parker can attest, I sprung a news quiz on him.

I did.

An end of the year news quiz.

Well, I mean, again, it was a pop quiz.

True.

I didn't get to study.

Kind

of messed up at

you.

No, that's, yeah.

Again, let me give you one example.

Spoiler alert for, for our shows next week.

Katy Perry went to outer space.

Yeah.

If you had told me that was a year ago or two years ago, I would have said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that.

No, it was this year.

Yeah.

You know, I just

remember that being this year.

We brought up a few different things really.

Was that really this year?

Oh, yeah.

Yes, it was.

So it's been what what a decade it was this year, huh?

What a decade

this month.

Oh, there's been there has been a lot.

But yeah.

Eventually, we are ticking the days down till the holiday break.

Christmas is just one week away.

I think I have everything.

I think I have everything.

Yeah, I know.

This is the point now where we go, oh no, I forgot this or that.

But at the moment, I think I'm okay.

I am in the stage of I have ordered things.

I ordered things like first week of December and they're not here.

Oh, yeah.

And I'm starting to sweat a little here,

Pat.

Well, I did reach that point with a gift that I have to get somebody.

And I had just the right thing in mind.

And I went online to a couple of different sites.

And one thing that's really frustrating is when you're browsing, you know, there's Amazon, there's Etsy, there's, you know, some of these other sites.

And you see the item at first.

And it says, you know, we'll arrive Saturday or something like that.

Then you go click on it.

When you go click on it to actually put it in your cart, then it says, you know, we'll arrive Sunday or Monday or something like that.

Like, what?

I need this.

I need this now because I'm going on the road.

I need to have this gift with me.

My money

and I want it now.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Let's see.

Jim and Campbell score.

Jim in Campbell Sport.

Pat, forgive me.

I didn't listen to his rant.

What I did hear reminded me of his COVID rants in 2020.

Make him walk out and cry.

Jim in Campbell Sport, listening on WAUK.

Jim, thank you very much for that.

No, you caught more of the speech than I did because I caught absolutely zero.

I was out having a Christmas dinner with some friends and came back home and there's, I'm looking up social media, saw this.

Why is he screaming?

Why is he shouting?

Yeah.

And you made it, what, 15 minutes?

You said it was an 18-minute speech, so you almost got through it

all.

Oh, was it?

Oh, wow.

Yes.

Wow.

I don't know.

Might be one of the shortest ones ever.

Genuinely, I got through 15 minutes and then thought, I cannot take another half hour of this.

Which

would have been par for the course.

And in fact, a couple of the president's allies said it was a great speech because it was only 18 minutes.

That's not what constitutes a great speech.

It's what's in the actual speech that does it so You're you're you're better man than I for tuning in or I'm a smarter man.

I was gonna say I think you're not tuning in Either either way.

All right.

Well, I could I could be at this for a while But let's let's go ahead and look at some of the fact-checking on this and the only reason I bring it up

Is because I watched a national report on one of the TV channels this morning And it was just infuriating the lack of fact-checking.

It's like Trump says this and Trump says that and Trump says that and like It's that's not reporting.

That's stenography, you know

And yes, it would take a while to point out everything that he got wrong.

But you could start with the basics, as noted by fact checker Daniel Dale at CNN, that inflation isn't down.

you know inflation is roughly the same as what it was when he took office and it wasn't the worst inflation ever not even close and he knows that and he's still telling the lie about you know gas being a dollar ninety nine a gallon with a national average is two ninety one he again used the misleading claim about Thanksgiving dinner prices comparing apples to oranges in terms of the size

of the items and the number of items that are in there.

Trump said there has been 18 trillion dollars in investment in the U.S.

so far.

That number was pulled out of out of out of a but some place because even the White House's own website says it's been about nine trillion in investment.

So he doubled that.

But even the nine trillion includes commitments that were made during the Biden administration.

That are just coming to fruition now He again repeated his false claim that he had ended eight wars this year Some of those places he said are no longer at war are in fact still at war He again wildly inflated the figures on undocumented immigrants

He again repeated his false claim that there will be no tax on social security through his big bloated boondoggle of a budget bill.

He again claimed that crime was at record levels under Joe Biden.

It was not.

On and on it goes.

And again, all I ask is that the national media covering this, just don't do stenography.

That's it.

And you know what?

Correcting the record does not make you partisan.

He might hate it, but it doesn't make it partisan.

In Congress, a discharge petition is an extremely rare tool.

A majority of members of any party can sign it and force a full vote on a matter, even if the leadership wants to keep it bottled up.

But now for the fourth time, House Speaker Mike Johnson has had his hand forced by members of his own party

Joining along with Democrats this time to allow an up or down vote on resurrecting the tax credits that helped keep health insurance affordable for 20 million Americans It's only the latest sign

of economic dysfunction from Republican lawmakers and a president and if you head over to our website upnorthnewswi.com you'll see my new article there posted yesterday with all of the latest numbers on the Wisconsin economy for example the average family is paying 671 dollars more in 2025 for the same goods and services as 2024 despite Trump promising inflation would be in full retreat by August

last August.

The median income Wisconsin family will lose a combined $1,060 a year from Trump's trade war tariffs and the effects of the mega bill.

You've got of course the big health insurance price hikes that are going up.

You've got many of the people on snap benefits losing those benefits all while that man is having some fun turning the White House into rubble and holding great Gatsby parties and building a gilded ballroom.

We need a break.

Let's talk about what is happening for fun in Wisconsin.

This coming weekend, Jerita Booker tells us more in a bit.

I'm Pat Krightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

All right, here we go.

Last dance.

Last chance to hear from Sherida Booker, our social media manager, talking about some events that you can take place around Wisconsin, events you can go to around Wisconsin this weekend.

Sherida, hello.

Hi, Pat.

How are you?

I'm okay.

Thanks.

We're, you know, we're in the home stretch here and can't wait to see what all we got planned for 2026, but I really appreciate you joining us on these Thursday mornings to talk about some weekend events people really like hearing about these.

Yeah, I'm gonna miss it and I guess we'll have to find another way to figure out how to update people on the weekend events.

I think that'll be one of our little video assignments.

We'll just put that up on, you know, every week over on the Up North News Facebook page or something.

So I don't know, stay tuned for coming attractions.

But for one more time on the radio, let's pick out three events that people can go to.

And I gotta

bone to pick with this first one here.

It's called cave and cocktails.

The bone I have to pick has nothing to do with the cave or the cocktails, but tell folks about the event.

So if you're looking for something different to do this weekend, this Friday you can check out

Cave and Cocktails, which is a new concert series at Cave of the Mounds in Blue Mounds.

It's a happy hour underground with five local music from Corey Hart.

And the night includes a guided cave tour, a drink and light appetizers.

Tickets are $40 and you can grab those at caveofthemounds.com.

But no,

but no, not that Corey Hart.

Right away.

I jumped into this.

I'm like, wait a minute.

Corey Hart is doing.

cave and cocktails at Cave of the Mounds and

it says on the

site there, Corey Hart, you're thinking the guy that does sunglasses at night.

Oh, okay.

See, I thought Corey Hart was it.

Like, I remember Corey Hart from the Brewers, right?

There's

also a Corey Hart from the Brewers.

It is neither one of them.

It is a guy, I went to his website.

It's, his name is Corey C-O-R-E-Y and he goes by Corey Matthew Hart.

Now, Corey Matthew Hart has some very interesting music here.

It's very sweet.

But it's not that Corey Hart, even though that's what it says on the event webpage.

So just be aware, this sounds like a great event.

Like you said, cocktails in a cave, great environment

and

everything else.

But when you see that Corey Hart is playing on Friday, not that.

Corey Hart, just, just, you know, a word to the wife.

People showing up there with like their autograph books thinking they're going to see a former Milwaukee brewer there or the guy that had that song 30 years ago.

No, no, no, no.

Everyone's confused.

Corey Matthew Hart, who is now on notice.

He should probably pick a show business name, a new stage name or something like that.

Anyway, so having set the record straight on that, let's go to our next event coming up on the weekend.

This one's on

Sunday in Milwaukee.

Yep, so if you still need to get some holiday shopping in Milwaukee Makers Market is hosting its official holiday.

market this Sunday at Discovery World.

It runs from 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

and admission to the market is free.

You'll find more than 50 local artists, makers, and bakers selling everything from jewelry and ceramics to candles, leather goods, and clothing all made right here in Milwaukee.

The market is set up inside Discovery World's pavilion, so it's all indoors.

Just know that general admission still applies if you want to explore the full museum or aquarium.

And the market is one of the longest running shop small markets in the city.

and it's a good chance to support local businesses while finishing up your holiday shopping.

For more information on that, visit MilwaukeeMakersMarket.com.

And again, don't let this one fool you, because when I saw Milwaukee Makers Market, Milwaukee Makers Market, the bourbon lover in me was like, wait, does this have something to do with Makers Mark, the bourbon?

No, no, no, no, it's Milwaukee Makers Market.

market.com.

Go there.

Again, great event.

Just want to make sure everybody's all set to go on this one.

Our final event celebrates the winter solstice, which takes place on Sunday morning at about 9am Sunday morning central time.

This is an event though that takes place a little bit later on in the day.

Yep.

And this event is held by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

and it'll be held at Whitefish Dooms State Park in Door County.

And the summer or the winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year and also signals the gradual return of longer days.

The event runs from four to six p.m.

and includes a sunset hike along the beach.

And after the hike, there will be a fire, hot cider, and just time to reflect on the past year and the one ahead at the picnic shelter.

Costumes and light up attire are welcome and pets are allowed.

I don't know the relevance of the costumes.

I should do some research on that.

Probably

some kind of pagan tradition or something to to create the solstice.

I don't know.

Maybe if everybody's just bring sunglasses, they can dress up like Corey Hart.

I don't know.

I'm mixing up mixing up the events here.

But people can find out more through the DNR, I would imagine.

Yes.

And if you go there, don't forget a state park vehicle sticker is still required.

Yes.

Okay.

So there you go.

We're going to mark that.

And then that always makes me happy because the days do get longer after that bit.

bit by bit.

So we are almost to that point, the shortest day of the year.

Things get a little better.

Things get a little brighter moving forward.

Well, Sharita, we're done here on the radio.

Obviously, we're working together every day at Up North News moving forward.

But just here for the purposes of this lovely program, thank you for being so wonderful.

Have a great Christmas and I'll

talk to you a

little bit later on.

You too, Pat.

Merry Christmas.

Thank you, Sharita.

Appreciate it so much.

Let's see.

It is 628 right now, so we've got time for just one quick other note that's in the news about Wisconsin Eye going dark.

Recall we had John Hankison from Wisconsin Eye earlier in the week, and there is now a new bill put forward by a couple of Democrats that would create an office of the Public Affairs Network within the Wisconsin Department of Administration tasked with providing unedited live video and audio coverage of government proceedings.

It got me wondering.

took a look through and there are several examples of state-based channels that cover state government, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, among them, all with different types of business models.

And the point that I'd made before is that it seems like Wisconsin Eye has more than established itself for being independent and beyond political meddling and has earned, you know, the support of state resources rather than coverage of state government relying on the whims of charities.

All right, looking ahead to today's history lesson that's coming up.

What do we got in there?

Oh, that's right.

I've got the Grinch and DMX and more.

And I swear it's not DMX singing the Grinch.

but you never know, you gotta stick around for the history lesson that's coming up after the Midwest Farm Report.

I'm Pat Critello, you're up north.

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

Pat Cranklow.

To all who've 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 gonna be so great.

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

That's gonna be fun.

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

history.

So welcome

to today's history lesson, which starts with a car conversation with me and Sherry yesterday.

I mentioned we were going out to dinner last night.

And on the way out to dinner, we heard

Somebody doing all I want for Christmas is you but it was not Mariah Carey And then on the way back from dinner we heard somebody else doing all I want for Christmas is you Okay, not Mariah Carey and we both agreed like there's just some songs where it's like nope cut it off nobody Nobody else gets to do that's Mariah Carey

song.

You want you're not

You're not gonna Same goes here for Thurrell Ravenscrofts.

You're a mean one mr. Grinch

How

you gonna top that you're not Boris Karloff supplied the voice of the Grinch it premiered on CBS on this day in 1966 So how the Grinch stole Christmas from dr. Seuss 59 years ago debuted on TV It's just it's the perfect song for this.

It is a

really

wonderful

Let's see.

I know we had, I think we came up with one or two other ones and just, again, just let them have it.

You know, come up with other Christmas songs.

That's okay, you know.

This next history lesson item, I did not think I'd still be saying in the year of our Lord 2025, Keith Richards is still with us.

And today, had another birthday, Keith Richards is 82 years old today.

Now,

To be clear, he's starting to feel 82 because this week the Rolling Stones announced that they have cancelled plans for a 2026 stadium tour of the UK and Europe, a source close to the band confirmed this to Variety, following reports that Keith Richards was unable to quote, commit to it.

You

know why Keith

Richards couldn't commit to it?

Because he's 82 years old today.

No.

He's

82 today.

No,

Pat.

It's because he's busy.

He's

got a lot going on.

He had to do another concert here.

He's busy.

Those drugs aren't going to take themselves.

No.

And he's still here.

There you go.

Here's another nice seasonal one on this day in 1892 was the premiere of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.

The premiere took place in St.

Petersburg, Russia, a classical two-part ballet set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a life-size nutcracker doll, which might explain why I've never really seen this thing from top to bottom because that would just wig me out.

Yeah, I think I've only heard this.

I think that's all the nutcracker I remember.

No, you've heard Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.

There's like three songs

that we've all heard, you

know?

But then all the stuff in between, you'd have to actually attend it.

And it's on my to-do list.

Maybe in retirement,

we'll see.

On this day in 2019, six years ago today, the United States House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump.

for the first time I hasten to add.

For using military aid to blackmail Ukraine's leader to get him to make stuff up about Joe Biden.

And Republicans let him skate on that.

On this day in 1961, the number one song was by a group called the Tokens.

All right, you may all weep a weep now at your leisure

The lion sleeps

tonight was the number one song this day 64 years ago by the tokens actor Brad Pitt is 62 years old today This is also the anniversary of the birth of DMX born Earl Simmons this day in 1970

I

suppose this is the part where we usually turn it down in case we accidentally didn't grab the clean version of something.

But DMX passed away four years ago at the age of 50, was born this day 55 years ago.

I mentioned going into the break, DMX maybe doing the Grinch or something like that, wouldn't that make an interesting crossover.

And Alicia put in the comment section on YouTube now that DMX and the Grinch thing reminded me I searched for the Trans Siberian orchestras version of Carol of the Bells my favorite Christmas song and I ended up with a playlist of all the different versions of Carol of the Bells and loved it I thought that was a pretty cool idea if you happen to like a song and there isn't the one signature version as we mentioned earlier and want to hear different versions, you know YouTube will let you do that

and with

a

With AI now, we probably could get DMX singing the Grinch song, you know.

We could, but do we want that?

I don't DMX got a very unique voice.

That might actually be pretty, pretty interesting.

She also puts up, do you remember the other day I mentioned my dad changed the words to blue Christmas?

Yes.

He also changed the words to the line sleeps tonight too, because this is Alicia writing in Alicia wits.

So her dad would sing Alicia wits, Alicia wits, Alicia wits.

That sounds like a great dad.

I'm digging this.

Now, did you, did you grab this one particular quote from Ron White, whose birthday is today?

I did.

One of my very favorite comedians, Ron White, makes a lot of songs about drinking.

So, you know, be warned about that.

And so many lines I'm going to, I'm going to try to repeat, but I'm going to say at least one, let him say at least one of them after getting into a bar fight and them calling the cops.

Cops showed up.

And at that point.

I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability.

I love that.

He's some of my favorite lines.

I've drank so much in my life.

Now on the back of my driver's license, there's a list of organs that I need.

My uncle goes, son, you're never going to find the answers to your problems in the bottom of that bottle.

And I said, I know that's why I'm going to buy another one.

He said, anything has the potential to become a DUI checkpoint.

if you crash your car into it and if you if you've never heard his his small plane flight story he says uh somebody said to the pilot um hey man if one of these engines falls off how far will the other engine take us and the pilot responds all the way to the scene of the crash Ron White has a birthday today he is 69 years old uh Christina Aguilera has a birthday today she turns 45

Former Mouseketeer along with so many other former modern-day Mouseketeers who then made it big on their own.

What a girl wants, beautiful, genie, a bottle, fighter.

At the age of 19, she won the Grammy for Best New Artist and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

On this day in 2018, a meteor exploded over the Bering Sea way up north.

with a force 10 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

It was a, that was a big old blast and we were lucky it happened where it did.

I was going to say I have zero recollection of that, but I'm glad that it wasn't anywhere near

me.

That's probably why.

Cause yeah, thankfully it was way far away.

And finally, happy birthday to Billy Eilish.

C is 24

today.

So

Billie Eilish has a very unique style, a very interesting, very entertaining style for a lot of people.

The question I'd ask about her is kind of what you could have asked about Christina Aguilera and others.

How do you modify that style just enough so that you don't get pigeonholed?

You're going to say every song by Billie Eilish sounds the same.

Is she going to demonstrate ongoing range as the years go by?

So far, it's worked out just fine for her.

Nine Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and oh by the way, two Academy Awards.

Two Oscars for Billie Eilish, who turns 24 today.

She's done more than I have in my life.

As I say,

Ellie Bordeaux turned 24 yesterday, and I just want to call her up and go, you feeling OK about this?

Because I mean, I'm 61, and I'm not going to get anything close to this, you know?

No,

you could be the governor of Wisconsin, Pat.

Remember.

Oh, don't start this again.

No, no, no, no.

Come on.

Let us turn to the National Day Calendar.

What's happening there?

On the National Day Calendar, Pat, it is.

Answer the phone like Buddy the Elf Day.

If you are like me and you did not remember how Buddy the Elf answers the phone.

You don't remember?

Oh, I did not remember.

So for those who don't remember, here you go.

Buddy the Elf,

what's your favorite color for the town?

Hello?

Hello?

Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?

Can you imagine if you answered our callers like that when they called into screen them?

Parker here, what's your favorite color?

That could be our question of the day.

There

you

go.

That'll be a great

show.

High color you're on.

Blue.

Click.

High color you're on.

Green.

Click.

All right.

If you want to answer the phone like Buddy the Elf by all means, go for it.

Just don't be surprised if like in the movie, the caller goes, uh, and hangs up.

Okay.

Click.

All right.

What else we got on the calendar today?

We've also got National Bake Cookies Day.

Bake cookies day.

I love to bake cookies.

So I was frosting cookies yesterday

You were frosting the cook not do you bake cookies?

Have you made cookies?

I cannot say I'm a big baking guy now You cannot say you're a big baking guy.

Yeah The question was have you ever baked cookies?

I

have probably participated in baking cookies.

I have not done so on my own.

On your own.

Initiated the

process of looking at the package on the back of a bag of chocolate chips because you can read and put things into a bowl and make the cookies and it has never occurred to you to seize the initiative and that way when your mom comes home there's freshly baked cookies for her.

I'll see Pat.

I'm a very content man.

Um,

clearly you're living with mom.

She's making the cookies for you.

No wonder you're parked outside and she's in the garage.

Yeah.

If you ever want to get that garage spot, you're going to have

to

make her some cookies this

morning.

When I left, I couldn't remember if I closed the right garage door or not.

So I had to go back and turn around to make sure I closed it.

It was.

Hey, it was closed.

I just wasted my time.

Welcome to adulthood.

It only gets crazier from here.

Let's see.

I think there's one more calendar

item.

Yes, we have also got a crime junkie day.

You're big into like, you

know, several crime junkies, not that they're criminals, but the watching the crime shows the, you know, the murder shows,

how to

catch a murder,

a

date line, and all those others.

Who is your

mom?

You are mom's big into that.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Well, yeah, she's probably

thinking of ways to hide your body when you finally don't make her any cookies and she snaps, you know.

You're really worried about this cookies thing that

I just I'm saying you're a young man now who has the ability to do something new and surprising for the first time.

And whether it's your mom or Christmas dinner or whatever the case may be, I think showing a little initiative would be would be wonderful, especially when they, you know, come out a little overdone and you go, Hey, I tried.

Okay.

I did burn the hell out of peanut brittle one time.

Okay.

I now retract everything I said about you being able to make some cookies.

Just leave it to mom.

We got it.

We got it from here.

All right.

Plenty of head coming up here on this Thursday morning, powered by Up North News on the Civic Media Radio Network, including Joseph Pecky, Chad Holmes, Sean O'Malley and

more.

855-75 Civic is our phone number.

855-752-4842.

You can use the Civic Media app to call or text or leave a voice note for the show as well.

Ted from Appleton is on the line right now.

Ted, good morning.

Thanks for calling in.

Good morning.

I got a question for you.

When are the signs for Pat for governor coming out?

I want to get one.

Parker, did you set this up?

No, I may have interested.

No.

But hey,

he's the

one.

Also, I want to just say the short time that I've been listening to you this summer, I'm going to miss you.

I really enjoyed your show.

I mean, thank you.

Thank you.

I mean, it really does underscore the point that you've only been listening for a short time.

I just haven't won you out yet.

But, you know, I mean, even one or more, right?

Yeah, I mean, all my shows that I really like this summer, they're disappearing on me.

And I'm disappointed in the civic media about that.

But, you know, it is what it is.

Yep.

It'll be a new year.

Yeah.

I really, really did enjoy your show here, sir.

Ted, thank you very much.

I do I do deeply appreciate that.

Thank you for taking the time to call.

And I hope you have a great holiday season.

Oh, yeah, I'm pushing snowpiles.

So you know, I'm having a blast

here.

Yeah, I know we're all we're all living the dream up here on the tundra.

All right.

Thanks, Ted.

Have a great day.

You bet.

Good.

Good to hear from you.

That that was very kind.

And Alicia says on YouTube, Hey, I've been listening since late 2023.

And I love your show.

So we haven't

worn out Alicia yet either, which is very kind.

And yes, civic media is going to be doing all kinds of new things.

In fact, if you look at your Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning, you'll see the next thing that they're doing.

They have purchased a newspaper and radio station in Milwaukee.

The story here in the Journal Sentinel, Civic Media is acquiring the state's first black-owned radio station and its sister newspaper.

The Civic Media announces setting WNOV, 860 AM, 106.5 FM, based out of Milwaukee, and the weekly Milwaukee Courier newspaper, taking over operations on January 1st.

Dr. Gerald Jones founded the newspaper in 1964,

and had been its president for over 60 years before passing away earlier this year at the age of 85.

His company bought WNOV in 1972, making it the first black owned radio station in Wisconsin, one of 30 in the United States.

He added the Madison Times, a black newspaper in Madison in 2013.

Jones' daughter, Mary Ellen, says she and her brother will consult and assist with the transition.

And there's also a quote in here from our friend Earl Ingram, Civic Media's longtime talk show host, podcast host.

and he says this transition marks a new beginning for a long-standing Milwaukee institution allowing it to remain a beacon in the city's black community.

Earl told the Journal Sentinel, many of the staples of the station will remain and a fresh new outlook including a mix of young and old voices will power it into a renewed community-centered platform.

This is the same civic media that recently added stations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and in Ely, Minnesota and other places.

And I am very proud to be associated with a network that is, for lack of a better term, resurrecting local radio in some of these communities.

And let's make clear, civic media did not get into this to be the lefty network, you know, the liberal network of Wisconsin.

They went to bring in products, radio products that people haven't heard in the better part of forever.

There was a lot of syndicated country music DJs that were in Hollywood someplace and couldn't find Wisconsin on a map.

And now you've got music stations that are doing well with local voices.

You've got AM stations with local news and local voices.

And you have statewide talk shows like these.

Now I don't know the future of the statewide talk shows.

I know their commitment to local news and local programming.

And I think that's great, especially when you contrast it to something else that I've seen in the news here.

And Roger from Stevens Point puts it up on Facebook, Cumulus Media.

One of the big behemoths in broadcasting announced yesterday they are shutting down one of Wisconsin's Heritage AM signals on December 31st.

WNAM 1280 has been serving the Fox Cities, Oshkosh and Green Bay for nearly 80 years.

Cumulus has shut down 20 other stations this year.

I'm just going to put in here quickly.

How many radio stations does Cumulus own?

More than 400.

More than 400 radio stations across 84 markets.

That just shouldn't be.

I'm sorry.

When I grew up, the rules were a lot more restrictive.

You could only own seven AM stations, seven FM stations and seven TV stations.

And that was it.

That was the limit.

and then the limits were lifted after that, and it's been all corporatized ever since.

And now I'm seeing these ads on local TV stations from the National Association of Broadcasters saying, whoa, we need to change the rules so that Big Tech doesn't run everything.

And I'm like, oh, that sounds interesting.

Yes, what is it that the broadcasters want so that Big Tech doesn't run anything?

What they want is to loosen up the rules so that broadcast companies can own even more stations than they can own right now.

How's that going to improve your local programming?

It's not it just turns your radio and TV stations into a printing press, you know for the corporate owners So if you can have local ownership or at least state and regional ownership like you have here There's a reason why

folks have been tuning into these stations, and I appreciate that you're tuning into these shows and some of the other shows that we've had over time.

There will be more shows after that, because that's the nature of radio.

Radio has some folks that are around for a long time, you know, like a Jane McNair, but even Jane McNair has worked at how many stations during her career, and then other shows that come and go, and you give them all a try without letting things get stale.

God knows Jane never got stale.

That's why she had a 40 plus year career in radio, because people like you appreciate people like her and shows like this.

So while we're moving on to other things here, civic media is going to continue to grow while keeping that hometown commitment.

And that's something that ought to be saluted and I for one do and I'm very happy about their purchase of WNOV in Milwaukee.

Sean O'Malley is going to talk about your money and the markets and what it is the president was trying to say about the economy and that

ranting speech last night.

That's all coming up after the news.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

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

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

Slurping from a coffee cup that says, I am silently correcting your grammar.

I am Pat Critello.

It's nice to have you back here up north at 7.06.

On a Thursday morning, December 18th, 2025, Parker Olson producing things down in Madison Studio A2.

Coming up later on, we will have Sean O'Malley talking about your money and your markets and that address from the White House yesterday by President Grumpy, screaming about how the economy is not as bad as you think it is and that it's all somebody else's fault.

And Sean will take a look at the numbers and probably have to correct the record coming up in just a little bit.

Also, I'm going to

have a few words to say in just a few minutes here about your property tax bills.

They are higher, by and large, and there's a perfectly good reason for it, and there's a new report out that tries to lay out the reason, but they're too kind.

They need more than 2,000 words to say something that could really be summed up in maybe two words, lazy legislature, or something like that.

So that's coming up.

But first, let's see, from Rob and Tigerton, because we only get two more weather reports from him today and tomorrow.

Good morning from Tigerton with drizzle and 38 degrees.

I was in Chano yesterday for a doctor's appointment, then stacking up on salt for a possible flash freeze later today.

And watch out for those snow squalls as well.

Yes, Rob, you be careful out there on the roads as well.

We were discussing earlier in our history lesson Christmas songs and that there there should be like I don't know if it's a Hall of Fame balloting thing Parker or what but at some point there's this designation of this is that person's song and Nobody else gets to sing it.

We were talking about all I want for Christmas by Mariah Carey Every other version I've heard it's like why why are you even trying to do that?

Why?

And so Jim and Campbell Sport texted in saying that he and his wife were discussing the same thing and he had these suggestions that Holly Jolly Christmas should only belong to Burl Ives.

The Christmas song Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Nat King Cole.

Happy Christmas Wars Over by John Lennon and to just keep it going.

And you know, sometimes the person who wrote the song and maybe even sang it the first time

It's not necessarily their song.

For example, Dolly Parton wrote, I will always love you.

But as soon as Whitney Houston sang it in the bodyguard, it was like, sorry, Dolly, this is not your song anymore.

This is now Whitney Houston's.

Similarly, Billy Joel wrote Shameless.

But a year or two later, Garth Brooks.

recorded shameless.

At that point, it's like, uh, Billy, I'm sorry.

That's no longer your song.

Sorry,

you've been

shown up.

This is not yours.

Terribly sorry.

You lost.

It all started with the thorough Ravenscroft singing, you know, you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

And I mean, you can all have fun with it if you want, but as far as playing it on the radio, I just, I just want to hear the one.

I just want to hear the original.

So what about you?

Do you have versions of songs that you'd be really happy just to hear that one person's version and nobody else really needs to?

Because it's not like we're done making Christmas songs.

There are more Christmas songs all the time.

You know, Kelly Clarkson did Underneath the Tree not that long ago and I really like that one.

So there's always new stuff that's coming along.

It's just that some of the classics.

They got to be classics because one person did it and they did it just right.

Yeah.

Well, some I don't even know that necessarily that it's just right, but sometimes it just feels odd to hear a different voice even.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it really kind of throws you off and you're thinking disorienting.

Maybe this person has a really good take on it and they don't.

Yeah, it's kind of very it's very vanilla by comparison.

It's kind of like if you ever listened to like the original Broadway track of a show.

Mm hmm.

It's very odd to later hear like the 25th anniversary version of it, or maybe there's one or the other.

And once you find the one you like, it's like, oh no, why did we ever do this with the other person?

Now, Greg asks, what about little drummer boy?

Why do we need more versions?

Well, for that one, I'd have to know which version you're talking about.

Is it like the...

Oh, I forget who did the like the real original.

It's one of those coral groups or something like that.

Or are you talking about Bing Crosby and David Bowie doing little drummer boy piece on earth?

Because that one, again, that one doesn't have to be be remade by anybody.

And Tony asking, so this is a classic radio show?

Well,

only in the sense that nobody should try to do a show like this anymore.

There's only so much.

There's only so much sarcasm and old man stories that we can fit into one morning radio show.

Nobody else needs to be doing that.

So only

got a couple hours left.

Yeah,

that's that's that's right.

Do whatever we

want.

Yeah, do what we want.

Let's see.

Chad Holmes is also coming up in our next hour here as well.

And then from a sports standpoint, let's work our way backwards.

On Saturday, the Packers are in Chicago taking on the Bears.

Coverage begins at five o'clock Saturday evening on several Civic Media stations.

On Friday, the Badger Men's basketball team is back in action against Villanova.

Let's see if they have learned anything from the long layoffs since that last embarrassment.

You can hear the game 630 Friday night on a few Civic Media.

radio stations.

And then tonight, the Badger volleyball team in the final four, and they will be taking on Kentucky and hopefully moving on to the national championship game on Sunday.

Oh, wait, I forgot the River Falls football team.

That's Saturday, right?

That is Saturday at noon.

You can stream it on ESPN Plus.

They'll be playing against Johns Hopkins.

All right.

Tom and Hartford on the text line.

Silent night done by Mercy Me, the Christian rock band, is a favorite of his.

So.

I've not heard that one.

Now I have something else that I get to look up.

Always on the lookout for my next favorite Christmas song.

All right, let's talk about a new report that came out from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan research group that does great work taking budget items and policy items and kind of putting them into plain English as best they can.

And I grant you, not everybody sits around reading reports that are put out by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

But I do, and other reporters do.

And frankly, a lot of other people would learn a lot and have maybe a better appreciation for what has to happen at the state or local government level if you looked at what they did.

And they looked at the big hike in local property taxes this month.

All the property tax bills came out last week, this week.

They got to get paid first half, at least pretty soon here.

the average K-12 property tax bill is up 7.8%.

That's the highest increase in more than three decades.

And a lot of people will look at that line under the school district on a property tax bill, see a much higher number, and assume it is the school district's fault that they are getting greedy, that they are trumping up the schools with gold-plated toilets and things like that.

And that is decidedly not the case.

The report says, and in a story about it by Jesse O'Poyne in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

points out that there are a couple of different factors that lead to this jump in property taxes and greed by your local school board is not one of the reasons.

There were decisions made in the most recent state budget by the legislature and then the follow-up would be the referendums that were held by local property tax payers and voters in their local school districts.

Now the new state budget as approved by the legislature and signed by the governor included an increase in how much school districts are allowed to raise for revenue.

Again, you got to keep in mind that your school district cannot just wave a wand and say we want to increase the amount of spending like massively.

There are actually state imposed limits that say this is the most you can raise

the taxes by and spending, and you've got to stay within that, and the legislature can alter that level.

Well, the level also got altered because of a veto in the last-date budget by Governor Tony Evers, who wanted to give school districts more wiggle room than the Republican-led legislature was willing to give school districts.

And so as a result,

for the next 400 years because of the way the veto was written, school districts can increase their state-imposed limits by $325 a student.

And Republicans are out here screaming that it's a 400-year tax increase from Governor Evers.

For 400 years, your taxes are guaranteed to go up.

They're not.

That's an increase in the amount they, the school districts, are allowed to increase their revenue, but they don't have to do it in taxes.

They don't have to do it at all if they don't vote to, but they also don't have to do it if the legislature were to fund that part of it with state dollars that come from things like a state income tax, which is far more fair to far more people than a property tax.

But if a legislature chooses not to increase state funding and a school district wants to increase their revenue by $325 a student, then they got to go to the voters and say, would you be okay raising your property taxes?

And by and large, voters have been saying, yes, they understand that the legislature is not lifting up its share of the load.

It is passing the buck quite literally.

onto local districts and therefore onto local property taxpayers.

The higher property taxes that you're seeing in Wisconsin right now are the direct result of a Republican-led legislature that put in zero new dollars in state general aid to school districts.

No increase at all in general school aid.

Did prices stay steady?

Did nobody in school districts get a raise or earn a raise?

No.

And so if the legislature puts in zero dollars, and they've got the ability to raise anywhere from zero to $325 per pupil, the only place they can go for that is the property tax levy.

Thankfully, voters have been understanding this, but getting a little bit less so, and they're getting very frustrated.

And it is why I have said repeatedly, when there is a referendum in your district, say yes to the referendum.

say no to the legislators who put you in that position of having to vote to raise your own property taxes.

So the Wisconsin Policy Forum, again, great organization, great work, took a little over 2,000 words to say what could have been said in a much more succinct manner.

A lazy legislature passing the buck to property taxpayers.

Once we all understand that, the sooner we can make decisions to potentially have new legislators that will put a focus not on anything extravagant, but on simply enabling school districts to keep up with inflation.

If you've never heard this stat before, brace yourself.

For the past 18 years now, 18 years, state funding has not kept up with the pace of inflation.

There had been no new dollars put into school districts other than keeping up with the rate of inflation.

Schools would be in a healthy place, property taxes would still be at a more affordable level, and we wouldn't be facing this crisis.

This is a manufactured crisis by Republicans in the legislature who simply want to pass the buck.

In much the same way as we discussed recently how they're not applying money from professional fees,

into the department that processes professional licenses.

That money could be applied and it could reduce wait times and improve customer services, but they don't want to do that because it gets in the way of their narrative that government is broken.

And government is only broken when they seem to be in charge and do stuff like this.

Sean Duffy's coming up to talk about your money.

Sean Duffy.

Sean Duffy, whoa.

Wow.

Wouldn't that be something?

That would be a whole different thing.

We'll talk about the possibilities later.

I'm Pat Krightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

It is Pat Krightlow, right?

Greg on YouTube is rightly asking, hey, is Ron Johnson coming on after Sean Duffy this morning, Pat?

No, no, no, Sean O'Malley is coming on.

Tony noting that on our last couple of shows here, we're hearing from lots of longtime listeners.

When is Derek Van Orden calling in?

I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for that one.

Alicia says there's a legislator yelling about a 25% increase on his school district taxes.

Apparently forgot there was a referendum that passed last November because again, his or her neighbors want to continue supporting.

their local schools.

A reminder that Up North News is part of Courier Newsroom.

You can head over to couriernewsroom.com to read news from all of our various state outlets, including Up North News, get links to podcasts and merchandise and more.

A little late this morning, but Parker has some entertainment headlines for us.

Yes, we do, Pat.

Coming up in 2029.

The Oscars will be moving away from ABC, where they've always been, as far as I know.

And they'll be seen

on YouTube.

This is interesting.

Okay, now, first off, that it's not until 2029.

I mean, talk about planning ahead.

But no, seriously, who knows if there'll be a YouTube in 2029?

You know, it's like saying...

There'll

be a YouTube.

Oh, we've talked about companies in the past that you thought were going to be around forever.

And then they weren't.

You know, it might be called something totally different by then.

Maybe Elon Musk will buy it.

And it'll be called, you know, X tube.

Something, something amazingly stupid like that.

Anyway, but it is, it's interesting that even though it is, you know, almost four years away.

Moving from a national televised network to YouTube where anybody can see it is rightly being described as a watershed moment for the entertainment business.

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised simply because much like the

the Grammys, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, all of these things, people look at it and they go, I don't know what these are.

Our

entertainment audience is so fractured these days.

And especially the Emmys, more so than the Oscar.

I mean, when was the last time a TV network

actually won a whole bunch of Emmys.

They put it on their network and they watch as HBO and Prime and all these others, Netflix, get all these awards.

So if it's just not, the ratings haven't been great, so sure, why not move the Oscars to YouTube?

By 2029, we're all gonna be streaming everything anyway.

So it seems like they're just getting ahead of the game.

Yeah, maybe.

You surprised me there, Pat.

I thought you were going to be a little more down on this than

up.

No, I'm down right at the moment on the broadcast.

networks simply because, again, they're so outnumbered by all these other places that don't play by the same rules, which is not to say there isn't a place for broadcasting, of course there is, but with such a fractured entertainment audience, it's tough to have any single

Big moment for a network.

It's why they pay so much for the Super Bowl.

Yeah, and you know the the final four and things like that So so yeah, again, it's it's years away, but the Oscars are heading for streaming

Apparently, it's also not a very long deal.

It's runs through 2033.

So it's only a four or five years of being on there.

So

well, what what do I like to say?

There is no five-year plan

There's a lot that can happen to that.

What else we got?

I honestly do not remember if I mentioned this yesterday or not.

Netflix has promised that if they do buy Warner Bros.

if the shareholders decide to go that route, they will continue to release studio movies in theaters rather than just by streaming.

So you do have that

going for you.

I still love that you say Warner Bros.

Yeah, I

mean, Warner Brothers, the name of the company.

But anyway, Netflix's CEO says they have a commitment to movies in the theater and that, you know, not everything that Warner Brothers Discovery makes would immediately go to Netflix, which, you know, that makes sense.

People still do like to go to the movies.

I mean, we went, you know, this past weekend to see Wicked for Good and

It's not it's the thing is it's not the only way to see movies now So you're not gonna have movies making as much as you know gone with the wind back in the day and things like that But you know your your Marvel movies and other things people are gonna want to see that in a theater So, you know, let's let's not tap dance on the grave of movie theaters yet.

No, there will be a place for it It's just that they they won't be there for months

They'll be there for a certain window and then everybody else can stream it at home because they've decided they're okay seeing movies that way.

Yeah, I'm trying to remember how many movies like because I don't go to a lot of movie theaters.

I'm trying to remember what movies I've seen in theaters.

It's not many.

No, because again, there's there's if you're just looking for like a really good story and things like that I mean with with Rob Reiner's passing we talked about a lot of his movies Those are not movies that you race out to see in a theater nowadays.

They are great TV movies.

They are but

You at least want for people that love to see films on the big screen, you want to at least have that initial, you know, release on the silver screen and then have a streaming option.

I'm not, I'm not taking sides in the Warner Brothers dispute, whether it's Netflix or Paramount.

Well, I guess I'm taking sides if it's anybody but Paramount because, you know, they're, they're just turning into, into, you know, evil incorporated at this point, but.

You're looking for that commitment to all modes of entertainment.

Uh, we're not going all streaming.

Just like broadcast TV isn't going away.

Neither are the movie theaters.

Uh, you got one more.

Uh, share will be the musical guest on SNL this week.

It'll be the first time in almost 40 years that she'll have done that.

Seriously share.

Yeah.

Share.

Seriously.

Okay.

She'll be the musical guest.

I mean, will it be an auto tune that sounds like share because I mean.

No word on whether or not it'll be live.

It is possible that she'll be lip-syncing.

Nobody

knows.

Nobody

thinks she'll be fine.

I would look forward to that.

A lot of people will be curious to see.

And I say that without even knowing how old she is, other than it's been a while.

She's a good entertainer.

And let's see if she, like Keith Richards, who turned 82 today, can still get it done.

Sean O'Malley is coming up after the break.

I'm Pat Critello.

You're up north.

All right, we're back at 735 joined by Sean O'Malley, finance and economics expert talking about your money in the markets.

There's some breaking news about the president's own business dealings, converting his company from a media company to a nuclear fusion company that we're going to get into in just a bit.

There are brand new inflation numbers that

just came out minutes ago, at least we think.

Maybe there's something wrong with these numbers.

But what we're, where we really got to start is the president's quote unquote speech on the economy.

And pardon me a minute while I back away, Sean, from the microphone so I can do this properly.

is the president yelling during his speech?

Why he yelled the whole things and you're not feeling what you're actually feeling.

And I'm sure he's going to point to these new inflation numbers that came out minutes ago and say you see inflation is entirely in check.

It says the consumer price index rose 2.7% in November from the same time last year core inflation rose an annual rate of 2.6%.

Was the president telegraphing what these numbers were going to be this morning?

That is exactly what I was thinking when I was watching the excerpts of the speech last night.

His focus on affordability is going to bring down prices immediately and I thought, okay, that tells me you're probably going to cook the numbers immediately because you can't actually impact prices.

buying and selling decision that the market determines based on supply and demand as any good economist knows so I Was expecting something more in line with what we saw in September which was the 3.0 percent increase in inflation and CPI and To see it come in drastically lower Makes me very suspicious about

those numbers in their entirety.

It's it's too much of a drop.

I mean, you normally don't see inflation drop that rapidly.

You are not alone.

New

York

Times Chief Economics correspondent Ben Kasselman just posted, I would take these numbers with a hefty dose of salt.

Economists warned that distortions related to the shutdown could bias the inflation numbers downward.

It certainly looks possible that that's what happened here.

So now we get back to the speech where the president says, are you going to believe me or your lion eyes as you look at the price tags on the shelves there?

Was he trying to convince Americans or was he trying to convince himself that there isn't still an affordability crisis in this country?

I think he was trying to say,

You know don't don't believe what you're seeing on the shelves You know believe what I'm telling you and I don't I think you I don't know if he recognizes Well, I don't know what he recognizes honestly his cognitive decline is pretty significant at this point But I think he's primarily trying to preach to the choir if you will he's trying to win back the the Maga Republicans which they have been leaving him So he's he's trying to hang on to the base because it's I think it's all he's got left

Okay.

Sean O'Malley joining us here.

We're talking about your money, the markets, the economy.

Again, because of the shutdown, there were numbers that didn't come out.

But there are jobs numbers that indicate where jobs went in November after going down in October.

But I mean, it feels like anemic is still an apt word for describing the jobs picture in this country.

Oh, yeah, I mean, you had you had unemployment go from, you know, I mean, 4.4% in September to 4.6% in November.

Now, that one sounds pretty right.

You know, you're definitely seeing more people having trouble finding jobs, you're having people hang on to the jobs that they've got, even though they're not happy with them.

And one statistic I saw that was particularly interesting is that the number of people with more than one job

has been going up significantly and is that basically a new high for the last several years, up at 5.7%.

This is a situation where the jobs picture is not looking particularly promising and people are doing what they have to do.

to, you know, keep their, you know, themselves afloat financially.

Yeah, especially to either afford things like childcare, or perhaps a parent now has to stay home because childcare isn't affordable or available.

And so the other spouse is now the one working two jobs, you know, in order to try to keep up with things.

So I mean, all in all, what was the the word during the Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan phase, malaise?

that we're getting close to bringing back those stagflation, malaise, and other elements of things that did not seem to be the case as we were coming out of the pandemic, but we certainly are not in the same economy that we were a year and a half ago.

No, that's why it's kind of funny to listen to President Trump deliver a speech trying to talk up the economy in particular.

When you know as someone who tracks it and has tracked it for decades, I know it's not great and I you know, I was tracking it and tracked all the numbers last year and I know we are absolutely worse in every category across the board, you know unemployment's higher You know prices continue to go up and and I think for a lot of Americans, you know, it's a very tough environment GDP is is down Last year

Yeah, so to say America is back, it's like, well, back to what exactly is what we're wondering here.

We're talking to Sean O'Malley, a Hudson native with a long Wall Street career in anti-money laundering, financial risk management, data analytics and compliance, fraud and risk management.

And we've looked at the inflation numbers.

We have talked about the jobs numbers.

Let's look now at the Federal Reserve that determines interest rates and is a foundational part of our economy.

And what developed there in terms of, we know Trump has wanted to influence the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

What is happening on that front?

Right.

Very interesting what happened right after the Open Market Committee meeting where they did drop interest rates a quarter of a point.

So Trump should be happy about that.

But what they did was also something very unusual.

They basically reappointed 11 of the 12 current governors on the Federal Reserve Board.

They're 12 plus the chairman.

We know that Trump has been putting a lot of pressure on Chairman Powell.

Jerome Powell, who he appointed ironically, of course.

And Powell's term is coming up next year.

And there's been a lot of talk and a lot of concern, particularly since Trump tried to fire one of the Fed governors and lost in court, of course, so she still has her job.

And he wants the Federal Reserve to cut rates to lower rates because what happens when you cut interest rates?

Usually the stock market goes on a tear.

And that's what he wants.

That's his barometer, his metric that he uses to gauge economic success.

So what the Federal Reserve did is they reappointed 11 of the 12 governors for a five-year term.

Now, normally, these people are appointed on a rolling 14-year schedule.

So this is something new.

But what it effectively does is that it makes the Federal Reserve

Trump proof Because all of all of their appointments aren't going to come up again until After the end of Trump's second term here no matter what hold on confused

Are they do they who when you say that they were unanimously reappointed by who?

Who does the reappointment is this Congress or are they reappointing themselves to five-year terms or?

Basically, yes, it's it's the it's the board of governors themselves that

We'll go and, you know, vote to reappoint or to appoint whomever to a particular position, which is why typically, you know, it's with the 14-year term and 12 of them, you know, you get, you know, one every year on average-ish.

But to go and say, okay, we're making sure that we lock in what we've got now so that we can't be stacked with a bunch of Trump loyalists, that changes the picture.

Okay, okay.

I found the Associated Press story.

The Federal Reserve Governing Board unanimously approved the reappointment of nearly all of the Fed's 12 regional bank presidents as a way to make them Trump-proof here.

And I mean, it really is a sign of the times here that we have to Trump-proof things in order to maintain what little independence is left in some of the agencies of our government.

Right, because what Trump has been doing, I mean, what he's doing on tariffs, you know, let's be really candid about this.

He is totally screwing over the US economy with this.

Okay, he's raising prices.