☀️ Good morning!

It’s Sunday, September 7, 2025

🏈 And Happy Packers Season Opener Day!

Last week’s issue was already in the queue to be sent when two big pieces of news came down: the decision by right-wing state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley to not run for re-election next April, and the Packers’ acquisition of Micah Parsons.

Only time will tell if Parsons is a good fit for his new team. On the other hand, I can say confidently that the Supreme Court is going to see a case of addition by subtraction.

Justice Bradley is a master practitioner of “pot-calling-the-kettle-black” politics, as seen in her statement to WisPolitics.

🗯️ “Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what is an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court,” she wrote.

👉🏼  Horse hockey. The “alarming shift” isn’t new by any measure. Her ten years on the court have felt like a drawn-out rehearsal for a show on AM radio or basic cable — or a run for something other than her current “nonpartisan” role. It seems Bradley isn’t going away, but her leaving the court allows Wisconsin voters the opportunity to select someone closer to center-right or center-left, who’s less incendiary and more about justices standing for… you know, justice rather than politics. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. And stay up to date with our weekday newsletter, our social media posts, and our morning radio show.

“Our country should be working towards building a future with dreamers,” wrote Mavis. “Can we not learn from our history to see how positive our country benefits from the labor force and diversity of having these human beings? Can we not learn from history the destructive path of ethnic cleansing and racial violence?”

⏮️ Last Week: It’s fair to say we swelled with pride at how Mavis and many others answered last week’s question about “Dreamers,” the young women and men who have only truly known life in this country because their parents brought them across the border as children.

🇺🇸 They are as American as it comes, despite their parents’ undocumented status. But President Donald Trump sees them as being here “illegally” and is ending protections and opportunities for Dreamers in his quest for mass deportation.

Of the 0.2% who said Dreamers deserve to be deported, only one added a comment.

“Good morning,” said Kurt. “Round them up and send them back. If your [sic] not born in the US you’re here illegally period. Thanks.” 

Another 0.2% said they were undecided on the question of deporting law-abiding Dreamers.

The other 98.6% agreed with Mavis, saying they deserve a path to citizenship — with the kind of bipartisan immigration reform and border security law we almost achieved in this country last year until Donald Trump torpedoed the bill with his blatant appeal to xenophobia and racism.

⏭️ This Week: We still don’t know the full extent of the harm and terror brought about by the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, but we do know a couple things: 1) Justice is way overdue for his victims and 2) this never should have become a political football. That’s what makes it so odd that a president who promised to release all of the relevant files did a complete 180 and now calls the matter a hoax. There are many options, but of the four listed here which is closest to what you think?

🄰  Donald Trump did some bad things and is trying to keep them quiet.

🄱  Trump is not named as an offender in the files, but he’s trying to protect one or more people.

🄲  Trump is not named as an offender in the files, but he’s using the information to pressure or blackmail others who are listed.

🄳  Trump is right. It’s all a hoax conjured up by Democrats, and all of these women are in on the conspiracy.

You know the drill. To answer this week’s question or to suggest a different answer, hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on our radio show.

Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) had a busier August recess than usual. People wanted to talk about the budget changes coming from President Trump and congressional Republicans. As Americans continue to discover what was in the bill, the more they disapprove of the changes coming over the next decade.

“People are still learning about the ‘big, ugly law,” Pocan said, “and how so many people are going to lose their health care. Not just the Medicaid folks, but people on the Affordable Care Act who are going to have subsidies increased next year.”

There is also public anger, Pocan said, about cuts to nutrition programs, education funding, and more. But he says people should also know how the new budget changes, approved by every Wisconsin Repubican in Congress, will harm Social Security — that the massive tax cuts to the very wealthy mean $1.5 trillion less will be paid in to the Social Security Trust Fund, bringing it a full year closer to insolvency. 

WATCH Rep. Pocan’s appearance on our radio show via YouTube.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (left) speaks to Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire, green shirt) and others at Solis Circle, an affordable housing complex in Altoona on Aug. 27, 2025. (Photo by Julian Emerson)

1️⃣  Crowley’s pre-campaign visit up north – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley visited Altoona recently to check out a potential model for future affordable housing programs, an issue he says will be a priority when he announces his candidacy for governor “in a few weeks.”  Crowley’s administration has produced $45 million in residences in the city of Milwaukee and its suburbs but he said there’s always a need to learn more about potential partners, financing, and legislation that will be needed to meet a projected need of 227,000 new units across Wisconsin by 2030.

2️⃣  Dems unveil worker agenda – Democrats don’t control the Wisconsin Legislature right now, but if they did, they would be working on bills to end worker misclassification, roll back union busting, and restore protections so local workers aren’t undercut by out-of-state companies. The Democratic lawmakers unveiled their “Build a Stronger Wisconsin” package of bills on Thursday. They also took aim at Republicans who likely won’t use the fall session to rescue two Veterans Housing and Recovery Program facilities that will have to close their doors after GOP lawmakers took Gov. Evers’ funding proposal out of the state budget.

📻  We’ll talk to Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) about these topics and more on our radio show Monday at 8:35am.

3️⃣  Expect more school referendums – The new state budget contained an increase in state reimbursement for school districts’ special education cost, but it doesn’t come anywhere near making up for a 0% in general state aid to schools. Peggy Wirtz Olsen, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said local property tax payers will again be asked to make up for the Legislature’s shortfall. “So basically we have a budget that’s not going to keep up with inflation,” Olsen told us. “And 66% of our school districts are set to lose state aid. It doesn’t take an expert to learn that public schools are underfunded and this budget didn’t help that.”

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Have a great week!