In the most expensive political race in Wisconsin’s history, voters will decide today whether Republican Gov. Scott Walker will finish his first term. The recall effort was launched last year after Walker stripped public sector unions of their collective bargaining rights and reduced their benefits. We go to Milwaukee for a debate about Walker, his Democratic challenger Tom Barrett, the role of public sector unions and what the vote means for the nation with two guests: Richard Esenberg, head of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and an adjunct professor of law at Marquette University, who supports Walker; and Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizens Action Wisconsin, a coalition of social and economic justice groups and union locals, who supports Barrett.
GUESTS:
Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizens Action Wisconsin, a coalition of social and economic justice groups, and union locals throughout the state.
Richard Esenberg, President and General Counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, and an Adjunct Professor Of Law at Marquette University.
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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