Robin Vos Retires

On Thursday's "Dan O'Donnell Show," Dan reacts to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announcing his retirement ahead of a marathon session in the Assembly on its last day of work for the year (yes, in February).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Classical conservatism and contemporary style. It is the Dan O'Donnell Show.
Assembly Speaker Robin Voss providing a political earthquake, as he
often does whenever he does pretty much anything announcing in
a speech. Just as the final floor session of the
State Assembly's year got underway today, Yes it is February nineteenth,

(00:24):
and yes the State Assembly is done for the year
after today.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I know.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
It still boggles my mind in election years, while the
calendar looks like frankly, folks, the libertarian in me is
very happy that legislators are out of Madison and not
able to enact any legislation, the likes of which that
passed on a voice vote just a couple of minutes ago.
We will get into all of that coming up in

(00:50):
the four o'clock hour. In about ten minutes, we are
going to talk to AFP Americans for Prosperities, Megan Novak.
They are making a major announcement live here on the radio,
so we will get into that, but right now the
focus is on Assembly Speaker Voss announcing his retirement. About
an hour and a half agus.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
My friend, the former Speaker of Iowa, Linda Upmeyer, said
on her own retirement, I'll miss the clowns, but not
the circus. Have I thought about that, and it's certainly fitting.
Thank you all for your service, thank you for the
honor you've given me. By God bless Wisconsin. And let's
end with a great session day, hopefully in the reasonable

(01:31):
hours of the night. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
And with that, not only is Wisconsin looking for a
new Assembly speaker, but also a new candidate in the
district that Voss has represented for a long time, with
a little bit of a caveat, because obviously it was
redrawn not once but twice this decade, first by the
state legislature, which actually does have the constitutional authority to

(01:57):
do redistricting, and then again after a decidedly unconstitutional ruling
by the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Governor Evers People's Maps Commission.
Now those maps are in effect for the twenty twenty
six midterm elections, and it is widely believed just by
virtue of the cyclical nature of American politics and the

(02:18):
way the generic ballot polling has gone, and people obviously
take whatever signs they can to see which party is
going to have an advantage. Democrats are going to have
the wind at their backs in this election, folks. I'm
not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to be
pollyannish or give anybody false hope or to try to
be unnecessarily pessimistic. Nor am I going to be unnecessarily

(02:43):
optimistic or pessimistic, because I want to be realistic. I
want to have you understand where we are politically. It
is not going to be I think, as impossible as
it may seem for Republicans to retain control of the
state Senate. They currently have a three seat majorities eighteen

(03:04):
to fifteen in the state Senate, thirty three Assembly districts
and ninety nine or thirty three Senate districts ninety nine
Assembly districts. There are three Assembly districts for every state
Senate district. There are several seats that are up for grabs,
but only I would say four of them are considered

(03:26):
to be actually competitive in the Wisconsin State Senate. In
the state Assembly, there are also, likewise, only a handful
of seats that are considered to be competitive, and in
those seats, Republicans are either fielding strong incumbents or they
have very solid candidates. Democrats turnout and Democrats performance is

(03:49):
going to largely be dictated. Since there isn't a United
States Senate race on the ballot, the big ticket item
in November is going to obviously be the gubernatorial race.
Right now, there was just a Tip Pole Tipp poll
that just came out two days ago showing that Mandela
Barnes is overwhelmingly leading the field over Sarah Rodriguez. He

(04:11):
is up eight points now. Granted, this includes every single
one of the clown car of Democrat candidates. Francesca Hong,
Brett Holsey for some reason, is running. Missy Hughes Joel
Brennan are seen as very long shot candidates. But with
Mandela Barnes holding a twenty eight percent to twenty percent

(04:33):
lead over Sarah Rodriguez and both of them more than
doubling up who I believe that Governor Evers and the
establishment in the Wisconsin Democratic Party wants David Crowley, the
Milwaukee County executive, to be their standard bearer. This is
great news for Tom Tiffany. Tiffany is widely beloved in

(04:54):
conservative circles. He is widely respected within the Republican Party,
former state legislator himself, member of Congress, and he very
early on got President Trump's endorsement, that of course, forced
Washington County Executive Josh Showman from the gubernatorial race. He
immediately endorsed Tom Tiffany pledged to do whatever it takes

(05:15):
to get Tiffany elected. We have an unnaturally long primary
election cycle here in Wisconsin. You've undoubtedly been following the
controversy surrounding the Stephen Colbert interview of one of the
Democrat candidates, James Tallerco, who's running for Senate against the
incumbent Ted Cruz, and how Colbert is at well the

(05:38):
forces at CBS, the powers that be at CBS forced
me to not have this interview on broadcast television. It's
because they are terrified that Jasmine Crockett, the loudmouthed congresswoman,
is actually going to be the standard bearer in Texas.
She would get blown out of the water by Ted Cruz.
The powers that be down in Texas and in the

(06:00):
National Democratic Party c tell Ico as a rising star,
so they're trying to get him into this nomination. That
means they want to milk the Trump FCC cracking down
on James Tallarico on the Stephen Colbert Show as much

(06:20):
as humanly possible. There is a direct parallel to here.
In Wisconsin. Mandela Barnes is the male Jasmine Crockett. The
only difference he doesn't have hair extensions and gaudy nails.
That's literally the only difference between him and Jasmine Crockett.
David Crowley is the James Tallarico figure that everybody wants

(06:44):
to win the primary, but they're terrified that Crockett aka Barnes,
is going to do so. When Mandela Barnes ran in
twenty twenty two, now that was expected to be a
pretty big Republican year because of course Joe Biden had
won the presidency in twenty twenty and the cyclical nature
of politics would have suggested that, hey, it's far more

(07:06):
likely that Republicans are going to do well.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Now.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
They did retake control of the House of Representatives, but
they did not do nearly as well as people thought.
In Wisconsin, it was a mixed bag. It was an
incumbent election. Basically every incumbent won statewide, including Governor Evers.
He beat Tim Michaels by about three points. At the
same time, Mandela Barnes, who the party actually cleared the

(07:32):
field for in the August primary, he lost by a
point to the top target in the US Senate, Ron Johnson.
If he's at the top of the ticket again, this
is great news for Republicans because voters have already made
up their mind about Mandela Barnes and they've determined him

(07:53):
to be well Jasmine Crockett without the hair extensions and
gaudy nails. So, just as in this primary, the powers
that be want tel Rico, and for whatever reason, the
James Tallerrico of Wisconsin is not Sarah Rodriguez. It is
very clear Tony Evers and all of his supporters, all

(08:15):
of the people in his administration, absolutely despise Sarah Rodriguez.
She has been angling for his endorsement for months, ever
since she first got into the race. He's pointedly refused
to give it to her, and he barely even mentions her,
except when he very pointedly came out and just poo
pooed and unilaterally dismissed her anti ice legislative proposal anti

(08:39):
ice for Wisconsin proposal. Evers came out and said, yeah,
I don't think we can really do much, if anything,
of that at the state level. But unlike Texas, unlike Texas,
which has its primary in just a couple of weeks.
And by the way, the whole controversy over Stephen Colbert,
it's not a controversy at all. We all know about
the equal time rule. All Stephen Colbert would have had

(09:02):
to do would be to put the black woman on
his show. But of course he doesn't want to do
that because his boss is in the Democrat Party don't
want Jasmine Crockett to win, just as the bosses in
the Democratic Party of Wisconsin don't want Mandela Barnes to win.
They want David Crowley to win. But Crowley is so
incompetent he couldn't even get health insurance for his county

(09:25):
employees and retirees, that he's probably not going to be
much of a factor. That Mandela is very likely going
to be battling with Sarah Rodriguez for this nomination. But
Texas has its primary very very shortly. Wisconsin does not.
Wisconsin doesn't have its primary until August. That means that

(09:46):
all of these Democrats are going to need to be
doing battle with each other and pushing each other farther
to the left. If Mandela Barnes is your front runner,
you know that every other candidate it is going to
need to go farther left, and the party is going
to sound more and more and more insane, getting Ice

(10:09):
out of the entire state, having a resistance network to
ICE agents who dare to try to conduct deportation operations
or any sort of legitimate law enforcement operation in Wisconsin.
There's going to be a resistance. It's going to be
led by Democrats that rubs people the wrong way, the

(10:31):
trans bathroom nonsense and all of that that is going
to push Democrats farther to the left and the longer
that they are in their far left primary mode. And
Tom Tiffany, just like Tony Evers four years ago, can
just sit back, collect donor checks, launch ad after ad

(10:53):
after ad, building himself up as a common Wisconsin man
who stands up for good old Wisconsin values while simultaneously
casting aspersions at the increasingly radical Democrat Party. That is
a trickle down effect in the state Assembly. So with
Republicans essentially able to go on offense for the next

(11:16):
six months until the August primary, that is going to
have a tremendous down ballid effect. Coming up next, we
will talk with Megan Novak, State Director of AFP. They
are going to make a big announcement about that gubernatorial race.
Stay tuned, Wit and thank you to those eagle eared
listeners who reminded me that it is in fact John

(11:39):
Cornyn that is the Republican in that Texas Senate race,
not Ted Cruz. My apologies. Welcome back to the Dan
o'donald show. We are pleased to be joined on the
phone right now by the state director of Americans for Prosperity,
the incredible conservative group, Megan Novak, to make a big

(12:00):
announcement here in Wisconsin politics. Megan, welcome to the program.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
Thanks for having me on Dan.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
So you have been teasing this on social media all day.
I've been teasing this on the air all hour. What
is that big announcement?

Speaker 4 (12:15):
We are proud to announce today that the Conservative grassroots
is getting behind Tom Tiffany for governor. AFP Wisconsin is
officially endorsement endorsing Tom as of today, mobilizing, mobilizing our
grassroots army from all across the state and support of
Tom so that we can win in November.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
That is fantastic, not really a surprise, I must say,
because Tom Tiffany obviously aligns with AFP's values. What is
it about Congressman Tiffany that your organization believes makes him
ideally suited to be the next governor.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
You know, not only does Tom have the strongest track
record of good conservative policy from the Legislature onto Congress,
but he's also an incredibly authentic and steady leader that
Wisconsin needs right now to turn this state back around
and get back to good conservative reforms that helps each
and every one of us live the best possible life

(13:15):
that we can.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Obviously, switching gears a little bit. The big story this
afternoon is the announcement that Assembly Speaker Robin Voss is
not going to seek reelection. He made it known during
a speech on the floor today that he had suffered
a relatively mild heart attack back in November, but it
made him think about the fact that he's not getting

(13:36):
any younger and that he wants to spend time with
family and friends and loved ones. Your reaction, Megan An
AFP's reaction to the announcement today as well as the
career and service of Assembly Speaker Foross.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Yeah, absolutely, no. First, I want to I'm thankful that
he is okay and healthy and obviously with thanks Speaker
Voss for incredible leadership on conservative policy with the Assembly
majorities that we were able to keep over the years.
And that's exactly why thinking about this, why we need
Tom Tiffany Be to become governor, because we've seen what

(14:13):
the Supreme Court has done to expand the governor's powers
through what I think are misguided decisions. And if we
don't win the governorship and keep majorities, our state is
just going to turn into Virginia overnight. And we've already
seen what progressive progressives have done to destroy that state
in a matter of months.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
If you could tell our listeners, because well I mentioned
this just sort of very briefly when Democrats sort of
unveiled their proposals for Virginia. Now that they have Abigail Spanberg, who,
by the way, was just announced as the Democrats speaker
who's going to give the official response to President Trump's
State of the Union address next week, and that means

(14:53):
that she is considered the rising star of the Democrat party.
That's usually what that position, that speaking engagement slot is
reserved for. It's like the next person up. So Democrats
clearly think the world of Abigail Spanberger, but a whole
lot of people were shocked to see just what she

(15:13):
and the Democrat majority in the Virginia House and the
Virginia Senate are already proposing. What are some of the
crazy things that they're up to, I mean, just.

Speaker 4 (15:24):
Looking at the taxes, the list of new taxes that
they're proposing, everything from on your Amazon deliveries to dog walkers.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Dog walkers is my favorite, Yeah, the new dog walking tax.

Speaker 4 (15:37):
Apparently it's a big market in Virginia, but we got
to tax it because they got to pay for all
this somehow. And early release for violent criminals. I mean,
the list just goes on and on. It's a progressive
agenda that is going to destroy Virginia, and we can't
let that happen in Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Do you think that Democrats are a little unnecessarily and
prematurely excited about the possibility of turning Wisconsin into Virginia
now that Voss has announced that he's retiring, because normally,
I mean, look, it is a very strong signal that
someone as politically connected as Voss heading for the exits

(16:15):
in an election year means that he is no longer
going to be Assembly Speaker, which he's been since twenty thirteen,
that Republicans are going to lose the majority, and Democrats,
at least on social media that I'm seeing today, are
celebrating like they've already won the election. Do you think
that's entirely too premature?

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Oh, one hundred percent. I think if the Democrats spend
a little less time on social media and a little
more time talking to actual voters, they would realize that
Wisconsin voters are not interested in the progressive policies. They're
worried about things like their education outcomes, their rising utility bills,
They're the four hundred year property tax pike, and all
of those things Democrats are to blame for.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Big news today AFP Wisconsin Americans for Prosperity, the tremendous
grassroots group endorsing Tom Tiffany for governor. Executive director Meghan Novak,
my guest here on the Dan o'donald Show. Meghan, thank
you so much. Thank you for making that announcement on
the show. Have yourself a wonderful evening. I'm sure we
will be talking soon.

Speaker 4 (17:18):
Thanks Dan.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Coming up, after just a very brief break, we will
name the unhinged liberal of the day. Dan O'donald's show
coming right back after this. I've in Rome, Georgia as
he is outlining the economic successes of his first term.
We'll have some details coming up after the top of

(17:40):
the hour in the Daily Truugh date after that, the
online sports betting bill passes on a voice vote. Another
voice vote for another controversial piece of legislation, the so
called wake vote bill that passes on a voice vote,
and Democrats and Republicans alike were furious about it. We

(18:00):
have got that plus the nil name, image and Likeness bill.
I had talked about that and criticized it because of
its insane giveaway to the University of Wisconsin Madison, which
has been just openly defiant of the Republican controlled legislature.
And of course, the big news Robin Voss, the Assembly speaker,

(18:21):
announcing this afternoon that he is going to retire. He's
not going to seek reelection. I didn't even get a
chance to mention because of all this breaking news earlier
this afternoon. And again I am going to do an
Olympic spoiler alert. I think most people know about this
by now, huge, huge result in the women's hockey gold

(18:41):
medal game. If you don't want to hear it, If
you are waiting for NBC's primetime coverage to interrupt their
regularly scheduled curling and figure skating to actually play a
hockey game, turn down your radio right now. I'm going
to give you a three second countdown. You're ready, three
two one. Team USA women's hockey team is golden. In overtime,

(19:05):
they get a two to one victory over arch rivals
Canada thanks to the three on three golden goal, the
sudden death winner by defense woman. I guess did they
call him defenseman even though they're women? Defender Megan Keller
as team usay wins the gold. Team USA men have

(19:25):
advanced to the semi finals after an incredibly thrilling victory,
also in overtime a couple of days ago over was
it Sweden or Denmark? It was Sweden.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
The Olympics are wrapping up in just a couple of
days and it has been a very exciting, very fun.
One time now here on the Dan, O'Donnell showed a name,
the unhinged liberal of the.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
Germany.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Trump is dangerous.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Because he's evil.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
Him over ladies and gentlemen. I think we actually have
a very strong contender for Unhinged Liberal of the Month today.
It is a woman who, like our unhinged Liberal of
the Day a couple of days ago, who was screaming
about wanting members of the Trump administration strung up and
executed in the public square. This woman, I assume it's

(20:30):
a woman. She looks like a woman, she sounds like
a woman, which doesn't necessarily mean she is a woman.
Could just be a man pumped full of hormones, but
took to TikTok calling on people to get out their
guns and start shooting Ice agents dead.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
This ends when we stand up and we start shooting back.
Get your guns, get your militia, get your people, and
when Ice comes to town, don't give them a chance.
Get a sniper and shoot blow their face off. Watch
them sucking drowned in their own damn blood. Because America
will be great again when we realize that we're the
ones who make the rules.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
People.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
If you don't like the motherfuckers that are in there,
then take them the fuck out, because if you don't,
they're gonna take us the fuck out. Stand up for
your goddamn rights. Stop being posses, stop yell and asking.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
Them what's wrong with them? What's wrong with them is
they've been given power that.

Speaker 6 (21:24):
Does not belong to them because we act like we're
scared little bitches. Flip the goddamn tables, let them know
who's sucking boss, and take the motherfuckers out. It's as
serious and as simple as that. Pick up your guns
and the tyranny and blow their sucking asses away.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
Game over. You know, I miss the liberals who are
terrified of guns and wanted to ban all guns. This
new generation of liberals who are just hopped up on
gender hormones and raging out of control. They seem to
be a little bit obsessed with guns and violent revenge fantasies.

(22:03):
That TikTok alleged woman, your unhinged liberal of the day, folks,
I really prefer to do just the haha. Let's all
laugh at this clowning lib for the unhinged liberal of
the day. That's just dark. But it is worth remembering

(22:24):
there is a segment of the hardcore political left that
really does want its political opponents assassinated, and the sooner
we understand that and accept that that a decent percentage
of our political opponents are absolutely crazy and just are
completely mentally imbalanced. The better off. I think everybody is

(22:47):
going to be. Daily Trump date is coming up next,
Stay tuned, Dan o'donald Show coming back before you know it,
big big news day. Here on the Dan o'donald Show,
we have the retirement andnnouncement from Assembly Speaker Robin Voss.
And I don't think Democrats quite understand that he is
still going to be in the State Assembly. He is

(23:08):
still going to be the leader, and most importantly, he
is still going to be fundraising and he is still
going to be working towards keeping the Republican Assembly majority
until November. Right Like, he doesn't actually leave his seat
until next January, so he's going to be around for
about the next year. I am going to reach out
to the Assembly Speaker see if we can get him

(23:29):
on the show tomorrow for an extended interview to talk
about his life, his legacy, his career. We will hopefully
be able to lock that down obviously today, as much
as I would like to get him on the show
right now and get the very first interview, he is
in the middle of a massive, long, long, long floor session,

(23:50):
and while a regular member might be able to during
a recess or something like that, sneak away and do
a quick phone interview. The Assembly Speaker obviously is going
to be needed, and he is going to be working
very hard every single minute from now until probably about
two in the morning. We will have much more coming
up on some of the more controversial pieces of legislation

(24:14):
that have already passed on this the final day of
the Assembly's calendar year. In just a second, first, though,
let's get your recap on all things Trump. It is
the daily Trump date.

Speaker 7 (24:27):
We're gonna win so much you may even get tired
of winning.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Trump just keeps winning. It is a win for the administration.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
It's also a big win for the United States.

Speaker 5 (24:36):
We have to keep winning. We have to win more.
We're gonna win Moore.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
President Trump right now in Rome, Georgia, pushing is economic
policies toward a local factory and visited a couple of
small businesses before delivering remarks on economic policy and successes
of the first year of Trump andomics Now. Earlier today
in Washington, the President con the very first meeting of
his Board of Peace.

Speaker 8 (25:02):
We're providing a model for how responsible sovereign nations can
cooperate to take responsibility for confronting problems in their own regions.
The Border Piece is showing how a better future can
be built, starting right here in this room.

Speaker 7 (25:16):
And I want to let you know that the United
States is going to make a contribution of ten billion
dollars to the border piece.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
Now, in addition to that US money, the President has
also secured more than seven billion dollars in gaza aid
from Middle Eastern nation.

Speaker 9 (25:31):
Kazakhstan, Azerbijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and
KUWAITA welcome contributed.

Speaker 8 (25:45):
More than seven billion dollars.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Toward the relief package.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
That's great, Thank you, follas striking Now, the meeting does
come as the US military is massing forces toward the
Middle East. Negotiations with a do continue, but during today's meeting,
President Trump said that while he hopes Iran will join
the rest of the region in solidarity with the United States,
if they don't, though the Iranians will face severe consequence.

Speaker 8 (26:13):
How is the time for Iran to join us on
a path that will complete what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
And if they join us, that'll be great.

Speaker 7 (26:21):
If they don't join us, that'll be great too, but
it'll be a very different path. They cannot continue to
threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must
make a deal or if that doesn't happen, I maybe
can understand if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
Bad things will happen if it doesn't. Right now, both
the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald Ford carrier groups
are headed to the Persian Golf along with dozens of
fighter jets. That ladies and gentlemen the day in Donald
Trump's Washington, we call it the Daily Trump Date. Here
on the Dan o'donald Show. If you'd like to join
us four one four seven nine to nine eleven thirty

(27:03):
on our AVETNS dot com talk and text line reach
is toll free one eight one hundred and eight three
eight nine four seven six, Email me DoD at iHeartMedia
dot com at Dan O'donnaldshow, on X on Facebook, on Instagram,
on YouTube, and be sure to subscribe to the Dan
o'donald Show podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcast.

(27:30):
The spring primary in our rear view mirror, and we
are cruising towards the spring election and a reminder that
we are putting together the comprehensive, complete, ultimate Conservative voter
guide for you. It is going to be online as
part of a brand new conservative web initiative that we

(27:53):
are just so so excited to be a part of
and to be ready to introduce to you coming up
within the next couple of weeks. But we need your
help in putting this voter guide together. While I do have,
with no false modesty, a pretty extensive knowledge of Wisconsin news,
Wisconsin politics and the like, it is impossible for me

(28:16):
to know every single candidate in every single county, well
every single county. Is what we are aiming for with
this voter guide. It is not a list of recommendations,
it's not a list of endorsements. It is simply a
black and white list of all of the Conservatives who
are running in as many races as we can possibly identify.

(28:37):
We are working with county Republican parties, the state Republican Party,
various groups across the state, and just individual candidates. And
that's why we remind you if you are a candidate,
if you are somebody who is connected to a state
or local race, somebody who wants to be included in
this Conservative voter guide. You need to reach out to

(28:59):
me DoD at iHeartMedia dot com. Get your name included.
If you know other conservatives that you're running with, you
absolutely want to be a part of this. Look, folks,
I get some of the apprehension. I've heard from a
couple of candidates, and I've heard from a couple of
very connected political people now who said, look, Dan, some

(29:20):
of these candidates they are running in very liberal areas
and they don't want to be endorsed by Dan. O'dunt
no offense. Sweet, we all love you, Dan, but obviously
the Libs do not, And judging by my Facebook comments,
they really really really do not like me. Ironically, ironically,

(29:43):
the more angry comments I get from Libs, the more
money I get. I know, what a world? What a world?
I actually get paid by Facebook. I am a brand partner,
paid contributor. I don't know what the hell you call it.
I got a blue check mark, That's what it means.
I get. I don't know. They pay me based on
engagement and based on the fact that I am in

(30:06):
some left wing algorithm where I just I guess I'm
just rage nip for the insane lefties. There was a
very sizable check that came my way. I say this
not to brag, Okay, I do absolutely say this to
brag and to spike it in liberals' faces that the
more you call me a pedophile in my Facebook comments,

(30:29):
the more money I get. I just I can't actually
stress that enough. If you ever want to laugh, seriously,
I am dead serious. We actually have a funny recurring bit.
We call it the most most intelligent response that Dan
has gotten all day. And I take some of the
just absolute worst comments that I get, just people calling

(30:53):
me all manner of names. In fact, you know what
should we do one right now? Producer Eric? Get that
theme music ready? Okay? Because the angry message the most
intelligent response Dan has gotten all day. Because you will
seriously laugh. I mean, just go through the Facebook comments.

(31:14):
My wife she gets way more upset about this than
I do, right, she says, You know, I just I
don't want to I'm like, honey, honey, these angry comments
got us a vacation in Cabo. Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
I don't know what to tell you lives keep him coming,
all right, ladies and gentlemen, are we ready this is
just a random comment that I got from a random user.
He has since either blocked me or banned me, so
we don't actually have the name.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
But this is.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
The most intelligent response Dan has gotten all day to
us from a very erudite, very intelligent Facebook user who
apparently thought better of what he had posted because he
either locked me or deleted his account or something. But

(32:16):
I can't find it, but he writes, and I quote,
shut your bitch ass up, ladies and gentlemen, this has
been the most intelligent thing Damn has heard all day.

(32:36):
All right, let's get to the marathon State Assembly session
in Madison going on right now. Very first thing the
Assembly took up after hearing Robin Voss's retirement speech is
something that I had warned and was almost entirely convinced
was going to happen, the Online Sports Betting Bill, which

(33:00):
essentially gives a modified monopoly to the Forest County Potawatamie
on all types of online sports betting here in Wisconsin.
I knew this thing was going to pass on a
voice vote, because the last thing that Vos and the
Republicans wanted was to have any sort of accountability, least

(33:21):
of all to me. You might remember last year when
we were working against another Republican bill that was reportedly
going to pass on a voice vote, Roefer right a
first refusal, where they would have created a cartel of
electrical transmission companies in this state and cost taxpayers literally
hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns and a

(33:44):
lack of competition on electrical transmission projects. I literally sat
here in this very chair, on this very show and
simply read off the names of Republicans who I knew
were going to support this thing and Republicans who I
knew were going to appose this thing. Well, as you
could imagine, a whole lot of Republicans got a whole

(34:05):
lot of calls from angry constituents after I did that.
So the last thing that they want, I'm not saying it's,
you know, because of Dan O'Donnell. They went to a
voice vote vote, but it was because of you, because
they don't want to hear from you. So there is
a level of u they're able to hide. I guess
I want to say there's a level of accountability. No,

(34:25):
there are no levels of accountability on a voice vote.
Here's what it sounded.

Speaker 5 (34:29):
Like you guys have it.

Speaker 10 (34:30):
Assembly Bill six o one is pass represented from the
seventy second.

Speaker 5 (34:33):
Lets speaker asking Amas cossent the rules be spending.

Speaker 11 (34:35):
Sembly Bill six o one be meleily message to the Senate.

Speaker 10 (34:38):
Represent from the seventy second Ash and then consent that
the rules to be suspended. An Assembly Bill six A
one B meleily message to the Senate is the re
objection hearing done the bills in.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
The Senate now.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
My producer, Eric Paulson, is a longtime radio veteran. He
has been in the radio business for a long time.
He just asked, is that regular speed or was that
sped up? No, that is how fast they moved to
get this thing past. That's actually nothing. Just wait until
you hear coming up in the next segment how they
passed on a voice vote the very controversial wake vote

(35:11):
bill that is now going to go to the Senate.
So the online sports bill goes to the Senate. I
had heard today that there were only about four Republicans
in the Assembly who opposed this bill, and pretty much
every Democrat wants that sweet sweet potawatomy campaign cash ahead
of the all important Assembly elections this fall, So this

(35:34):
was one that I could see. Yes, it was very
widely supported in the Assembly. In the Senate, it faces
a much much tougher route. I have heard that there
are as many as seven different Republican state senators who
are not supporters of this bill. That would mean that

(35:55):
the Senate's majority leader, Devin Lemahue, would actually have to
violate what's known as the rule of seventeen, which generally
says the majority party will not bring a bill to
the floor unless at least seventeen members a majority of
every single senator in the majority party supports the bill. Well, clearly,
since only eleven or twelve Republican Senators support this, they

(36:19):
would have to violate the rule of seventeen in order
to get this to the floor. It is my very
strong suspicion that they will. That they are going to
pass this over the objections of Republican senators who don't
want to create an online sports betting bill monopoly. Here's
how this thing would work. If an online sports betting

(36:41):
company like Draft Kings or like fan Duel wants to
go in Wisconsin, they currently are barred by the online
or by the state's voter compacts. The agreements that we
signed with the Native American tribes that were made permanent
by Governor Diamond Jim dol Oil in a literal cover

(37:02):
of darkness deal on of old Days April first, April
Fool's Day of two thousand and three. This has given
the tribes tremendous amounts of power. They have a cartel
on gambling, they have cartel control. They are independent entities,
independent tribes who nonetheless have carved this state up and

(37:22):
have agreed. Okay, Oneida Tribe, you're going to take this territory.
Potawatamie Tribe, you're going to take this territory which is
nowhere near the Forest County Potawatamees Reservation. The ho Chunk Tribe,
you're going to take this territory. The lack of Flambo Tribe,
You're going to take this territory. They carve it up.

(37:42):
That's how a cartel operates. In this bill, what would
be created for online sports betting is what's known as
a hub and spoke model. In order for sports betting
to be legal, it has to take place in a
sports book in a casino. Obviously, online sports betting takes
place wherever if you're on the bus, if you're on

(38:06):
the toilet, you can be making bets on your phone.
What the hub and spoke model says is, so long
as the Draft Kings server is located physically inside a
sports book at a casino, then you can have all
of the spokes that then go in that feed into
that hub place bets anywhere because it technically complies with

(38:31):
the tribal compact. Now, for the privilege of allowing the
Draft Kings or Fandual servers to be located in their
sports book, the Forest County Potawatamie would take something like
sixty percent of the profits. Now, what this means is
that while DraftKings and FanDuel would otherwise just take bets
and pay taxes on the revenue that they generate off

(38:55):
of those bets in Wisconsin, Wisconsin would then be subject
to the gaming compacts and they would get far less
money than they otherwise would if Fan Duel and DraftKings
were allowed to just operate as they would in every
other state, any other state that simply allows them to
take bets. Now, all of this, I believe is sort

(39:19):
of moot because the prediction markets, which are already operating
I believe completely unlawfully here in Wisconsin, the calshi's, the
predict its, the polymarkets, they're betting. What you're doing is
you're making a prediction. And the way they couch this
is you're not actually betting on a specific outcome. You
are buying shares in an outcome. It's a distinction without

(39:41):
a difference. You're gambling on a specific outcome, but you're
buying shares of yes, this event will happen or no,
this event will not happen. This has led to all
manner of issues, all manner of controversies with regard to
not only sports betting, which has seems significant and I
mean significant scandal when a Hall of Fame player and

(40:03):
the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers gets busted for
potentially altering these prediction markets bets by benching players who
had significant amounts of action on their unders, for say,
the player is going to go under seven rebounds in
a specific game. You know you've got issues. I believe

(40:26):
that this bill is nothing more than a giveaway to
a significant political contributor, and I believe that this is
something that is not necessary under the current gaming compacts. Essentially,
the compacts are going to need to be opened up,
and we're going to need to potentially renegotiate them now.

(40:50):
Of course, Jim Doyle's actions in early two thousand and
three mean that we can never ever ever reopen these compacts.
And the Wisconsin Institute for Law on Liberty has been
all over this issue, and I tend to agree with
their legal analysis. They say, look, this is almost certainly unconstitutional.
The bill that is currently on its way to the
state Senate, it's certainly not something that is likely to

(41:15):
go without a significant legal challenge. Will's argument is in
order to add a new form of gambling, which online
sports betting is now now, Supporters of the bill are saying, well, Dan,
it's They're saying, look, it's not a new form of gambling,
it's gambling on sports. I would argue it's absolutely a
different form of gambling. Is is video poker the same

(41:39):
as poker at a table? Is online poker the same
as poker at a table? Is that the exact same game?
Or is it fundamentally very different? Online sports betting is
completely different because it doesn't take place in a casino.
The very nature of it is different. That would require
a constitutional amendment the people of Wisconsin to say, yes,

(42:02):
we want online sports betting in Wisconsin, we want more gambling.
You can't just do that by an act of the
legislature that actually needs a constitutional amendment. Another big controversial
bill passes on a voice vote over strenuous subjections this afternoon.
We'll get into that coming up next big afternoon in

(42:28):
the Wisconsin legislature. Obviously, Assembly Speaker Robin Voss announced today
that he is going to retire. I am hoping that
we are going to be able to I'd like to
play Voss's farewell speech in its entirety coming up in
the five o'clock hour here on the Dan o'donald Show,
because it was a very very well done, heartfelt speech.

(42:50):
I want to give thanks to my friends over at
Wisconsin I for preventing or for preventing for providing a
with the coverage of this, because they have been obviously
under the microscope because they were shut down for the

(43:11):
better part of two months in there, and this is
exactly why we need Wisconsin. I am so glad there
has been a deal that's been reached to provide funding
for this. They were able to on a arguably the
biggest news day of the year for the state legislature,

(43:32):
even without Assembly Speaker of Boss's retirement announcement. They provided
the video. We were able to get some soundbites from that,
and I was able to record the entire thing. So
I do really really appreciate them for providing the video
coverage of this and for this moment that the Republicans

(43:54):
who control the Assembly tried to force a voice vote
on a bill that I guess has been combined to
was two separate bills, one that dealt with hunting sand
hill cranes and another that I think is a little
bit more controversial. It's known as the wake boating bill.

(44:15):
We talked about this a little bit here on the
Dan O'Donnell show. Maybe I don't know a week or
two ago, and I first learned about this. There are
actually two competing bills. One of them was co authored
by Nate Gustafson, which would have allowed for far more
local control. It would have provided that wakeboats, you know

(44:36):
what they are. They're typically higher end boats that will
stir up the wake from well down below the surface
of the water so that you can do you know,
wake surfing and all sorts of water sports and stuff.
And look, just so we're clear, I don't really have
a dog in this fight. What I can tell you

(44:57):
is I love the wake boats on the lane that
my family and I go on because we have jet skis,
and we love when the wakeboats are like, oh yeah,
we're gonna jump over the wake that they make. So
you know, I'm perfectly fine with wakeboats. I am not
perfectly fine with a bill, the one that just passed

(45:20):
the State Assembly and now heads to the Senate, that
provides little to know legal protection for any sort of
municipality that might want to exceed state law in limitations
on wakeboating on its navigable waters. What the gust of
sim bill would have done is to say, okay, wakeboats,

(45:44):
you cannot be within five hundred feet of shore, which
makes sense because you don't want to stir up all
of the bottom of the lake, the sand, the mud,
all of that stuff and just sort of stir up
all of the crap, so you want to go deeper
five hundred feet. The bill that passed today two hundred feet.

(46:07):
The bill that passed today is a hard and fast
state regulation. The gust of sen bill would have said, okay,
how about we allow for local control and we say
there is a protection mechanism. There is a level of
immunity for municipalities, so they can't. Let's face it, folks,

(46:29):
a lot of the municipalities that will be that would
have been I should say, had the gust of Sen
bill even been given a number and even put on
the legislative calendar, what that would have done is to
what it would have done would protect from lawsuits for

(46:49):
all of these small little communities, the small little counties,
the small little towns that maybe have three people on
their village board, but they want to say, okay, we
want to have regulations or potentially even say we don't
want wakeboats on our lake. Well, what would happen is

(47:11):
the very well funded boating industry would come in and
sue them and just be able to throw its weight around.
So the Gustafson bill would have said, okay, well, we're
going to provide some protection for these communities. Ultimately, I
don't think that the bill that passed the Assembly today

(47:33):
is a terrible bill. The way that it passed today
was beyond terrible. A whole lot of Democrats opposed this
bill because they are claiming environmental concerns, and they think
people are just going to be, you know, turning the
sand hill crane extinct by over hunting them like it's

(47:56):
a Dodo bird. Somehow, I don't think that's going to
be the case. But clearly there was not the unanimous
support that would have allowed for a voice vote. However,
a voice vote is exactly what Assembly leadership held.

Speaker 10 (48:12):
The question is Assembly Bill ten thirty three. I haven't
been read three times, so the bill be passed. All
those in favor I signified by saying I I'll oppose.

Speaker 5 (48:20):
Note the eyes have it.

Speaker 10 (48:22):
Assembly Bill ten thirty three is passed.

Speaker 5 (48:27):
Represented from the seventy second, Thank you.

Speaker 11 (48:31):
Missus speaker, asking animous consent that the rules be suspended.
Assembly Built ten thirty three be mainly messes in the Senate.

Speaker 10 (48:39):
Represented from the seventy second, asking ams consent that the
rules be suspended. Assembly Built ten thirty three be a
mess in the Senate?

Speaker 5 (48:48):
Is the re objection hearing none the bills in the Senate?

Speaker 1 (48:54):
Yeah, that was pretty much every Democrat and even a
number of Republicans saying, hey, wait a second. They all
then lined up to register that they in fact had
voted against that bill, even though their votes weren't recorded yet. Again,
this is something that unless it's naming a post office,

(49:15):
or unless it's you know, declaring you know, I don't know,
the fourth of July to be a state holiday, something
that's completely non controversial, that nobody. It's a waste of
time to have a role call vote. The voice vote
shouldn't be used. If you support a piece of legislation,
your constituents should know. This is a way of escaping

(49:39):
accountability for controversial votes. As it turns out, the wake
vote bill was coming up. After just a brief commercial break,
we will get into the Name, Image and Likeness bill.
How did that fare in the state Assembly? We'll find
out next Conservative Thought not just talk. It is the

(50:02):
Dan o'donald show, Welcome back to it. So how did
the so called nil bill fair in the Wisconsin Assembly. Well,
we don't know. The Assembly is still in recess over
the sand Hill Crane slash wake boating bill. I have
been watching the Assembly on Wisconsin I, which, by the way,

(50:29):
we are going to be posting the Robin Voss retirement
speech in its entirety courtesy of our friends over at
WIS I Wisconsin IWISSI dot org. I talk about this
service all the time, and I was a big supporter
of Wisconsin I getting state funding because it is such
an essential service. I use it all the time. Think

(50:52):
of it as like Wisconsin cspan. It was actually shut
down for the better part of I don't know month
and a half two months in there, and there was
no video record of what is going on in state government.
And that is a horrible thing. That is an unacceptable thing.
And what Wisconsin I does it's not politically motivated. There's

(51:13):
no liberal bias, there's no conservative bias. They literally just
air the press conferences and more importantly, committee hearings and
floor sessions so that people like me and reporters all
across the state can use that as a reference. They
don't actually have to be in the chambers because frankly,
I can't be I mean I can't be in my

(51:35):
studio and also monitoring things from the floor of the
State Assembly. Well, if I have something like Wisconsin I,
I can do that. In fact, I'm watching Wisconsin I
right now. It is literally on my computer screen right now.
And there was so much outrage over the wake Boat
bill that the nil bill was actually called as being

(51:58):
the next one, but then almost every single Democrat wanted
to be registered as voting against the bill. We were
talking about this in the last segment here on the
Dan O'Donnell show, and can we get the SoundBite, producer Eric,
can we get how this thing passed on a voice vote?
This is how you do not run a state legislative body.

(52:22):
All right, this is clearly a controversial bill. This is
clearly something that has significant opposition, not just from the
minority party, but also from members of the Republican Party.
In fact, one Republican number of Republicans actually introduced a
competing bill that might have actually gotten passed because of
overwhelming Democrats support. I can't believe I'm actually siding with

(52:45):
the Democrats here, but I think that's on balance, probably
a better bill. That's beside the point. The point is
that this is one that should have had a roll
call vote, but it didn't, and this is what happened.

Speaker 10 (53:03):
The question is Assembly Bill ten thirty three. I haven't
been read three times. She'll the bill be passed. All
those in favor, I'll signified by saying I I'll oppose.

Speaker 5 (53:11):
Note the eyes have it.

Speaker 10 (53:13):
Assembly Bill ten thirty three is passed.

Speaker 5 (53:18):
Represented from the seventy second, Thank you.

Speaker 11 (53:21):
Missus Speaker, asking animous consent that the rules be suspended.
Assembly built ten thirty three. Manly messes in the.

Speaker 10 (53:29):
Senate, represented from the seventy second, asking AM's consent that
the rules be suspended. Assembly built ten thirty three be
a mess in the Senate?

Speaker 5 (53:38):
Is there objection? Hearing none?

Speaker 10 (53:40):
The bills in the Senate hearing none, hearing none.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
I have j you heard. I think that was Christine Siniki.
I object. You can always tell Sinicky because she sort
of sounds like who is the character from Monsters inc Lezowski,
Remember the lady who turned out to be like the
undercover government monster agent. That's what I always think about
when I hear Christine Seniki go I object Withowski. You

(54:11):
got a point. You know when the Democrats have a point,
they've got a point. There were tons of objections, So
there has been a recess for boy oh boy, a
couple of hours now while they figure this out, because
that was a massive controversy, and now we have to

(54:32):
wait to see the fate of the nil bill. The
nil bill name image and likeness is okay on its own.
It really whatever the issue that I have is tacked onto.
It is fourteen point six million dollars in general purpose
revenue i e. Taxpayer money from you and me and

(54:55):
everybody else that just automatically goes to the University of
Wisconsin Madison every single year for athletic facilities maintenance. They
don't have to take that out of the money they make.
And they make a ton of money off of Badger football,
Badger basketball, to a lesser extent, Badger hockey. Even though
the men's and women's teams are usually the highest performing

(55:16):
of ball. They've got significant revenue coming in and they
would have to take a portion of that revenue and
maintain the athletic facilities. Now they're just getting fourteen point
six million dollars of taxpayer money in a giveaway from
the state legislature. The same state legislature that said, Hey,

(55:37):
you're going to do away with all your DEI programs,
or we're not going to allow you to hire anybody.
We're going to institute a hiring freeze. We're going to
freeze your budgets. And finally UW system leaders come to
an agreement and they say okay, okay, fine, Board of
regents just gives a big old middle finger to the

(55:58):
Republican legislature and says, absolutely not, we don't agree. Finally,
it took a couple of weeks where the chancellor had
to go back and say, hey, you know what do
we do? The Board of Region's president had to go
back and say, guys, we really need you to vote
for this one. UW. Madison, though, has been remarkably intransigent

(56:22):
in getting rid of its DEI programs. Did it do so?
It dismantled its DEI department. Well, it just transferred all
of the workers to different departments. So essentially it's still
got a DEI program, it's just being hidden in any
number of other different departments across the university. Does this

(56:43):
sound like an institution that should be rewarded with an
additional fifteen million dollars in perpetuity? They're just going to
get fifteen million dollars every single year for facilities maintenance.
They won't have to spend a single cent on facilities
that they're going to be able to do fifteen million
dollars worth of facilities maintenance at one university and instead,

(57:07):
I guess use the revenues that are coming in instead
of hitting up their boosters, they're going to use more
tax dollars and revenue that's coming from taxpayer supported sports
to pay college athletes. So if you want to get
a hot shot running back from the transfer transfer portal,
you can do so using more taxpayer dollars because a

(57:31):
different form of taxpayer dollars, a different set of taxpayer dollars,
is going towards the facility's maintenance. So that has not
yet been voted on. I would expect that one to pass.
Hopefully the Assembly has learned its lesson about voice votes,
but I do expect that to pass. Great day for
a team. USA Women's hockey team lends the gold in

(57:53):
a thriller over our Trifle Canada this afternoon, two to
one in over ten and I am loving the Yes.
I know the NHL does at least for regular season
three on three plus a goalie for overtime. I'll admit
it's been a while since I've actually watched a regular

(58:13):
season hockey game. I watched the Stanley Cup playoffs and
typically don't really watch it that care I was. When
I was growing up, I loved hockey, absolutely loved it.
I played roller hockey in front of my house with
all of my buddies from grade school, and it was
the nineties, everybody had rollerblades, so we did roller hockey.

(58:36):
And we must have played roller hockey every day of
every summer from probably like sixth grade all the way
through about sophomore year in high school. So I loved
hockey back that I became a huge New York Rangers
fan when they won their first and only Cup since
the nineteen fifties in nineteen ninety four. I still love
Mark Messier, Steve Larmer, Wisconsin's own Mike Richter. Congrats to

(59:01):
the Team USA women for a huge, huge gold medal
victory today over Canada. It will be the Team USA
men playing in the semi finals, and that brings us
to the unsung hero of the day. It is, in fact,

(59:26):
a Team USA men's hockey player by the name of
Quinn Hughes, who scored an overtime game winning goal in
the quarterfinals for the men's team against Sweden, and after
the game, as he was walking off the ice, a
reporter asked him about what it was like representing Team USA,
and Hughes's answer, spectac.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
USA flags all over the place. You can hear the chance.
What's that atmosphere?

Speaker 10 (59:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (59:51):
Special?

Speaker 12 (59:52):
I mean, you know, I love the USC screens cussing
in the world, so I'll not be the represent and
here with these guys, and.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
That's really special. In an Olympics where it seems like
at least one out of every five Team USA athletes
is asked about all of the social ills of the
United States and gives a qualified answer about its politics.
While asked and answering about what it's like representing the team,
it is so refreshing to see people like Quinn Hughes

(01:00:25):
who are unabashedly proud to be wearing the red, white,
and blue. Quinn Hughes in really every other Team USA
athlete who thinks the same way he does about the
responsibility and the joy of representing the country that he
loves so much. They are your unsung heroes of the day.
When The Dan O'Donnell Show returns after the top of

(01:00:47):
the hour news, an emotional Robin Voss delivers his retirement address.
We are going to play some long segments of that.
I'm going to comment, and then we are going to
get into America's staffing crisis. Very influential column out this week,
Stay tuned Dan o'donald show, Come right, an emotional Robin

(01:01:10):
Voss today announcing that he is not going to seek
another term in the Wisconsin Assembly. It was a very
well done retirement speech, and right now here on the
Dan o'donald Show, we are going to present it to
you in large segments because it's not just about one

(01:01:30):
man's retirement. Let's face it, though, outside of the two
governors that Wisconsin has had in the thirteen years that
Voss has been Assembly Speaker, there has been nobody more
powerful save for those two governors, in state politics than Voss.

(01:01:50):
And you could even argue that Voss was on par
with Governor Evers and Governor Walker in terms of the
influence that he has wielded as the leader of this
State Assembly. And it is truly the end of an era.
Even Governor Reavers said, we disagreed far more often than

(01:02:14):
we agreed, but this does mark the end of an
era in Wisconsin politics. And we are going to now
here on the Dan O'Donnell's show play some extended segments
of Robin Voss's retirement speech today, primarily because you're simply
not going to hear this anywhere else in the media.
You might hear a ten to fifteen second SoundBite in

(01:02:38):
the five o'clock news, but you're not going to hear
just what Voss had to say and what politics in
Wisconsin has been like over the last decade.

Speaker 3 (01:02:49):
When I first walked with this chamber, I could not
have imagined how deeply this institution would shape my life,
or profoundly I would come to believe in its purpose.
I remember being struck by a few things when I
first was sworn into office in two thousand and five.
One was how beautiful this building is and how lucky
I felt to be able to work in it. Second,

(01:03:11):
how intimidating it felt to sit in a desk that
had been occupied by generations of Wisconsinight's before me. And finally,
how ordinary the work felt from the outside, especially papers
and microphones, debating and votes, until I realized how extraordinary
the responsibility truly was. So today, as I announced that

(01:03:33):
I will not be running for re election in November,
I am struck by how much this work has shaped me,
how honored I am to have played a small part
in democracy, and how proud I am to know that
the state of our legislature is strong. The decision wasn't easy.

(01:03:55):
I've been thinking about it for most of twenty twenty five.
But sometimes the sign pushes you in the right direction,
and mine was at mid November when I had a
mild heart attack. Luckily, my doctors say I am perfectly fine,
but I do need to reduce my stress.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
And let me tell you, this job is stressful.

Speaker 5 (01:04:15):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
This should at least somewhat put aside this idea that
Voss is retiring now because he knows that there's no
chance Republicans are going to retain control of the Assembly.
In truth, this was really one of the worst kept
secrets in the state capitol that Voss was going to retire.
In fact, he had been openly talking about possibly retiring

(01:04:37):
for the past several years. Suffering a mild heart attack
a couple of months ago was just the final push
I think that he needed. As he put it, sort
of a sign from God that now was the time
to step back.

Speaker 3 (01:04:49):
It was a sign from God that convinced me I
needed to choose a different path. I have always believed
that our republic, in order to remain healthy, the legislature
must be the strongest brand government. Not because it should dominate,
but because it represents. When legislatures grow weak, the people's
voice grow faint. When executives governed by unilateral fiat or

(01:05:11):
action or courts are forced to resolve political questions, it's
often because legislators failed to do their job. My work
here in the state Capitol has been guided by the
conviction that this body must never surrender its authority, its responsibility,
or its relevance, no matter who the governor is or
what party he or she are from. Like most of you,

(01:05:33):
I did not arrive here with a grand plan to
stay for twenty two years. I arrived with a belief
that this institution mattered, and that a healthy respect for
the fact that the people who sent me here expected
me to take the job seriously, even when it was hard, unpopular,
or lonely.

Speaker 2 (01:05:53):
Over the years, that belief has only deepened. Serving as a.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
Member of this Assembly, and for the past thirteen years
as a speaker, has been the greatest professional honor of
my life. Together we have worked uphold the legislature as
a coequal branch of government, defending its constitutional role and
restoring balance. When the balance was tested, we strengthen legislative oversight,
even though our court has not weakened it. We reaffirmed

(01:06:21):
the power of the purse, even though some want to
take it away, and insisted that major policy decisions be
made by elected representatives accountable to voters, not unelected state employees.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
What he is talking about is rather obviously the state
Supreme Court, as well as unelected bureaucrats in say, the
Wisconsin Elections Commission staff, as well as in Tony Ebs administration.
He also had a pointed rebuke of Governor Evers in
talking about taking away the power of the purse. The

(01:06:54):
four hundred year property tax veto is exactly that. It
is the governor appropriating for the next four centuries tax
money that was never authorized by the legislature.

Speaker 3 (01:07:05):
The Wisconsin State legislature is not just where laws are passed,
It's where democracy slows itself down on purpose. We debate
in public, we answer to voters. We live with the
consequences of our decisions.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Right or wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
I learned early on that in the legislature it's strongest
when everyone agrees, not only because of that, but because
people are prepared to show up and argue their case. Honestly,
I've had days in this chamber when Florida debates ran
long and tempers flared. In fact, many of us can
remember the longest debate in state history, lasting over sixty

(01:07:40):
three hours right here.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
In this chamber.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
And now many of you complain when we go more
than three hours, right, And yet I have to tell
you that those are some of the days when I
felt most that the system worked exactly as the founders intended.
As speaker, I've also learned that the job is all
about relationationships, and for the people here in this room,
thank you. You are some of the smartest people I

(01:08:06):
have ever met, the most capable of Wisconsin should be
so proud of you. But the job is about quiet
conversations and hallways. It's about the late night meetings when
deadlines loomed because we all need a deadline, and the
moments when you came up and talk to me about
an event or something that was personal to you and
I got.

Speaker 2 (01:08:25):
To listen to your stories.

Speaker 3 (01:08:28):
What made the biggest impact was regular people coming up
to you in the coffee shop or wherever it was
tell you their opinion, even if you didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
Want to hear it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
There were moments of real pressure, moments when the institution
itself was being tested. Now I am so incredibly proud
that all of us were able to stand together. We
advanced reforms aimed at fiscal responsibility, holding the line on spending,
protecting taxpayers, and making difficult decisions to secure Wisconsin's long
term economic stability. We pursued policies to grow jobs and

(01:09:02):
courage investment, and keep Wisconsin competitive in a rapidly changing environment.
We expanded educational opportunities for kids, particularly in families who
fell trapped by circumstance of their birth rather than by
a choice that they made. We tried to change a
system that far too often traps our neighbors and their
circumstances rather than what we all want, which is helping

(01:09:23):
to lift them to greater circumstances. Some of the accomplishments
I am proudest of will never make headlines. Improving how
this institution functions, modernizing its operations, and ensuring that future
legislators inherit a legislature that is stronger, more transparent, and
more resilient than the one I entered two decades ago.

(01:09:44):
No accomplishment in this building is ever the work of
one person to the members of this Assembly, Republicans and
Democrats alike, thank you. We have argued fiercely, we have
disagreed passionately, and yet we have all shown up day
after day by a shared respect for this institution. The
debates that we have in this chamber actually matter. They

(01:10:07):
matter because they happen in the open, because they require compromise,
and because they reflect the will of the people that
we all serve. To my personal staff today, my very
first staffer, and we're going to give people a round
of applause, mister speaker, even if you don't want to.

(01:10:29):
To my very who now works for the Clerk's office,
Janine up there, let's give her a round of applause. Now,

(01:10:54):
I know, especially my Democratic friends like to stand up.
But I'm going to introduce all these people and then
we can and up.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
At the end. But that's okay.

Speaker 3 (01:11:04):
To the woman who took me to the Howard Dean
interview and pushed me out of the window or out
of the door of the car without telling me what
I was doing, my very first communications director, Kit.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
Bayer, thank you very much. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:23):
I'm gonna run down it because it's gonna I'm gonna
start crying, so I can't do it. So Lizzie and
Abby and Zach and Mariah and Jake and Kate and
Tyler and Mac and Tyler.

Speaker 2 (01:11:35):
Ellison, the other Tyler and Luke Wolfe, who are all
here today, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:42):
You have made me a better person, and you've instant
you made this institution stronger.

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
You have you have.

Speaker 3 (01:11:47):
But to the person, But to the person who I
am closest to, with the exception of someone I'm related to,
the woman who really runs everything. I mean, I always
tell people I get to be the pretty face, but
she's the one who's pretty er and the harder worker.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
We all know how this institution works.

Speaker 3 (01:12:12):
It's the people behind the scenes who don't get enough credit,
who do all the work, who are here at night
when we leave to the bar. They know everything that works. Jenny,
I could not have done it without you. Thank you
very much.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
Kind I believe it is his longtime chief of staff.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
Eighty two people have worked in my office since I started,
about half interns, about half professional staff in the office,
each and every one of them fantastic. To the other
professional staff of the legislature, the people who work for
our fifth Bureau and the Reference Bureau. I'm not going
to start naming them all the six service agencies. Right,

(01:13:04):
incredible people. We are so blessed, and they do not
get the stanks that they deserve. Every day, day in
and day out, the stupidest questions that we have, they
act like they're serious.

Speaker 2 (01:13:16):
Right, they are amazing.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
They're the steady hands, the institutional knowledge, the quiet professionals
who really make us work their long nights, their careful
counsel and devotion to process often go unseen by the public,
but they are truly the foundation of everything that we do.
And they success attributed to me belongs rightly with the
professional staff who made it happen. Let's give them around

(01:13:39):
of applus tos in the sixty thirdy District and now
because of the evers Jerrymander the thirty third Assembly District.

Speaker 2 (01:14:02):
Thank you for placing your trust in me. Thank you
for placing your trust in me time and time again
over the past two decades.

Speaker 3 (01:14:08):
I am deeply humbled by the confidence in my ability
to servicing in Walworth Counties. To my friends and neighbors
who stood with me from the very beginning and every
step since the matter with my recall or whatever. Your
faith has been something that means more to me than
I can say to my friends from around the country
who I know might be watching that I've gotten the

(01:14:30):
note through wonderful organizations like NCSL and SLLF. Thank you
for being mentors to me and an incredible sounding board.
Cliff Andre kurt Al, Tim Stacy, Eric Steve, Linda Pete
and so many others. You know who you are and
you know what you did for me. Thank you for
helping me to make my work as a leader more

(01:14:51):
meaningful and for your friendship even deeper. To my leadership
team and my caucus colleagues, thank you for your trust.
Thank you for your candor and your willingness to carry
responsibility when it is heavy. Leadership is never about authority alone.
It's about accountability, and I was fortunate to share that
burden with people of integrity. The people of Wisconsin, as

(01:15:14):
I said earlier, are so lucky to have you serving
in your roles, and I have confidence in the future
that you'll keep doing it. And finally, to my family,
thank you for the sacrifices you made so that I
could serve the public public service demands time it demand's patience,
and it depends understanding from those that we love the most.

(01:15:34):
Your support made it all possible. Winston Churchill famously said,
everyone has his day, and some days last longer than others.
My time has lasted quite a while, but my service
in this chamber will end when the new class of
freshmen are sworn in. I've been so honored to serve
with all of you in this chamber, and I will
miss many of you.

Speaker 2 (01:15:55):
But not all of you.

Speaker 13 (01:15:57):
Ah.

Speaker 3 (01:15:58):
But to those of you who I will miss, and
an actually all of you, I appreciate your service.

Speaker 2 (01:16:02):
As I step away from this chamber.

Speaker 3 (01:16:03):
Of My hope is super simple that those who follow
will remember that the legislature is not meant to be
convenient or fast or easy. It is meant to be deliberative.
It's meant to be independent, and it's meant to be strong.
If this institution remains strong, Wisconsin will remain strong. So
as my friend, the former Speaker of Iowa, Linda Upmeyer

(01:16:27):
said on her own retirement, I'll miss the clowns, but
not the circus. Have I thought about that, and it's
certainly fitting. Thank you all for your service, Thank you
for the honor you've given me. May God bless Wisconsin
and let's end with a great session.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
Day, hopefully in the reasonable hours of the night. Thank
you very much.

Speaker 1 (01:16:49):
That is Assembly Speaker Robin Voss in his farewell address
this afternoon. We will be back in two seconds here
on the Dan O'Donnell's show to provide some analysis of
that and much more. Stay tuned. I don't actually think
I have ever seen Assembly Speaker Scott Scott assembly Speaker

(01:17:12):
Robin Voss that emotional. This was a man who went
into the trenches with Scott Walker, who battled Tony Evers
to the bitter end. But he was very emotional as
he announces today that he is not going to seek reelection,
that he is retiring after more than twenty years in

(01:17:32):
the State Assembly, more than thirteen years as Assembly speaker.
He is the longest serving Assembly Speaker in the history
of the Wisconsin State Assembly, which is something. And what
he was talking about was obviously very high minded ideas
about the deliberative nature of the legislative role in state government.

(01:17:54):
And he of course thanked the people closest to him,
his staffers, his colleagues. But what I took away was
the pointed nature with which he not necessarily attacked the
other two branches of government. But as we see an
imperial executive and an imperial judiciary here in Wisconsin, both

(01:18:16):
under the control of liberals who talk a big game
about democracy but are continually trying to chip away at
the lawful authority of the closest thing that we have
to actual representation of the people. You don't get closer
than you do to your state assembly person. You don't

(01:18:39):
get closer than your state senator. Sure, you have a
congressional representative, you have a House of Representatives member, But
in state government, it is very likely that if you
are at all interested in politics, if you are at
all somebody who follows what's going on, and somebody who

(01:19:01):
you know is is visible politically, you probably know and
have a relationship with your state rep with your state senator.
There's really something to that. And what we have had
over the last seven years was an executive branch that,
under the auspices of doing what's right in awe, shucks,

(01:19:21):
we just want to get some more money for the kids.
We actually had the single biggest affront to the separation
of powers I think that we've ever had in this state.
First of all, with Governor Evers continually extending the state
of emergency, the the COVID emergency, he would declare new
public health emergencies every couple of weeks, just so he

(01:19:43):
could have his legislature. He could have his statewide mask
mandate without any legislative oversight. I don't think people realize.
I remember screaming about this to the high heavens in
twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two as Evers was doing it,
But it felt like people didn't really understand the threat

(01:20:04):
that this posed. And Robin Voss was one of the
few who did, who said, look, if he can just
declare a new state of emergency over something as stupid
as a mask mandate, well, what's to stop him from
simply declaring a new state of emergency and giving himself
all sorts of new powers that were never delegated to
him by the Wisconsin Constitution. And I can remember talking

(01:20:28):
with Voss about that and why he fought so hard
against it. And it's the same thing with now that
we have an imperial judiciary in the form of the
left wing Supreme Court that first took power in August
of twenty twenty three when Janet proto Sewitz was sworn
in as the fourth Liberal and immediately, immediately you served

(01:20:49):
the lawful constitutional authority of the state legislature to draw
state legislative maps and said, okay, we're just going to
on the flimsiest of anti constitutional grounds saying we're just
going to strike down your maps. We're going to draw
our own, unless basically bullying the legislature into accepting Governor

(01:21:09):
evers map, which again, the governor has no lawful constitutional
authority to draw legislative maps in Wisconsin under the Wisconsin Constitution.
That falls specifically under the auspices of legislative power. But
the Supreme Court signed off on that. The Supreme Court
actually asserted for itself that power. And then we got

(01:21:33):
the big one where the governor, through this four hundred
year veto simply delegated state money for the next four
hundred years, that the power of the purse belongs to
the state legislature, just as it does federally to the
United States Congress. It in Wisconsin belongs that power to
allocate taxpayer money. That is the sole authority of the

(01:21:58):
state legislature. With the four hundred year veto. The governor said, Okay,
I am going to take that authority from the legislature
and give it essentially to school board, say okay, you
can up the revenue limit by three hundred twenty five
dollars per student per year for the next four centuries.
That was never authorized by the state legislature. There was

(01:22:19):
a tremendous affront to the separation of powers, and Voss
in his farewell address, was right full and purposeful in
not talking about that directly because he wanted to be magnanimous.
He wanted to be political, and he didn't want to
sound petty or anything like that. But that's exactly what
he was talking about when he was talking about the

(01:22:40):
threats to the deliberative body that is the legislature. All Right,
we do have threats in the form of jobs and
a skills gap here in Wisconsin. That doesn't show any
signs of A fascinating article from a very astute conservative
business man here in Wisconsin. He's going to join me
in studio. Scott Mayor is up next here on the

(01:23:03):
Dan o'donald Show. We are going to talk about Wisconsin's
economic future. Stay tuned. We'll be right back after this
welcome back. It is the Dan o'donald Show. We are
so pleased to be joined live in studio by Scott Mayor.
You know him as a former indie car driver. He

(01:23:25):
is also the chairman of the board, founder, CEO and
all around head honcho of QPS Employment Group. He joins
us live in studio, Scott, Welcome to the Dan o'donald Show.
So great to have you here.

Speaker 5 (01:23:39):
Thank you. Dan.

Speaker 13 (01:23:40):
By the way, you're getting me in trouble right out
of the gate. I'm no longer the CEO. Will you
go to next Gen? You are everything else? The founder executive.

Speaker 1 (01:23:47):
I am executive chairman. Actually I'm reading your CV and
right on here at executive chair of the board. That's right,
not chief executive. I blame my not existent dyslexia are So.
You have a fantastic piece in here from RealClearPolitics dot

(01:24:09):
com entitled solving the Next labor Shortage. You obviously know
this very very well. Is at RealClearPolitics dot com. We
clearly have a disconnect and we've heard a long time
about the skills gap here in Wisconsin, but you are
tying this not just to tech jobs but also to

(01:24:33):
a very hot button issue, and that is immigration enforcement.

Speaker 2 (01:24:39):
Correct.

Speaker 13 (01:24:40):
You know, let me start by saying, I appreciate that
we sealed the border. We needed to do that. We
need to get rid of the bad people. But the
hard working people in this country and in our state
that are just here because they couldn't find a path legally,
we can't get rid of them when you seal the border.
If you don't bring in two and a half million
more each year because of the people that age out,

(01:25:03):
or die or retire, we're in the hole right out
of the gate.

Speaker 2 (01:25:08):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:25:09):
A lot of people say to that, Okay, yes, And
obviously Wisconsin being the dairy state, we know, Look, there
are a whole lot of illegal aliens who work in
the agriculture industry. That's just we understand that. But there
are those who say, well, can't increased automation solve a

(01:25:29):
part of that? Or is this something that is going
to hit critical mass if in fact we do see
major deportation efforts of non criminal illegals. And it is
very important to note that the Trump administration has been
focusing on criminal illegals those who are This is why
it was such a big deal to get in the

(01:25:49):
jails in Minnesota, right, because it's just very easy to
pick up people who are already in custody. Uh. But
do you think that this is something that could be
solved through increased automation or are we still going to
need millions of human beings here?

Speaker 13 (01:26:05):
Well, we can only automate so much. I'm working with
Derek van Orden, congressman up north, and he's got a
ton of farms in his district and you can't automate
everything there. And let me tell you, he's those farms
are full of migrant labor, and Americans buy and large
don't want those jobs. Your kids, my kids, doesn't matter

(01:26:26):
the pay rate, you're not going to get them to
go work in a farm. And automation can only do
so much. So we really need we still need labor,
believe it or not. And that's really a good thing
because if everybody had a job, how are you going
to make money and pay your bills. So there will
be jobs and there always will be, and we need labor.
We need migrant labor factories, farms and fields. It's a

(01:26:48):
critical issue right now.

Speaker 1 (01:26:49):
But obviously, as you note in your piece, it's important
to note what the Trump administration is doing. It's not
a bad thing. We cannot be a nation without laws
or borders. We witness years of the open borders crisis
under Joe Biden, when millions of illegals crossed into our country,
including criminals from terrorist organizations and gang members. However, immigration

(01:27:10):
is far more nuance nuanced than just sending people back
across our borders. Immigration and migrant work are as vital
to our labor force and economy as seeking the American
dream and the land of opportunity is for those who
so desperately want to start a new life in our country. Now,
as a general rule, I do agree with that. Okay,

(01:27:30):
I do absolutely agree with that. However, we do need
to have a process by which I think the United
States has the ability to sort of say, okay, this
is somebody who is vetted, this is somebody who has
proven themselves to be a hard worker. Do you understand

(01:27:52):
the concern about maybe not, I don't know, making sure
we have an adequate vet process. Are you talking about
increasing the number of Green cards, H one B visas,
that sort of.

Speaker 13 (01:28:06):
Thing we're looking at, Derek and I are working on.
We want like a worker visa, like a couple of
year deal that can be renewed because listen, we haven't
had immigration reform since I believe nineteen eighty seven, if
I'm not missing eighty six eighty six. Okay, been a
long long time. And by the way, I've been speaking
on this for well over a decade. Do you know

(01:28:27):
it's literally impossible. Let's say I'm a Mexican welder, never
committed a crime, perfect record, and I wanted to come
over legally. Do you know it was like a zero
percent chance. So we need to come up with a
legal path to actually bring people in as the country
has needs. Now, let's say the needs shut down, we

(01:28:49):
shut the border down. But when there are needs, we've
got to find a way to do it legally to
bring people over because what keeps our country strong is
by having labor to fill the jobs that are needed.
You know, you got to go to a store and
find milk and lettuce and pork chops, and if we
run short of people to do those jobs, that would
be a national security issue if you go to pick

(01:29:09):
and save and you can't find produce.

Speaker 1 (01:29:11):
No, I don't think there's anybody who disagrees with that absolutely.
And one thing that is one of the great secrets
of Hispanic labor, especially those from Mexico is especially men.
They're increasingly Republican in like massive, massive numbers. But when
you talk about stuff like this, Scott, a lot of

(01:29:33):
people say, Okay, we go back to that nineteen eighty
six and that led to amnesty for millions and millions
and millions of people. And before the sort of Trump
revolution here, we did have a lot of people believe
California was a red state before we had that mass amnesty. Right,

(01:29:55):
is this something that Democrats have won at a You're
not in favor of any sort of mass amnesty pathway
to citizenship for just you know, blanket magic wand amnesty.
Like I have no problem with someone earning their citizenship.
I actually love it. My own sister in law is
from Ukraine. She became a citizen what fifteen years after

(01:30:15):
first coming here as a little girl, excuse me, on
a visa at like ten years old something like that,
after her parents died. And that obviously is something that
I think everyone can get behind. But I think what
people are very wary of is again a repeat of
the eighty six amnesty, in which Democrats are quite literally

(01:30:36):
and they've been pretty open about this for the last
three decades. A pathway to voting and importing political power.

Speaker 13 (01:30:43):
Yeah, I never didn't hear one word of amnesty. That's
a non starter. In Washington, d C. We're talking about
worker visas to have the opportunity to be here to work.
I don't think any of most of the migrants aren't
trying to get I mean, they probably would appreciate US
citizenship and maybe a path, But at this point, what
we're focused on is a very narrow path of worker visa,

(01:31:05):
and we're starting with just in the food processing industry.
We're not going any wider than that. We want to
get something through very narrow that everybody can get their
head around. You know, we need to eat right, We
need to be able to go to this store and
get vegetables and milk and meat and so forth. So
we're starting with that, and it's strictly a worker visa,
an opportunity to be here working, and like a two

(01:31:28):
year process, and then it can be automatically renewed with
as long as people are checked out that they're still here,
clean and doing their thing.

Speaker 1 (01:31:36):
What about the argument that Americans can do this work?
I mean, you're in the industry, so you obviously would
be able to say, is this I mean, is there
truth to what people have long said that these are
jobs that American citizens just aren't doing? Correct?

Speaker 2 (01:31:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 13 (01:31:54):
Absolutely, I mean so many of these jobs Americans don't want.
Let me talk about another state, the state of Washington,
largest apple grower in the country. Do you know that
twenty five percent of the apples go unpicked because they
can't get enough labor there and it's been that way
for a decade, So they pick the premium apples and
let the lesser valued apples rot because they can't get

(01:32:15):
enough people. Doesn't matter the pay rate, you're not going
to get Bill Gates kids to go pick apples. Those
are jobs that Americans buy and large don't want. And
it's perfect because migrant labor takes those jobs and they're
happy to when they work hard and they do a
good job, and then they go home at night and
restart the next day. So no, we're not taking Americans
jobs at you know, even if there was twenty percent unemployment,

(01:32:37):
I just don't think you're gonna get my kids or
your kids to go pick apples. It's just not going
to happen.

Speaker 1 (01:32:42):
Well, I'll tell you what. If I've got an apple
tree in the backyard and their chore is to pick
those apples, They're picking the damn apples.

Speaker 13 (01:32:48):
Okay, now you're splitting hairs with me, but I'm talking.

Speaker 1 (01:32:50):
About no, no, every day, I'm kidding with you. I'm
kidding with.

Speaker 2 (01:32:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:32:55):
There is, there is definitely that. I guess. The one
thing that there is the concern and about also, though,
is sort of the exploitative nature of that, Like our
wages artificially down because we're importing labor, whereas Americans, and
trust me, I am very receptive to the argument that
especially unionized labor has in many respects priced itself out

(01:33:17):
of the global market. If we actually do want to,
as President Trump says, reshure a lot of these jobs,
you're not going to be able to have the just
you know, one hundred and fifty dollars an hour wages
that some of the unionized labor forces are going to demand.
But I guess, is there a concern about exploiting some

(01:33:39):
of these people and saying, you know, paying below market wages? Right?
I guess I suppose that the market is sort of
deciding what people are willing to do right.

Speaker 13 (01:33:49):
You know, Dan, I can tell you that there was
a time where maybe the migrants weren't making as much
as you know, legal Hispanics, if you will, But that
day has come and gone and they've wised up and
they're demanding the same pay rates as Puerto Ricans or
those here legally. So that's been an issue in the past,

(01:34:11):
but not so much today. They're getting paid comparable and
you know, we have nothing at QPS but good high
pay rates going are the day of you know, seven
dollars an hour minimum wage never comes into play. QPS
is a you know, entry level fifteen to twenty dollars
an hour starting pay rate for just about any entry
level job. So it's not an issue why you want

(01:34:31):
to come over and work kind of I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:34:33):
There, you go, there are slave drivers over here at Iheartnet. No,
I'm kidding. Yeah, Producer Eric said, that's better than what
they're paying us. What's going on here?

Speaker 13 (01:34:43):
Okay, I want to get you in trouble, but yeah,
we got good pay rates because the market has dictated that.
You know, you can set any federal minimum wage you want,
but the market should dictate what the pay rate is.
And it's gone up. Why because we have a shortage
of workers and there it brings full circle down.

Speaker 1 (01:35:01):
He is Scott Mayor with the QPS Employment Group and
the article is at RealClearPolitics dot com. Definitely some food
for thought solving the next labor shortage. And this is something, folks,
that we do need to confront as President Trump is
very obviously doing the right thing on immigration enforcement, but

(01:35:23):
there is this other pull when it comes to the
counterweight of the push on that and Scott, I really
do appreciate. We love having you here, a great insight.
Thank you so so much. I'd love to have you
back anytime here on the Dan o'donald show.

Speaker 13 (01:35:41):
All right, I'll see you tomorrow dotal thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:35:43):
Yeah, you want to talk about Robin Voss. Let's see
what are some of the other big stories of the day. No,
we absolutely do love it. Thank you so much, sir.
You are listening to the Dan o'donald. We're back to
wrap things up for the Thursday edition coming up next.
My thanks again to Scott Mayer for joining us. It

(01:36:05):
ish look, folks, it is a reality of the immigration debate.
As he said, he is working with Derek van Orden,
the Wisconsin congressman who represents a significant amount of the
dairy industry here in this state. That you know, obviously,
deportations of people who have valid deportation orders, people who

(01:36:25):
have committed heinous crimes. This is necessary. But the United
States has become dependent on illegal immigrant labor, and there
are a whole lot of people in the illegal immigrant
community who do love this country, who do want nothing
more than to be American to work here, and this

(01:36:45):
is something that does need to be addressed. There is
a whole lot of nuance. As Scott wrote in his
piece up at RealClearPolitics dot com, all right, the State
Assembly is settling in for a long winter's night of debate,

(01:37:06):
and hopefully they have learned their lesson after an utter
debacle earlier this afternoon regarding the wake Boat bill passing
on a voice vote that absolutely should not have gone
on a voice vote. I have been running around trying
to get to as much of what the legislature has

(01:37:27):
been doing. They have gone into closed session for much
of this evening, and a lot of the significant legislation
is going to be passed probably late at night. Something
I am also not a major fan of But the
biggest action that we have had thus far, not just
the wake boat bill, but also passing on a voice vote,

(01:37:50):
is the online sports Betting bill, which is by far
the most significant piece of legislation that is going to
come out of this session. Much more than the nil bill,
much more than wake voting. This is something that impacts
a whole lot of people. I am told that there
are a significant number of Republicans in the Senate who
just do not support this bill. So it is going

(01:38:11):
to be on the Senate leadership. It's going to be
on Devin Lemaheue to decide whether he wants to abandon
the longstanding rule of seventeen, in which he needs seventeen
members a majority of all Senators, not just a majority
of members of his own party, to bring a bill
out of committee and to bring it out of the

(01:38:32):
floor to vote. This is just something that's always been done.
Is he going to abandon that to essentially give monopolistic
control over online sports betting in this state something that
might not We don't even know whether this is constitutional,
whether the voters of Wisconsin need to go to a
constitutional amendment. The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty whose

(01:38:53):
legal opinion I treat as gospel. They are very very good,
very very thorough, and talented lawyers. They say this is unconstitutional,
and I tend to agree with them. We will discuss,
of course, tomorrow in much greater depth, out of time
for tonight's show three zero six. Tomorrow we're back at
it on The Dan o'donald Show