The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.
>> While the federal government continues to slash funding the
NFL draft in Green Bay brings an economic shot in the arm. Oh,
I'm Frederica Freyberg tonight on here. And now we check in
with Wisconsin representatives in Washington. This week,
Congressman Tom Tiffany Zac Schultz reports on the financial
fuel brought to green Bay by the draft higher ed educators speak
out about the loss of grant funding and the return of warm
weather signals. The return of ticks. It's "Here& Now" for
April 25th. >> Funding for here and Now is
provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS
Wisconsin. >> What does the Republican
congressional delegation in Wisconsin think about changing
tariffs? Federal spending cuts and tough new immigration
orders. We asked seventh Congressional District U.S.
Representative Tom Tiffany, who joins us from Akron.
Congressman, thanks very much for being here.
>> Good to join you today, Frederica.
China for unfair trade practices. President Trump had
imposed a 145% tariff on China. What's your reaction to the
president now talking about pulling back from that?
>> You know, I think he came out with really broad based tariffs
initially. And now is the part where there is negotiation going
on. And so we will see where this all leads. All I know is
that I just introduced a bill about a week ago in regards to
the World Trade Organization. I think we should have a vote in
Congress, whether we should continue to belong to one of
these multinational organizations, like the World
Health Organization, in this case, the World Trade
Organization, because I don't think it's served America's
interests. I think it's served the interests of China. And as
we've seen, main streets across Wisconsin and America get
hollowed out. Part of that is because we've given up making
things here in America. We got to bring some of that
manufacturing back here to the United States.
>> What kind of feedback have you been getting from your
constituents about Elon Musk's DOGE cuts to federal programs
and personnel? Everything from the USDA to the VA, Social
Security, even the CDC, now unable to help Milwaukee with
its lead crisis? >> I would say both on the issue
of tariffs and DOGE. The Department of Government
Accountability that it leads to uncertainty. And, you know, we
all prefer to have stability in our lives, especially when it
comes to our finances. And but it's important what is going on
to have some fiscal responsibility. Congress has not
done its job over the last 30 years, really making sure how
these expenditures that are going out, that they're going
out appropriately. Now we finally gotten to the point with
$36 trillion in debt. Somebody has to do something about it.
And to the credit of the Trump administration, they are saying
we're going to identify this stuff. And now you Congress got
to decide if you're going to have some if you're going to
engage in some fiscal responsibility.
>> What about Congress's role to kind of get a grasp of what has
happened with DOGE and these kinds of, of cuts?
>> Yeah, we're watching very closely what they're
identifying, because ultimately, DOGE does not make the decision.
It's the executive branch or Congress that makes the decision
in regards to this. And they should help guide some of the
things that are out there that we can deal with. I mean, $200
billion in duplicate payments that went out via the Medicaid
program to insurers. Those type of things really need rigorous
review. So there's ways large and small. We need to do a
better job in Congress going through these line items line by
line. >> If the DOGE cuts don't offset
enough spending, how will the GOP budget get the spending cuts
needed to prevent Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts from deepening the
deficit? >> I think we did in the House,
and in particular those of us that are members of the Freedom
Caucus, we wanted to couple additional tax reductions to
deficit reduction. So to a certain extent, we will not get
additional tax savings or tax reductions unless we find those
spending reductions. And I think it was appropriate to couple
those two things to a certain extent.
>> So as to spending reductions. Would you vote for a budget that
had cuts to Medicaid? >> Only if they're done
appropriately? The other thing that I've been a strong advocate
for is for work requirements. If you are able bodied and you can
work and you're taking Medicaid, in other words, you're accepting
getting your health care from your fellow taxpayers when you
could have your own job. I believe work requirements should
be put in place. And I think that's one place that we could
save billions of dollars with the Medicaid program.
>> So what's your comment on the universities of Wisconsin
already losing millions in research funds with a threat of
tens of millions of dollars more?
>> Well, make the case. Make the case because, I mean, for
example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, they their facility up
in my district in Ashland was on the chopping block to close that
facility. They made their case and the administration restored
it. That's an example of make the case of why that research is
so important. And I think you will see this administration be
very open to restoring that. The other thing that I would mention
is there was a specific example in UW-Madison, where 55% of a
grant went for indirect costs. When you look at the leading
research grantees like the Gates Foundation, Johnson, others like
that, they put a cap of 15% on indirect costs. I think
something like that similarly should be done at the federal
level with these federal grants, because we want good research
done. UW-Madison does great research. Warf does great
research, but the taxpayers should have some accountability
for those dollars going out. >> On immigration, you've been
super critical of Governor Evers for his guidance that he has
given to state agencies around what to do in the event of Ice
agents kind of showing up at a at a state building. He suggests
that people should notify a staff attorney, not give out
paper files or computer access, not answer questions or allow
Ice officers access to nonpublic areas. So why so critical?
>> Governor is encouraging state employees to break federal law.
And as the leader of the state of Wisconsin, you should never,
never do something like that where you're encouraging people
to break federal law. If there has been a deportation notice
that has been put out, it's ICE's job to remove that person.
And that is what should be happening, is that the person
should be removed. And Governor Evers is basically saying, no,
you're not. You are going to impede Ice from being able to do
their job. That is in defiance of federal law.
>> You're on the Judiciary Committee, and many Republicans,
including President Trump, have openly decried activist liberal
judges in maligning their rulings over executive orders
and other things. Does this fray the separation of powers?
>> I think it's appropriate. But what's really disconcerting at
this point is you have these activist judges that are out
there issuing nationwide injunctions for what are narrow
cases that affect just a few people. I believe they're
getting outside of their lane. They're over overreaching the
bounds of where they should be in in carrying out their job as
the judiciary. >> All right. Congressman Tom
Tiffany, we leave it there. Thanks so much.
>> To join you, Frederica. >> In Milwaukee today. U.S.
Marshals arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge
Hannah Dugan. She appeared in federal court on felony charges
of obstructing an immigration arrest at the courthouse. So
far, reaction to this breaks along party lines. Next week,
we'll talk with a Democratic Wisconsin congressional member.
>> The cuts to health care and long term care, the cuts to food
assistance, the number one program that keeps kids out of
poverty. Someone's got to fight for them.
>> Second district U.S. Representative Mark Pocan and La
Crosse this week again. He'll be here next week on this program.
As to cuts. Many are concerned about Social Security. So far,
the white House and DOGE have already reduced Social Security
Administration staff by 7000 employees, which has caused
delays in service. Former Social Security Commissioner and
Democratic Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley was in Racine
this week for a citizens town hall.
>> I shuddered to think of the pain that this was going to
inflict on people. I mean, 40% of seniors living alone depend
entirely on Social Security. It's the difference between
whether they live with dignity or whether they live in poverty.
Other people on Supplemental Security Income, SSI, I mean,
they're among the poorest of the poor. You talk about living
month to month, and they live from week to week. And
interruption to benefits for them could be catastrophic. I
mean, they get evicted from their apartment. Elderly people,
you know, suddenly, you know, they realize that the bills that
were just allowing them to make it or now they're not able to
pay their utilities. They're. So it's going to have a real
damaging impact on individuals. And it's also going to be a real
kick in the teeth for consumer confidence. We've come to rely
on Social Security. And I can tell you for sure because I've
been talking to a lot of them in both parties that members of
Congress are seeing a rising tide of opposition to the
destruction of their Social Security or the interruption of
their earned benefit. They're also seeing a rising tide of
really frustrated customers. They can't get through on the
one 800 number and have a four hour wait to get into a field
office and a three month wait to even get an appointment at a
field office. So people's voices need to be heard.
>> In other news, the eyes of the sporting world are on green
Bay this weekend as the Packers host the NFL Draft at Lambeau
Field. Here and now, senior political reporter Zach Schultz
was there for the first day of the draft and tells us the state
hopes the economic impact will be felt for years to come.
>> Okay. Welcome to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
>> When the National Football League announced the green Bay
Packers would host the 2025 NFL draft, there was little doubt
Packers fans would show up a party in the shadow of Lambeau
Field, with no cost to get in. By the end of the night, the NFL
announced attendance on the first day hit 205,000 people.
>> The draft is really like an all eyes on us moment for
Wisconsin, and that's really important because we are turning
football fans into Wisconsin fans.
>> And Sayers is Wisconsin's tourism secretary, and she knows
not all of these football fans are local. We saw jerseys
representing all 32 teams in the league, and even some of those
wearing Packers jerseys traveled from out of state. Wisconsin
spent more than $2 million to help prepare for and promote the
event. >> We have been preparing.
>> For a long time. We knew we could do it. And so I think
people are going to have a seamless experience, and that's
what it's all about. >> We booked an Airbnb in
Appleton like a year ago. >> Aaron and Tricia Leonard
their two young children. They were surprised to find
activities for their kids throughout the day like this.
Football skills event. >> I was just thinking about
like, I was doing pretty good. >> Yeah, it's been a great
experience, especially for a five and soon to be three year
old. It's been great for the kids.
green Bay for games before, but for others, this trip was a
first. >> This is awesome. I've seen
people from every fan base. It's a beautiful area. Hotels are
nice. >> I would love to come back to
watch a Packers game at some time. That's on my bucket list.
>> Wisconsin is on a hot streak when it comes to hosting large
events, and Sayers says the key is turning those visitors into
repeat customers. >> I think we're making an
impression. You know, we hosted the RNC. We are now hosting the
draft. We were showcased through Top Chef just recently. We have
a lot of marquee moments happening in golf. We were
welcoming Indy car back, and I think it's just showing like,
yeah, Wisconsin can do this. We can absolutely host people, can
have a great time. They go home with stories. They actually want
to come back for their family vacations. That's what it's all
about. >> Just to drive up here to it
was kind of cool to look at, you know, all the things that we
could do. You know, we thought maybe we'll bring our kids here,
maybe we'll do this, maybe we'll do that.
>> Well, a cloudy day in April may not show off. Wisconsin at
its best. The food is always good, and there were long lines
for standards like burgers and trucks like the Frybread Shack.
>> Frybread are special recipe that we make with our Doyle.
>> Azari Leoso and his team are from the Bad River band of the
Lake Superior Chippewa. truck. There's not too many
indigenous foods out there, so it means a lot. And we're we're
very honored to be out here representing on behalf of native
Americans across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan. We're from
northern Wisconsin. The bad River reservation. So we're very
honored to be a part of this and to be accepted in here and share
a little bit of our culture with everyone.
culinary food traditions, our outdoor recreation, which is
world class, our unique accommodations, our unexpected
attractions. So many of these things that we know travelers
are looking for. We have it in Wisconsin and the draft is just
giving us a stage to show it all off.
rare sporting events where every fan can walk away happy. None
more so than the crowd of Packers fans. When the team
finally made their selection. >> The 13 time world champion
green Bay Packers draft Matthew Golden, wide receiver, Texas.
>> Go big. >> Reporting from green Bay. I'm
Zach Schultz for here and. >> Now.
>> Turning back to higher ed cuts. He calls it the Friday
night massacre of the verifiable truth a UW-Madison professor
researching and amplifying accurate claims about vaccines
saw his $5 federal grant terminated a week ago. The
National Science Foundation grant was axed. Quote, per the
presidential action that the NSF will not support research with
the goal of combating misinformation, disinformation
and malinformation that could be used to infringe on protected
speech rights. Professor of Journalism and Mass
Communications Michael Wagner is here. Ahead of this, we should
note PBS Wisconsin is part of UW-Madison. Hi, Mike.
>> Hi. Good to see you. >> How surprised were you?
Shocked, really, that your grant was terminated?
>> Well, in the short term, I wasn't shocked. I mean, we've
been under scrutiny from the federal government and even the
weaponization of government subcommittee in the House for
the last year and a half. And so we knew this day was coming and
so on the one hand, it wasn't that shocking, although we knew
we didn't know exactly when it was going to happen, but more
broadly, to say that researchers in the United States who made,
you know, grant proposals and had them vetted by a series of
experts that were blind to us, experts that were blind to u % ,
evaluating us, said, this is a project worth doing and that
could really help people. And then to have the government say,
we're not so interested in sharing things that are true,
that's really shocking. And what's even more shocking is
that it's not just happening to us. I mean, it's a big deal to
us and our team and the grant we have. But this is happening all
across campus and all across the country.
Now that is on hold. What were you looking at and why?
>> So we were really interested in ways that we could try and
improve the information environment without engaging in
content moderation. So one thing that's really controversial, and
there are experts who study this is to say if some things are
false or and especially if they're dangerous, maybe
platforms should be pressured to take them down. That's not what
we do. What we say is we want to identify networks of
conversation online that are sharing information that might
be false. Then we want to see are there independent fact
checkers and independent research studies that have been
done at least three that confirm this thing that's being shared
online isn't true? If that's the case, then we want to create
messages that say, here's the stuff that's true, and then we
want to use the platforms advertising mechanisms to buy
ads and show them to the people who saw the false stuff. So put
simply, if people are seeing things that aren't true, we want
to make a message about something that is true and share
it with people so that the truth can compete with the falsehood.
We don't want to take any content down, we just want those
two things to compete, and then we want to see. Does sharing the
truth make things better for people?
the only sizable grant eliminated at UW-Madison. At
least $12.6 million in direct research funding has been
canceled. What are you hearing from your colleagues about all
of this? >> We organized a teach in for
our undergraduate students last week, and in that conversation,
one faculty member from the School of Human Ecology noted,
you know, more than a dozen grants related to Social
Security studies. So this is not not just for seniors, but for
lots of other folks who get Social Security benefits. People
with disabilities, children of people who have died and don't
have parents anymore. All kinds of folks who need we need to
understand how well are these benefits helping them? Is it the
right amount? Are they being, you know, distributed in the
right way? All those kinds of things, all those got
immediately killed. We've heard from people in the medical
school that in some cases there are hiring freezes. Even at the
VA, so that new staff can't be hired and new research
assistants can't be hired. This is especially hard for
undergraduates who say they want to go to med school, because you
really need to have experience in a lab to make your
application to med school, Singh. And now it's getting
harder to do those kinds of things on our campus. So it's
happening all over social sciences, hard sciences,
humanities everywhere. understand the motivation?
>> There seems to be a coordinated war on universities
and their mission, because universities are places where we
have really hard conversations about complex things. There are
places where the truth is iterative, and we learn more
over time. And sometimes things that we thought were true change
in the face of new evidence. Sometimes the new evidence turns
out to be wrong, and the scientific process is slow and
messy and controversial. And sometimes scientists don't
communicate it as clearly as they ought to. But I think
there's a coordinated war on folks who are interested in
studying these kinds of things. And I think it's worth citizens
asking who is to gain by stopping misinformation research
in the United States, who is to gain by stopping Social security
research in the United States, whose pockets are getting lined
and whose are getting fleeced? >> So, having just spoken to
Congressman Tom Tiffany, he says that people upset about these
kinds of cuts, all they have to do is make a case and maybe they
can be restored. So what's your case?
>> Our case is that we have a scientifically vetted process
that actually went through two phases. The NSF for our grant
had a phase one that was a much smaller word, still a lot of
money, $750,000, which is a lot of money, especially in social
sciences. And it gave us a year to demonstrate a proof of
concept that we can do this. We did that. We submitted our $5
million grant and the scientists who evaluated it said, yes, we
think you can do this. We've also been making a ton of
progress that we regularly share with the NSF every year. And so
we turn in our yearly reports about, here are the new things
we've learned. Here's how we're changing what we're doing. And
so we're simply trying to learn things that are true and share
them. And I don't think it's in the interest of the United
States to stop doing that. >> Professor Mike Wagner, thanks
very much. >> Thank you.
>> From news out of Washington to what's happening in your own
backyard. It's tick season and it started early this year.
Also, health officials are keeping an eye on dangerous and
not well known tick borne diseases. We turn to the
Department of Health Services and Public Health, entomologist
Xia Lee. And doctor Lee, thanks very much for being here.
>> Thank you for having me on the show.
>> So even though spring has really just sprung, our ticks
are already out in some force. >> Yeah. Although it feels like
it's spring just started for us. The ticks have been out since
middle of March and we do a lot of work around the state, and
what we see is that they are out and they are abundant in some
locations. They are numerous. tick season will be bad this
year? >> Sometimes we do see that, but
we do have a lot of work and surveillance that we do across
the state of Wisconsin. And what we're seeing right now are tick
numbers that are fairly similar to what we normally see in an
average year. And considering the forecast for this summer, I
think we're expecting a fairly average and normal year for tick
season. compare to other states when it
comes to number of ticks that we encounter?
>> Yeah. So Wisconsin is considered one of the top ten
states with the highest rates of tick borne diseases. And so we
do have quite a number of ticks in Wisconsin. There are other
states that have a lot more, but I think we are definitely up
there in terms of the, you know, the top five, top ten.
>> Now, three types of ticks inhabit Wisconsin, I understand,
but nearly all illnesses spread by ticks are caused by the deer
tick, according to DHS, one such illness we know about is Lyme
disease. Really well known? How common is that?
>> Yeah. So Lyme disease is one of the most commonly reported
vector borne disease in the United States. In fact, it is
the most common vector borne reported reported vector borne
disease in the United States. Now, when we think about how
common it is, we often think about how common it is in the
ticks that we find out in the environment. And so this time of
the year when the ticks are active, we normally see the
adult ticks. And a lot of the research and studies that have
been conducted in those ticks are in the environment. When you
collect them and you test them for the pathogen that causes
Lyme disease. We see about 40 to 50% of those adult ticks have
that pathogen. And now when we get into the summer months, that
shifts a little bit and we get the juvenile life stages that
become active. And in that life stage, we typically see about 15
to 20% of those ticks being infected with that pathogen.
That can cause Lyme disease. >> So that's bad enough. But
there are these other illnesses, including something called
Alpha-gal syndrome and Powassan, the latter of which is more
common in northern Wisconsin. I understand what what is Powassan
and how dangerous is it? >> Yeah. So Powassan virus
disease is a disease that can be transmitted by, again, the
blacklegged tick or the deer tick, and it can be very fatal
in some cases. You know, there are some cases where people can
develop severe symptoms such as encephalitis. And then in rare
cases, people can die from this as well. But for the most part,
when we think about how common or uncommon this pathogen is in
the in the environment, again, we go back to sort of thinking
about how common this pathogen is in the ticks that could
potentially bite us. And so when we think about that and we do
the testing and we look at the studies that have sort of, you
know, pull the ticks from the environment, test them for this
pathogen, what we see is that the number of ticks that are
infected with this pathogen, less than that. So it's fairly
uncommon in the ticks that are in the environment. And it's
fairly uncommon in the sense that we just don't see a lot of
it in the environment. >> What should people do to best
prevent tick bites? >> Yeah. So tick bites are
entirely preventable. Some of the easiest things that you can
do that are cost effective is just check your check yourself
for ticks. You go outside, you go into the woods, you go on a
hike. Just remind yourself to stop every 15 minutes and check
yourself for ticks. When you're done with that and you come out
of the woods, check yourself for ticks when you get home. An easy
thing to do is to take off any of the clothes that you had on
and throw that into your dryer. Run it on high for about ten 15
minutes and that should create enough heat to kill any takes
that were on your clothes. Take a shower and of course, do a
thorough tick check before you take a shower. Taking a shower
can help to remove any ticks that have not been attached to
you, and of course, one other thing that you can do while
you're out there is to use bug spray. You know, if you use bug
spray and target yourself in the regions where the tick might
grab onto you, it's a good way to just repel them and keep them
off of you and keep you safe. >> All right, doctor Zia Lee,
thank you very much for your information.
>> Thank you. >> For more on this and other
issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin.
Org and then click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.
[MUSIC]
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.