I call it the “tornado, tomato, quilts and kids” defense — all the reasons supporters of big government subsidies for public media programming invariably will point to if anyone so much as whispers about cutting their federal and state taxpayer funding.

It’s time for Wisconsin’s politicians to stand up and throw some tomatoes of their own.

We reported last week that the Trump administration, accusing public broadcasting throughout the country of leftist bias, is already shutting off the federal spigot that sends over $8 million to Wisconsin public TV and radio each year. Our elected officials in Madison are putting together a budget right now and looking for savings. Cutting state funding as well could — and should — save additional millions.

Public subsidies turn journalists into sycophants, undermine true scrutiny of government excess, distort the market for news and entertainment, create unfair competition for privately funded media, and are a waste of tax dollars.

A possibility that the Badger Institute reported on last fall moved a little closer to reality this week as the owner of a now-shuttered nuclear power plant near Kewaunee announced it was seeking a license that could let it reopen the plant.

The Utah-based Energy Solutions, which bought the Kewaunee Power Station in 2022 with plans to decommission the plant, said Tuesday that it would start planning and studies needed for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could let it reopen the 566-megawatt plant. The company, which said it is working with the parent of utilities We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, cited “rising energy demand driven by data centers” as driving “the need for reliable, carbon-free power.”

The plant closed in 2013, leaving the Point Beach Nuclear Plant as Wisconsin’s only operating nuclear power station.

The most common cars displaying Wisconsin tags are those made just before the pandemic, and not from more recent years, analysis of registration data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows.

The DOT publishes reports on the number of vehicles registered each year broken down by vehicle type and model year. Of cars currently registered in Wisconsin, 2017 is the most common model year. Totals for model years 2018 and 2019 declined, and were followed by a precipitous drop for 2020 models.

The co-chairs of the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee have filed a bill that, if passed, would compel Gov. Tony Evers’ Department of Administration to transfer into the general fund $171.5 million in interest earned on unspent federal COVID funds. State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and state Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, have accused Evers of creating a “slush fund” in violation of state law, as first reported by the Badger Institute here and here.

After clearing the Wisconsin State Senate on March 18, SB4 passed the State Assembly on May 13. The bill exempts valid direct primary care agreements from the application of insurance law. As Daniel Sem has written previously for the Badger Institute, “It is good for consumers to learn that they can sometimes pay cash and sometimes use insurance, and that the two approaches are complementary. While incumbent players in an anticompetitive healthcare system might resist, direct payment will control costs while also empowering patients, physicians and employers that pay for benefits.”

The Badger Institute testified in favor of the bill.

Segment begins at 26:30

By Patrick McIlheran

How big a factor are regulatory costs in new housing construction?  

Often cited is a groundbreaking 2021 study by the National Association of Home Builders based on surveys of land developers and residential builders: It pegged the direct costs of regulation as constituting 23.8 percent, on average, of the cost of a new single-family home.

On a $400,000 home, the cost of regulation would be $95,000.

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