New Federal Report On Bulk Data Collection, Solitary Confinement, Changing Group Think, News Round-Up

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Sometimes, making decisions in a group leads to better results. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, and our guest has some ideas to improve “group think.” We also catch up on the weekly news around the state, learn about a campaign to end solitary confinement in Dane County jails, and discuss a new federal report on bulk data collection.

Featured in this Show

  • Weekly News Roundup: State Of The State Address, Walker Weighs In On Presidential Race

    Walker Avoids Policy Details In State Of The State Address

    Gov. Scott Walker delivered his fifth State of the State address on Tuesday night.

    The speech was relatively short by historical standards, and it was short on details, too. One of the governor’s biggest points was that government has grown too big and it needs to be reined in. He mentioned that he wants to merge four state agencies into two: combining the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and fusing the Departments of Financial Institutions and Safety and Professional Services.

    Walker On A Romney Presidential Run: GOP Needs A ‘Fresh Face’

    Politicos were talking this week about former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney potentially running for president a third time.

    Walker told reporters that while he liked Romney and thought he would have been a great president, the Republican Party needs a new candidate. He said the best way to defeat the anticipated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is a “fresh fact with new ideas to move the party and ultimately the country forward.”

    Democratic Party Chair Tate To Step Down In June

    Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate on Thursday announced that he plans to step down in June. Tate has held the position for six years.

    Under his leadership, Walker won three elections, Democrats lost control of the Legislature and Ron Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate.

    A few people have already said they’ll run for the position, including former party chair Joe Wineke and Democratic National Committee member Jason Rae.

    VA Will Investigate Tomah Medical Center

    The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Reporting published a piece this week raising questions about prescription practices and administrative misconduct at the Tomah VA Medical Center.

    The report said opiate prescriptions quintupled from 2004 to 2012, even though the number of patients dropped. The article caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Ron Kind and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

    On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced they’re launching an investigation into the Tomah medical center.

  • Federal Study Shows There's No Equivalent To Mass Data Collection

    A new federal study shows there is no effective alternative to mass data collection when it comes to gathering information. The chair of the committee behind this report explains their conclusions and what might be done with this report.

  • Rethinking Group Think

    Group decisions are common on the job and in the course of big concept-planning. But our guest says they often go wrong, and gives some solutions for making group-think better.

  • State News Round-Up For January 16th 2015

    Reaction to the State of the State address, and Congressional repsonse to a new report on a Tomah VA facility–it’s a weekly round-up of the top news in Wisconsin politics.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Rob Ferrett Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Noah Ovshinsky Guest
  • Robert Sproull Guest
  • Cass Sunstein Guest