Growing up in the ‘90s, I remember meeting up with my friends after doing chores all week or mowing the lawn and then riding our bikes to Piggly Wiggly with a crumpled $20 bill. We felt like we were rich. The year was probably ‘96 or ‘97. Don’t ask me how we got it all home on our bikes, but the three of us were about to make quite the haul. I remember buying firecrackers, a 30-pack of Mountain Dew – “The Cube” I believe it was called… (They had just come out with the wide-mouthed cans.) We also bought a ton of candy, Sobe, and someone had gotten their hands on a VHS tape of Scream or some other horror movie we shouldn’t have been watching at that age. I believe we still had change left over.
We were planning to stay up as late as we could. It was summertime once again after all. Life was good. School was out for what seemed like forever. We spent our days riding bikes all over town, playing outside or if it was rainy out playing Sega Genesis. Mostly unsupervised, but that was normal back then. Our parents were not neglecting us. Bill Clinton was president and we didn’t have a care in the world at that age. Most of my friends’ parents had good union jobs. They were either working at GM in Janesville or some other factory. Or, they were construction workers, farmers, trades workers, nurses, firefighters, EMTs or police officers. A few even worked in restaurants and were still able to provide for their families.
Those days, almost every time we got in the van, my grandpa tuned into 1230 AM WCLO only to yell at the radio while Rush Limbaugh was on. It was almost as if he thought Rush could hear him through the speakers. A time or two, I remember him yelling at Rush about how NAFTA or some other “free trade” deal was going to send all our jobs overseas and destroy the economy. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but I believed him. He was almost always right about everything—whether you took his advice or decided to find out the hard way later. He would usually smirk and say “go ahead” when you chose the latter.
I don’t remember anyone’s parents being unemployed, at least not for long. My best friend at the time had a dad who was a glass repairman. We both lived in modest housing. We both had a 3- or 4-bedroom house we shared with our parents, some of our friends had apartments or lived in the trailer park. We were still all equals in our eyes.
On December 23, 2008, a black Chevy Tahoe rolled off the line at GM in Janesville. It was the last vehicle that would ever be made there. Grandpa was no longer with us, but he was right again. Probably saying “told ya so” from the other side.
I had just voted in my first presidential election and picked the winner. I voted for hope and change. President-elect Barack Obama was going to take office in January of next year and he was going to bring back the auto industry, end the war in Iraq, give us single-payer healthcare, cut taxes for working families, increase the minimum wage, close down Guantanamo Bay, and reduce US dependence on foreign oil.
Everything was about to get better again.
I never dreamed at that age how hard some of those things would be for him to do, or that he would be fought tooth and nail by Republicans the entire time. All we wanted was a fair shake, a job, to survive as working Americans, and get back to being loved by the rest of the world.
Fast forward to April of 2026, we have unaffordable housing, unaffordable healthcare bills, unaffordable childcare. We can’t afford groceries; we’re struggling just to feed our kids. We can’t afford to keep them healthy and educated. It’s a struggle to keep a roof over their heads. We have a new war with Iran, and the world is turning on us.
Today, that same trip to Piggly Wiggly would have cost us kids around $80 or more. But today, that same adventure could never take place. Not because Sobe is no longer available, but because to earn $80 at Wisconsin’s minimum wage it would take over 11 hours to earn that. Hardly the amount of money or time Wisconsin’s working families can afford to spend on a 10- or 11-year-old’s summer adventure. Hardly the amount of money a kid can earn from mowing the lawn.
Look, I may not have a fancy law degree or a lifelong career in politics. I have a lifelong resume of working hard for a living. I feel that punch in the gut when it’s time to decide what bills get paid each month.
We are not looking for charity; we just want to earn a decent living so we can support our families.
Just like I have heard farmers say they aren’t looking for a handout to cover the trade wars or tariffs. We need the problems to be fixed permanently. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement from a job well done.
The hardworking people of Wisconsin need to have a vision of the future that lies beyond our next paycheck. Not a rose-colored vision in the rearview mirror of how good things used to be. Without that, we are not a free people. True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security.
I have the audacity to believe that our kids deserve a fair shot at the American Dream, three square meals a day, and a good education. I believe it is our duty to leave this place better than we found it. That’s the Boy Scout in me. I have the courage to lead a working people’s revival. I have the vision of how we do that right here at home, from the bottom up, brick by brick.
That’s how I earned the first endorsement in over six years from Senator Russ Feingold.
That’s how I earned the endorsement of John “Sly” Sylvester.
The thing is, real progressive change has never come from the top down; it is built from the bottom up when the people decide they are done being ridden and straighten up their backs. Join our movement, and together we can build a stronger Wisconsin economy and a better world for our children and grandchildren. It’s not going to be easy; we must be willing to fight for it. That’s why I’m rolling up my sleeves and getting to work fighting for our people. We are Wisconsinites, and that’s what the people of Wisconsin are used to doing. Working hard, from the factories to the fields. This may be the last chance we have to ensure our families’ economic survival.
“Change is the law of life. Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – JFK.
Josh Mittness
Candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly District 50
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