The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome. The same thing applies to socialism, which keeps trying to resurrect and repackage its failed ideologies for a new generation of voters. In Wisconsin, which has a socialist history — Milwaukee elected three socialist mayors between 1910 and 1960: Emil Seidel (1910–1912), Daniel Hoan (1916–1940), and Frank Zeidler (1948–1960) — is now trying to bring government-run grocery stores to the Dairy State.
Wisconsin's Legislative Socialist Caucus introduced a bill that would spend $100 million of state money to establish a network of government run grocery stores.
— Kyle Koenen (@realkylekoenen) March 20, 2026
Using tax dollars to prop up government grocery stores that compete with small businesses is inherently unfair. pic.twitter.com/0HxNc7Is90
I can only speak for myself, but $100 million for "affordable" groceries seems like an oxymoron to me.
It means that Wisconsinites will have to pay twice for their groceries: once when they buy the food that stocks their pantries and again with their tax dollars to keep the grocery stores afloat. And when I say keep them afloat, I mean much in the same way the band kept the Titanic afloat on April 15, 1912.
Government-run grocery stores never work. When Zohran Mamdani ran for NYC Mayor, he vowed to bring them back. The United Bodega Workers of America said it would be a disaster for other grocery stores in the Big Apple. In Kansas City, the government-run store was plagued by empty shelves, rotten food, and theft. It's not the only one that failed.
In 2019, Baldwin, Florida, opened a government-run grocery store after the city's only grocer closed its doors the previous year. Setting aside the fact that it took the government a year to open, the store always struggled to break even and closed in 2024. Mayor Sean Lynch, a Republican who should know better, told The Washington Post that the store wasn't trying to make a profit; the goal was to 'cover expenses' and keep the doors open. They failed at doing that, too.
In 2020, the city council of Erie, Kansas, purchased the town's only grocery store rather than let it close. The Erie Market operated at a loss for years, with the average resident spending just $14 at the store. Last year, Erie leased out the store to a private company. Capitalism always wins.
Little River, Kansas, also has a 'government-run' grocery store. Kinda. It owns the building and refrigeration system, but the store itself is run by a private company. Because, once again, capitalism works.
This isn't exactly a new idea for Wisconsin, either. In Madison, the state's Leftist capital, officials have been trying to get a government-run grocery store off the ground to serve the 'food desert' that is the city's south side. That store was supposed to open in 2023, then in 2025. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't opened, and I'm not making the 90-minute drive to find out.
Of course, poor-quality food and scarce resources are a feature, not a bug, for socialists. When they talk about everyone being equal, what they really mean is everyone — save for themselves and a few party elites — is equally poor. They walk into private grocery stores and are sickened by the options given to consumers.
As the wise Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." The other problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of food, too. In Wisconsin, the socialists are itching to prove both of those observations right once again.