Cowboy State Politics

All types of government like to play Santa with your tax dollars.  Politicians give your money to organizations that you didn't vote for and no one asked if you wanted to.  You might call it the Santa Scheme.  They try to skirt the Wyoming Constitutional provision prohibiting hand outs through what they call, "Service Contracts."  But it's always for some allegedly benevolent purpose.  If it's such a great cause, why don't elected officials write the check themselves?

Another way they pull this gag is they say, "We found some money in our budget."  As if any of them really don't know what's in there in the first place.  Here's how it works, at budget time, they tell you they have to have your cash.  Then, they don't spend it as intended only later to claim that it was "found."

But if they don't spend it for what they told you, do they really need it in the first place?  Nope!

Senator Cynthia Lummis has announced she isn't going to seek re-election.  That opens up a lot more possibilities for the 2026 election.  With another congressional seat potentially up for grabs, Harriet, Gray, Degenfelder, Biteman, Gordon and others have some decisions to make.

One of the things we haven't really talked about is what the 2026 ballot might look like.  Most of it hinges on what Rep Hageman decides to do.  Secretary Gray and others have said they won't run for the same seat as our Representative.  But that's only one seat--there's plenty more to run for.

Sheridan County Commissioner used public money to lobby for higher taxes.  After being called on it--in the nicest way possible--he ran to the media and attacked his constituent.  He accused him of VILIFYING AND ATTACKING him.  Unless you're trying to get voted out of office, that's no way to treat someone who pays your salary.  But it's the typical elitism we see from many elected officials.

In this episode, I put all of the audio together that clearly shows what happened and what Nick Siddle claims to have happened.  The two are very different.

Everyone is using the word, affordability--even people on Fox News.  Yet, no one explains or defines what it actually means.  What does it mean for something to be affordable?  Is anything affordable?  The answer to those questions is no.  

It's another Democrat ploy, just like "climate change."  Affordability can be made to mean anything.  Really though it's just an attempt to convince you to agree with them.  They say stuff like, 'your checkbook doesn't lie,' and other tropes.  The truth is though that prices are down on a lot of the things we buy all the time.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called, "The Gods of the Copybook Headings."  It's all about propaganda.  Most of what we hear about our so-called education system is exactly that.  We are all told that we have to continue to pay high property taxes to pay for "our high quality education system."  That's what Grady Hutcherson from the WEA called it.  But is it really?  Do our test scores really justify the hundreds of millions that we throw at Wyoming education?

The short answer is not even close.  But you don't understand the reality of it until you look at the national NAEP scores as Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder told the Appropriations Committee to do.

If we aren't paying to educate our students, what are we paying for exactly?  I reality of where we are at will shock you.

Wyoming is not immune to the government handouts.  One big portion of that is what we call "farm subsidies"--getting paid to farm nothing.  This drives up prices but it also makes it very difficult for young people to get into the agriculture business.

Rep Hageman joins me for our monthly discussion to discuss these subsidies and the ballooning problem of fraud in our healthcare system.  And, yes, I did ask her if she's running for governor.

The governor appears to be changing his tune when it comes to climate change.  But is he?  For his entire administration he has made one outrageous statement after another.  While in Appropriations last Monday, he appeared to be singing a different song.  The moment almost went unnoticed--almost I said.  Instead of an "All of the Above" approach to energy, it's now, "The Best of All of the Above."  As if adding a few words changes anything.

The Appropriations Committee meeting on Thursday was the perfect example of everything that's wrong with the Wyoming and frankly all state Government--appointed officials who believe in central planning.  That is, ignoring the free market that has created this amazing country we live in.

Josh Dorrell from the Wyoming Business Council told the members of Appropriations that it's his job to create an economic system.  He actually said that!  The committee rightly peppered him with questions demanding he explain himself.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live from December 4

In the Season 6 premier, the Wyoming Business Council sent out an email asking people to attend a watch party to "mobilize." Why does a state agency need to build support for "collective action." Last time I checked, state agencies don't campaign for public support. There's a ton a problems with their email, including, perhaps Wyoming Statutes.

Even the Wyoming Tribune Eagle has to admit that charitable organizations really don't need government.  And, it's not the government's job anyway.  IT'S OUR JOB.  So-called government charity is only making big government even bigger.

The government shutdown is a perfect example.  Private organizations shined, helping those in need across the whole state.  Nationwide, Americans raise over half-a-trillion every year for benevolent purposes.  Are you telling me we can't handle the needs of the poor with that amount of cash?  We can, and the WTE admits it.

If it quacks like a duck, it's usually a duck.  That's the argument an op-ed in the Sheridan Mess attempts to make.  Many in the Wyoming media have been making the same one--that if you vote conservatively you must be a member of the Freedom Caucus and somehow that's bad.  There's so many logical fallacies with that claim; not the least of which is why is that a bad thing.

The author's claims lead you to believe he must be a card carrying Democrat.  Is he a Democrat or is he just another cross-over voter?   

People never learn, in socialism, there's no turkey, there's no gravy and no stores to buy those things at anyway.  

Most of us have no idea what really happened in the Plymouth Colony.  We're told that Thanksgiving Day was the pilgrims giving thanks to the Indians for saving their lives.  That's not even close to the truth.

According to the Wyoming Business Council, the free market is working against us.  This is an amazing perspective coming from the state agency who's goal is to increase business.

Of course, my answer is that the free market is not the problem, it's government intervention and playing around in private business.

While Josh Dorrell, the head of the WBC, and I have very different perspectives on business, this interview is one of the clearest examples of the two competing forces in our economy--government and private enterprise.  Dorrell thinks that government needs to be involved and I know that that's the problem.  This is a fascinating discussion.

Joining the program is former Rep Mark Jennings.

 

Never before heard audio from INSIDE a Wyoming County Commissioners meeting!  It very clearly tells you which legislators are working for you and which ones are working for lobbying organizations.

The Revenue Committee met last week and discussed a bill that would eliminate property taxes and replace them with an increased sales tax.  Of course, the usual suspects, the WCCA objected to it because it would decrease the amount of your money they could spend.  

During the discussion Sen Case moved to table the bill.  Why?  Because in his own words, he's in favor of new taxes.  In the past he has said that he's even in favor of an income tax.  But the EXCLUSIVE audio I have paints a very different picture as to why he wanted to table the bill.  I'd say it's unbelievable, but coming from him it's totally something he would say.

Governor Gordon claims that the role of government is to provide those services that individuals can't provide for themselves.  There's no end to this line of thinking.  It ends up with government giving your money to so-called non-profits; and it ends with budgets that are twice as big as a few years ago.

His budget is littered with a whole bunch of things he claims are 'essential."  Most of them are handouts and have nothing to do with the proper role of government.

The City of Sheridan Clerk claims that voters approved for local government to give their money away to private organizations.  Funny, the original ballot measure doesn't say anything about that!!

Secretary of State Chuck Gray joins the program to talk about Gordon removing public notice money for the 50% tax reduction ballot initiative.  Is the legislature black-listing emails from constituents?  Slithers and Dennis claim that legislators can go dig them out of the junk or quarantine file.  But who does this???  That and lots more!

The governor and his pals are claiming that the proposed budget is conservative--it's anything but that.  According to his own math, to do the same thing as last year, it will cost almost a billion dollars less.  Gordon wants to add another $1.9 Billion to it.  Just a reminder, there's only 586,000 people in Wyoming.  That's $19,000 for every man woman and child in the state.  If that weren't shocking enough, in four short years, Wyoming's budget has doubled.  It really is legalized theft..  

Margaret Byfield and Rep Hageman were the keynote speakers at WYGOP meeting held in Torrington over the weekend.  The topic of conversation was private property rights--something that we too often told isn't a concern in our state.  Harriet briefly discusses the Maude case in South Dakota and a couple in Wyoming.

Not that long ago, Josh Dorrell President of the Wyoming Business Council joined me in the studio.  There are a ton of projects that they are involved in across Wyoming--all of which involve your tax dollars.  There's lots of questions we should be asking: is that the proper roll of government; do these projects actually make money; do Wyoming Citizens even want to be involved in these projects?  We got to some of those.  

You see their logo all over the place in our state.  This is a great discussion with the guy behind them.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live November 13

The Democrats started the so called government shutdown.  Despite what they claimed, none of it was about subsidies for Obamacare.  That's clear now that the Senate has passed a continuing resolution.  Though, the continuing resolution only funds the government through January 30.  We may very well have another shutdown in a couple of months.

Rep Harriet Hageman joins me to discuss the shutdown and to give her take on what actually happened.  Also, because I couldn't resist, I asked her opinion of Mamdani's election in NY.

Why is the Cowboy State Daily doing the exact same thing as progressive organizations in Wyoming?  A recent opinion piece by Jackson Walker in the Cow Pie tries to determine who is in the Freedom Caucus and who isn't.  That's exactly what a website created by progressive group 'Better Wyoming' attempts to do.

Better Wyoming is a left wing group run by Nate Martin, the husband of Democrat Rep Karlee Provenza.  Pick a liberal cause and they've probably advocated for it.

While they are doing the same thing, really they only have the same goal--to discredit those representatives who are part of the Freedom Caucus.  In doing so, they only discredit themselves.

Over the last year, there's been a lot of controversy at the University of Wyoming.  The legislature ordered UW to eliminate its DEI program.  A dean filed a lawsuit over what he claims is was an improper demotion.  And, UW President Dr Ed Seidel has resigned.

Dr Seidel sat down with me for a wide ranging discussion about school funding, successes and controversies during his administration.  We talked about the gigantic amount of money Wyoming Citizens pour into the school--half a billion every two years--free speech and UW being one of the top research schools in America.

A few weeks ago, Mark Meckler and Rick Green gave a presentation in Sheridan about the Convention of States.  For two hours they gave their sales pitch.  It sounded great, except there's a whole bunch they left out--criticism that might dissuade support.  With a little reading, it's obvious an convention is the last thing we need to do as a country.

Two of the supporters of Convention of States Action--the organization Mark Meckler helped found--who appear on promotional materials have written articles that are completely the opposite of what the crowd in Sheridan was told.  In the end, it's obvious, no one should support a convention.

A majority of Americans get their news from social media.  That's not such a bad thing if you understand what you are getting and you check the sources--if there are any sources.  In the State of Wyoming there are a lot of pundits and columnists who post things that appear to be news but really aren't.

A perfect example of this showed up for the weekend.  Nearly every piece of the post was provably false and yet it appeared to be genuine.  Of course, it's from a well-known source who happens to have a column on the Cow Pie.

Rod Miller can hear the sucking sound government subsidies make just as well as I can.  But, he still thinks that some of them are okay.  I think that it's not the government's job to pick winners are losers.  It's always the small business person that gets hurt when politicians start monkeying around in the market.  We didn't solve any problems but we had a wide ranging discussion on a whole bunch of things government gives your money to. 

The Cowboy State Politics traditional Halloween Story.  This year, a re-telling the the Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live.  An article in the Free Press claims that it is conservatives who are the new snowflakes and not the left.  There is a difference between capitalism and cancelling; and when you are in a position of public trust some of the rules are different.  After all, parents have a right to know who is spending 8 hours a day with their children.  That, and a bunch more.

After the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk, Wyoming GOP Vice Chairman Bob Ferguson knew that he needed to do something.  Having been in finance for his entire career, he decided to set up a scholarship fund for Wyoming Turning Point USA students. 

One unique point of his scholarship is that it will not only reach university-bound students, tech school students would also qualify.  It's called the Wyoming Faith and Freedom Fund.  He sat down with me to discuss the idea behind it and how it's going to work.

Cowboy State Politics has uncovered Sheridan "teacher," Josh Hanson's Bluesky account.  It is replete with exactly what he thinks should be done with conservatives.  He calls them fascists, of course.  In one case, he comes very close to threatening Wyoming legislators.  This is the same Josh Hanson that I reported on back in September.

In another case of social media posting by teachers, Marie Hamilton of the Southeast Wyoming Sentinel joins me to discuss a Goshen County teacher who is also the spouse of the school superintendent--Stacy Kramer.  Her posts clearly violate the school district's social media policy.  

Hanson's social media posts are available at https://cowboystatepolitics.com/Show-Content.html 

Marie Hamilton's report is available here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JTjexHySE/

 

Laramie County Commissioner Gunnar Malm thinks that government should give your tax dollars to his political allies.  He doesn't come out and say that but it's exactly what he means by government picking winners and losers.  He wants winners.  Not kidding, he actually wrote that.

Really, government shouldn't be advantaging one business over another--they don't get to choose which business succeeds and which one fails.  That's called socialism, pure and simple.

Sheridan Democrat Hollis Hackman claims in the Sheridan Press that Rep Pendergraft is going to hack away the Wyoming Department of Health Budget.  Had he bothered to do any research at all, his op-ed wouldn't have been completely wrong.  Surprising though it may be, a piece in Wyofile directly contradicts what Hackman is claiming.  

There are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of privately owned buildings in Wyoming that pay next to nothing in property taxes.  It's worse than that though, you paid for most of them through the Wyoming Community Development Authority.  Rebecca Bextel joins me to explain that in almost every Wyoming county, a Montana company owns and operates so-called affordable housing buildings.  And, it's almost all on your dime.

There have been several GOP events this past week.  All of them honored Charlie Kirk and all of them were very patriotic.  But that's not what the Wyoming media is leading you to believe.  One of them went completely ignored by the media and the state GOP Chairman.  The other two were characterized only by division.  Anyone who paid attention would have seen what was really going on.  But that's not their agenda.

Agent 29 sings BOTH verses of the Star Spangled Banner at the Sheridan event; and Gabe Saint and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus honor the legacy of Charlie Kirk at another.

Monday, Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation changing the name of Columbus Day back to Columbus Day.  The breadth and scope of everything Biden changed in four years, is really incredible.  But why is this significant?  Why change it back?  Easy.  If the left can convince you that Columbus slaughtered a whole bunch of people, it's pretty easy to say that's how our country started.  Also, I completely forgot to celebrate the 950th episode of Cowboy State Politics.

Admit it or not, in education, Wyoming has a lot in common with California.  We like to claim that we're different but when you look at policies, Wyoming does many of the same things as the left coast.  Leslie Sawyer is the California Legislative Chair for Moms for Liberty.  She has been right in the middle of some of the high profile education fights in California.  In education, we aren't becoming California, in many ways, we are already there.

Kylie Wall is the Natrona County High School senior who has been having a disagreement with school administration.  After her Turning Point USA Club America chapter was approved, high school staff started harassing her.  He club posters were torn down among other things.  When the press started asking questions, the principal told Kylie she couldn't talk to the press in her free time.  An outrageous infringement of her rights.  Kylie joined me to talk about the entire situation.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live from October 9.  There's a deal in the Hamas War, Spying on members of Congress and Senator Cheri Steinmetz called in to talk about her trip to Israel

Yesterday it was revealed that Jack Smith's investigation spied on U.S. Senators.  In talking with Rep Hageman, it turns out that it wasn't just Senators; there was at least one member of the House who was surveilled.  Rep Hageman has her own thoughts about this.  We discussed that breaking news, the government shutdown and a few other items.

A shock poll says that 2/3 of Democrats view socialism more favorably than capitalism.  My friend Ovie Muntean lived through real communism and socialism in Romania.  He's going to be in Sheridan this weekend to attend our Reagan Day dinner and to tell Wyoming young people what socialism really looks like.

Conservatives have a really hard time understanding why Democrats and their less honest counterparts in the Republican Party can lie so easily.  It doesn't really have anything to do with what they're telling you at the moment.  It's that they are trying to get you to believe ALL lies.  The government shutdown is a perfect example: several democrats will swear that this isn't about illegal immigrants.  Why, when it so obviously is?  It's part of a larger strategy.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live October 2

Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock single-handedly messed up the 2024 election in Weston County.  She tried to cover it up; made multiple conflicting statements to the media and maintained that she didn't do anything wrong.  Since then, she's been subpoenaed by a legislative committee investigating her actions.  True to form, she blew that off.  Last November I published an extensive episode about the entire affair.  I even interviewed Hadlock herself.

Senator Lummis weighed in on the Jimmy Kimmel controversy.  While she was referring to FCC licenses, her comments about the First Amendment were in-artful at best.  Susan Stubson too full advantage by penning a piece in the Cow Pie conveniently leaving out the whole FCC part of the quotation to score political points.

Reps Karlee Provenza and Mike Yin, both Democrats, held an event in Sheridan this week.  Both of them dropped by the studio to discuss what they are doing as well as a whole bunch of other topics.  We didn't agree on much of anything, but we were able to have a civil discussion--something we seem to be lacking right now.

A Teacher in Sheridan was caught calling all of us who mourn the death of Charlie Kirk a name--a not so flattering one.  Also the school board in Natrona County is protecting a male custodian in an elementary school who dresses as a woman.  They're not too worried about the kids in the school, it's the janitor.  Rep Jaime Lien joins the program to discuss the school board meeting where this was brought up.

Peter Cozzens is the author of new book Deadwood: Gold Guns and Greed in the American West.  It's a fascinating look into a town with a lot of Wyoming connections.  Wild Bill Hickok wasn't quite the celebrity in Deadwood we all think and Calamity Jane wasn't really the person all her pictures make her out to be.  It's a fascinating history read that feels more like a novel than anything.

The Wyoming Democrats and the WY media are  working overtime to portray conservatives, and specifically Charlie Kirk, as racist.  State Sen Rothfuss said that MAGA is "racist at is core."  Their charge is based on claims that aren't true at all.  In the case of Kirk, that claim is based on things that he said about Martin Luther King--things that are true.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live from September 18.