Showing posts with label Wyoming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wyoming. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2025
Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Ranching Freely
Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Ranching Freely: Memorial Day is a day to remember and give thanks to all who have sacrificed themselves for our freedom. No better way of doing that than by...
Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 6. “Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs.”
Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs.
The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2025.
May 14, 2025
Wyoming Delegation Not Supportive Of Trump's Idea Of Tax Hike For The Rich
So Barrasso and Lummis separate from Trump on this?
Neither one of them are actually Trump supporters in terms of their personal beliefs, but have adopted his views for political survival in Wyoming, which is fanatically pro Trump. Everyone is well aware that the budget is in a crisis stage and at some point soon the US needs to have a balanced budget. That can only be done through raising taxes, and they know it.
Additionally, taxing the wealthy will not hurt the economy, and everyone knows that. Tax rates for the wealthy were much higher in prior decades with no ill effect on the economy.
A matter of critical interest.
Wyoming Is The Second Most Expensive State For Beer Lovers
And one Wyomingites just won't believe
Reaction To Trump Tariffs Helps Push Wyoming Oil Prices To Four-Year Low
This is an absolute fact, but if you follow the story on Facebook, a lot of Wyomingites just won't believe it. That would mean Trump is hurting the local economy, and they can't accept that. . . at least not yet.
Oil is at $62.02/bbl this morning.
May 15, 2025
Given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.
Oil is at $61.60/bbl.
May 17, 2025
Thanks to Republican mishandling of the economy, specifically increasing debt, Moody's downgraded the economy from Aaa to Aa1.
The GOP can't seem to grasp that you actually have to pay for the government.
New Jersey transit engineers are on strike.
Trump's "Big Beautiful Budget Bill", which would add $4T in debt, failed 16-21 in the House Budget Committee.
The irony is that those voting against it want more spending cuts, but only increased taxes will address this developing crisis.
Let's put this in bold, as people just don't seem to grasp it.
THE UNITED STATES CAN'T "CUT" ITS WAY OUT OF ITS BUDGET CRISIS. IT MUST RAISE TAXES.
Cont:
It's really time to stop calling Trump a businessman:
He's a real estate developer. Clearly he's otherwise a business illiterate.
May 19, 2025
The Trump deficit expanding budget bill made it out of committee on a 17-16 vote with those who were to vote no, voting present.
This bill will be a disaster for already an already irresponsible Federal government. Taxes need to be raised on income, particularly upper incomes to make the budget balance and this insanity cease.
May 22, 2025
The House of Representatives passed by a margin of one a funding bill that will swell the deficit disastrously while making cuts in Medicaid and food stamp while adding to border security. Taxes will be cut, when they should be raised, and will irrationally be eliminated on tips and overtime.
Trump, who speaks oddly at best, has called this his "big beautiful tax bill"
Walmart is cutting 1,500 corporate jobs.
The stock market is crashing because of the bad tax bill. The bond market is flat.
West Texas crude is back down to $60.96.
Cont:
The "tip" exemption appears to be for "cash tips".
FWIW, bar tenders tend to get cash tips, but restaurant workers less and less. FWIW, cash tips are notoriously underreported anyway, as they're impossible to keep track of.
May 23, 2025
Hageman’s Budget Vote Critical As House Passes One Big Beautiful Act 215-214
The next one is interesting:
Republicans are for state's rights, except when the state exercises the right to do something they don't like.
Likewise, the GOP is for local control, but really isn't.
At Lusk Town Meeting, Locals Say Wind Projects Have Ended Friendships
Developer Of Controversial Casper Gravel Mine Wants To Renew State Leases
Trump:
What does the "thank you for our attention to this matter" intend to do?
May 29, 2025
Federal trade court blocks Trump's emergency tariffs, saying he overstepped authority
That the power wasn't there was obvious. Now the question is whether the Trump administration will obey the Court.
May 30, 2025
An appeals court is allowing the tariffs to be collected while the matter is on appeal, which is a poor ruling.
Last edition:
Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 5. The Roller Coaster Edition.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Governor Gordon has enough of Chuck Gray.
The rise of Californian Chuck Gray in Wyoming's politics has really been remarkable. Filling the seat of a popular Casper legislator he failed to unseat in a primary, after that individual died, he became a firebrand populist funded with family money. His bid for earlier larger offices failed until he latched on to the Secretary of State's office in a campaign which was frankly nasty in town, something that was common to him, and which hasn't stopped. He has his sights on higher office now, with reliable rumors claiming that he's going to run for Congress and that Congressman Hageman will run for the Governor's office, which she's done before unsuccessfully.
Gray still surfaces in the media, rising up from what is otherwise a very mundane clerical position, to claim this or that. He did so the other day in a public meeting regarding wind farms, and that apparently caused Gordon to react.
Governor of Wyoming sent this bulletin at 05/23/2025 01:57 PM MDT
|
The Governor's statement appears to have caught Gray a bit flat footed. Gray's made a career out of spouting lies packed with invective but having somebody call him out publicly, and from a higher office, is something he isn't used to and obviously wasn't expecting.
This isn't the only area this past week where the two have locked horns. Gray earlier this year accused Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock of misconduct in the last election and asked for the Governor to remove her, a truly extraordinary move for the Governor to take. The investigation was completed, and Gordon issued a letter stating:
While the review revealed there were multiple mistakes committed by Clerk Hadlock and her staff, no information or evidence was provided that supported any malicious intent on the part of Clerk Hadlock, or that she was trying to manipulate the results of the election.
“[O]ne of the key elements to determining malfeasance is motive or willfulness, but in this incidence there is no indication that she did so with any intent to change or nullify the results of the votes of the people of Weston County,” the Governor wrote. In essence, the process worked, with any irregularities identified and corrected during a review by the canvassing board.
“It is clear that Clerk Hadlock made many mistakes and exhibited a high degree of unprofessional and perhaps slipshod management of the election,” the Governor wrote. “Still, the system set up to discover, correct, and properly count votes worked here.”
He went on to note that he didn't feel it appropriate to override the choice of the electorate and would leave Handlock's future up to the voters, something that 100% echoes what Republicans said about efforts to remove Donald Trump in his first term.
A current feature of Republican politics is to completely ignore precedent where it doesn't serve what amounts to a sort of NatCon view and Gray has practically based his career on election lies, claiming that there are all sorts of irregularities. Not too surprisingly he came right out with his own statement.
CHEYENNE, WY – In response to Governor Mark Gordon’s May 23rd decision not to initiate removal proceedings for Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock, Secretary of State Chuck Gray issued the following statement:
“I am deeply troubled by Governor Gordon’s letter and for refusing to conduct a rigorous analysis of the facts of this case. I am particularly troubled by the Governor’s lies by omission in completely ignoring our finding that Clerk Hadlock submitted a false post-election audit report with our office, which we discussed multiple times as the most serious finding in our investigation released in March. The Weston County Clerk’s submittal of a false post-election audit report on November 6, 2024 does appear to be a willful violation of the code, as revealed by the Weston County Canvassing Board meeting on November 8, 2024, as well as the subsequent, properly-performed audit, which confirmed that there were 21 of 75 ballots with a discrepancy, in direct contravention to the initial post-election audit results submitted to our office. This false post-election audit occurred after we had expressed concerns about the anomalies. Our investigation came to the conclusion there are only two reasonable explanations for the false submission of this audit, absent another explanation provided by the Weston County Clerk, the Governor, or any relevant actors, which was not even discussed. Our investigation found that one possibility is that Clerk Hadlock conducted her audit, finding errors in the election and then choosing to falsely assert that no errors had been found. The investigation found that the second reasonable possibility is that no audit was conducted at all. Either one of those possibilities would suggest that she attempted to hide the problems with the conduct of the 2024 General Election. That is why we made the recommendation that we did, and the Governor’s omission of discussing the false post-election audit in his decision is inherently problematic. Gordon has gotten used to the media refusing to cover these lies of omission and this is another example of those lies of omission. I’m deeply troubled that Governor Gordon refused to even acknowledge key parts of the case.”
Gray has his supporters in the populist mass that's running the GOP and influencing Wyoming's politics, with those same people really disliking Gordon. Gordon has a lot of more quiet supporters. There's a lot of speculation on whether Gordon will run for a third term, which he's theoretically barred from doing but which the Wyoming S.Ct would clearly say he could do, and he'd have a good chance of winning, certainly against Gray. Hageman seems to be wildly popular with the GOP base right now, so it'd be unclear how that would go. I suspect that Gray would fail in a race for Congress.
At some point there's going to be a reckoning for the flood of lies the populist base of the GOP has been fed by its leadership. Trump's horrific funding bill may be the beginning of it. Wyoming is going to pay in spades for the results of what it's been supporting, with the first wave of that already hitting. By November of next year a lot of chickens may have come home to roost and will have died in their coups. Whether a political change starts to occur in 2026 or 2028 isn't clear, but it's going to. I don't expect Gray to survive it. Most of the better known Wyoming politicians will, as they'll modify their positions to the time, although those who came up during this period will have hard time doing so.
Anyhow, more than one person is cheering Gordon on. No doubt more than one is cheering Gray too, having bought off on what he's told them, facts aside.
Thursday, May 22, 2025
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus and its self-inflicted wounds
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus and its self-inflicted wounds: In a move that pokes holes in its "we the people" posture, the group of state elected officials is going after groups of local elected officials, columnist Rod Miller writes.
Staffing shortage, DOGE-led cuts halt Cheyenne’s around-the-clock weather monitoring
Staffing shortage, DOGE-led cuts halt Cheyenne’s around-the-clock weather monitoring: The forecasting area covers two busy interstates that frequently see extreme weather.
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Going Feral: Looking for Nate Champion.
Going Feral: Looking for Nate Champion.:
Looking for Nate Champion.
He which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
Shakespeare, Henry V.
The views of average Wyomingites, by a huge margin, are clear on public lands. We want them to remain public.
And yet our Congressman voted to transfer 500,000 of FEderal land in Arizona and Utah over to private hands. It's clear that at least one of our Senators is okay with doing something similar in Teton County.
Wyomingites aren't in favor of this at all. Indeed, one of the most rabid Trumpites I know actually expressed bewildered opposition to this.
So here's the problem, and the question.
Why are Wyomingites still supporting the people who support this?
Politics are varied and complicated. The reasons that Wyoming has gone so far to the right in its recent politics are as well. A lot of it has to do with social issues, abortion, transgenderism, immigration, and so on, and much of that, here, has to do with the death of the Democratic Party and there being, seemingly, no where else to go.
But at least on the local level there certainly is, and what Wyomingites are presently doing is not in their own best interest.
Much of what they're currently doing is, frankly, based on a host of lies. Donald Trump was not the victim of a stolen election with Joe Biden won. Joe Biden won. Global warming is not a fib. The long drift away from coal cannot be arrested. The state's petroleum industry was never under any governmental assault (leases went up under Biden). There is no war on the West. The region's agricultural sector isn't under governmental attack, but rather under real estate developer attack. The Democrats really weren't advancing gun control.
But we've been bought off on a bunch of dramatic assertions designed to cause the rise up of what plaintiff's lawyers call our "lizard brain".
Well, now we have a whole host of legislators, many from out of state, who don't share local values at all, and a Congressional delegation that is more interested in supporting the agenda of the far right and its ostensible leader, a nearly 79 year old real estate developer suffering from dementia, than paying attention to what we actually believe.
And that's because that's exactly what we let them do.
In reality, those close to the inside know that John Barrasso doesn't believe what he's supporting. It's pretty clear from her past that Cynthia Lummis doesn't either. Harriet Hageman, well she probably does, as she's a political family that has always had this set of views. Having said that, and importantly, she intends to run for Governor next election and Chuck Gray, who is a Californian with very little connection to Wyoming, will run for House.
In the next election Wyomingites have a chance to make their views known, although they really need to start doing so right now. That can have an impact. John Barrasso, in the last election, adopted a whole host of new views he probably doesn't hold at all to hold off an attack from his right. Lummis just quietly mostly didn't say what her views actually are the last time she ran, which she could do under the circumstances, and which leaves her room to maneuver.
Maneuvering will, it must be noted, need to occur. In 2026 the House is going to be Democratic and the MAGA reign will be over, save for in Wyoming, where there's every reason to belive it will keep on keeping on.
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus of its day, the Johnson County invaders.
Much of this, we'd note, is perfectly consistent with Wyoming's history. Early on Wyoming sent a solidly Republican group of legislatures to our solon in Cheyenne in spite of its association with large outside agricultural interest which were oppressing local interest. That didn't end until the invasion of Johnson County in 1892 which briefly swept the Republicans out of power, and brought Democrats into the legislature and which sent Governor Barber packing, although not until after he tried to actually remain as Governor a la Trump insurrection in a way. That event, however, shows the electorate can react. It also shows us that politicians can too, as Francis E. Warren managed to survive the event, career entact, when really she shouldn't have, by changing views.
And this is happening in Montana, which was a little in advance of Wyoming in tilting to the far right, right now.
Just sitting and complaining "well that's not what we think" won't get much done.
Politicians from any party ought to represent the views of their state. They ought to also intelligently lead. There's not much intelligence being manifested in the populist far right, which is mostly acting with a primitive response on a set of social issues combined with false beliefs, andy in Wyoming, with views they brought up from their own states which don't have much to do with us here. We aren't Sweet Home Alabama.
But that won't happen unless Wyomingites educate themselves as to the truth, and what is truly going on, and how they're simply being fed raw meat for the dogs. Until that occurs, we're going to go further into the abyss.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Court Watch
Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.
Henry Adams.
A glimpse into what's going on in the law, and the Court's.
April 21, 2025
1. The U.S. Supreme Court had issued a temporary stay on deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador under the Enemy Aliens Act, as it well should have. There isn't a war going on.
The pause is so that it can take the question in chief.
On the same basic topic, a Federal judge has issued a finding of probable cause of criminal contempt for the administration's refusal to adhere to his order regarding such deportations.
2. Wyoming Tribe's Law Firm One Of The Few Fighting Trump's Big-Law Orders
Trump's ongoing assault on the law includes assaulting law firms that have displeased him. Quite a few have caved in, but this one didn't.
3. A federal judge ordered that Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk be transferred from a detention center in Louisiana to Vermont no later than at the start of next month.
4. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Trump administration's plans to end birthright citizenship next month. Trump, in one of his many stupid statement moments, said that this should be an easy win as birthright citizenship was tied to slavery, which is really ignorant.
5. Wyoming Supreme Court mulls constitutionality of state’s abortion bans: Much like the case, Wednesday’s hearing largely focused on whether a section of the state’s constitution that protects individuals’ rights to make their own health care decisions prevents the state from banning abortion.
A frustrating thing for conservatives who would like to find a more middle of the road set of people to vote for, now that the Wyoming Republican Party is in a civil war between real conservatives and populists, is that the Democratic Party nationally and locally just can't wash it hands of blood.
It puts voters in a horrible position. Insane gerontocracy v. seas of blood.
Former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Keith Kautz created some controversy when he joined some legislators in a prayer session associated with the oral arguments, stating as a prayer:
I especially pray for the justices on the Wyoming Supreme Court. May they know that the true beginning of wisdom is to acknowledge you. Give each of them wisdom and courage in deciding the case coming next week. Let them see how much you love each human and the world you created.
I don't see a problem with that, but apparently some people did. Justice Kautz noted that he asked, upon retiring, not to be assigned to any cases dealing with abortion because of his religion based opposition to it. He apparently is a member of a Baptist group called "Converge".
6. A group of Wyoming lawyers wrote an open letter about recent legal developments. It was directed at Wyoming's Congressional representation.
Condemn attacks on judiciary, Wyoming lawyers and judges urge delegation
The letter was met with a "pound sand" response from that representation which went on to say that Federal courts had too much jurisdiction, which they are seeking to limit.
That's wrong, and that's a mistake.
William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”
Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”
William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!”
Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!”
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts
April 24, 2025
Trump has issued an order which takes on accrediting bodies, including the ABA.
REFORMING ACCREDITATION TO STRENGTHEN HIGHER EDUCATION
Executive Orders
April 23, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. A group of higher education accreditors are the gatekeepers that decide which colleges and universities American students can spend the more than $100 billion in Federal student loans and Pell Grants dispersed each year. The accreditors’ job is to determine which institutions provide a quality education — and therefore merit accreditation. Unfortunately, accreditors have not only failed in this responsibility to students, families, and American taxpayers, but they have also abused their enormous authority.
Accreditors routinely approve institutions that are low-quality by the most important measures. The national six-year undergraduate graduation rate was an alarming 64 percent in 2020. Further, many accredited institutions offer undergraduate and graduate programs with a negative return on investment — almost 25 percent of bachelor’s degrees and more than 40 percent of master’s degrees — which may leave students financially worse off and in enormous debt by charging them exorbitant sums for a degree with very modest earnings potential.
Notwithstanding this slide in graduation rates and graduates’ performance in the labor market, the spike in debt obligations in relation to expected earnings, and repayment rates on student loans, accreditors have remained improperly focused on compelling adoption of discriminatory ideology, rather than on student outcomes. Some accreditors make the adoption of unlawfully discriminatory practices a formal standard of accreditation, and therefore a condition of accessing Federal aid, through “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “DEI”-based standards of accreditation that require institutions to “share results on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the context of their mission by considering . . . demographics . . . and resource allocation.” Accreditors have also abused their governance standards to intrude on State and local authority.
The American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (Council), which is the sole federally recognized accreditor for Juris Doctor programs, has required law schools to “demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion” including by “commit[ting] to having a student body [and faculty] that is diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.” As the Attorney General has concluded and informed the Council, the discriminatory requirement blatantly violates the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023). Though the Council subsequently suspended its enforcement while it considers proposed revisions, this standard and similar unlawful mandates must be permanently eradicated.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which is the only federally recognized body that accredits Doctor of Medicine degree programs, requires that an institution “engage[] in ongoing, systematic, and focused recruitment and retention activities, to achieve mission-appropriate diversity outcomes among its students.” The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which is the sole accreditor for both allopathic and osteopathic medical residency and fellowship programs, similarly “expect[s]” institutions to focus on implementing “policies and procedures related to recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine,” including “racial and ethnic minority individuals.” The standards for training tomorrow’s doctors should focus solely on providing the highest quality care, and certainly not on requiring unlawful discrimination.
American students and taxpayers deserve better, and my Administration will reform our dysfunctional accreditation system so that colleges and universities focus on delivering high-quality academic programs at a reasonable price. Federal recognition will not be provided to accreditors engaging in unlawful discrimination in violation of Federal law.
Sec. 2. Holding Accreditors Accountable for Unlawful Actions. (a) The Secretary of Education shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, hold accountable, including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives.
(b) The Attorney General and the Secretary of Education shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, investigate and take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination by American law schools that is advanced by the Council, including unlawful “diversity, equity, and inclusion” requirements under the guise of accreditation standards. The Secretary of Education shall also assess whether to suspend or terminate the Council’s status as an accrediting agency under Federal law.
(c) The Attorney General and the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall investigate and take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination by American medical schools or graduate medical education entities that is advanced by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or other accreditors of graduate medical education, including unlawful “diversity, equity, and inclusion” requirements under the guise of accreditation standards. The Secretary of Education shall also assess whether to suspend or terminate the Committee’s or the Accreditation Council’s status as an accrediting agency under Federal law or take other appropriate action to ensure lawful conduct by medical schools, graduate medical education programs, and other entities that receive Federal funding for medical education.
Sec. 3. New Principles of Student-Oriented Accreditation. (a) To realign accreditation with high-quality, valuable education for students, the Secretary of Education shall, consistent with applicable law, take appropriate steps to ensure that:
(i) accreditation requires higher education institutions to provide high-quality, high-value academic programs free from unlawful discrimination or other violations of Federal law;
(ii) barriers are reduced that limit institutions from adopting practices that advance credential and degree completion and spur new models of education;
(iii) accreditation requires that institutions support and appropriately prioritize intellectual diversity amongst faculty in order to advance academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and student learning;
(iv) accreditors are not using their role under Federal law to encourage or force institution to violate State laws, unless such State laws violate the Constitution or Federal law; and
(v) accreditors are prohibited from engaging in practices that result in credential inflation that burdens students with additional unnecessary costs.
(b) To advance the policies and objectives in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of Education shall:
(i) resume recognizing new accreditors to increase competition and accountability in promoting high-quality, high-value academic programs focused on student outcomes;
(ii) mandate that accreditors require member institutions to use data on program-level student outcomes to improve such outcomes, without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex;
(iii) promptly provide to accreditors any noncompliance findings relating to member institutions issued after an investigation conducted by the Office of Civil Rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) or Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.);
(iv) launch an experimental site, pursuant to section 487A(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094a(b)), to accelerate innovation and improve accountability by establishing new flexible and streamlined quality assurance pathways for higher education institutions that provide high-quality, high-value academic programs;
(v) increase the consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness of the accreditor recognition review process, including through the use of technology;
(vi) streamline the process for higher education institutions to change accreditors to ensure institutions are not forced to comply with standards that are antithetical to institutional values and mission; and
(vii) update the Accreditation Handbook to ensure that the accreditor recognition and reauthorization process is transparent, efficient, and not unduly burdensome.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 26, 2025
The Trump administration really took a step towards Nazism with the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan for supposedly interfering with immigration laws.
Wyoming’s crossover voting ban and closed primary elections are being challenged in a newly filed civil action.
This should be really interesting.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, has died by suicide at age 41. Prince Andrew's fall is directly tied to her, and there's no doubt that they met when she was just 17 years old, although he denied any improper conduct with her.
She was a married woman with three children, and had relocated to Australia. Apparently she and her husband had recently separated, and she had recently been in an automobile accident.
The topic of releasing the Epstein files has come up, but so far the Trump administration has failed to release them. Trump, of course, knew Epstein.
April 29, 2025
Hageman, Barrasso Say Judges Who Shield Illegal Immigrants Should Be Arrested
April 30, 2025
Judge: Rock Springs school didn’t violate parental rights in transgender pronoun case: School district officials, educators did not keep information from high schooler’s parents or violate mother’s religious rights, federal judge concludes.
May 2, 2025
A federal judge in Texas barred the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelans from South Texas under the Enemy Aliens Act.
May 3, 2025
I missed it, as I was busy, but Law Day, which is May 1, was rebranded by Trump as Loyalty Day.
The meanings aren't even remotely close.
A Federal Court blocked the Trump administration sanctions on a U.S. law firm.
May 16, 2025
A retired lawyer has sued Secretary of State Chuck Gray maintaining that as Gray spread lies about the January 6 insurrection, he supported the campaign of insurrectionist Donald Trump and therefore is disqualified from office under the 14th for being an insurrectionist himself.
That suit will go nowhere, it's really strained.
Trump is an insurrectionist and isn't qualified to hold office, and Gray did support him, but there was never an adjudication in Wyoming as to Trump's status and therefore Gray would have been entitled to argue in favor of him, even with wild fantasies that the election was stolen.
Moreover, the 14th Amendment in the end disallows an insurrectionist from being seated in office, which is why I take the position that Trump is not currently the President, but it also allows for the disqualification to be lifted by Congress. I think, therefore, that it would have been valid to argue that Trump should be elected, as Congress could have lifted the disability. It simply never came up.
Lawsuits like this amount to pointless tilting at windmills and frankly discredit those who oppose Trump by being goofy. Gray has resorted to his usual speech decrying the "radical left". That speech has grown tiresome and I frankly doubt anyone listens to it anymore, but it is giving him something to complain about that fits in with his campaign's past themse, and it likely future one.
On other news, the Federal Court is allowing UW sorority sisters to amend their complaint against the man who has been admitted as a sister in their sorority.
A lot of people have heard that the Supreme Court heard arguments on birthright citizenship this week, but it didn't. It heard a case on nationwide injunctions which involved birthright citizenship. The court can, and probably will, issue its opinion without addressing the question of citizenship.
May 17, 2025
The US Supreme Court extended an injunction prohibiting the deportation of Venezuelans under the Enemy Alien Act, with their being two dissents.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Some surprising news. Popular Wyoming Baby Names for 2024.
Some of these sound downright old timey:
|
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Nativism is no virtue
Nativism is no virtue: A birth certificate stamped Wyoming doesn't qualify as authority or expertise, guest columnist Marion Yoder writes.
This is no doubt true, but I have to note that I'm very nativist myself.
What Yoder didn't note, interestingly, is that a lot of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, indeed, most of it, is made up of imports.
Friday, April 25, 2025
Hageman quietly resumes in-person town halls
Hageman quietly resumes in-person town halls: Less than a month after canceling in-person town halls due to safety concerns, Rep. Harriet Hageman has restarted the process, though you’ll have to register to attend.
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Report: Wildlife Refuge System ‘at risk’ with no units fully resourced amid DOGE uncertainty
Report: Wildlife Refuge System ‘at risk’ with no units fully resourced amid DOGE uncertainty: Federal trove of wildlife habitat that includes seven Wyoming units is in shambles, the department’s chief says.
Friday, April 18, 2025
Trump dumps Biden environmental review for 3,244 oil and gas leases
Trump dumps Biden environmental review for 3,244 oil and gas leases: The action stems from a years-long battle over whether federal land managers should weigh climate and health implications of drilling.
In dispute over local elections, Wyoming Republican Party attorney says law, court ruling don’t apply
In dispute over local elections, Wyoming Republican Party attorney says law, court ruling don’t apply: As traditional Republicans won leadership seats, attorney for state GOP called on county parties to disregard statute and court ruling, arguing they don’t apply.
Called on to defend the rule of law, Wyoming’s delegation says judges, not Trump, are the problem
Called on to defend the rule of law, Wyoming’s delegation says judges, not Trump, are the problem: Senators and rep. say Congress should curb judges’ authority. The comments came in response to jurists’ letter urging them to protect the rule of law.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)