Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
The 2027 Legislature, super early edition. The make them stop edition.
Ugh, just when the first corn fed, cornfederate legislature was safely in the history books, the Management Council met. Of course, the same dumb ideas that get rejected repeatedly are back up for reconsideration, at least in part.
I hear we want to do the election review again and redo the same bills that just died three weeks ago ... in exchange for 911 funding.
Tara Nethercott.
The corner crossing bill won't be back, which is too bad.
Vote the WFC out and send them back to pre 1964 Alabama where they'll be happy.
May 13, 2026
Woman Sued By House Candidate Reid Rasner Urges Ban On Frivolous Lawsuits
I was aware this legislation had been introduced. Frankly, Anti SLAPP provisions are really tricky as they're based, basically, on pre judging a litigants intent.
June 10, 2026
Lawmakers revive proposal to remove Wyoming property taxes
The money has to come from somewhere. Property taxes rise because in no small part new people come in and overpay in the local housing market, and otherwise inflate it.
A better idea would be to have an unrealized sales tax on the sale of real property from other states that
is used by a person within five years of moving to Wyoming.
August 13, 2026
Lawmakers reject proposal for online court records, streamed hearings
Thank goodness. This idea was outright unworkable.
August 29, 2026
Things are going to be rough from now until the the beginning of the next legislative session as the members of the deposed Freedom Caucus be a general pain.
At Least Five Lawmakers Walk Out Of ‘Absurd’ Joint Committee Meeting
August 30, 2026
The WFC food fight at the legislature continues as Chip Neiman took to Facebook to pout over Senators walking out of the recent pointless joint meeting.
As Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, I’m entrusted with the responsibility of appointing legislators to standing committees. It’s a charge I didn’t take lightly upon my election to the Speakership.
I’m proud of the members of the House Minerals and Appropriations Committees for finishing the job they took up for the interim pertaining to local government infrastructure funding and the Wyoming Business Council.
Today, the Senate walked out on Wyoming cities, towns and counties. Conversely, the House committee members remained steadfast in order to deliver the strongest local government funding model seen in decades. This bill will fund local infrastructure and benefit every local jurisdiction and citizen.
The Legislature isn’t a place for turf warfare.
I worry for the future of the Wyoming Legislature. I encourage those new members coming to Cheyenne, to remember who they serve; not a committee, a chamber or any particular lobbying outfit, they serve the people of Wyoming. See less
Neiman notes that he's Speaker of the House in the legislature, which is true, but he's on his way out and is a lame duck. The complaint that the "Legislature isn't a place for turf warfare" is really rich given that the WFC acted like the first Vandals in Rome in Cheyenne. If it's turf warfare, they started it.
We're going to see a lot more of this. The WFC has been kicked to the curb, but like the the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) in the Battle of Berlin, it's going to see that everything is destroyed that it can destroy before it goes.
One common theme we're now seeing in connection with the WFC losing is this one that appears in the comments to Nieman:
Me too! We are quickly becoming a blue state, just as Charlie Kirk predicted!😢
I've scene that more than once now.
People who make that comment are deluded. I don't know about this person, but they're likely also carpetbaggers. Wyoming is a conservative state, but it's not a Turning Point USA Southern Bible Belt state. This is why traditionally there was no support for restricting abortion much here (which I do feel should be restricted, and indeed illegal) and nobody cared much whether somebody was a homosexual or not, which apparently is also no longer the case. The local view, and it was expressed in the Democratic and Republican parties, wsa "I don't care what you do as long as you leave me alone". The WFC didn't want to leave people alone.
As for Charlie Kirk and his predications, I'm increasingly in the "I don't care what Charlie had to say" camp. I don't mean to sound like a Kirk basher, but those politicos and their followers that are Kirk acolytes increasingly don't impress me. Kirk was brought to UW by one of his collegiate admirers who went on to work for Hageman and get canned for following Francoist website, with the same fellow then managing Chuck Gray's campaign. That's a good enough reason not to vote for Gray, although were are are plenty of other reasons not to do so. Anyhow, Kirk never reflected a Wyoming point of view.
September 3, 2026
Wyoming lawmakers change course on property tax reform amid signs of waning support
This is a result of the defeat of the WFC, and that Wyomingites did not rise to the occasion to take advantage of a bevy of potential exemptions, at least one of which was in my view likely illegal.
The last year made it increasingly obvious where local funding came from for municipalities and counties, which likely helps explain this.
It also signals the death spiral of a WFC dream.
September 23, 2026
Outspoken Veterinarians Kill Bill To Let Non-Vets Do Livestock Pregnancy Checks
I'll just be blunt about this.
The same sort of dumb ass movement that backs crap like raw milk as being safe, home delivery by midwives, and "denturists" making dentures without a dentist support stupid ideas like this.
Scientific idiocy has always been part of American culture. It's why people go to chiropractors and think its like going to the doctor. Or why people wear brass bracelets, or take ivermectin for Covid (a really bad and dangerous idea). Or why they think vaccines or dangerous. Or why they think Robert F. Kennedy makes sense on anything.
It really needs to stop.
Sunday, September 20, 2026
The 2026 Election, 22nd Edition. The Stupid on Stilts Edition.
We're making a fortune. So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump Dividend. Congratulations.
Donald Trump at the GOP Midterm Convention.
A person would have to be stupid on stilts to believe that promise, and a similar one has been extended before.
Seriously, what kind of a dumbass believes anything Trump promises at this point?
The fact that the GOP is having a "Midterm" convention is itself an example of outright desperation and hubris on the part of Trump. Trump loves Trump and you must love Trump, so he's reminding you of Trump Love so that you love him and vote for the GOP candidates to show your mindless cult like love.
The fact of the matter is that everything associated with Trump is going badly and his approval ranking is sinking like a rock. In Wyoming it's down to 54% and the impact of the tariffs on Canada haven't even hit yet, much. The war hasn't ended, inflation is about to ramp back up, and Trump's own weirdness is now too weird for anyone to ignore. The result is that Democrats, who were slated to take back the House, now appear likely to take back the Senate as well. Even in Wyoming there's some hint that the Senate may be in play and it's clear that a large number of people really aren't keen on Chuck Gray, who has been pretty quiet since the primary.
Indeed, I've seen a little lashing out at John Barrasso, who isn't running for anything. Now days we mostly see Dr. John looking at Donald Trump as if he, Barrasso, is suffering from a severe case of constipation. He may be, as he's kept his true views on everything, none of which we know, bottled up inside of himself for so long. Anyhow, if people are mad at Barrasso, who seems to have forgotten which state he's from, it doesn't bode well for Hageman and Gray, although they are both clearly the favorites.
This does bring us to some questions that should be asked in the next two months, however. Those being:
1. Do you support the undeclared war against Iran, and if yes, how do you justify no declaration of war existing?
2. On data centers, a big deal here in Wyoming, are you against them like seemingly the majority of Wyomingites are, or for them, like Donald Trump is?
3. What is your position on public lands?
4. For people who go outside, there are clearly environmental matters to be concerned about. Do you have any concerns, and if no, just don't tell us "it's a big fib", as that's just telling us that you'll lie for votes. What is your justification?
5. Epstein files. Why aren't they being released.
6. What is your real plan for balancing the budget and addressing the debt and show us that it works.
7. Do you support ending the trade war with Canada?
A note, prior endorsements on running candidates are below in a separate thread as an Appendix, which is also linked in below.. I'm doing that in this edition so as to not clog up the first part of it too much.
September 11, 2026
Two events occured yesterday which should; 1) cause a sane nation to invoke the 25th Amendment and 2) cause every Republican running for office to have to answer where they stand or never be voted on again.
The first.
Trump sworn his acolytes in so that they will be able to be called up as Long Knives to attack the upcoming Republican defeat in November.
It's not the pledge to go out and vote. Frankly, most MAGA isn't paying any attention this anyway.
It's the pledge to cheat.
Things Trump says cannot any longer be dismissed. People who think that one liner means nothing are ignoring recent history. He intends to steal the election. If he pulls that off, if he's still living and semi coherent, he intends to serve a third term.
The second was a truly bizarre video based on the Paul Harvey "God made farmers" video of years ago with a "God gave us Trump" theme.
This latches on to the extreme Evangelical leg of the MAGA stool. It would make most Christians of any branch absolutely cringe, and to claim a Divine mission like this may be very well blasphemous.
The questions that should be asked, and of any Republican candidate?
1. Will you support the results of the November election no matter what they are. If there's any hedging at all, tell the person they don't have your support for anything whatsoever.
2. Do you believe that Trump has a Divine mission? Any answer than an unqualified no should disqualify the candidate.
I can guarantee you that almost any GOP candidate, particularly if they don't know your view going into the question, will waffle and not give a straight answer.
Carrying on a bit, the religiosity of this midterm Republican convention is really something else. Protestant ministers showed up to speak at it and Tim Scott sounded like an Evangelist. At some point Protestants who are members of these communities really have to ask their pastors how they can reconcile their faith with a man who so clearly ignores Christianity.
Closer to home, Harriet Hageman is ignoring calls for a debate with James Byrd and Byrd is calling her out on it. His post from Facebook:
James Byrd for United States Senate
IF YOU WON'T FIGHT FOR WYOMING ON A DEBATE STAGE, WHO ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?
Harriet Hageman won't stand on a stage. She won't return calls. She won't even respond. And now her silence is about to cancel the one chance Wyoming voters had to see both Senate candidates side by side.
You don't get to represent this state if you won't show up and defend what you believe in front of it. Silence isn't leadership. It's a candidate deciding Wyoming doesn't deserve a real conversation at all.
Tell Wyoming PBS: don't let her refusal to stand for what she believes in decide this for the rest of us.
Stand and fight.
That really is a chicken move by Hageman, but it seems to me she's taken that approach in the past as well.
In the past it struck me as arrogance. She stopped debating as a wave of the hand type of move, although Grey Bull pulled down 25% of the vote in 2022 and Cameron 23% in 2024. Here, it strikes me as fear. Gray Bull was a good debater and still drew 25% in a year that heavily favored Hageman. Now, with four years in, Hageman has an extremely exposed record. She poked Wyoming voters in the eye on public lands and basically called them dumb. In the category of dumb, her family's homestead burned to the ground but she still is a climate change denier. She was endorsed by Trump and has yet to explain how Wyoming farmer and ranchers should view South American beef. It's unfortunate that she lost to Mead, who was such a better candidate.
It's pretty questionable how she'd do in a debate against Byrd. Byrd would likely best her, and what's more, he knows that. So he's making her chicken move an issue.
Hageman ought to be held to account for hiding.
AN OPEN LETTER TO WYOMING PBS
August 11, 2026
To the Leadership of Wyoming PBS,
On August 10, our campaign was notified that Wyoming PBS would not be holding a primary debate for U.S. Senate, because our opponent declined the invitation to participate. A similar notice was given to Lisa Kinney, one of the Democratic candidates for Wyoming's U.S. House seat, whose opponent also declined. As a result, neither of Wyoming's federal Democratic primary races will be represented in a debate on Wyoming PBS this cycle.
I want the public to know directly: I did not refuse this invitation. I remain ready and willing to speak to Wyoming voters in this format, and if Wyoming PBS were to offer me the opportunity, I would be there.
We understand the position Wyoming PBS is in. Federal equal-time provisions limit what a broadcaster can do when only one candidate is willing to appear, so PBS can't simply offer a solo forum in place of a debate, and balancing that against the responsibility to keep voters informed is a hard job. We don't take issue with that constraint itself.
But we do take issue with the precedent this sets.
If one candidate declining is all it takes to cancel a debate outright, then any candidate who wants to dodge scrutiny now has a guaranteed way to do it. That's not a neutral policy. It rewards avoidance and punishes the candidate who actually showed up. It hands one side the power to decide, unilaterally, whether Wyoming voters get to see a debate at all. That is not how this is supposed to work.
When journalism requires the participation of good faith actors, rather than holding all individuals to account regardless of whether they participate, it will ultimately fail at its own goal of accountability. It is always easier to hide than to be held to account.
We've also noticed a related pattern: nominees who clear a primary and then simply skip general election debates too. Put these trends together, and debate participation stops being something candidates owe their constituents. It becomes optional for anyone who calculates they have more to lose than gain by showing up. That should worry Wyoming PBS as much as it worries us.
We are asking Wyoming PBS to make a public commitment that the U.S. House and Senate debates ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026 general election will occur, period. That commitment should hold true regardless of the participation of our opponents.
If a candidate refuses to show up, hold the debate anyway and leave their podium empty. Stations across the country already do this when a candidate declines. It lets voters still hear from the candidates who did show up, and it makes the absent candidate's choice visible instead of erasing the event altogether. Voters deserve to hear from all candidates in each race. Short of that, they deserve to see plainly which candidates showed up to answer for their records and which ones didn't. No candidate should get to use their own absence as a weapon to keep another candidate off the stage.
We'd also push Wyoming PBS to rethink its approach for future primary cycles. One candidate's refusal shouldn't be enough to cancel a debate outright, and that shouldn't hinge on how many candidates happen to be on a given party's ballot. A party fielding one or two contested candidates deserves the same debate access as a party fielding a dozen. Anything less penalizes voters for the size of their party's field, not for anything they did.
We appreciate the work Wyoming PBS does for this state, and we expect a response.
Sincerely,
James Byrd
Byrd for Wyoming See less
September 12, 2026
It turns out that neither Gray nor Hageman are willing to debate.
I'd have much less faith in Kinney being able to really do well in a debate against Gray, although she was a practicing lawyer and has been a legislator. Additionally, Gray's default setting when he gets stressed is asshole.
Both Hageman and Gray's campaigns are defending their position to be chickens. So are their diehard supporters. But it isn't a good look.
September 16, 2026
Rod Miller: Proposition 1 And Rolling The Dice For Lives
(xliii) A portion of property used as a primary residence as a homeowner’s exemption. The following shall apply to the homeowner's exemption:(A) For property used as a primary residence, fifty percent (50%) of the assessed value of the primary property is exempt from property taxation as a homeowner's exemption. Not more than one (1) homeowner’s exemption shall apply to the same property in any year and no owner shall claim more than one (1) homeowner’s exemption in any year including property that is improved by a residence that houses more than one (1) family. To claim a homeowner’s exemption the person shall have been a resident of this state for not less than one (1) year prior to claiming an exemption under this paragraph and shall have resided in the applicable primary residence for at least six (6) months of the immediately preceding tax year. To claim a homeowner’s exemption, the owner of the property shall submit a sworn claim to the county assessor not later than the fourth Monday in May on forms provided by the department of revenue demonstrating that the person is the owner of the property, and that the property is the person's primary residence. False claims are punishable as provided by W.S. 6-5-303.
Harriet Hageman goes after Conservation Easements.
Wyoming sportsmen, and frankly everybody, cannot support the candidacy of Harriet Hageman. She's in the public lands hater category.
She just introduced this bill.
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2773
To provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESApril 9, 2025Ms. Hageman (for herself and Ms. Fedorchak) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILLTo provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Landowner Easement Rights Act”.
SEC. 2. Limitation on conservation easement terms.
After the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may not enter into a conservation easement with a term of more than 30 years.
SEC. 3. Renegotiation of conservation easements.
At the request of an owner of land that is subject to an eligible conservation easement, the Secretary shall—
(1) not later the 6 months after the Secretary receives the request from the landowner, provide to the landowner—
(A) a detailed map of the easement; and
(B) notice of the current fair market value of the easement as determined by the Secretary; and
(2) renegotiate the terms of the eligible conservation easement, including—
(A) a term not longer than 30 years; and
(B) payment by the Secretary to the landowner in an amount equal to the fair market value of the easement, as determined by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(B), minus the amount paid by the Secretary for the eligible conservation easement being renegotiated (adjusted for inflation); or
(3) allow the landowner to buy back the eligible conservation easement or a portion of the eligible conservation easement at fair market value, as determined by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall notify the owner of the land subject to that conservation easement of the owner’s right to submit a request under section 3—
(1) not later than 3 months before the conservation easement becomes an eligible conservation easement described in section 5(2)(A); and
(2) not later than 1 year before the conservation easement becomes an eligible conservation easement described in section 5(2)(B).
In this Act:
(1) CONSERVATION EASEMENT.—The term “conservation easement”—
(A) means a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and the Secretary that limits use of the land in order to protect its conservation values; and
(ii) related to utilities.
(2) ELIGIBLE CONSERVATION EASEMENT.—The term “eligible conservation easement” means a conservation easement that—
(A) has been in effect for longer than 30 years; or
(B) was put into effect before 1977 without the creation of an official corresponding map.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.
This just guts conservation easements that the Federal Government participates in. It make the easement no easement at all.
