Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 9, 25th Amendment Watch, 23d Edition. The Canadian Harvard and Oxford doctor in economics vs. the Wharton playboy. The Trade War with Canada edition.

By Self-created photograph by Jonathunder - Own work, GFDL, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64543672

If this is a match of intellects, and it likely is, Canada has already won the trade war. 

Carney is undoubtedly a genius and the only international leader currently in office, maybe ever in office, to have run the economies of two different countries.  Trump is increasingly obvious of rather low intellect and a real estate developer with a very narrow understanding of the economy, who is in turn heavily influenced by Peter Navarro, a 77 year old economic theorist who uniquely champions tariffs.  To make matters worse, Trump is suffering a rapid dementia related mental decline.

The US right now is destroying its own economy.

August 26, 2026

Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum, furniture and clothing (50%),  cheese, appliances and some seafood, (25%) and on electronics and tools (15%), effective September 8.

It also pledged aid to Canadian workers.

It was a dollar per dollar match on US tariffs, which it basically offsets.

As a side effect of this, the price of household paper products, toilet paper and paper towels, is climbing.

Thanks Don.

On the contest of intellects, the petulant baby in the Oval Office threatened to rename Lake Ontario the Lake of America or something.  Trump actually thinks he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, even though it remains the Gulf of Mexico in reality.  The Lake Ontario thing is incredibly stupid.  Nobody reacted positively to it, although I'm sure that administration flunkies will pretend it's a great idea.  Curtis Hertel Jr., chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, stated:

Donald Trump has been America first in name only his entire presidency. He promised lower prices, higher wages, and no foreign wars … all of that is bull shit.  Renaming th fourth best Great Lake isn’t going to change that.

Americans aren't impressed with the latest Trump stupidity.

Trump shitposts fail to win support for Canadian trade war

On Trump dumping American cattlemen, John Barrasso, Senator from Trump, oh, um, Senator allegedly from Wyoming, posted this on Twitter:

Americans want US beef on the table – not foreign imports. Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don't ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier – not harder – for Wyoming ranchers to feed America. I will continue to fight for policies that strengthen Wyoming beef producers and invest in the American cattle herd.

Barrasso is a Trump suck up and hasn't really done much for Wyoming in years.  During election cycles he's for whatever he thinks Wyomingites are for and is otherwise a rank cowards pretending he thinks Trump is brilliant when he knows that he's not.  Last time he ran he became worried about gadfly candidate Reid Rasner and accordingly pulled to the hard right.

Barrasso must regard the Wyoming livestock industry as sufficiently powerful enough to actually hurt the GOP, or this an issue near enough to the hearts of Wyomingites, that he needs to speak up.  He didn't do that when public lands were on the table.  It's interesting in part because the Wyoming range cattle industry in particular, and agriculture in general, have been so pro Trump and pro GOP that it's quite literally actually stupid.  We posted on this the other day.

The GOP's useful idiots in agriculture.

Neither Hageman or Lummis have said anything.

Hageman, of course, has incentive not to.  She's a Trump endorsee and is now running against James Byrd tof Lummis' seat.  This makes her exposed on this issue.  If she speaks up, and she's going to have to, it puts her between somebody that supports here that she probably thinks is a heaping bowl of stupid in reality, but then exposing her to voters who she probably figures are more heaping bowls of stupid.  Byrd is perfectly suited to exploit this as Hageman comes from a farm/ranch and can't stay silent before she looks like a traitor.

Lummis, of course, comes from a ranch too, but as she's nto running, she doesn't have to say anything.  She seems to be bucking for a Trump cabinet post, anticipating that people will jump the Trump ship post election.

Anyhow, on Dr. John:

Beefing over foreign beef plan, Barrasso breaks with Trump administration

Closer to home, businesses have been closing right and left in Casper.

Casper’s Outback Steakhouse closes permanently after nearly three decades of business

Little Shop of Burgers announces closure at end of month

Two locally owned Casper small businesses closing permanently

And, good riddance:

Enough! Evanston Man Says He's Leaving The State Over Property Rights Fight

On other economic fronts, the US came out with its "Economic D-Day" against Iran, which are really sanctions against Iranian trading partners, but not really.  It delayed the imposition of them to January 1, 2027, which means they won't happen at all.

August 27, 2026

Will Trump's latest beef plan make your hamburger cheaper? Not much, experts say

Of course it won't.  It's not enough of an addition to the supply chain to matter.

But it could impact other things, depending upon where the beef is sourced.

August 28, 2026

INVOKE THE 25TH AMENDMENT YOU COWARDLY BASTARDS

Seriously, we have a fool ordering that Lake Ontario be called Lake America.

The GOP is a complete fucking joke.  Trump is the worst President in the American history and is destroying the country.

Headline in the CST:

Officials issue inflation warnings

This is at the big economic summit in Jackson Hole.

I wish they'd have this in Scranton or the Bronx.  Jackson is already full of rich carpetbaggers as it is.

400 Southwest Wyoming Trona Mining Jobs On Hold As China Floods Soda Ash Market

August 31, 2026

The US has entered into some sort of deal with Venezuela that has a 25 year life span which supplies the US with oil.

This is frankly naked, rank, colonialism.  My predication is that the deal will be voided as soon as this horrific administration is out.

September 1, 2026

Cattle imports from Mexico resumed.

They've been shut down for fifteen months.

Mexico normally imports 1,000,000 head of cattle into the US every year.

This is actually the resumption of importation that had been occurring until the screwworm outbreak.  The Trump administration blamed that on the Biden administration, like it does everything else.  

Closer to home, yet another Casper restaurant is biting the dust.

House of Sushi in downtown Casper permanently closes

There's been a real rash of these recently. Something is going on.  An article in Oil City notes that the list includes Little Shop of Burgers, Benny Montanaro’s Pizza (which I'd never even heard of), and Outback Steakhouse.

GiGi’s consignment store in Casper is also closing.

Next to House of Sushi it appears an entity called Jae's Place is opening in the old Wonder Bar space.

I don't really understand Jae's Place, but apparently its a wester wear store that supports a charitable mental health foundation.  That's admirable but frankly opening in that location is desecrating a Casper landmark. The space had been the Wonder Bar more or less continually since 1937, having originally been located in another space.  It became a steakhouse under the name C85 a decade or more ago that sold out to Wyoming Rib and Chop which became, you guessed it, another Casper restaurant that closed.

I understand that Jae's Place is a charity so I should not have a non charitable attitude about it, but there's a really old Western Wear store just a block away that I hope is not hurt by this multi state entity and for a long time Casperite seeing this converted into retail is disappointing.  Workmen have been busy for weeks molesting the interior so the damage will likely be permanent.

This is the sort of thing that happens when a place has no sense of itself.

The Wonder Bar

These photographs are of the "World Famous" Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar has operated on Center Street for decades, although it has had short periods of time in recent years in which it operated under a different name (Tommy Knockers, Dillingers, and very briefly, "Sludge and Eddies"). Still, the bar has been around so long that even efforts to operate it under a different name do not deter the locals from continuing to refer to it as the Wonder Bar.

Downtown Casper once had a vast number of bars. This are of downtown had multiple bars on a single block. Only the Wonder Bar survives as a bar.

At some point in time, decades ago, Lee Riders paid to paint an advertisement on the side of the bar. The sign is still there, although an effort to paint over it was made at some point. This reflects the stockman heritage of central Wyoming, and indeed at one time quite a few cowboys and sheepherders spent time in the Wonder Bar.

As an aside, it's hard to see how a town that has a microbrewery every other door can't keep a legendary bar open.

September 2, 2026

The House passed another stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.

Data centers are becoming a big topic in Wyoming.

Pitching 940-acre data center, Prometheus Hyperscale asks Natrona County to bypass state review

Frankly, I"m not a big fan, meaning not a fan at all, of the big expansion of data centers and I'm absolutely opposed to them being constructed on vacant agricultural land.

This was a hearing in front of the County Commissioners.  It looked like each of the current sitting commissioners made some sort of comment at the end, as the Oil City News reports:

In their closing comments, Nicolaysen and Chair Jim Milne said the board must balance community concerns with the rights of private landowners. Laird framed the current technology infrastructure race as an issue of national defense. He said that domestic computing facilities keep American technology out of foreign hands.

“[President Donald] Trump has said it too,” the commissioner said. “He says we have a war going on with China and Russia over who’s going to take over with this AI business. And that’s what this data center is all about. … Do you want China running your AI or Russia running your AI or do you want Natrona County commissioners and the state of Wyoming and America running AI?”

Commissioner Casey Coates cautioned against reacting with panic instead of focusing on tangible facts.

“When we ask for the protection of the government, we really ought to be careful because government at times can be overreaching and those protections that we ask for can be overly applied to ourselves,” Coates said. “Do we not like something because of what it is, or do we have real impacts? If we have real impacts, let’s address those.”

Commissioner Dave North said that state environmental regulators handle water rights and industrial pollution under state statutes.

“The state engineer is the one that takes care of the water,” he said. “That is not our responsibility. That’s not our job. That is up to the state. The DEQ takes care of a lot of stuff. That’s their job. That is not our job.”

Of the five sitting commissioners, only Laird is on the ballot this election.  Laird is correct on Donald Trump's position.  Trump basically called communities that don't want data centers stupid as life is all about money and he loves money and you should love money because Trump loves money and you should love Trump, and money, but Trump most of all.

This must be a nightmare of Chuck Gray, who has been trying to hate things Wyomingite's claim to hate, and they seem to hate data farms, but Trump, who Gray loves, loves them.

On something Trump and Gray presently hate, wind farms:

Scaled-Down Laramie Range Wind Project Gets Go Ahead After Intense 2-Day Hearing

Something else that's been a topic in the news.

Uinta County Ranch Family Builds USDA Meat Processing Plant From The Ground Up

The Donald Trump beef story gets worse:

Driskill Blasts Trump Meeting World's Largest Meatpacker Before Beef Import Deal

Driskill is in the legislature and has been consistently clear thinking.

September 4, 2026

Maybe Wyomingites will wake up about Trump:

Wyomingites, Trump Differ On Whether Data Center Foes Will Be ‘Backwards And Poor’

Sending more money out, than they're taking in.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 8. $40,012,700,535,679.44

Labels: 2020s, 2026, Agriculture, Canada, Disaster, Donald Trump, Economics, Food, Government, Kyla Scanlon, Republican Party, Taxes, The Second Trump Administration, Wyoming's boom and bust economy

Additional Labels:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 9, 25th Amendment Watch, 23d Edition. The Canadian Harvard and Oxford doctor in economics vs. the Wharton playboy. The Trade War with Canada edition. First set of Additional labels.

 

Labels: 2026 Election, Agriculture, Cowards, Cynthia Lummis, Food, Harriet Hageman, Health, James Byrd, John Barrasso, Reid Rasner, restaurants and bars, The Second Trump Administration, Wyoming, Wyoming (Casper), Wyoming (Evanston)

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 9, 25th Amendment Watch, 23d Edition. The Canadian Harvard and Oxford doctor in economics vs. the Wharton playboy. The Trade War with Canada edition. Second set of Additional labels.

 

Wharton, you owe us an explanation and an apology.

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 9, 25th Amendment Watch, 23d Edition. The Canadian Harvard and Oxford doctor in economics vs. the Wharton playboy. The Trade War with Canada edition. Second set of Additional labels.

 

Wharton, you owe us an explanation and an apology.

The 2026 Election, 21st Edition. The Contest in the General Election.

 

And so we're off and running for the General Election, which in Wyoming's case means the election is pretty much over for the statewide races.  Sure, the contest officially carries on, but chances are that the Republican nominees will take everything.

Still, this year, there's a chance, here and there. . . 

So, our early predictions.*

Governor:

Republican.  Eric Barlow

Barlow is a rancher, veterinarian, and long time legislature.  

He's won this race and the General Election in this case is a mere formality.

Democrat.  Kenneth Casner

75 year old making his third pointless bid for the Governor's office. He won't win, everyone knows he won't win, and he shouldn't be running.

Casner's appearance says something, however, about the state of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, and it's the opposite of what's happening in much of the rest of the country.  In much of the country Democratic voters are rising up and tossing out geezer candidates, but in Wyoming the Democratic ranks are so depleted the Democrats are falling back on them, which is not a good sign.

Casner would have done his party a favor if he hadn't run.

Constitution Party:  Rebecca Bextel.

The Constitution Party is a gadfly far right political party which was once the home of people who now populate the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  Indeed, it's their proper home, which shows in the one candidate of theirs which we know to exist, Rebecca Bextel.

The central figure in CheckGate, Bextel is flat out delusional and is running as she feared that Brent Bien would lose and there would not be any candidates running for the true interpretation of the Double Secret Constitution known only to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  Bextel appears to seriously believe that Barlow could only win if vast hoards of Democrats, which don't exist in Wyoming crossed over to vote for Barlow and that in the general election the great mass of MAGA/WFC true believers will carry the day.

With the WFC having received a titanic dope slap in the primary, a rational person in her position would drop out. But then, running as a Constitution Party candidate shows demonstrated irrationality.

Endorsement:  Barlow by far.

Secretary of State

Republican:  Robert Short.

Short is an excellent choice and will take the office.

Democrat:  Bryan McCarthy.

McCarty actually has an impressive business background and has worked as an auditor.  He should be given credit for running, although he probably should have run for State Auditor.

He's going to lose and it's not even going to be close.

Endorsement:  Robert Short.

State Auditor

Republican Kristi Racines won an uncontested Republican primary race and no Democrats ran.

State Treasurer

Curt Meier won his bid to run again in the primary for the Republicans and no Democrats ran.

Senator

Republican:  Harriet Hageman.

63 (soon to be 64) year old incumbent Congressman with a terrible record on public lands who came up due to the "hate Cheney" wave two years ago.  If she wins, she'll be 70 at the end of her first term.

Democrat:  James  Byrd.

72 year old former legislator, geophysicist, and businessman.  Really impressive overall, but he is in his 70s.

This race features two candidates who are pushing what we regard age limits.   Hageman is a nightmare of a candidate however.

Byrd actually stands a chance in this race, but it's a real uphill battle.

Endorsement:  We won't vote for Hageman, which leaves Byrd the only realistic choice, and by and large he's a good one, but we aren't doing an endorsement yet.

House of Representatives

Republican:  Chuck Gray

Gray is a carpetbagger about whom Wyomingites know utterly nothing, other than he's an adoring sycophant of Donald Trump, he sent Wyoming's voter rolls to the Federal Government illegally, he has a nasty public personality, and he's a Californian who went to Wharton.   About him personally, we know  utterly nothing.

Having received only 25% of the primary vote, his election to the House can't be assured.

Democrat:  Lisa Kinney

About the worst candidate the Democrats could have chosen for this position, 75 year old Kinney can't win the office and is a remnant of an earlier era in more ways than one.  Her being the nominee is a sign of the absolutely pathetic state of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

Libertarian:  Shaun Johnson

Like the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party has become so obscure their state's organization doesn't even list their candidates. This is the only one we know to exist.

Johnson is a lawyer presently in Thermopolis.  I don't think he stands a chance, but I'll note that former Wyoming legislator Tim Stubson, who once ran for Congress, has endorsed him, which shows the depth to which a lot of Republicans despise Chuck Gray.

Write In:  Kevin Christensen?

A building movement to mount a write in campaign for Christensen, who ran in the GOP primary, exists.  He came up late in the primary election and got 21,632 to Chuck's 31,222.  While that's about 9,000 more votes, both Balow and Gilat, both seen as early possibilities for defeating Chuck, received over 10,000 votes.  Even gadfly Reid Rasner received a little over 10,000 votes.

If we had Alaska's system, Christensen, along with Friess and Balow, would be on the election in the Fall.  If we had the system in which the top two vote getters were on the ballot, Gray and Friess would be.  Given all of this, there's a really strong indicator that many of those who voted for a candidate other than Gray would vote for Christensen.

Overall, therefore, this race remains in a state of flux while its seen if enough momentum can build up to create a write in campaign for Christensen against a well funded Chuck.  

Endorsement:  Kevin Christensen.  I'm early in doing this, and I note that some disaffected Republicans are saying they'll vote for Kinney. But Kinney is at best a lesser of two evils.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Republican:  Steve Harshman

Harsham is a long time Wyoming educator from Natrona County who was in the legislature for many years.  He's an excellent choice for this office.and he will win it.

Democrat:  Ana Cordova.

Cordova won the contested Democratic primary.  She's a Wyoming native and extremely well educated.  She only returned to the state recently, however, and really has no chance in this race.

Endorsement:  Harshman.

Other races:

We'll no doubt comment on some as time goes by, but will hold off for the most part right now.

Some early comments:

A tour of the 48 key House races

In the Northeast, Midwest and West, it’s almost all upside for Democrats. But redistricting will hand Republicans some seats in the South.

Some voters on the Wind River Reservation say transportation to the polls is an issue

Cont:

Well, as of this morning, I've seen the first disaffected far right local candidate express support for a Bien write in campaign, based on the delusion that there's a lot of Bien support out there (there isn't, he came in third).

The same person, I note, tried to run for County Commissioner and fell far short of the necessary numbers to get on the ballot, so I doubt that they have much influence.

Anyhow, what's surprising is that this person expressed disdain for Bextel and even more disdain for Harriet Hageman, stating that Hageman is just a reliable flunky for Trump.  The outrage seems to be inspired by Hageman supporting Degenfelder as Trump did.  The Wyoming GOP in fact endorsed Bien, Gray and Hageman, with Hageman showing independence from Trump late in the race, but endorsing Degenfelder.

It's hard for these people to accept that people just don't want to elect far right person like Bien. They don't.  But imaging that they do is some sort of salve.

Having said all of that, there's definitely a movement amongst the ignorant far right to write Bien in. They're infighting right now with the Bextel supporters.  Both groups are throwing around Wyoming's "sore loser" law as if they know what it means, but they don't .There's nothing whatsoever that keeps a voter from writing in any name. What the law prohibits is a candidate who has already lost a primary to then run as the nominee of another party.

Anyhow, it's interesting in that far right fanatics are already indicating that they're supporting a defeated Bien, and not Bextel, in the Governor's race, with some screaming for Bextel support.  Neither of those candidates is going to win that race, but we are seeing the casting about for alternatives going on.

All that serves as a reminder that the Common Sense Republicans still have a lot of work to do, as they need to take back the party organization.  The Sturmabteilung is still in control of the party and is reeling.  It needs to be tossed out.

August 25, 2026

The WFC radicals just can't get it through their skulls that people don't like them.

Governor's Race: Write-In Effort For Brent Bien Emerges, But He's Not Behind It

Bien, at least, is more realistic about what a write in campaign against Barlow would mean, which would just be an embarrassment to him.

This entire story is a fart in a windstorm.  No serious number of people are going to write Bien in, or vote for Bextel. This race is over.  It is interesting, however.

The state GOP is controlled by WFC members and endorsed Bien, Hageman, and Gray.  Trump endorsed Gray, Hageman and Degenfelder.  Ultimately, Hageman followed Trump, thumbed her nose at the state GOP, and also endorsed Degenfelder.  For that reason, the WFC, including its members on committees, revolted against Hageman, but to no effect.  Now they're miffed at Trump as well, seemingly not realizing that without their dear leader, they are nothing whatsoever but a bunch of extreme right wing nuts.

A more interesting event would be a Christensen write in campaign against Gray, which would have a real chance of success.

Cont:

Rod Miller: Checkgate Becky And The Wyoming Governor’s Office

August 26, 2026

Darlene Graham won the South Carolina special election for the Senate, beating Ralph Norman roughly 52% to 48%.

Graham wasn't qualified other than being a Trump loyalist.  

August 27, 2026

I wonder at what point Wyomingites who support Trump get the point?  He doesn't love you.

Gov. Gordon concerned by ‘aggressive’ DOJ election observers during Wyoming’s primary election

Lots of post primary observations still going on.

Wyoming GOP lost power, credibility with wasted Bien endorsement

Drake is correct.  The Bien endorsement was not very smart.  The ongoing pouting by the far right, which still controls most of the county and state GOP organization, is also not very smart.  Voters need to take that on next.

On other matters, Byrd and Kinney made a second appearance together, emphasising dinner table topics.

The topics probably aren't bad, but Byrd needs to decouple himself from Kinney.  Kinney has no chance of winning whatsoever and just isn't a good look for Byrd, who could easily pass for a traditional Wyoming Republican.  Kinney can't.  Linking his campaign to her's isn't going to help her, and it will hurt him.

August 28, 2026

A comment by an Albany County voter:

Democracy in my county

by David RomtvedtAugust 27, 2026

While Romtvedt was panned on Facebook for this article, he's not the only one thinking in this fashion by any means.  To my surprise a hardcore right wing Republican announced he's voting for the Democratic candidate for Wyoming's House District 58 rather than vote for Bill Allemand.  While that brought shock from some of the people who know him, and it was pointed out that the Democrat supports abortion, which the Dems would be very well advised to abandon as a position in Wyoming, he also drew praise as Allemand is such a bad candidate.  I doubt the Democrat will win, but I bet he does far better than would otherwise be the case.

Frankly, at this point, with Trump now going so far as to attempt to rename Lake Ontario, a lot of Republicans, including myself, are at the point where they're questioning for any Republicans.  We have a unqualified octogenarian child in the White House and Hageman, Lummis and Barrasso are sitting around with their thumbs up their asses doing nothing.  

August 30, 2026

And today, Rep. Hageman sent out her list of "accomplishments"

This year has been one for the history books as America’s 250th anniversary inspired celebrations from coast to coast. In the final newsletter of August, I want to reflect on all accomplished thus far in 2026: 

Constituents First 

One of the duties my office performs on your behalf is working as a liaison between individual Wyomingites and federal agencies. An example is helping people who have yet to receive their tax return from the IRS or their benefits from the VA. I am proud to report that my office has resolved nearly 1,200 cases this year, returning roughly $2.5 million to constituents from various federal agencies.

If you are facing issues with a federal agency, whether it is the VA, Social Security, the IRS, or another department, my office may be able to help. We can assist with paperwork, follow up on stalled cases, and make sure your concerns are heard and resolved as quickly as possible. Visit my website to submit your request here.  

Investing in Wyoming's Infrastructure

Each year, community project funding gives me the opportunity to request federal dollars for specific infrastructure projects that directly benefit Wyoming communities. For fiscal year 2027, I am proud to report that appropriators included over $11 million of my community project funding requests across various fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills. This adds to the $40 million I have already secured throughout my time in Congress, and I am hopeful to get this year’s funding across the finish line.  

A list and explanation of each project is on my website here.  

14 Bills introduced 

One of my core roles as your lawmaker is introducing legislation that benefits Wyoming. I arrived on Capitol Hill after more than 30 years in courtrooms, often litigating federal statutes. Understanding the fine details of the legislative process, how agencies design rules, and most importantly, what Wyoming needs from the federal government has driven me to introduce a wide range of legislation during my time in Congress. Below are the 14 bills and resolutions I sponsored this year, which brings me to a total of 56 pieces of legislation introduced to date in the 119th Congress.  

H.R. 7286 – Revokes the tax-exempt status of organizations performing or funding abortions.  (NOTE, THIS ONE I ACTUALLY AGREE IS A GOOD BILL)

Domestic ORE Act – Cuts red tape for mineral exploration on public lands by raising the acreage companies can explore under a simple notice from 5 to 25 acres. A BAD BILL.

SAFE Act – Enhances detection capabilities to combat chameleon carriers.  A HORRIFICALLY BAD BILL.

H.R. 7695 – Nullifies the 2001 Clinton Roadless Rule and restores active, responsible forest management on National Forest System Lands.   ANOTHER HORRIFICALLY BAD BILL.

H.R. 7872 – Reforms bonus bids for coal producers on federal leases designed to cut upfront costs in half.   A BAD BILL.

Research and Oversight of AI in Courts Act of 2026 – establishes a task force of judicial experts to examine the integration of AI speech-to-text and automatic speech recognition (ASR) technologies in American courts. 

Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 – Prohibits retroactive climate liability lawsuits and other proceedings to implement or enforce an energy penalty law. A MORONIC CLIMATE CHANGE DENYING BILL.

H.R. 9277 – Prohibits courts from considering agency evidence that isn't based on reliable scientific principles and methods, cracking down on regulations built on flawed or cherry-picked data. A HORSESHIT ANTI SCIENCE BILL.

H.R. 9278 – Requires courts to conduct an independent, de novo review of the facts whenever a federal agency imposes a sanction, rather than deferring to the agency's own fact-finding. 

Preventing AI Censorship Act – Gives American citizens the right to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights through the use of Artificial Intelligence. 

H. Res. 1374 – Calls on the Federal Communications Commission to modernize America's television content ratings system, so parents have the information they need to make informed viewing decisions for their children.   

H.J. Res. 202 – Nullifies the EPA’s California waiver to enforce strict greenhouse gas standards on cars. A BAD BILL.

H.R. 10090 – Implements a new excise tax on private colleges and universities that allow males to compete in women’s sports.  

Strengthening Transportation Oversight and Preventing (STOP) Improper Licensing Act – Requires federal safety regulators to audit states issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens and unqualified drivers.  EH?

Hageman needs to go.

Wyoming is investigating the Attorney General's Office for election interference, based on the presence of aggressive Federal AG's at the polls.

What sort of person served in the Department of Justice anymore?

September 1, 2026

The Tribune ran an article on the Libertarian Party's candidates and the Constitution Party's today.

The article highlighted Shaun Johnson, Libertarian, who imagines himself to have a chance against Chuck Gray.

Somebody would have a chance against the much disliked Gray, but I doubt it's Johnson.  Kevin Christiansen has rejected supporting a write in campaign against him, unfortunately.

Kevin Christensen No On Write-In Campaign, May Endorse But Not Chuck Gray

Christensen appears to be positioning himself to run against Gray in two years, figuring the disliked Californian is likely to be even more disliked by then, a pretty good bet.

Perhaps standing a bitter chance, the article revealed that a Libertarian, Joe Porambo, is running against WFC member Bill Allemand and Democrat Keenan Morgan in House District 58.  Morgan and Porambo will draw more votes that might be expected, and in the conservative district, Porambo might actually have a chance.

Somebody who doesn't is Rebecca Bextel of the delusional Constitution Party. She's also written up in the article.  The far right wing party that backs a double secret constitution that nobody has ever read is also running Tamara Trujillo for Secretary of State. She will lose.

Rod Miller is featured in a hilarious campaign ad for Democrat Karlee Provenza.

And for September 2, 2026, a reminder that all politics is local:

September 2, 2026

The House passed another stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.

Data centers are becoming a big topic in Wyoming.

Pitching 940-acre data center, Prometheus Hyperscale asks Natrona County to bypass state review

Frankly, I"m not a big fan, meaning not a fan at all, of the big expansion of data centers and I'm absolutely opposed to them being constructed on vacant agricultural land.

This was a hearing in front of the County Commissioners.  It looked like each of the current sitting commissioners made some sort of comment at the end, as the Oil City News reports:

In their closing comments, Nicolaysen and Chair Jim Milne said the board must balance community concerns with the rights of private landowners. Laird framed the current technology infrastructure race as an issue of national defense. He said that domestic computing facilities keep American technology out of foreign hands.

“[President Donald] Trump has said it too,” the commissioner said. “He says we have a war going on with China and Russia over who’s going to take over with this AI business. And that’s what this data center is all about. … Do you want China running your AI or Russia running your AI or do you want Natrona County commissioners and the state of Wyoming and America running AI?”

Commissioner Casey Coates cautioned against reacting with panic instead of focusing on tangible facts.

“When we ask for the protection of the government, we really ought to be careful because government at times can be overreaching and those protections that we ask for can be overly applied to ourselves,” Coates said. “Do we not like something because of what it is, or do we have real impacts? If we have real impacts, let’s address those.”

Commissioner Dave North said that state environmental regulators handle water rights and industrial pollution under state statutes.

“The state engineer is the one that takes care of the water,” he said. “That is not our responsibility. That’s not our job. That is up to the state. The DEQ takes care of a lot of stuff. That’s their job. That is not our job.”

Of the five sitting commissioners, only Laird is on the ballot this election.  Laird is correct on Donald Trump's position.  Trump basically called communities that don't want data centers stupid as life is all about money and he loves money and you should love money because Trump loves money and you should love Trump, and money, but Trump most of all.

This must be a nightmare of Chuck Gray, who has been trying to hate things Wyomingite's claim to hate, and they seem to hate data farms, but Trump, who Gray loves, loves them.

On something Trump and Gray presently hate, wind farms:

Scaled-Down Laramie Range Wind Project Gets Go Ahead After Intense 2-Day Hearing

Something else that's been a topic in the news.

Uinta County Ranch Family Builds USDA Meat Processing Plant From The Ground Up

The Donald Trump beef story gets worse:

Driskill Blasts Trump Meeting World's Largest Meatpacker Before Beef Import Deal

Driskill is in the legislature and has been consistently clear thinking.

We have to note that the data center story must be a living nightmare for Chuck Gray.  Gray was for windfarms and gravel pits until it gave him a way to try to make himself to be a champion of the common people.  Then he switched and made it a plat form for his fairly unsuccessful campaign.  Yes, he won, but only 25% of the vote.  There's a lot of chatter right now, and it's probably just chatter, but Lisa Kinney and maybe even Shaun Johnson have a chance of derailing him.  For that matter, with three of them in the race, and disdain of Gray high, we may very well be getting a minority vote Congressman in the state for the first time ever.  I.e, whoever wins may have less than 50% of the vote.

Now comes the data center story.

Gray campaigned on loving Trump more than Trump loves Trump.  And he figures you love Trump almost as much as he does.  But now it's clear that average Wyomingites hate data centers.  Windmills were an easy target as Trump think windmiss are bad and evil and that whales don't like them, but Trump loves data centers and feels that people who do not are stupid.

Oh oh.

It also seems that in the backrooms of the Pentagon the  Chiefs may have had enough of Trump's conspiratorial plotting.

Here we have a letter from Gen. Caine:

There's a lot of reading between the lines on this, but it basically says:

1.  The military doesn't do politics.

2.  The military won't do anything illegal.

3. Any element of the military deploying to the polls, including the National Guard, is illegal.

It seems like Caine got out in front of the Administration on this, perhaps removing one of the legs on an attempt to mount a coup.

September 4, 2026

The Missouri Supreme Court tossed out the bogus Missouri gerrymandering redistricting.

The administration appealed a block of an injunction on the USPS messing with mail in balloting to the Supreme Court.

Footnotes

*We steadfastly refuse to adopt the moronic "red=Republican" standard used only in the U.S. Red=Political Left, Blue=Political Right.

That's the way it is everywhere.

Prior edition:

The 2026 Election, 20th Edition. The 2026 Wyoming Primary Results.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Ana Cordova, Chuck Gray, Eric Barlow, Harriet Hageman, James Byrd, Karlee Provenza, Libertarian, Lisa Kinney, Republican Party, Robert Short, Steve Harshman, Wyoming, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Additional labels:

The 2026 Election, 21st Edition. The Contest in the General Election. Additional labels.