Lawmakers lack true understanding

By leaving out constituents, like the transgendered, legislators create foolish bills on such things as bathroom use

By Rodger McDaniel

When I was director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, we developed a mantra: “Nothing about them without them.” It meant that when policymakers develop plans or programs targeting certain individuals, those people have a right to be at the table.

“Nothing about them without them” is a rule legislators should adopt before

State Rep. Roy Edward, R-Gillette, at the Legislature recently.

proposing laws detrimental to other people’s lives. Take state Rep. Roy Edwards, R-Gillette, for example.

Edwards wants a law dictating which bathroom you may use. He’s a big government sort of guy. Edwards is concerned that without a government big enough to tell you where to relieve yourself, “a man could enter the women’s bathroom and spy on people.” It’s an unnecessary cultural war. He hasn’t heard of it being a problem in Wyoming but worries it might become one for somebody, someday.

The lawmaker told the Gillette Chamber of Commerce he needed to stop people from “getting their thrills off of being allowed to go into the opposite sexes’ bathroom.” Campbell County bathroom-goers may be different, but around these parts, people hardly make eye contact in public bathrooms.

What else is wrong with that picture? It’s not just what it says about Edwards, but also what it says about his audience. Why was he confident he could safely express bigotry in front of the business community?

Edwards is trying to fix problems he doesn’t know exist about the behavior of people he doesn’t believe exist, i.e. transgender people. He figures transgender people are just like him, except they made a choice to be transgender in order to spy on one another in bathrooms.

As this bill moves through the legislative process, perhaps Edwards will disclose the sources of his expertise on transgender people. It’s clear he doesn’t know one or that he doesn’t know he knows one. Instead, he relies on prejudicial, though politically popular, assumptions to reach the conclusion that we need to be protected from them.

The truth is transgender people need to be protected from politicians like Edwards.

To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, “Brothers and sisters, politicians need not be uninformed.” How different Brother Edwards might think if he took time to know a transgender person. He should make an effort to meet these children of God and their families. He’d learn something about their struggles and how what he considers a “choice” was actually made, not by them, but for them, by the one who created us all.

Then he’d learn what the American Psychiatric Association learned. The medical diagnosis is called “gender dysphoria.” It’s not a mental illness. It’s a conflict between the gender on one’s birth certificate and the gender with which they identify.

Unfortunately, Edwards’ prejudices amplify the personal pain, deep depression, anxiety and rejection experienced by transgender people. These wounds are worsened by familial and societal responses, including hurtful laws supported by people like Edwards. Many consider, some commit, suicide.

If legislators made an effort to know those they target before tossing bills into the hopper, they might find themselves more compassionate. Compassion means having concern for the suffering of others, not compounding the suffering. Having concern for their suffering inevitably leads one to believe they have not “made a choice.”

Humans aren’t wired to make choices causing them to be rejected by family and friends and to be cast adrift in a world where few people they encounter understand what they are experiencing. You don’t choose to be someone whose life is the subject of political debates and to be ridiculed by those who think you’re trying to “get your thrills” when you’re simply trying to go to the bathroom.

Voters may have chosen you to be their representative, but God didn’t choose you to be their judge. Responsible lawmakers don’t target people they don’t know, never met and don’t understand.

Here’s a memo to Representative Edwards and other legislators: “Nothing about them without them” will make you a better legislator and a better human being.

Rodger McDaniel  is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He resides in Laramie. 

A deception on Cheyenne's streets

Mayor, councilman can't solve problem by robbing sixth-penny proposal

By D. Reed Eckhardt
If you think breaking into the sixth-penny piggy bank to fix Cheyenne's streets will have any real effect on this city's pothole problem, you had better think again.

Mayor Marian Orr and Councilman Pete Laybourn, who are leading this effort, are hoodwinking you in several ways. First, the proposal to shift money around in the sixth-penny ballot proposal to free up about $6 million will have no impact on city streets in the short term.

In fact, even if the council takes the proposed action, and if the voters approve it in May, it will be four or five years before the money comes in. That's a lot of time for the city's streets to worsen.

But perhaps the bigger misrepresentation is that this money will have any lasting impact when it does come in. This $6 million is non-recurring -- that means Orr can spend it one time, and one time only. The problem is, Cheyenne has a $3 million recurring shortfall in road work. That means that in four years, the city will be another $12 million behind on streets. Thus, by the time Orr gets the money, it won't come close to filling the city's needs. And after it is gone, what? The deficit only will continue to grow.

This effort is an embarrassing sleight of hand. Orr and Laybourn promise $6 million, mostly to satisfy those people who put them into office. But this is not a real solution, and both the mayor and councilman know that. They are acutely aware that it is going to take another funding source -- a recurring source -- to fix the streets. During the recent campaign, Orr pointed to the state for the answer. But if she actually believes the Legislature is going to come to Cheyenne's rescue, she is delusional. Wyoming's budget crunch means the state is not going to have money for localities for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, Orr painted herself into a corner when she ran for mayor by saying "never" to a seventh penny, or part of a seventh penny, tax. Yet she can't cut her way to finding this needed revenue, so she turns to this sixth-penny illusion instead. An unwillingness to speak the truth is bad government and poor leadership,

Finally, this effort to rob the sixth penny will slow local efforts to built the community for the future.

One critical project that would be jettisoned is the development of trails at the Belvoir Ranch. That is foolish. This relatively modest proposal would open to residents access to trails around the Big Hole. It's a way to start turning the Belvoir into a recreation Mecca that could attract young people here. Laybourn said during the campaign that is not needed; that Curt Gowdy serves the same purpose. But that state park is not pulling in young people here now, so what will be different when Belvoir remains fallow?

It is disappointing to see the City Council even consider trading Cheyenne's future for a fruitless effort to create $6 million for streets. So there will be no development at Belvoir, and the millions will be swallowed up without having any meaningful impact on city roadways. That makes no sense at all.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Humpty Dumpty lawmakers promote discrimination

House Bill 135 would protect a Christian's so-called "right" to disavow gay marriage, other LGBT-plus rights

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.” -- "Alice in Wonderland," Lewis Carroll 

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” -- "1984," George Orwell

By D. Reed Eckhardt

Humpty Dumpty knew the trick. So did Big Brother. Turn words upside down and then use them to bludgeon those with whom you disagree.

It's happening right now in the Wyoming Legislature. House Bill 135 (http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2017/Introduced/HB0135.pdf) is slyly titled, "The Government Anti-Discrimination Act."

But it has nothing to do with stopping discrimination. Rather, it would let one religious group -- Christians -- exercise outright discrimination against those with whom they disagree -- the LGBT-plus community. If you can't beat 'em in court, the thinking apparently goes, then beat 'em up in the Legislature.

HB 135 is a prime example of legislation that has popped up across the nation since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015. Fundamentalist Christians and their fellow travelers are drawing a fresh line in the sand: If they can't stop gay marriage, at least they should not be made to recognize it. Instead, they now claim their own right: to discriminate based on their religious beliefs. Like Humpty Dumpty, they simply turn words back on themselves. It's the Christians, they say, who really are the victims of discrimination -- they are being forced to honor gay marriage -- and they demand legal protection. And their fellow Christian lawmakers are more than ready to step into the breach.

What HB 135 would do is prevent government -- in any form, at any level -- from "(taking) any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that the person believes or acts in accordance with (their religious beliefs)." Those specific beliefs? That marriage is only between a man or a woman, and gender is determined only by genetics. And HB 135 offers a broad definition of "person:" "an individual, partnership, corporation, joint stock company or any other association or entity, public or private."

So what the sponsors of HB 135 are claiming is a broad right for Christians -- as well as their businesses and organizations -- to discriminate against LGBT-plus members in the areas of housing, employment and public services. But America already has been down this road. Religion is not a valid basis for discrimination. Efforts in the South to push back against blacks in the 1960s based on Bible beliefs were firmly rejected by the courts.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently said that a person's religion does not let him or her trump the rights of those with whom they are dealing. http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/Peaceful-Coexistence-09-07-16.PDF And the Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution protects religious beliefs, not religious conduct. Thus, Christians cannot act to use their religion to override the civil rights of others. They may be religiously offended by a gay couple, but that does not allow them to discriminate.

Even if HB 135 passes, it is doubtful it will stand up to a challenge in court. Besides, Wyoming lawmakers have bigger issues to deal with this session. The legislation probably will -- and should -- be set aside as lawmakers struggle with budget deficits and education funding shortfalls.

Here's the thing: Christians in Wyoming have controlled the agenda and policies of Wyoming essentially since its founding. For them, equality in the Equality State has been about providing equal opportunity for everyone to conform to their norms.

But the times they are a-changin', and Humpty Dumpty language is not going to prevent that. HB 135 should die a quick death, and so should the falsehood that Christians are being discriminated against. A loss of power by the majority is not discrimination. Rather, it is a move toward a better balance between religious and non-religious Wyomingites. This proper swing in the pendulum cannot be prevented by denying LGBT-plus people their rights.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

-------------------------------------------------------------

AN UPDATE

On Tuesday, Wyoming Equality issued the following bulletin:

Wyoming State Legislature is considering Anti-LGBT House Bill 135

The Wyoming State Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would become the most oppressive and wide-ranging anti-LGBT law in the nation.

HB 135 is scheduled to be voted upon by the Wyoming House Judiciary Committee this week, its first step toward becoming law. Please call and/or email members of this committee (contact info pasted below) and tell them to VOTE NO ON HB 135.

(Remember: Be firm but polite; introduce yourself and say where you're from; make your message personal)

Wyoming House Judiciary Committee

Dan Kirkbride (Chugwater)
Cell - (307) 331-2265
Dan.Kirkbride@wyoleg.gov

Mark Baker (Rock Springs)
Cell - (307) 371-5113
Mark.Baker@wyoleg.gov

Bo Biteman (Ranchester)
Cell - (307) 763-7613
Bo.Biteman@wyoleg.gov

Mark Jennings (Sheridan)
Cell - (307) 461-0697
Mark.Jennings@wyoleg.gov

Jared Olsen (Cheyenne)
Cell - (307) 509-0242
Jared.Olsen@wyoleg.gov

Charles Pelkey (Laramie)
Cell - (307) 920-0542
Charles.Pelkey@wyoleg.gov

Bill Pownall (Gillette)
Home - (307) 682-4148
Bill.Pownall@wyoleg.gov

Tim Salazar (Dubois)
Cell - (307) 220-1213
Tim.Salazar@wyoleg.gov

Nathan Winters (Thermopolis)
Home - (307) 864-3690
Nathan.Winters@wyoleg.gov

Sarcastic website points to valued ignorance

Solar panels are draining the sun's energy? Maybe. Maybe not.

By Rodger McDaniel

Are you aware of the mind-blowing work of the Wyoming Institute of Technology, a Cheyenne think tank? In the course of a book study at Highlands Presbyterian, we happened upon this little-known jewel in Cheyenne’s bedazzled crown.

We were reading “Caring for Creation-The Evangelical’s Guide to Climate Change.” (https://www.amazon.com/Caring-Creation-Evangelicals-Climate-Environment/dp/0764218654/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1485274525&sr=1-1)
Mitch Hescox and Paul Douglas, conservative Christians and lifelong Republicans, are the authors.

They are optimists when it comes to believing the U.S. can meet the challenges of climate change, which they document as a genuine threat to our children’s lives and liberties.

Among their reasons for optimism are renewable energy sources such as solar. They call it a “no-brainer,” which brings me to WIT. While preparing for one book-study session, I came across an internet article on solar energy in the “National Report,” branding itself “the place where the lame-stream media leaves off, we pick up."

Among headlines like “Trump to limit all intelligence briefings to 140 characters,” and “Anti-vaxxer parents refuse to check kids’ trick or treat candy before they eat it,” was discovered the widely circulated story about how solar panels are draining the sun’s energy. It’s a climate-change-denier dream piece of research conducted in Cheyenne by the Wyoming Institute of Technology.

We hadn’t heard of the facility. They aren’t in the phone book. However, we found their webpage, witscience.org. WIT exists not in any reality, but virtually.

Originally called the “Wyoming Institute of Education and Nuclear Energy Research,” the acronym proved undignified. The name was changed.

WIT shocked the science world when it discovered the dangers of relying on solar energy. Institute scientists found that in a process they referred to as “forced photovoltaic drainage,” solar panels are draining the sun’s energy. The use of solar will eventually extinguish the sun. That’s only the tip of the WIT iceberg.

WIT scientist Dr. Joan Collins made another discovery that may bode well for Donald Trump’s other part-time job as producer of “The Apprentice.” Dr. Joan scanned the brains of 100 meth addicts and 100 others who regularly watch reality TV. She found that watching reality TV produces the same impact on the human brain as extensive meth use.

Another WIT project studied 2,955 Americans. WIT concluded Radio Frequency Identification Chips, long thought to have been secretly planted in the wrists of unsuspecting citizens, have, in fact, been implanted in their tooth fillings. WIT’s website acknowledges, “More investigation is required to understand the significance of this finding.”

Five years ago, according to WIT, the Vatican came calling, seeking help cataloging some of their precious relics. Among them was the spear allegedly used by the centurion to pierce Jesus’ side. Using DNA from the relic, WIT scientists undertook efforts to clone Jesus. Despite consequent death threats, WIT says it “remains committed to morally guided, ethical-based research, no matter what the cost.”

Want to tour WIT’s Cheyenne lab? Most facilities are closed “due to security and safety concerns.” Their webpage says tours can sometimes be arranged. Visitors need to know they’ll be “stripped and searched inside and out for weapons, camera devices, cellphones, notepads, etc.” Muslim visitors must be approved by the Department of Homeland Security. Everyone must be willing to take an iodine tablet if touring “the Hall of Plutonium.”

At WIT, sarcasm trumps science. Why would a sarcastic-science website be cyber-located in Cheyenne? Simple. Because that’s where legislators generate embarrassing national publicity with bathroom-control bills and proposals penalizing utilities for providing consumers with wind or solar energy, criminalizing data collection on public lands, and repealing science education standards because most legislators didn’t want Wyoming’s children to learn the truth about climate change.

WIT’s studies of Wyoming legislators discovered the truth in what humorist Christopher Moore said: “It’s wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs.”

Rodger McDaniel is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He resides in Laramie. 

Step up now to end Electoral College

Wyomingites can play a key role in the reform movement

By Rodger McDaniel

America cannot indulge a system where one candidate receives 2.9 million votes more than an opponent and still loses the election.

Blame the “Committee on Postponed Parts.” They came up with the Electoral College during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It’s their fault that five candidates won the popular vote and lost the presidency.

Wyoming can play a role in reforming this undemocratic process.

The 2016 plebiscite witnessed the fifth presidential election in which the winner was the loser.

Andrew Jackson was first in 1824.

Samuel Tilden won the 1876 popular vote but lost the Electoral College. Next came Grover Cleveland’s 1888 contest against Benjamin Harrison. Then Al Gore lost to George W. Bush. Now it’s Hillary Clinton.

For all of the lofty attributes with which we imbue the Founding Fathers, they never trusted us. The idea that the people should elect anyone frightened them. In the beginning, they permitted only members of the House of Representatives to be elected by the riffraff. Senators and the president would be elected by those they trusted; senators by state legislators, presidents by an Electoral College. The people were mere “interested but not involved spectators.”

Delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention assumed the process should protect the country from the people. George Mason argued that allowing the people to choose a president made as much sense as referring “a trial of colours to a blind man.” Mason questioned the ability of common people to judge the “respective pretensions of the candidates.”

Given the role of big money, poll-driven campaigns, and the post-factual media, Mason may have been right. Nonetheless, the Electoral College is an antiquated insult to the people.

In a nation paralyzed with partisanship, the fact that each of the five candidates losing the presidency after winning the popular vote were Democrats may sour reformers’ hopes. But that shoe comes only in “one-size-fits-all” and will one day be worn by a Republican. If just 59,393 Ohioan votes had gone to John Kerry in 2004, he’d have defeated George Bush in the Electoral College though Bush won by the same popular-vote margin by which Hillary defeated Trump.

The Electoral College was the best compromise proposed in 1787 by the Committee on Postponed Parts. Its continuation makes sense today only if 21st century politicians feel the same disdain for us. They may have believed electors would be independent actors with America’s best interests at heart. Today they are mere partisans chosen for their loyalty, not to America, but to their party.

In addition to diluting the impact of our votes, the Electoral College requires candidates spend time and resources in a handful of states, ignoring all others. Stopovers matter. Having a candidate visit your state is about more than niceties. It means candidates actually have to take time to think about its people and their needs.

Worse yet, once elected they give more attention to those “battleground” states. One study concluded, “Battleground states receive 7 percent more federal grants than spectator states, twice as many presidential disaster declarations, more Superfund enforcement designations, and more No Child Left Behind exemptions.”

But help is on the way. A reform measure is close to becoming reality. It’s one the states can accomplish without waiting for Congress. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is near being approved in enough states that it could become the way presidents are elected by 2020. It requires members of the Electoral College to vote for the candidate receiving the most popular votes nationally.

Eleven states with 165 electoral votes have approved it. The compact takes effect when enacted by states with 270 of the electoral votes.

Wyoming can play a key role in this reform. If you believe the people should be able to choose a president, urge state legislators to support a resolution approving the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in the current session of the legislature. Learn more at http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

A state with so few voters seldom has a chance to so greatly influence the election of presidents.

Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Defending coal is a losing hand

The Legislature's efforts to buttress coal ignore global realities

"The climate is changing. Man is an influence. I think where there's debate on it is what that influence is [and] what can we do about it." -- Interior Secretary-nominee Ryan Zinke at his confirmation hearing this week.

By D. Reed Eckhardt
One has to wonder whether Wyoming's lawmakers live in an alternate reality -- particularly on the issue of energy.

All around them, the facts continue to mount. Scientific consensus overwhelming says man-made climate change is happening, even accelerating. Jobs and output in the state's energy sectors continue to decline as America and the world turn away from carbon-based fuels. Proposed federal coal leases don't even get a sniff. Even President-elect Donald Trump's nominees agree climate change is real and that man's spewing of greenhouse gasses is part of the problem.

Yet how does the Legislature respond? By trying to find ways to buttress the state's weakening coal industry. The most recent effort is Senate File 71 (http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2017/Introduced/SF0071.pdf). It would forbid utilities in the state from providing any electricity that comes from large-scale solar or wind projects.

This map shows the number of wind energy-related jobs in 2015.

And let's not forget last spring's failed attempt to increase the state's tax on wind energy to make it less competitive with coal.

It's as if lawmakers think they can erect dikes all around the state to keep out the flood of reality. Coal is not going to come back. Wyoming needs another economic model besides being America's carbon energy banana republic. This state's leaders have to get with the program rather than demanding that the program gets with Wyoming. This state is not bigger than global trends, period.

What is so frustrating about all of this is: The state has options. Rather than fighting the development of wind energy, lawmakers might consider boosting it instead. Had they done so years ago, perhaps all of those coal workers and their families who now have fled the state could be working in the wind industry instead. And with Wyoming's abundance of sun -- the state offers more than 3,000 sunny hours a year, among the nation's leaders -- how about pushing for the development of that renewable energy source?

Besides, study after study shows future job growth is in renewable -- not carbon-based -- fuels. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2012 there were not even 1 million coal/oil gas jobs nationally. At the same time, there were 3.4 million green jobs. That is expected to boom in years to come. It also should be noted that carbon-based industries don't grow a lot of employment. For every $1 million in output of coal, for example, 1.9 jobs are created. The wind, on the other hand, generates 4.6 jobs per $1 million in production and solar, 5.4. https://citizensclimatelobby.org/laser-talks/jobs-fossil-fuels-vs-renewables/

Last year, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead declared that he was going to double down on coal. You can double down on a losing poker hand, too, but you still will lose. Yet lawmakers continue to stand pat. It makes no sense.

Someone in legislative leadership needs to shake him or herself awake and face present realities. It is great that Wyoming is No. 1 in coal production. But how about being No. 1 in renewables production as well? Let's be the nation's energy leader, not just its carbon-fuels energy leader. That, friends, would be a winning hand.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

It is time for Wyoming to honor MLK

By Rodger McDaniel
This past Monday, the Wyoming Legislature disrespected the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. once again.

The Legislature considers Dr. King’s birthday just another day on the calendar. Although they close for Presidents Day, they’ve never done so for King’s birthday.

The truth is they never really liked the idea of setting aside a day to honor the slain civil rights leader. They avoided it for 22 years after King’s martyrdom. Eventually they were cajoled into becoming the 46th state to do so. After Wyoming, only New Hampshire, Montana, Idaho and

Arizona held out. Wyoming wasn’t as recalcitrant as Arizona. The NFL moved a Super Bowl from Phoenix to Pasadena because of their refusal to recognize King’s birthday. Arizona then saw the light.

President Ronald Reagan signed a law establishing Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday in 1983. It took 17 years for all 50 states to join Reagan. Wyoming’s legislators resisted steadfastly until 1990. Even then a majority of Wyoming legislators couldn’t stomach the thought of giving all the recognition to Martin Luther King. Alas, though they passed the law, they purposefully denied the iconic civil rights leader his due by giving the holiday a hybrid name.

That’s how Wyoming ended up with what is called “Martin Luther King-Equality Day.” The compromise name was necessary to get the bill through both houses of the Legislature. To their credit, they weren’t as bad as Virginia legislators, who originally deemed the holiday “Martin Luther King, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson Day.

As a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, I was the first to introduce legislation establishing the Martin Luther King holiday. It was 1973. Former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had died a year before. He called King “the most notorious liar in the country,” even as King was receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Hoover’s FBI tapped King’s phone and sent anonymous letters to his wife about alleged extramarital affairs, attempting to persuade him to commit suicide. Hoover considered King a Communist.

By 1973, King had been gone for only five years, and Hoover hadn’t lain in the grave long enough for many conservatives to cleanse themselves of Hoover’s slanders.

But it was the shear doggedness of the first black woman elected to the Wyoming Legislature that eventually prevailed. The late Harriet “Liz” Byrd was the champion who finally got it done.

State Senator Byrd knew personally what King’s civil rights struggle meant. In 1949, she was a 23-year-old college graduate, applying for a teaching job in Cheyenne. According to historian Todd Guenther’s 2009 “Annals of Wyoming” essay, “The State Superintendent of Public Instruction refused Byrd’s application because whites didn’t want black teachers disciplining their children, and thus, Wyoming did not hire ‘Negro’ teachers.” Mrs. Byrd couldn’t get a classroom teaching job until 1959.

Although her bills making King’s birthday a holiday were rejected nine times, she never lost hope, believing the words of the slain civil rights leader. “If you lose hope, you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose the courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.”

The law establishing Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday has been on the books for 27 years, and for 27 years it’s been dishonored by Wyoming legislators. They choose to work that day, meaning that their staff must work along with skeleton crews in each state office.

It’s time for the legislative body that made this holiday the law of the state to honor Dr. King as do most other public entities. Close shop. Join the march up Capitol Avenue in memoriam. Speak to schoolchildren and others, reminding them what this patriot did for our nation, how his nonviolent leadership kept the lid on a situation that could have, without his leadership, resulted in greater mayhem than was experienced across the nation.

Take the day off and, along with others, celebrate the life and legacy of a prophet who brought hope and healing to America.

Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

The time has come to speak up

Wyoming needs a variety of voices, not an echo chamber

The people of the Equality State deserve a diversity of viewpoints. Unfortunately, they are being cheated. The state's leading newspapers have succumbed to the pressure of finances. Once-proud examples of state-leading opinion, they now are producing one locally written editorial a week each. They don't have the staff or the time -- and perhaps not the willpower -- to do more. And their tone has been diminished. Where once they thundered, they now whimper and plead. Wyoming deserves better.

Similarly, the mindset of conservative thought leaders has been not to encourage discussion but rather to silence dissent. Both of the state's leading newspapers have fallen for the argument that there needs to be increased conservative opinion on their editorial pages. One even has publicly pleaded for more conservative writers. But that push is not about creating balance; rather, it is an effort to squeeze liberal and progressive thought off these pages altogether. The right-wing complainers will not be happy until the newspapers are echo chambers of their thought and their thought alone. That the leaders at the state's newspapers have fallen for this -- reducing progressive and liberal thought, letting conservative columns overwhelm their pages and killing balanced discussion -- does not bode well for the marketplace of ideas in Wyoming.

And, sadly, there is a price to be paid for expressing progressive and liberal ideas. Those who hold positions of public responsibility fear to speak up. They know this will cost them their good works, perhaps even their livelihoods. Such efforts as the attempt to censor Laramie County Republicans who supported moderate candidates in the recent elections is proof of this. Let's not debate ideas; let's silence those with whom we disagree, goes the theory. And, again, the people of Wyoming are cheated.

Thus, we bring you Publius Wyoming. This blog is designed to be a forum for progressive and liberal points of view on issues concerning Cheyenne, Laramie County and Wyoming. We intend to be unabashedly left-leaning; we will not apologize for that. We hope to share other writers' work, and we will create our own. And as did the Founders, we will use anonymity when necessary. Some of our writers will use their names. Others want to express their points of view but do not want to be ostracized or lose their careers because of their ideas. They will be allowed to protect themselves here with anonymity. The ultimate goal is to create a place where these ideas can be expressed without fear of reprisal.

We hope you will follow this site. And share it.

It is long overdue.

We start it now.

New faces, old problems at the Legislature

By Rodger McDaniel
It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Well, who knows? Putting new eyes on old problems might prove helpful.

As Wyoming faces daunting education-funding deficits and other fiscal crises attributable to declining oil, gas and coal revenues, nearly three in 10 members of the Legislature are new to the process.

The House lost former Speaker Kermit Brown. Majority Floor Leader Rosie Berger served 14 years before her defeat. She’d have become the first female speaker since 1969. Mary Throne and her decade of service, including time as minority leader, is gone, as is Elaine Harvey and her 14 years of accomplishments.

Years of experience were exchanged for newly elected members with much to learn. Gov. Matt Mead is right. Their learning curve is steep. Will they take the time to learn and legislate with vision, rather than ideology? Will they follow their instincts or fall in line with their caucus? As legislators begin their work Tuesday, here are five inquiries that will answer those questions:

1. Will legislators ignore the people and move ahead with legislation transferring federal lands to the state?

2. Will Republicans finally deliver a health-care plan?

3. Will legislators exercise independence from the far-right’s national agenda?

4. Do any Republicans have realistic ideas about the future of coal?

5. Will the Legislature continue shielding the “rainy-day” account from the current thunderstorm?

How new legislators deal with legislation urging the U.S. government to transfer ownership of federal lands to the state will be most revealing. This baby seems to have no known parents outside of a few incumbent legislators. Mead admits the idea is financially and legally impractical. Polls are clear: The public thinks the idea stinks. During a recent legislative hearing, nobody spoke in favor. Still, the proposal has legs. Key legislators are listening to someone other than constituents. There’s some smoke-blowing in a backroom somewhere. Will the freshmen listen to the voters back home or take their marching orders from legislative leadership? That will tell us a lot about these folks.

Next, with uncertainty about Obamacare, it’s urgent that the Legislature enact a Wyoming-specific health-care plan. The incumbents failed. The best they could do was to oppose expansion of Medicaid. Among new members, is there anyone creative and thoughtful enough to save community hospitals from financial failure and insure the 20,000 working people who fall through the cracks?

Third is a question of independence. Outside organizations exercise oversized influence in the Legislature. Ideologues like the thankfully defunct WyWatch and the Wyoming Liberty Group, with connections to national groups like ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and the Koch Brothers, infected our Legislature with a far right, Wyoming-irrelevant agenda.

Next is the question of the future of coal. The campaign disclosed no fresh faces who’ll do anything but repeat the mantra about ending the partisan-nominated “War on Coal” and resurrecting the industry. Time will tell whether someone will provide leadership and create a reality-based vision for Wyoming’s economy.

Finally, there’s the so-called “rainy-day” account. Legislators never developed a consensus for what “rainy day” means. Perhaps there’s no one better to demand a definition than people who weren’t in the Legislature as longtime members thoughtlessly spirited away tens of millions of dollars for whatever they determined was a “rainy day.”

Old problems benefit from new eyes, but only when new legislators use their own eyes, rather than those of lawmakers who’ve proved themselves unable to solve those “old problems.”

Retirements and defeats rendered seven of 30 members new to the Senate. The House lost 18 of 60 members. But these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Among those whose seats are filled by freshmen are longtime leaders. Gone are knowledgeable legislators like Gerald Geis, Phil Nicholas and Tony Ross. Each served as Senate president, accumulating 75 years of combined legislative experience.

Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Let's forget the myths about Wyoming and face the realities

“I would rather see my children die of starvation than allow them to live in the psychosis of the city.” -- (Facebook post)

“My country right or wrong: if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” --
Carl Schurz, remarks in the Senate, 1872

By Nate Breen

The above quote was a response post on my Facebook page. The local newspaper headlined a report that Wyoming’s economy is 50th in the United States. I snapped a picture of the story and posted it on my Facebook page.

In sum, the story detailed the failure of the state to diversify its economy. In failing to diversify the economy, the state of Wyoming is unable to retain its young nor is it able to attract businesses and young professionals who could “build” the economy of this state. Per capita, Wyoming is growing older than any other state in the Union.

Well, I certainly did hear from folks on my page. Most of the responses I received were angry, and nearly all of the responses were from former students. With few exceptions, these young folks complained that they did not see a viable future for them in this state.

Yet, there was the post quoted above. As outrageous as the logic behind the statement is, there is reality to it. In fact, the statement is representative of the philosophy driving politics in this state. There appears to be a self-satisfied myth of the rugged and self-made individual who is disdainful of culture, civilization, and urban life.

This is a myth that falsely assumes that Wyoming was created ex nihilo (from nothing). This is a myth which sneers at those who want to change things. This is a myth that tells those who suggest any change to leave if they do not like things (see second quote, above). This is a myth that drives our most valuable resource, our young, out of this state.

So, what are the realities we confront?

First, according to a survey conducted through the Political Science Department at the University of Wyoming, folks in this state want excellent roads, bridges, police and fire protection, and education. But, we apparently want someone else to pay for these amenities.

Second, the failure to keep our best and brightest in this state means that we will never have a workforce that will attract major businesses. Companies would like to relocate to Wyoming, but over and over we are told that the state does not have a workforce that could support them. And for a point of clarification: This dilemma is not due to the failure of our K-16 education system. The failure is due to lack of opportunity … these young people get their education and skills then leave for opportunities.

Third, the failure to create a tax structure that would encourage businesses to relocate. I am not referring to “tax breaks” for relocation. Major corporations look at tax structures that create and sustain recreation and cultural amenities for their employees. The rejoinder I hear too often, here in Cheyenne, is: “We don’t want to be like those ‘Greenies’ in Colorado!” OK, the folks in Colorado enjoy millions of our dollars (spent for culture, goods, and services not provided here) and the skills our young folks bring to them as new residents.

Fourth, the total dependence upon the mineral and energy industries subjects this state to the “boom-and-bust” cycles of those industries. More seriously, this dependence permits these industries to dictate politics and policies at the local and state level. In short, those who are paying our bills drive policy decisions that influence every aspect of life here in Wyoming.

Lastly, in spite of claims otherwise, we do have “the psychosis of the city”. The suicide rate in this state is among the highest in the nation. The use and abuse of alcohol and narcotics, per capita, is among the highest in the nation. We have rejected Medicaid expansion that might help in combating these public health problems, and we don’t have the tax base to fully sustain programs.

No, folks, we are not safer because we are rural. In many respects, we are in greater danger because we can’t fund programs that will make us safer.

As a college student in the late '60s I remember the “bumper sticker war.” It was a war of words. One side, angry with the student protests over the Vietnam War and civil rights movement read, “Love it or leave it.” The other side responded with, “Change it or lose it.” That choice still remains, in this case, for the state of Wyoming.

Nate Breen is a former educator and is a member of the Laramie County School District 1 Board of Trustees. He also serves on the State Board of Education.

Young people want deeds, not words, Mr. Harshman

By D. Reed Eckhardt
There have been few times that I have agreed with state Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper. But the new speaker of the state House was dead right this week when he said Wyoming has to do more, much more, for its young people.

"Our goal has to be we've got to be No. 1 in the United States for young people ... to come here, raise their kids, build a future, start a business," Harshman told lawmakers as the 64th Legislature got underway. "Part of that is what we emphasize and what we talk about because in the end we're going to get what we emphasize."

State Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper.

Powerful words, wisely spoken. But the problem is that the Legislature -- where Harshman has toiled for years and where he has had a voice in leadership much of
that time -- rarely backs up its words with deeds. Rather, it rejects ideas, like a law that would ban discrimination against gays, lesbians and others in the workplace, in commerce and in housing. This sort of legislation is seen as essential by the young people Harshman wants to attract. Yet is it on his agenda for this legislative session? You can bet that it hasn't even crossed his mind, much less moved him to embrace it.

Similarly, the proposed bill by state Rep. Roy Edwards, R-Gillette, which would require people to bathrooms of their birth gender rather than those of their gender identity, sends a message precisely the opposite of the preachings from  Harshman. It shouts that the LGBT-plus community should take a back seat on the Equality State Express -- and young people will flee a state that acts that way, not "come here, raise their kids."

If Harshman and those who support his vision really want young people here, they need to get off social agenda issues and focus on things that actually will serve as attractions.

One example: How about raising the awards for the Hathaway Scholarships instead of allowing them to continually degrade? I sat with Harshman on the committee that formed that essential program, and he was among the lawmakers who promised that the awards would be increased over time. That hasn't happened, and now there is a built-in excuse not to do so: the state's fiscal crisis. Yet it's always amazing how lawmakers can find money for their pet projects. This is one pet that Harshman should make his own, especially since young people tend to live where they go to school.

Similarly, Harshman and friends should find ways to relieve the college debt that is weighing down young people. There are numerous programs across the nation -- including some that forgive the debt if college grads will work and live in a state. Yet, again, none of them is on the Legislature's current agenda. How about appointing a committee to consider options? That would at least indicate the speaker is serious about his words.

And then there are amenities. Lawmakers' opposition to even talking about bike paths, much less funding them, in previous sessions is another example of their ignorance regarding the young people they say they seek. This younger generation is multi-modal, and bikes are part of their lifestyle. It's time to stop demanding that these young people fit into Wyoming's culture and alter the culture to fit them.

Harshman is right: Without smart young people, this state is not going to flourish. The problem is, it is going to take more than a mountain of words to bring them here. It's time for action, Mr. Harshman. How about it?

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Lying about Wyoming education

By D. Reed Eckhardt
The disinformation campaign from the Wyoming Department of Education never seems to end. But then, to admit the truth about this state's mediocre schools would be to agree with those who say Wyoming needs to overhaul its education system. And since the current framework is based on the much accepted and widely touted falsehood that local control is the way to go, well, officials are forced to pretend that all is well with the way this state educates its children.

Listen to State Superintendent Jillian Below's reaction to a recent release from Quality Counts, which ranks Wyoming's education seventh in the nation: "(This report) serves as a reminder that we are doing great things for the kids of our state."

Ahem. The truth is that the seventh-place ranking is just smoke and mirrors. Wyoming ranks highly  NOT because its children are receiving "great things" in their schools. Rather, it is because the state got an "A" in school financing. In other words, the Cowboy State does a great job of throwing money at the problem even as it fails to solve it.

Consider this: The state got just a B-minus grade in the Quality Counts category of Chance for Success -- a 20th-place finish nationally. That is defined as a way to "better understand the role education plays in promoting positive outcomes across an individual's lifetime." And even worse, Wyoming was rated as a C-minus in academic achievement, or 22nd in the nation. As examples, the state has: 1 -- The lowest percentage of students who score as proficient on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test; and 2 -- the 48th best number of students with high AP test scores.

Despite this dismal academic performance -- isn't education supposed to be the goal of the state's schools? -- Dicky Shanor, chief of staff act the department, had the gall to argue that the high amounts of state spending are "starting to move the needle ... we're starting to reap the benefits." Of course, he cited no evidence to support that blather because there is none. Wyoming continues to languish in education mediocrity. That is a fact.

Making matters worse for the department is that education funding cuts are looming on the state's horizon. When those occur, the Quality Counts score will tumble. The dissembling on that from the education agency, come next year, should be epic.

Like it or not, the truth is that local control is not moving Wyoming's schools forward. Yet the Department of Education and the Legislature are more interested in spouting political platitudes and staking out conservative positions than they are in educating this state's children. There need to be greater penalties at all levels for lack of performance as well as rigid, high-expectation standards. Those must come from the state, if not the national, level. Enough with the carrot. It is time for the stick -- if someone can be found with the gumption to wield it.

This state's economy never will turn if it doesn't produce adequately prepared graduates. Businesses go to where they find a well-educated workforce. That is not happening in Wyoming. It is time that Ms. Balow and her staff stop pretending that all is well in the schools and speak the truth. The Cowboy State is not performing academically. To say otherwise is pure bull manure.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

They are us, Wyoming

By Rodger McDaniel

Before November 8, I was a white, heterosexual, able-bodied male, Christian citizen of the United States of America.

Under a Donald Trump presidency, I feel it’s time to come out of the closet. I am a black, Hispanic, Asian, gay or transgender, disabled, Muslim and Jewish undocumented human.

Many don’t recognize the privilege they enjoy because of the way they were born. Nothing earned. Birth is like the lottery. In a culture of discrimination, some win, others don’t. It’s always been comfortable in Wyoming for those who are white, heterosexual, able-bodied male, Christian citizens of the United States of America. If you remove any one of those descriptors, it gets harder. Change any one of those descriptors and “the Equality State” betrays itself.

The LGBTQ community continues its struggle for civil rights as the legislature refuses to enact anti-discrimination legislation. Women fight an uphill battle for wage equality. Racial and religious minorities are denied the protection of a state hate crimes laws. People who have lived here since they were infants whose parents are undocumented are feeling the fear of what’s to come in the change of government. Most of the state’s gender, racial, sexual, and religious minorities, and immigrants face threats and the sting of bigotry that white, heterosexual, able-bodied male, Christian citizens of the United States of America do not.

It’s not coincidental that in the weeks following Trump’s election, hate crimes surged. According to the FBI, attacks on Muslims skyrocketed by two-thirds to the highest number since the days following 9/11. Attacks against transgender people have increased. The FBI says the numbers may actually be conservative because states like Wyoming don’t do a good job of tracking them and many of these crimes go unreported in states with no hate-crimes laws.

News outlets report a greater spike in hate crimes since the election including threats as well as assaults on people made even more vulnerable by the political rhetoric and behaviors of the man who will be President. There is little to be gained here by repeating some of the crude things Trump did and said during his campaign. But his transition from candidate to president demonstrates he meant every word.

As president-elect, he chose an anti-Semitic white nationalist as a top adviser. He appointed an attorney general whose nomination to be a federal court judge was rejected by the U.S. Senate for his racist past. Cheering his election and these appointments were people like David Duke, a former grand wizard of the KKK. His views about women and people with disabilities scarred the campaign. Some of those closest to the new president say they will implement a Third Reich kind of database to track Muslims.

Regardless of whether you voted for Trump or not, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you must seek to understand why minority communities of all sorts are fearful. But I realize that empathy is, unfortunately, in short supply these days. 

Wyoming is a small, non-diverse state. Ninety percent of us are white. An even higher number are Christians. The Pew Hispanic Center believes there are fewer than 10,000 undocumented humans in the Cowboy State. Given the reputation Wyoming earned and never lost after the execution of Mathew Shepard, there are likely fewer gays, lesbians, bisexual or transgender people here than in many states.

That doesn’t make it any easier to watch the Trump administration take action which denies their worth to the community. In a small state, it should make it more difficult to ignore those actions. These are our friends, neighbors, and fellow workers.

We are them because we are all God’s children. When the government becomes big enough to threaten the rights of women, the disabled, immigrants or gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or transgender people or Muslims, they are coming after each of us.

For the next four years, those who follow Jesus, whether Christians or not, are indeed black, Hispanic, Asian, disabled, members of the LGBTQ community, Muslims, Jews and undocumented human beings.

Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.