On behalf of The Underground, I wish to issue a statement expressing my condolences to the Kennedy family and friends of Sen. Ted Kennedy. Sen. Kennedy was a great statesmen and a tireless champion for those who truly needed a warrior.
This is the time to put aside the divisiveness over health care reform and remember that Sen. Kennedy worked for on this issue for nearly 50 years in office, never seeing it come to fruition as he hoped.
This is the time to mourn the "lion of the senate" as he was called by his colleagues and to celebrate the reforms he did enact - many with bipartisan support.
And this is the time to pay tribute to Sen. Kennedy and truly reach across the aisle, both as legislators and Americans, to see his dreams of health care for all actually come into being.
-Meg Lanker, Editor
Freudenthal supports state sovereignty resolution
Freudenthal supports state sovereignty resolution
Meg Lanker
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:35 PM MDT
update: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 8:12 PM MDT
Gov. Dave Freudenthal supports reminding Washington D.C. that Wyoming is a sovereign state under the Tenth Amendment.
The resolution was authored by Wyoming State House Representative Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne and transmitted to the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council July 29. Freudenthal said, in a memo attached to the resolution on his website, “From time to time we all wonder whether sending resolutions to Washington D.C. really does any good. On the other hand, it’s nice to at least get our view on the record.”
The proposed resolution is similar to resolutions adopted by other states in recent years, including Oklahoma and Michigan. The movement for states to declare sovereignty has gained momentum with the election of President Barack Obama. Much of the momentum stems from a belief, that in recent years, the federal government has gained too much power and has become what The Tenth Amendment Center calls “an oppressive central [federal] government.”
The Tenth Amendment Center, according to its website, “works to preserve and protect Tenth Amendment freedoms through information and education.” The center also “serves as a forum for the study and exploration of state and individual sovereignty issues, focusing primarily on the decentralization of federal government power.”
On the website, Thomas Grady, the founder of the Missouri Sovereignty Project, said, “It was the Bill of Rights’ final amendment, as if our Founding Fathers said, ‘By the grace of God, if the first nine amendments don’t prevent tyranny, the 10th will do so.’”
The website also features a boilerplate template for a suggested Tenth Amendment resolution for citizens to send to their governors and state legislators. Illoway’s proposed resolution follows the template closely, declaring “many powers assumed by the federal government and federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”
Illoway said Tuesday he decided to pursue a state sovereignty resolution to stand up for Wyoming's rights as a state and cited a primary reason for the resolution as a "federal government run amock."
"A majority of the States are pursuing similar resolutions and even though Wyoming has a budget session coming up, I felt we needed to pursue a sovereignty bill and stand along with other states who believe the same as we do," said Illoway.
In an interview Aug. 12 with Andrew Simons, host of Laramie’s political talk show Checks and Balances, U.S. House Representative Cynthia Lummis said she supports resolutions like these and is a “big advocate” of state sovereignty.
“The states are the most important units of government in this country,” Lummis said. “The federal government didn’t create the states. The states created the federal government.”
Simons supports Illoway's resolution as well, but had his own thoughts about the governor's support of state sovereignty.
“Governor Freudenthal supports this resolution to potentially get around current federal regulation on energy development and wolf management – not to mention currying favor with Republican voters after supporting President Obama’s candidacy,” said Simons. “He’s trying rebuild his base for a 2010 gubernatorial campaign.”
Freudenthal has not ruled out a run for governor in 2010, although he is considered term-limited. However, the Wyoming Supreme Court invalidated legislative term limits in 2004, leaving the opportunity for Freudenthal to challenge the constitutionality of his own term limits to run for re-election in 2010.
According to the Washington Post Feb. 16, when asked about the possibility that Freudenthal would seek a third term, his spokeswoman Cara Eastwood said, "When the governor has something to announce, he will announce it."
Recently, Wyoming citizens have been ramping up efforts to see Wyoming declare itself a sovereign state. At the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, visitors were welcomed back to their cars with a newspaper published by an organization aligned with the national “Tea Party” movement. The paper accused “Gov. Dave” of supporting tyranny for not coming out against the Real ID Act and called for a Tenth Amendment resolution.
The Real ID Act, enacted under former President George W. Bush’s directive, aims to curtail terrorism by instituting a national ID program. In the state sovereignty resolution supported by Freudenthal, the Real ID Act is mentioned as one of the federal laws “where the constitutional authority for which is either absent or tenuous.”
Other federal laws mentioned were the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act – all areas where Wyoming has seen federal conflict in regards to wolf and sage grouse management, energy development and Forest Service policies.
Illoway said the specific laws mentioned in the resolution as examples of the federal government overstepping its authority were added by Freudenthal at the suggestion of Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg.
Freudenthal and his staff did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Meg Lanker
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:35 PM MDT
update: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 8:12 PM MDT
Gov. Dave Freudenthal supports reminding Washington D.C. that Wyoming is a sovereign state under the Tenth Amendment.
The resolution was authored by Wyoming State House Representative Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne and transmitted to the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council July 29. Freudenthal said, in a memo attached to the resolution on his website, “From time to time we all wonder whether sending resolutions to Washington D.C. really does any good. On the other hand, it’s nice to at least get our view on the record.”
The proposed resolution is similar to resolutions adopted by other states in recent years, including Oklahoma and Michigan. The movement for states to declare sovereignty has gained momentum with the election of President Barack Obama. Much of the momentum stems from a belief, that in recent years, the federal government has gained too much power and has become what The Tenth Amendment Center calls “an oppressive central [federal] government.”
The Tenth Amendment Center, according to its website, “works to preserve and protect Tenth Amendment freedoms through information and education.” The center also “serves as a forum for the study and exploration of state and individual sovereignty issues, focusing primarily on the decentralization of federal government power.”
On the website, Thomas Grady, the founder of the Missouri Sovereignty Project, said, “It was the Bill of Rights’ final amendment, as if our Founding Fathers said, ‘By the grace of God, if the first nine amendments don’t prevent tyranny, the 10th will do so.’”
The website also features a boilerplate template for a suggested Tenth Amendment resolution for citizens to send to their governors and state legislators. Illoway’s proposed resolution follows the template closely, declaring “many powers assumed by the federal government and federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”
Illoway said Tuesday he decided to pursue a state sovereignty resolution to stand up for Wyoming's rights as a state and cited a primary reason for the resolution as a "federal government run amock."
"A majority of the States are pursuing similar resolutions and even though Wyoming has a budget session coming up, I felt we needed to pursue a sovereignty bill and stand along with other states who believe the same as we do," said Illoway.
In an interview Aug. 12 with Andrew Simons, host of Laramie’s political talk show Checks and Balances, U.S. House Representative Cynthia Lummis said she supports resolutions like these and is a “big advocate” of state sovereignty.
“The states are the most important units of government in this country,” Lummis said. “The federal government didn’t create the states. The states created the federal government.”
Simons supports Illoway's resolution as well, but had his own thoughts about the governor's support of state sovereignty.
“Governor Freudenthal supports this resolution to potentially get around current federal regulation on energy development and wolf management – not to mention currying favor with Republican voters after supporting President Obama’s candidacy,” said Simons. “He’s trying rebuild his base for a 2010 gubernatorial campaign.”
Freudenthal has not ruled out a run for governor in 2010, although he is considered term-limited. However, the Wyoming Supreme Court invalidated legislative term limits in 2004, leaving the opportunity for Freudenthal to challenge the constitutionality of his own term limits to run for re-election in 2010.
According to the Washington Post Feb. 16, when asked about the possibility that Freudenthal would seek a third term, his spokeswoman Cara Eastwood said, "When the governor has something to announce, he will announce it."
Recently, Wyoming citizens have been ramping up efforts to see Wyoming declare itself a sovereign state. At the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, visitors were welcomed back to their cars with a newspaper published by an organization aligned with the national “Tea Party” movement. The paper accused “Gov. Dave” of supporting tyranny for not coming out against the Real ID Act and called for a Tenth Amendment resolution.
The Real ID Act, enacted under former President George W. Bush’s directive, aims to curtail terrorism by instituting a national ID program. In the state sovereignty resolution supported by Freudenthal, the Real ID Act is mentioned as one of the federal laws “where the constitutional authority for which is either absent or tenuous.”
Other federal laws mentioned were the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act – all areas where Wyoming has seen federal conflict in regards to wolf and sage grouse management, energy development and Forest Service policies.
Illoway said the specific laws mentioned in the resolution as examples of the federal government overstepping its authority were added by Freudenthal at the suggestion of Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg.
Freudenthal and his staff did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
States hold the solution to healthcare reform
Let the states run healthcare
Andrew Simons
As the healthcare debate evolves, one thing is becoming clear: Debate in this country is not what it used to be. With people caring guns and shouting down their elected officials, something needs to be done to elevate the debate beyond the yelling matches that are currently standard fare. A marketplace of ideas needs to be fair market – if it exists at all.
Some people have labeled demonstrators as “un-American.” I don’t share this thought. Anyone who is willing to carry a strong opinion is obviously a great patriot and a walking, talking advertisement for the First Amendment. The problem comes in when these people are more interested in making their opinion heard at the expense of drowning out any opposition. A debate requires both sides and a moment to rebut the arguments of the opposition. Though it’s not the law, I would argue that your right to free speech ends when it infringes on mine.
On top of all of this is the way that these town halls have headed south in terms of respect. The idea that any president, congressman or senator would allow for “death panels” in the home of the free and land of the brave is insulting, wrong and takes away from a real debate. Painting swastikas and hanging members of Congress in effigy adds nothing and intimidates the level-headed silent majority of people in this country who have probably been scared out of the debate. Their voices are now lost to us. Wyoming’s own congressman Cynthia Lummis recently said bringing arguments peaceably is a key part of the solution. In reality, the real solution has as much to do with bringing an intelligent argument as anything.
This also brings to mind recent incidents of people bringing guns to these town hall meetings and forums as a statement about the Second Amendment. I honestly don’t understand how this pertains to healthcare or contributes to support for Second Amendment rights, especially when held with signs proclaiming, “It’s time to water the tree of liberty.” This statement comes from Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
If organizers of these protests knew the Founding Fathers at all, they would know that politically motivated executions were most likely not what they were intending. A personal meeting or town hall event is never something that requires a gun. Intimidating people into doing your will through violence calls elections and prospective legislation into further doubt, adding possible instability to what should always be a civil debate.
In general, the solution to the increasingly unruly town hall meetings and the healthcare reform problem is to leave much of the process up to the states. If these protests are in fact being organized by outside interests, it would make the job much more complicated. Organizing protests at town halls for thousands of state representatives would be infinitely harder than focusing on forums for 535 members of Congress.
Healthcare, is a regional and, yes, personal issue. Any solution is going to have incredible resistance. If the federal government and the Obama administration would settle for an absolute minimum of federal reform and provide federal dollars to the states to implement their own healthcare plans, solutions could be found that would serve the people of Wyoming as efficiently and confidently as Californians. As it stands, the federal government seems to believe both states have exactly the same concerns, but common sense says otherwise.
This chaos has led to a multitude of healthcare bills, plans and solutions posted on the websites of senators and representatives, proposed in their respective committees, and discussed in their respective town halls – each tailored to the wants and needs of each politician’s respective district. Wouldn’t it be grand if we could actually implement these plans? Wouldn’t that solution be easier than making liars of our congressmen after the plans that won voters’ support are then cut and pasted together into a bill that no one likes? This idea should lead to a state’s rights-based solution for healthcare.
Just think about it – a state’s rights argument that incredibly doesn’t involve guns, gay marriage or wolves in Wyoming. Wyoming could accomplish a suitable healthcare solution based on all the passionate support these previous issues have raised. A few level-headed organizers are a must – those who know to fact-check their statements and press releases would be crucial to running a campaign for Wyoming-centered healthcare, thereby avoiding the mistake one Wyoming advocacy group made by calling Governor Dave Freudenthal’s support of the Real ID Act “tyranny” for superseding state authority two weeks after he announced a state sovereignty resolution.
It’s people with good intentions and a lack of knowledge and restraint that will demolish this movement. A state-run healthcare system has the potential to streamline our government and create real solutions to the problems and concerns of people more accurately than anything put forth by politicians in Washington D.C.
Andrew Simons hosts Checks and Balances, a political talk show that airs Saturdays from 10-11 p.m. on 93.5 KOCA community radio in Laramie. Simons' political experience includes managing the special election of Wyoming State Rep. Jim Roscoe D-Pinedale in 2008, along with working on two presidential campaigns and the campaign of a U.S. House candidate.
Andrew Simons
As the healthcare debate evolves, one thing is becoming clear: Debate in this country is not what it used to be. With people caring guns and shouting down their elected officials, something needs to be done to elevate the debate beyond the yelling matches that are currently standard fare. A marketplace of ideas needs to be fair market – if it exists at all.
Some people have labeled demonstrators as “un-American.” I don’t share this thought. Anyone who is willing to carry a strong opinion is obviously a great patriot and a walking, talking advertisement for the First Amendment. The problem comes in when these people are more interested in making their opinion heard at the expense of drowning out any opposition. A debate requires both sides and a moment to rebut the arguments of the opposition. Though it’s not the law, I would argue that your right to free speech ends when it infringes on mine.
On top of all of this is the way that these town halls have headed south in terms of respect. The idea that any president, congressman or senator would allow for “death panels” in the home of the free and land of the brave is insulting, wrong and takes away from a real debate. Painting swastikas and hanging members of Congress in effigy adds nothing and intimidates the level-headed silent majority of people in this country who have probably been scared out of the debate. Their voices are now lost to us. Wyoming’s own congressman Cynthia Lummis recently said bringing arguments peaceably is a key part of the solution. In reality, the real solution has as much to do with bringing an intelligent argument as anything.
This also brings to mind recent incidents of people bringing guns to these town hall meetings and forums as a statement about the Second Amendment. I honestly don’t understand how this pertains to healthcare or contributes to support for Second Amendment rights, especially when held with signs proclaiming, “It’s time to water the tree of liberty.” This statement comes from Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
If organizers of these protests knew the Founding Fathers at all, they would know that politically motivated executions were most likely not what they were intending. A personal meeting or town hall event is never something that requires a gun. Intimidating people into doing your will through violence calls elections and prospective legislation into further doubt, adding possible instability to what should always be a civil debate.
In general, the solution to the increasingly unruly town hall meetings and the healthcare reform problem is to leave much of the process up to the states. If these protests are in fact being organized by outside interests, it would make the job much more complicated. Organizing protests at town halls for thousands of state representatives would be infinitely harder than focusing on forums for 535 members of Congress.
Healthcare, is a regional and, yes, personal issue. Any solution is going to have incredible resistance. If the federal government and the Obama administration would settle for an absolute minimum of federal reform and provide federal dollars to the states to implement their own healthcare plans, solutions could be found that would serve the people of Wyoming as efficiently and confidently as Californians. As it stands, the federal government seems to believe both states have exactly the same concerns, but common sense says otherwise.
This chaos has led to a multitude of healthcare bills, plans and solutions posted on the websites of senators and representatives, proposed in their respective committees, and discussed in their respective town halls – each tailored to the wants and needs of each politician’s respective district. Wouldn’t it be grand if we could actually implement these plans? Wouldn’t that solution be easier than making liars of our congressmen after the plans that won voters’ support are then cut and pasted together into a bill that no one likes? This idea should lead to a state’s rights-based solution for healthcare.
Just think about it – a state’s rights argument that incredibly doesn’t involve guns, gay marriage or wolves in Wyoming. Wyoming could accomplish a suitable healthcare solution based on all the passionate support these previous issues have raised. A few level-headed organizers are a must – those who know to fact-check their statements and press releases would be crucial to running a campaign for Wyoming-centered healthcare, thereby avoiding the mistake one Wyoming advocacy group made by calling Governor Dave Freudenthal’s support of the Real ID Act “tyranny” for superseding state authority two weeks after he announced a state sovereignty resolution.
It’s people with good intentions and a lack of knowledge and restraint that will demolish this movement. A state-run healthcare system has the potential to streamline our government and create real solutions to the problems and concerns of people more accurately than anything put forth by politicians in Washington D.C.
Andrew Simons hosts Checks and Balances, a political talk show that airs Saturdays from 10-11 p.m. on 93.5 KOCA community radio in Laramie. Simons' political experience includes managing the special election of Wyoming State Rep. Jim Roscoe D-Pinedale in 2008, along with working on two presidential campaigns and the campaign of a U.S. House candidate.
Sen. Mike Enzi and Sen. John Barrasso - Nay on Sonia Sotomayor
Enzi and Barrasso vote against Sotomayor
Meg Lanker
Monday, August 11, 2009 7:35 PM MDT
The U.S. Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor Thursday by a vote of 68-31 as the 111th Supreme Court Justice and the first Hispanic justice to serve on the court.
Sotomayor was sworn in Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The vote fell largely along party lines with nine Republican Senators voting to confirm Sotomayor, and 31 voting against her confirmation. Senate Democrats voted in the majority, with 59 voting to confirm. Sen. Ted Kennedy D-Mass., who is currently battling brain cancer, was not able to vote.
Both of Wyoming’s Republican senators, Sen. Mike Enzi and Sen. John Barrasso, voted against Sotomayor’s confirmation, citing concerns over the Second Amendment and abortion. “The [Puerto Rican Defense and Education] Fund, while Judge Sotomayor served in a leadership capacity, filed briefs with the Supreme Court not only supporting abortion rights, but in support of federal funds for abortion services," said Enzi, in a statement on his official website.
Enzi stated his disagreement with the organization’s positions and said, “I cannot help but wonder how Judge Sotomayor would use her experiences with the Fund to rule on a possible case before the Supreme Court.” He also cited concerns with her positions on international law and of judicial impartiality.
Sen. John Barrasso shared Enzi’s concerns over judicial impartiality in an official statement on his website Thursday. “At her confirmation hearing, Judge Sotomayor stated that her judicial philosophy is ‘fidelity to the law,'” said Barrasso. He said this contrasts “her extensive commentary over the past 15 years” and was worried that Sotomayor would value “personal experience over impartiality” in her decision-making should she be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
In a previous statement July 23, after meeting with Sotomayor, Barrasso said he had concerns on her stance on the Second Amendment and the reverse discrimination case of Ricci v. DeStefano.
According to a news release Thursday, Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen said she wished to congratulate Judge Sotomayor and “wish her the best of luck as she embarks on this important journey.”
Petersen said that the Wyoming Democratic Party was “ashamed and disappointed that neither of our Senators voted for this outstanding woman.”
She said, “Today’s confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a historic event for the U.S. Supreme Court and for the American people. Our nation’s highest court will gain a sharp mind and a highly experienced justice to its bench.”
Petersen cited Sotomayor’s “expansive legal career as a judge, a litigator and a prosecutor” as an asset to the Supreme Court. “With more judicial experience than any justice on the court in the last 70 years, she couldn’t be more prepared to rise to the monumental task of serving our country as a Supreme Court Justice,” said Petersen.
The chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, Diana Vaughan, could not be reached for comment.
Meg Lanker
Monday, August 11, 2009 7:35 PM MDT
The U.S. Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor Thursday by a vote of 68-31 as the 111th Supreme Court Justice and the first Hispanic justice to serve on the court.
Sotomayor was sworn in Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The vote fell largely along party lines with nine Republican Senators voting to confirm Sotomayor, and 31 voting against her confirmation. Senate Democrats voted in the majority, with 59 voting to confirm. Sen. Ted Kennedy D-Mass., who is currently battling brain cancer, was not able to vote.
Both of Wyoming’s Republican senators, Sen. Mike Enzi and Sen. John Barrasso, voted against Sotomayor’s confirmation, citing concerns over the Second Amendment and abortion. “The [Puerto Rican Defense and Education] Fund, while Judge Sotomayor served in a leadership capacity, filed briefs with the Supreme Court not only supporting abortion rights, but in support of federal funds for abortion services," said Enzi, in a statement on his official website.
Enzi stated his disagreement with the organization’s positions and said, “I cannot help but wonder how Judge Sotomayor would use her experiences with the Fund to rule on a possible case before the Supreme Court.” He also cited concerns with her positions on international law and of judicial impartiality.
Sen. John Barrasso shared Enzi’s concerns over judicial impartiality in an official statement on his website Thursday. “At her confirmation hearing, Judge Sotomayor stated that her judicial philosophy is ‘fidelity to the law,'” said Barrasso. He said this contrasts “her extensive commentary over the past 15 years” and was worried that Sotomayor would value “personal experience over impartiality” in her decision-making should she be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
In a previous statement July 23, after meeting with Sotomayor, Barrasso said he had concerns on her stance on the Second Amendment and the reverse discrimination case of Ricci v. DeStefano.
According to a news release Thursday, Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen said she wished to congratulate Judge Sotomayor and “wish her the best of luck as she embarks on this important journey.”
Petersen said that the Wyoming Democratic Party was “ashamed and disappointed that neither of our Senators voted for this outstanding woman.”
She said, “Today’s confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a historic event for the U.S. Supreme Court and for the American people. Our nation’s highest court will gain a sharp mind and a highly experienced justice to its bench.”
Petersen cited Sotomayor’s “expansive legal career as a judge, a litigator and a prosecutor” as an asset to the Supreme Court. “With more judicial experience than any justice on the court in the last 70 years, she couldn’t be more prepared to rise to the monumental task of serving our country as a Supreme Court Justice,” said Petersen.
The chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, Diana Vaughan, could not be reached for comment.
Letter to the Editor: Reminders of tyranny
In an academic (but not particularly intellectual) institution like the University of Wyoming, it might be a good idea to rename all of the University's buildings so that they can be used as talking points for future generations.
We could be the first university to turn its campus into a living monument to villainy. After naming a building after Cheney, we could name another after Nixon and then perhaps another after Grover Norquist (the Republican genius who decided to destroy America in order to save it).
Then, we could name our ROTC building after Benedict Arnold, who sold out his country because he didn't get a promotion. Certainly, President McKinley and William Randolph Hearst should be paired for blowing up the Battleship Maine as a pretext for the Spanish American War. L.B.J. should be remembered as the first of the American strong men to get us into a war solely in order to get rid of our huge inventory of weapons.
And, finally, Bush should be honored by renaming Old Main for the whole Bush crime family.
John Hanks
Laramie, Wyo.
We could be the first university to turn its campus into a living monument to villainy. After naming a building after Cheney, we could name another after Nixon and then perhaps another after Grover Norquist (the Republican genius who decided to destroy America in order to save it).
Then, we could name our ROTC building after Benedict Arnold, who sold out his country because he didn't get a promotion. Certainly, President McKinley and William Randolph Hearst should be paired for blowing up the Battleship Maine as a pretext for the Spanish American War. L.B.J. should be remembered as the first of the American strong men to get us into a war solely in order to get rid of our huge inventory of weapons.
And, finally, Bush should be honored by renaming Old Main for the whole Bush crime family.
John Hanks
Laramie, Wyo.
