Dave Simpson: Blame It All On The Freedom Caucus?

I predict that however the current session of the Wyoming Legislature ends, anything that goes wrong will be blamed on the Freedom Caucus.

Because the one thing we've been hearing this session, and before this session, and ever since God created little green apples and the Freedom Caucus, was that people like us are the problem.

I don't know how many times (lots) I've read that these awful Freedom Caucus characters just don't know how we do things around here.

We're slack-jawed mouth breathers. Rustics. Transplants from Missouri. A “wild bunch” that supports “draconian” stuff.  And we take our marching orders from evil freedom-doers back in Washington, D.C.

Shazam!

Actually, that dig that we take orders from Washington has less horsepower now that that other guy who was president before Trump – I forget his name – has retired, and is now probably tracking down “white supremacists,” like O.J. Simpson tracking down “the real killers.”

Point is, with all the good stuff going on in Washington lately, getting suggestions from there might not be a bad thing. Think about it.

Also, that argument from last session that opposing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  might get you in trouble with Washington is gone, too. Not the case anymore with Captain Donald Trump at the helm.

So the University of Wyoming probably won't lose a cent as we deep-six DEI. In fact, now we might lose money if we DON'T deep-six DEI.

Is this a great country, or what?

So anyway, getting back to the point (which is sometimes a good thing to do), whatever happens, the group formerly known as the Wyoming Caucus, which we could call  the Weak Sauce Republican Caucus, will steadfastly oppose the Freedom Caucus just as vehemently as the Democrats do, except you can't find many Democrats anymore.

Except, that is, Democrats who sneakily get themselves elected as Republicans. Lord knows there are some of those rascals.

The funny thing about all this, however, is that while the Freedom Caucus gets most of the criticism, this year they came up with five bills they thought voters would appreciate, and passed them in the first eight days of the session.

But the brakes went on when those bills arrived in the Wyoming Senate, where members tend to be a little more upper crust, and know which fork to use at fancy dinners. (I think they wear togas in the Senate.)

Point is, the Wyoming House is known for the Freedom Caucus, but the Senate, not so much.

And this year, while everybody expected the Freedom Caucus to make trouble with its newfound power, it was the Wyoming Senate that got a wild hair and killed the whole ding-dong supplementary budget. What a Freedom Caucus thing to do. Except it apparently wasn't the Freedom Caucus.

Furthermore, while I've heard the Freedom Caucus accused of hating small towns, it was the Wyoming Senate where the property tax cut was reduced from 50 percent to 25, but they wouldn't allow “back fill” revenue to local towns that haven't reaped the big property tax windfalls we've seen in towns like Jackson.

(Sen. Larry Hicks, a rancher, voted against the compromise tax cut bill, and said he recognizes “fertilizer” when he sees it. He was criticized for talking fertilizer in the uppity Senate. Apparently, you can't do that, but it was one of the more enjoyable moments of the session.)

While all this was going on, a district court judge in Laramie County released a 187-page (big) decision that the Wyoming Legislature isn't adequately funding education, which, if affirmed, could be the end of the old ball game for beleaguered taxpayers around here.

 (A 2025 rating shows Wyoming ranking 21^st in average teacher salaries, at $60,222. New York was highest at $92,222. And Mississippi was dead last at $47,162.)

Could be that the Black Robe Caucus makes the Freedom Caucus and the Weak Sauce Republican Caucus look like pikers, overturning the legislative Monopoly board, like they did on abortion.

So  anyway, I predict that the hounds will be out for the Freedom Caucus, however the current session ends.

Keep in mind, however, that the awful stuff you hear about the Freedom Caucus might be what Sen. Larry Hicks calls fertilizer.

Dave Simpson can be reached at: DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com