The budget proposal being forced out of the Wyoming Joint Appropriations Committee by its Freedom Caucus members is not a serious one. It is the opening bid in a negotiation, which promises to get very ugly and very contentious when the full Legislature convenes in two weeks. Worst of all, it shows the utter disregard that the Freedom Caucus has for the majority of Wyoming citizens. They are playing a very dangerous game.
Opinion
I teach a unit on negotiations in several of the courses I teach at the University of Wyoming School of Law. I teach my students to identify the “negotiating context” in which they find themselves, then select their negotiating strategies and tactics to match the context.
One typical context is called a “competitive” context, in which the parties view the situation as purely a zero-sum game: For every dollar I give you, I need something of equal value in return. Competitive tactics include taking extreme opening positions, contesting every fact, making minimal concessions and using threats to belittle the opposing side, hoping to force bigger concessions from your opponent.
Everything about the bill coming out of the JAC reveals that the Freedom Caucus views the budget as a competitive context. The state’s revenue stream is level, and Gov. Mark Gordon proposed a balanced budget. Therefore, the extreme cuts being proposed by the Freedom Caucus are unnecessary; they are just cuts for the sake of cuts.
We can afford the full funding the governor proposed for the University of Wyoming. We can afford to invest in Wyoming’s future through the Wyoming Business Council. We can afford to fund Wyoming Public Media.
The proposed cuts or elimination of those programs amount to nothing more than hostage taking; an attempt to gain leverage in future negotiations. What the Freedom Caucus wants in exchange remains to be seen, but you can bet the concessions they want relate to the group’s extreme right-wing agenda.
The problem with all of this is that the Freedom Caucus has shown that it is willing to harm Wyoming citizens to achieve its right-wing goals. Defunding the Wyoming Business Council will make innovation and job creation in Wyoming much more difficult. The huge proposed cut to the University of Wyoming will force the school to end programs and lay off staff, and render our only four-year university less competitive in seeking enrollment. How much clearer a message could the Freedom Caucus send to our young citizens? If we don’t fund job creation and a robust education system, why should a young person stay in Wyoming?
Every concerned Wyoming citizen should contact their state legislators now and tell them in no uncertain terms that they don’t want right-wing politics to harm job creation and higher education.
Thank you, Representative Chestek, for a clear explanation of the Freedom Caucus’s willingness to harm Wyoming’s future and force even more of our young people to leave the state in exchange for their own political gain.
Well said
Today I am contacting my senator and representative as well as the whole . freedom caucus. I believe their goal is to take control from professional educators, school boards, trained librarians, judges, county clerks, county attorneys and others. They want control based on a few disgruntled squeaky wheel.
“They are playing a very dangerous game.”
They have been playing it for a long time and it’s based on fear. Fear of actually realizing the book they believe in is not actually a truth. Eisenhower changing our motto too “in god we trust” from E Pluribus Unum was the starting point. Then Goldwater’s warning that fascism would wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. The South lost its mind when Jim Crow was struck down and that group merged with the GOP voters that lost their minds when they could no longer manage their neighbors wombs after Roe.
While the GOP wailed about DEI, which actually expanded the pool of talented people and jurists, they actually introduced REI, which seemingly resulted in CEI. REI – Roe equity and inclusion, where the only jurists eligible to be a SCOTUS member is if they were willing to strike down Roe. This push morphed in to CEI as seemingly the only jurists willing to take this unconstitutional view of our Founding principles were 6 radical Catholics – Catholic Equity and Inclusion has been a disaster.
Members of the Freedom Caucus have the same mindset as the radical Catholics on SCOTUS – only through suffering will people see the light of salvation that Jesus offers the world. That’s the game plan, make people suffer and through that suffering then Jesus will become the answer.
Wyomings Catholic College President, Kevin Roberts, was so emboldened, he honchoed a written guide to bring about this suffering. It is was called Project 2025. Kevin Roberts also knew that pushing this agenda may result in bloodshed, if the Left acquiesced to this absolute corruption of our Constitution.
The Freedom Caucus is not opening a negotiation, they are just doing “gods” work by making people suffer and just like the ridiculous Dobbs decision, this group is going to try like hell to follow through. This group is more than willing to justify the clear execution of two US Citizens by a Federal Police force that has no accountability or oversight, so why wouldn’t they vote to make everyone’s life as miserable as their own?
If you are not changing your Party affiliation from Republican to Democrat after what occurred to Alex Pretti, there is no hope for the US reaching its 250th milestone on July 4th of this year.
The only reason I don’t change my party affiliation is I need to be able to vote in the Republican primary. With the loss of cross over voting I have to be a RINO: Republican In Name Only. I hate having to say I’m a registered Republican but it’s the only way to get the FC out of there.
I will say at some level I get it and I have in the past registered as a Republican. In fact while in Ohio to vote for John McCain in the Primary as I knew Bush/Cheney would be a disaster. If only that had worked, but alas just like Wyoming those days are gone.
At this point things have gotten so bad, why not get these Rinos to become Democrats as we may be small now but we are not insane. I cannot see why this choice should be that hard now? I cannot condone their platform and to me, being a member of a Party that is taking steps toward an outcome we were supposed to avoid. After all it is Holocaust Remembrance Day.
January 6th was the Reichstag Fire and he only lacked a “paid agitator police force” to gin up an excuse to call out Hegseth’s Department of War. Tom Homan will get it done now that the media has its sacrifice. Not far from Kristallnacht is my read of the tea leaves, but what I know for a fact is that the hard and fast date to change affiliation is Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Then back a Democrat or run yourself.as the last day to declare is May 29, 2026.
There might be another driver behind the WFC budget reduction efforts rather than simple trading-cards in negotiation strategies. The fact is that all governments are funded by confiscating other peoples’ money one way or another. Those who produce the most get the most confiscated. Those who play along get rewarded. Those who rip off the system can get deliriously rich. Think Minnesota, or California etc.
If a government official took the ethos that they’re living off of someone else’s blood, sweat and tears and decided to conserve those confiscated resources by using them as effectively as possible, that would definitely be a government official looking after the best interests of the people whose resources are confiscated ‘for the greater good’. Something to do with a ‘social contract’, John Locke type stuff maybe.
Nothing will become statute until the full Legislature and Governor sign off on it. The JAC is strongly conservative leaning, so why not allow the minimized budget out of Committee for the full Legislature to debate it? Where’s the harm? Sure, the anchor is set on the conservative side, and that sets the opening stance. So what?
These conversations are starting on the right side IMHO. The rest of the Legislature will have to drag them to the left to appease the tax and spend folks.
Lots of companies in the private sector mandate that the bottom 10% performers in their organizations get fired every year. It’s brutal, but definitely keeps the organization lean and focused on true results. Fat lazy organizations never fire anyone, and it usually shows in their performance. These debates are good, needed and add value to our State. No one should get absolutely everything they ever ask for, so let ’em rip!
“Those who rip off the system get deliriously rich.” Kind of like your orange hero, right?
They kind of give the game away when they only point out California and Minnesota as this is the mantra Pete hears day in and day out when reading the CSD or listening to any townsquare media radio station in Wyoming. Never does right wing media mention the vast wealth Republicans have gained doing stock trades while in Congress or the grift of Rick Scott scamming Medicare and Medicaid then getting elected as a Senator in Florida.
If its black, brown or a woman with a D by her name, they must be criminals, but all the white members are lily white. If Pete was at The Ohio State when Jim Jordan was a coach he might sing a different tune, but alas he is not exposed to that corruption as he believes any lie he hears as long as they have an R by their name.
Ken has illuminated the freedom caucus’ purpose in proposing outrageous cuts to an already balanced and adequately funded budget. Cuts for the sake of cuts! Is this to create backfill for upcoming proposed legislation to cut or eliminate property taxes?
Thank you. The more we can amplify the damage the FC wants to infliction Wyomingites, the better.
The additional question that needs to be answered and amplified is who is actually funding the FC? Is it a pilot program to use nationally?
Everyone in WY should be concerned no matter what your politics aare.
It sure would be nice to rid ourselves of the freedumb caucus. We really need to come together and vote them out of office.
This quote from the article sums up the problem that regular Wyoming citizens face with all the pawing and posturing that is trying to be shoved down our throats.
“Worst of all, it shows the utter disregard that the Freedom Caucus has for the majority of Wyoming citizens. They are playing a very dangerous game.”