Posted on 03/28/2010 11:11:39 AM PDT by Si vis pacem
This year, Wyoming Republican legislators proposed an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would have prohibited the imposition of federal fines on or jail time for Wyoming citizens resulting from federal "health care" legislation. excerpt
Earlier this week Wyoming state legislators signed and presented a letter to Gov. Dave Freudenthal asking him to direct the State Attorney General to file suit against the federal government / ObamaCare. The Governor declined stating that the lawsuits had no chance of success and were political. Since last Sunday’s vote the AG’s and Governor’s phones have been ringing off the hook, state representatives and state senators are receiving calls and emails demanding that Wyoming defend its state’s rights and its citizens from this unprecedented intrusion on Wyoming’s rights to govern itself. It is clear that the AG and the Governor are not going to do anything.
So now it is up to the legislature to call a special session and compel the Governor and his AG to join the lawsuit. Under the Wyoming constitution and the rules of the house and senate - a special session can be called if 50% of the house and senate vote to call a special session.
So the focus needs to be switched from the Gov and the AG and placed on Wyoming’s legislators. The Wyoming legislators can defend Wyoming State’s Rights now! There is nothing standing in their way – it is within their rights and is their duty.
The legislators need to 1. Pass legislation to compel the Governor and AG to file suit against ObamaCare on behalf of the citizens of Wyoming 2. Pass the Health Care Freedom Act – a bill which protects Wyoming citizens having to purchase any product – in this case health care policies – as directed by the Federal Government – which did not make it to the floor during the session. 3. The legislators need to protect their right to regulate their own state government – the US Constitution does not allow the Congress to regulate state governments more specifically the Federal Government does not have the right to commandeer state legislatures – If Wyoming legislators let this attack on states’ rights go unanswered – well in effect the legislators would become obsolete, because through inaction / passivity they would be transferring their powers to regulate the state to the Federal Government. Is this the precedent that Wyoming wants to set? See Napolitano: Supreme Court to Strike Down Obamacare http://newsmax.com/Headline/Andrew-Napolitano-barack-obama/2010/03/26/id/354008?s=al&promo_code=9A73-1
There was one item that the WY Legislature could do that wasn’t on the list, & that was IMPEACH the Gov & AG for dereliction of duty. Anyone disagree?
This is happening in all states that have a governor or AG that is impeding the will of their people.
It is equally if not more important that states throw out the Left as much as having the Left thrown out of Congress this Fall. Because there will be constitutional amendments proposed and that process is a republican process carried out at the state level.
Anyone know the track for any lawsuits filed in Mountain states?
Ken Cuccinelli VA AG is in N VA (rocket docket) which goes to an appeals court in VA then SCOTUS.
McCollum’s case is in Fed District court in Pensalcola which is also supposedly fast (conservative are of FL) then I think Atlanta (yuck) then SCOTUS.
This has to move faster. Ken C said district court in Va might have a summer decsion.
Can someone from Wyoming explain how on earth they managed to elect such a loser Governor?
He isn’t a “loser” governor, and he’s very well liked. He’s had the balls to take on the Feds over things like energy development, wolves pouring out of Yellowstone, USFS forest policy, etc.
No Republican has done anything but talk a big game on these issues. Dave Freudenthal has actually put the state in court, face-to-face with the Feds on these issues, especially the wolf issue.
Show me a Republican who isn’t some wishy-washing big talker who has done the same thing.
Glad to hear the Governor is doing some things right; I wonder why he is so wrong-headed about allowing his citizens to be bossed around by the Feds on health care.
What is more important; wolves, or the conscription of the citizens of Wyoming.
F’ the wolves, the is dereliction of duty in the name of partisan politics.
He has joined the enemy.
Because there’s a budget crunch on and Gov. Dave knows that litigation takes money. Lots and lots of money.
WY has no income tax. Our taxes on everything are low. This past year, Gov. Dave had the state agencies and public budget cut (reallly CUT, not merely “reduced the increase in spending) by 10% to account for the downturn in tax revenues so that we didn’t need to raise taxes. This is another area where’s he is better than most of the mealy-mouthed so-called “conservatives” - when Gov. Dave says “cut spending,” he means “cut” as you and I mean “cut.” He means that if you had a budget of $10 last year, this year you get only $9. And that included the state education system.
Wyoming has a BUNCH of other things on our plate besides the health care issue with the Feds. The whole “global warming” nonsense, fully implemented, would likely double our power rates, cut use of coal for power (of which Wyoming supplies a huge fraction of all coal burned in the US) and thereby really wreck the state economy. Environmentalists are trying to get huge areas of BLM and USFS ground made off-limits to cattle graziers, the forests are filled with dead timber thanks to the environmentalists banning the sale of dead timber, wolves are spreading throughout the state at an alarming rate, we have water issues with Nebraska, Montana and Idaho, all of which are federal issues because they cross state lines, we have huge expenditures on roads due to how severely the roads are abused by snow plows in the winter, etc.
We don’t want for things to do in Wyoming, because we’re being bossed around on things most of you are blissfully unaware of.
Or, in the case of many eastern Republicans, things you voted for.
OK, smart ass.
You clowns in other parts of the country get rid of your GOP environmental loons.... and then we’ll be able to worry about healthcare.
As it stands now, morons like Lindsey Graham, (RINO-SC) are proposing bigger threats to the Wyoming economy than this health care issue.
I’m quite tired of eastern country-club Republicans wanting westerners to step and fetch for their BS, when they’ve been stabbing us in the back for years.
FWIW, Gawga and Missippi Pubbie governaors(who coincidentally have dim AG’s who won’t sue)seem to think they will be able to arrange pro bono work from like minded law firms. Hows about the Wyoming legislature putting out a call for some patriotic law firms to assist? couldn’t hoit and would probably be less heartburn all around. Could the State legislature initiate a lawsuit? If not, there are some private law firms/entities that have also filed suit against odingacare.
Are you suggesting that WY do nothing because we supposedly don’t have the money? If this is the case I disagree vehemently. The rights of the citizens and the state of Wyoming are being trampled on. We have a duty and responsibility to defend our rights from the intrusion of the federal government. Some think we should lean back and let the other states do the job for us. All that says is that we don’t take our states rights seriously. Wyoming is a center right state - possibly even conservative - if we didn’t elect democrat Governors - most Wyoming citizens believe that we can govern ourselves and decide for ourselves how our tax dollars are allocated- thank you very much. So as in all issues of allocating tax dollars it is a matter of priority - and frankly I cannot think of a more important priority than defending our states’ rights. And further to your point - what do you think ObamaCare and its unfunded mandates is going to do to our budget in the future. All projections prove that this new law will all but bankrupt most states. The Feds are the ones deciding how we spend our tax dollars - not the people of our state via our legislators and that is frankly unconstitutional and unacceptable.
Are you suggesting that WY do nothing because we supposedly don’t have the money? If this is the case I disagree vehemently. The rights of the citizens and the state of Wyoming are being trampled on. We have a duty and responsibility to defend our rights from the intrusion of the federal government. Some think we should lean back and let the other states do the job for us. All that says is that we don’t take our states rights seriously. Wyoming is a center right state - possibly even conservative - if we didn’t elect democrat Governors - most Wyoming citizens believe that we can govern ourselves and decide for ourselves how our tax dollars are allocated- thank you very much. So as in all issues of allocating tax dollars it is a matter of priority - and frankly I cannot think of a more important priority than defending our states’ rights. And further to your point - what do you think ObamaCare and its unfunded mandates is going to do to our budget in the future. All projections prove that this new law will all but bankrupt most states. The Feds are the ones deciding how we spend our tax dollars - not the people of our state via our legislators and that is frankly unconstitutional and unacceptable.
So Sorry NV Dave - but my rights as a citizen of Wyoming
trump those of the wolf - and further I have lived elsewhere in this great country and can tell you that the Wyoming Republican Party is the biggest exclusive country club I have ever had the privilege of not being accepted into. We are just lucky that most republican voters in this state are to busy living their lives - if they knew what was going on in the country club - well ... So next time you point your finger at the East coast country clubs I suggest you take a look at the western country clubs - they are by all accounts identical.
Being from Oregon, I have a keen appreciation of the Federal abuses. I think you may be too trusting of the Governor; I think WY could have put its name on the lawsuit and let FL carry the weight for virtually no public expenditures. And the more states, the more weight the suit will carry in court.
Don’t let them use the ‘budget’ excuse. Here in Washington State we had our AG file suit with Florida as lead. The dems here attacked our AG (who is republican) over his suit being inappropriate over the budget excuse. He fired back that it costs very little money as the suit is folded in with 12 others with Florida in the lead.
Universal Healthcare is the trojan horse of socialism. That’s not an opinion but an historical fact. Just look at the news reports of Fidel Castro applauding Obama’s victory.
Obama’s heathcare coup is an act of war on the American Experiment. You don’t throw your hands in the air and say you can’t fight back because of budget when the Left has declared war.
You get those dollars anyway you can and you make friends and allies to defray the costs while you fight back.
You may have a rare popular dem governor but he is a member of a party that is no longer the democrat party but the democrat socialist party. The leaders of that party are dangerous to our way of life and our Constitution. They need to be and will be thrown out.
I suspect your admiration for your gov is misplaced. I believe he is playing politics with the state lawsuits so as not to run afoul of Obama’s stimulus money:
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20106528.html
It’s real easy to be a cost cutter when your dem president is stuffing your pockets with cash from future generations. Real easy to look like a conservative in a conservative state when your social and education unions are getting bailed out by stimulus dollars.
I suggest people that think this gov walks on water wise up. He’s not running again anyways but I will bet he’s doing a swan dive out of their now because the next few years are going to be brutal and Uncle Obambam’s stimulus has dried up. That means your gov won’t have any magic tricks left, so he’s getting out while the gettins good. And don’t tell me he’s term limited, because your court invalidated that term limit law and your gov if he wanted to could easily stay in, he just doesn’t want to hang around and watch the carnage to come. That’s called cowardice.
I seriously doubt that. However, as a fellow westerner, I hear yah. However, he could forget the wolves and maybe eminent domain federal property ala Utah.
The coal issue is a big, big deal. Coal “separation” taxes are a big component of what funds Wyoming’s state budget. And there are far too many idiot Republicans who are on board the AGW ship of fools...
The wolf issue is big. The economic impact isn’t to only ranchers - there are outfitters and tourist businesses who are seeing an impact from the rapidly declining elk and deer numbers in north/west Wyoming. The number of tags issued goes down, and so do the number of hunters. We were “promised” that the wolves would be contained in Yellowstone. That’s a laugh. They’re finding them as far away as Lander, up into Montana, Idaho and now Oregon.
These are all issues *now* - and the health care thing (as detestable as it is, and as unconstitutional as it is) doesn’t really get into our faces until 2011 to 2012. Freudenthal has to deal with what is on his plate now, today, and what he has been fighting since he got into office. He’s finishing what he started, for which I applaud him. If he starts a lawsuit on the health care issue now, it will be an issue that has to be pursued by the next governor, since he won’t be running for the seat this fall’s election.
So if I were in his shoes, I’d be doing the same thing: finish what I started, let the next guy in office take up this battle and see it through.
The lawsuit has to be initiated by the state AG. The legislature cuts the funds for the AG’s budget.
In Wyoming the AG is appointed by the governor. If the governor doesn’t want to pursue the issue now, I’d bet that the AG shows little to no enthusiasm for the issue. Since we have an election coming up, and Freudenthal isn’t running again, this is an issue that will come up in the campaign.
The difference between the eastern GOP country clubs and the western ones is that the western ones don’t play the “we’re going to run your life” game that the eastern ones do.
The DC/Beltway country club doesn’t want anyone else from outside their club playing on the national stage. These are the people who attack Palin with such rabid ferocity.
But as far as the Wyoming club formation - oh, yea, that’s true, in spades, and has been since the 1890’s.
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