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Lest we forget about Big O's victories (and ours)

Ligorano/Reese "temporary monument" illustrates plight of the melting middle class

On June 18, 2011 artists Ligorano/Reese presented a temporary monument in the garden of Jim Kempner Fine Art in NYC called "Morning In America." The installation was witnessed by hundreds and lasted a total of 8 hours throughout the hot day.

...A THOUSAND CUTS is a timelapse video of the event. The soundtrack was inspired by an excerpt from Senator Bernie Sanders 8 hour filibuster on the U.S. Senate floor against the extension of the Bush tax cuts and the effects on the middle class. It is orchestrated to music by composer/violinist Michael Galasso.

Special Thanks
Dru Arstark, Anthony Caputo, Dan Walworth, Okamoto Studio, Postworks NY

The entire text of Senator Sanders speech is available as a book, published by Nation Books, The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class,

For more information about Michael Galasso's music and soundtrackshttp://michaelgalasso.com.

For more information on the artists, see http://ligoranoreese.net

This video is licensed under Creative Commons,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Thanks to Brooklyn artist Nancy Bowen for tipping me off to this project.

Dick Cheney's legacy -- sickly Wyomingites and water supplies that catch fire

“Gasland” was not exactly a gas – but it did make me think.

The documentary was screened this evening at the Kiwanis Community House in Cheyenne before 60-some people. It explores natural gas drilling throughout the U.S., mainly that taking place in shale oil plays like the one beneath us in southeast Wyoming.

The film’s director, Josh Fox, traveled from his rural homestead in Pennsylvania to our wide-open Rocky Mountain spaces, interviewing those who’ve been impacted by the byproducts of drilling. Weld County, Colo., was his first stop. He watched homeowners flick their Bics under kitchen faucets. Fires erupted. The air and groundwater are being polluted by fracking chemicals. People are getting sick. The Wyoming DEQ issues air pollution alerts for rural Sublette County due to the energy boom. Air quality is as bad as L.A.’s on some days.

Wyoming rancher and former oil patch welder John Fenton attended the Cheyenne screening. He’s a cowboy working his in-laws’ spread near Pavilion. He’s surrounded by gas wells and storage tanks. Clouds composed of gas and chemical byproducts sometimes envelop his house. His three-year-old son began having seizures as soon as the family moved in. His wife has recurring headaches. His mother-in-law has lost several of her five senses. She’s consulted docs throughout the West and they have no answers. The Feltons can’t drink their water. For 18 months, John made the 80-mile round trip to town to fetch his water. He now has water delivered.

These are good people whose lives have been upended by the rush to pump as much gas from shale as possible – and damn anybody who gets in the way. Sure, it’s great to develop homegrown energy. You’ll find bipartisan agreement on that. But at what cost?

John has joined a delegation traveling to D.C. several times. They have met with the Wyoming Congressional delegation. “I’d like to say that they listened and are working hard for us,” John said. “But they’re not. Their loyalties lie elsewhere.”

Remember these names: Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. John Barrasso, Rep. Cynthia Lummis. They boast that they stand up for the citizens of Wyoming. But they don’t. Rep. Lummis, one of the richest members of Congress who can’t be bothered with the concerns of “the little people.” Sen. John Barrasso, a physician who can’t be bothered with the health problems of farmers and ranchers. Sen. Mike Enzi, entrepreneur whose loyalties lie elsewhere – with big corporations instead of with Wyomingites trying to make a living from the land.

It is shameful to contemplate the power of oil and gas companies. It’s also shameful to note, as Mr. Fox does in his film, that the catalyst for these problems was none other than Wyoming’s not-so-favorite-son, Dick Cheney. His secret energy commission drafted what became the 2005 energy bill which exempted oil and gas companies from the Clean Air Act, the Safe Water Drinking Act, EPA regulations and almost any other environmental regulations. This is known as The Halliburton Loophole.

Thanks, Dick. I hope the people of Teton County remember Mr. Cheney as they try to protect the Hoback River Basin from rampant and largely unregulated gas drilling. Dick has a home in Jackson, you see. His ritzy neighbors might not be pleased when they can’t breathe and their gold-plated water faucets start catching on fire.

Most of the post-film discussion focused on citizen action. As I mentioned earlier, the Niobrara Oil Play Boom is happening right now in southeast Wyoming. Not too much to ask to require better oversight of the drilling process, from beginning to end, by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Not too much to ask our legislators to be looking out for our needs rather than those of energy companies and lobbyists. Not too much to ask for our county commissioners and city council members to be looking out for the health and welfare of Laramie County citizens.

They may need extra persuasion. Attend commission and council meetings. And there are several organizations working hard for citizen rights. They are the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. They were the co-sponsors of the free film screening. These conservation organizations got involved in the Pavilion situation. But not much happened until the Environmental Protection Agency got involved, according to the PRBRC’s Jill Morrison.

Both the PRBRC and the Wyoming Outdoor Council seek full disclosure on chemicals and processes used in the drilling process, from beginning to end. Not too much to ask, is it?

Know Nothings take over the G.O.P.

I'm not surprised by the fact that the anti-science wing of the G.O.P. has taken over Congress. That's what they campaigned on. But there are some people in this group that, at least from the outside, appear normal and logical and even attended college.

Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois says we need not worry about the planet being destroyed because, citing chapter 8, verse 22 of the Book of Genesis, God promised Noah it wouldn’t happen again after the great flood.

According to his official web site, Rep. Shimkus received a Bachelor of Science in general engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1980. He serves on the House Commerce and Energy Committee.

How did this engineer and military officer turn into a proud member of the G.O.P. Know Nothing Caucus? He had to pass muster with the Tea Party Know Nothings to get into office and must remain a loyal member to get reelected in 2012.

“I personally believe that the solar flares are more responsible for climatic cycles than anything that human beings do. …” — Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin

Rep. Sensenbrenner (from his web site):

Jim was born in Chicago and later moved to Wisconsin with his family. He graduated from the Milwaukee Country Day School and did his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, where he majored in political science. He then earned his law degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968.... Jim’s current committee assignments include serving as the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology and he also serves on the Committee on the Judiciary. Congressman Sensenbrenner is Chairman of the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee. He also serves on the Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee (Judiciary), as well as the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee (Science and Technology) and the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee (Science and Technology).

What does our own lone House Rep, Cynthia Lummis, think about science? She received her Bachelor of Science in animal science and biology from the University of Wyoming. She is a foe of the Obama Administration's efforts to regulate greenhouse gases, especially those emitted by the coal industry, Wyoming's number one industry. She believes that climate change has been exaggerated. These stances are not surprising. Coal and oil and natural gas pay the bills in Wyoming. We saw coal's clout yesterday when Ken Salazar flew into Cheyenne to hobnob with Republican Gov. Mead and to announce that millions of acres of Wyoming will now be open to King Coal. Good for Arch Coal, good for Wyoming, bad for the planet.

Wyoming Senators Enzi and Barrasso continuer to pander to the lowest common denominator, even though they won't be up for reelection until 2014. Sen. Enzi wants to save the Edison light bulb and Dr. Sen. Barrasso is anti-healthcare. The world has gone nuts. Or maybe it's just the U.S. Congress.

Coming soon -- Wyoming coal-powered iPods

Did you know this:

Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway estimates that 500 pounds of coal are blown from each rail car for every 500 miles traveled?

Just one of the interesting facts in a Grist post and in a Sierra Magazine story about plans to ship Wyoming coal to China. The key element for the plan is to upgrade the Columbia River port in Longview, Wash. Environmentalists and the state government are resisting. May not be too much longer before money talks and the impasse is broken.

I'm reminded of that John Prine song, "Paradise:"

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

With a few changes of place names (apologies to Mr. Prine), here are the lyrics:

And daddy won't you take me back to Campbell County
Down by the Powder River where Paradise lay
Well I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

To make iPods in China.

Campbell County isn't exactly paradise. And the Powder River was appropriately named. Many who live and work and ranch and write and sculpt there like it well enough. I have friends and colleagues in Gillette who think I live in the ugly part of the state.

Mixed feelings here about coal. The more Wyoming coal sold, the more royalties the state collects. The state coffer expands and my job is secure. It may be too much to hope for a raise, as the Wyoming Legislature is notoriously tight-fisted and, with its new Tea Party members, not in the mood for a spending spree.

All this to make iPods for the children of America? My children included?

There's the rub. China makes stuff we want and -- possibly -- need. We ship them coal thousands of miles and they ship us back iPods. I look around my study and see PCs and a digital camera and my DSL modem and surge protector and phone and photo frames and who knows what else. The only thing in this room I can vouch for as totally "Made in the U.S.A." is me, aging rapidly, and my mutt Coco stretched out on the floor for her mid-morning nap. Coco has a microchip (probably made in China) embedded in her hide. If needed, we can find her electronically if she ever disappears.

The articles are worth reading. Access them through your Wyoming coal-powered PCs.

Made in the USA? Good idea 'til greed got in the way

This is a 1983 song by Bob Dylan but it's even more relevant today. It reflects what's happening in Wisconsin and what Republicans are trying to do to all working people in the USA -- bring our wages down to the levels conglomerates pay labor in Indonesia and Latin America:

Union Sundown (excerpt)
Bob Dylan

Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore,
My flashlight's from Taiwan,
My tablecloth's from Malaysia,
My belt buckle's from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet,
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy makin' thirty cents a day

Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the USA
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

From Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking Out the Jams, edited by M.L. Liebler and published by Coffee House Press.

Right-Wing Group from Utah Spearheading Effort to Recall Wisconsin Dems

Why oh why is a batshit crazy group of Utah right-wingers spending time and money in Wisconsin?

Because they are batshit crazy Utah right-wingers and they've run out of targets in Utah and its satellite states of Wyoming and Idaho and Arizona and are now spreading venom to Wisconsin.

The conservative American Recall Coalition, a group from Salt Lake City, Utah, is leading the charge to reel in eight Democratic Senators in Wisconsin who are among 14 lawmakers who left the state in protest of Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, according to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB).

The out-of-state group last week filed with the GAB website to recall the Senators, but initial filings did not have anyone from the local senatorial district as part of the recall requests.

"They didn't have any local people involved, so we contacted them and said they need to have one local person in each district," said GAB spokesman Reid Magney. "They withdrew those initial filings and made new ones and we are waiting for the signed paperwork."

Wisconsin senators targeted in the campaign are Lena Taylor, Spencer Coggs, Jim Holperin, Mark Miller, Robert Wirch, Julie Lassa, Fred Risser and Dave Hansen.

According to a Reuters report, the American Recall Coalition is also campaigning to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Arizona, who drew conservative fire last month after linking the Tucson shootings that killed 6 and seriously hurt 13 people, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, to "political vitriol, prejudice and bigotry."

Read the rest at Workers' Uprising: Right-Wing Group from Utah Spearheading Effort to Recall Wisconsin Dems| AlterNet

Working Words: Betsy Sholl and "Pink Slip"

Betsy Sholl's poem "Pink Slip" is in the new anthology, Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking out the Jams from Coffee House Press. Anthology editor M.L. Liebler will be traveling to Cheyenne this Saturday to conduct a number of events for Wyoming Poetry Out Loud.

Betsy Sholl was named Maine Poet Laureate in 2006. She's published seven collections of poetry and was a founding member of the innovative small press, Alice James Books. She's published widely and won numerous awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maine Arts Commission.

In "Pink Slip," Betsy explores the life of a woman fired after 20 years of hard work. In this excerpt, she gets her pink slip:

All you did was check your watch, all
you did was back me to the door,
where outside they were hauling my car,
a pirate company, so not even the cops could say
where it is. Is this America?
I've seen countries on TV where the natives

give funny looks to the fat men they serve drinks to
on patios. "Bastard" would be
my translation. Or whatever the deaf woman is
banging onto the locked windows of cars jammed at
the on-ramp trying to leave the city....

Read the entire poem in Working Words. And many other poems and short stories and essays about working people.

Calling on Congressional Republicans to renounce their taxpayer-funded health coverage

Republicans in Congress (including Wyoming's lone U.S. Rep, Cynthia Lummis) have passed a bill to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.

It will die in the U.S. Senate. But Repubs in both chambers will be bringing this up over and over and over again in an effort to unseat Pres. Obama in 2012. They are like pit bulls, those Republicans.

Families USA, sponsor of the Health Action 2011 conference in D.C. Jan. 27-29, has developed a report entitled "H.R. 2: Guilty of a Double Standard." Here are the juicy parts:

...those who vote for repeal intend to keep these very health benefits and rights—which they enjoy courtesy of America’s taxpayers—for themselves:

Members of Congress enjoy government-subsidized health coverage for themselves and their family members. Congressional promoters of repeal would take away tax credits that will help make coverage affordable for hardworking American families.

Members of Congress are sheltered from the threat of discrimination due to pre-existing conditions. Congressional promoters of repeal would deprive ordinary Americans of this very same protection.

Members of Congress, when faced with an insurance claim that is denied, have a guaranteed right to appeal that denial. Congressional promoters of repeal would deny many Americans a similar right.

These are just three examples. There are more, and we’ve outlined them below.

What Congressional Promoters of Repeal Will Take Away from American Families—But Keep for Themselves:

1. Affordable health coverage

2. Guaranteed coverage, regardless of pre-existing conditions

3. A right to appeal claims that are denied by insurers

4. Protection against discriminatory premiums due to pre-existing conditions

5. A complete package of health insurance benefits

6. Guaranteed coverage that can’t be taken away

7. A prescription drug benefit with no coverage gap

8. Protection against catastrophic health care costs

9. A choice of easy-to-compare health insurance plans

10. Protection against unreasonable premium increases

11. Fair and equal premiums for women

12. Coverage for early retirees

13. Access to free or low-cost preventive services

14. Access to affordable care at clinics

Rolling back health care reform is "a bad deal for Wyoming's People"

Letter from Chuck Herz, chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

Republicans in Washington and Cheyenne have made it their crusade to roll back the healthcare-coverage reform finally achieved last year after problems with our system became overwhelming for many of our people. We Democrats think that's a bad idea for the people of the U.S. and Wyoming.

Let's review what the problems have been:

1. Americans as a nation spend way more on health care than folks in other advanced countries, but we get significantly less in healthcare results as measured by hard facts like life expectancy and child mortality. Child mortality in the U.S., for example, is twice what it is in Western Europe.

2. Millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Wyomingites have no health coverage at all. Millions more have coverage with such high deductibles, co-pays, and exclusions that it pays very little of their actual medical expenses.

3. Many with inadequate coverage have been driven into bankruptcy by medical bills. This is unheard of in most other advanced countries.

4. Businesses have been finding it more and more prohibitively expensive to provide healthcare coverage to their employees, so fewer employees are getting adequate employer-sponsored coverage.

5. The cost of healthcare coverage has been rising much faster than people’s incomes and faster than government revenues.

The Affordable Care Act deals with all those problems. It also addresses weaknesses in healthcare coverage that have plagued Americans and Wyomingites. For example, it:

• Prohibits health insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

• Prohibits insurers from cutting off coverage for someone who becomes sick or injured.

• Enables young people to stay on their parents' policies while they are going to school or getting started in life, up to age 26.

• Requires that insurers cover basic preventive care, such as well-baby visits and annual physicals, thus eliminating much bigger costs that are incurred when medical problems are unattended until they become a crisis.

Those who oppose healthcare reform, or think they do, need to be asked or ask themselves which of these reforms they oppose, and why. Those who say they too want to fix the problems with our system (but did not do so in the twenty of twenty-eight years before Obama when they were in control) owe it to us to say just how else they would fix those problems. In the case of our Republican friends, that has to be more than a pale imitation. It needs, for just one example, to be an alternative that gets coverage for more than a tenth of those currently without health insurance.

We know what the Republicans are against. We need to know what, if anything, they are for.

That so many have had no health coverage, or inadequate coverage, has meant that those people are playing Russian roulette with both their health and family finances. In addition, many who could afford health insurance, if they were willing to forego less essential expenses, have chosen to play Russian roulette in that way. They know hospitals and doctors must take care of them when they get sick or injured. Then the hospitals and doctors have to make up for resulting charity care and bad debts by charging the rest of us more.

Rolling back the reform thus far achieved would be a very bad deal for Wyoming's people and America's people. We Democrats don't claim that reform so far has fixed all the problems with our system and created no new ones. Significant fixes may soon prove necessary, and some may be needed sooner rather than later. We should all be looking to improve our healthcare system and the law further, with open minds and bipartisan cooperation.

What we should not do is go back to what was working so poorly for so many ordinary people. We should not run around like Chicken Little proclaiming that the sky is falling, that our liberty is in danger, that "death panels" will be doing in Granny, that the reform will drive the Federal deficit sky high (when in fact it will reduce the deficit, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said multiple times), that America is becoming a socialist country, or other such silliness. None of those things have happened so far. There's no reasonable chance that they'll ever happen. Instead, we've taken the critical first steps to building a stronger, healthier nation.

Beginning on Equality Day, Republicans get to work promoting inequality in health care

Received this message from the Wyoming Democratic Party. It's all about addressing the fraud that is the Republicans' effort to repeal health care reform. These efforts are taking place in the U.S. House of Representatives and in our own state legislature. They are spurred on by Tea Party and corporate influence in the 2010 elections. You can see the Tea Party influence by the prominent display of "freedom" in the legislation. You can see the corporate influence in the fact that Republicans are always in the hip pockets of health conglomerates. They fought the Democratic Party's health care reform all the way. They had no ideas of their own. They were the party of no from 2008 to 2010. They are also the party of yes, as in always saying yes to their corporate overlords.

Get in the groove in opposing this chicanery. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing begins tomorrow, on the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. In Wyoming, it is officially known as Equality Day. There is some irony in this. Starting tomorrow, Wyoming Republicans will be promoting a return to inequality in health care.

Here are some ways to start your opposition (from Brianna Jones at the WyoDems):

Two so-called "Health Care Freedom Acts" (SJ 02 and SJ 03) propose amending the Wyoming Constitution with language that is generally aimed at opposing implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Wyoming. You can read the language and find out if one of your representatives is sponsoring the legislation by following the links above.

We need to make clear to the sponsors of these proposals that we do not want to take Wyoming backward. We need to move forward!

Below we have included some basic points you might find useful when discussing this legislation. We are asking you to write the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee (listed below) and to also write letters to the editor about your opposition. Finally, if you can, come to the hearing on Monday to show your support for constructive solutions to our country's health care crisis rather than divisive political posturing.

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
Monday, January 17th at 8:00 A.M.
Herschler Building, Room B63 in the basement

Email the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Sen. Drew Perkins (R-Casper)
Sen. Floyd Esquibel (D-Cheyenne)
Sen. Bruce Burns (R-Sheridan)
Sen. Leland Christensen (R-Jackson)
Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs)

Talking Points:

Tell your personal story. Has a member of your family lost coverage or been denied care? Is your child now able to get on your insurance? Can you now get prescriptions because the Medicare Part D donut hole is closed? Do you own a small business and can now get tax credits to provide your employees with insurance? Are you pregnant and can receive care for a healthy pregnancy?...and many more scenarios.
So called "health care freedom" is not free. A system needs to be in place where everyone can count on receiving the care they need and no one receives care at the expense of others.
Instead of playing political games with our constitution we should be trying to learn what parts of health reform can help Wyoming citizens.
No one should have to worry about losing a loved one or losing their home because they cannot get insurance and cannot afford care.

2011 Wyoming Legislature up in arms about nearly everything

At least three bills targeting the U.S. Affordable Health Care Act are on the Wyoming Legislature's docket. The Legislature gets down to business Tuesday in Cheyenne. No word yet on whether members plan to mimic their colleagues inside the Beltway by spending the first day reading the U.S. Constitution (edited Republican version) or the Wyoming Constitution. This won't be necessary if the Legislature adopts a proposal by Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper (kit@kitsenate.com) that would require all holders of civil offices to take a three-hour course on the Wyoming and U.S. Constitutions. While refresher courses on high school civics might be an eye-opener for Democrats and Republicans alike, not to mention the Tea Party faithful, this bill seems like a gigantic waste of time.

Speaking of gigantic time-wasters, here are the three bills (so far) that attempt to undo national health care reform (via Joan Barron and Jeremy Pelzer at the Casper Star-Tribune):

House Bill 39: Health care litigation fund

Sponsor: Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee.

Summary: Creates a $2 million account for the state of Wyoming to sue the federal government over the federal health care reform law passed last year.

Background: On Monday, Wyoming will join 20 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of parts of the federal health care law expanding Medicaid and requiring that most Americans purchase health insurance.

Debate: Supporters say the health care law violates Wyomingites' constitutional rights and that the costs of a lawsuit will be cheaper than what the law would force the state to pay in health care funding. Opponents say the health care law needs to be given a chance to work and that the state has more important things to spend its money on than joining an existing lawsuit.

SJ 002: Health Care Freedom

Sponsor: Sen. Leslie Nutting, R-Cheyenne (lnutting@wyoming.com).

This bill would place on the general election ballot an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to specify no federal or state law shall compel participation in any health care system by any person, employer or health care provider.

Summary: This bill is directed at the federal Affordable Health Care Act.

SJ 0003: Health Care Freedom-2

Sponsor: Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper (charlesscott@wyoming.com).

This bill would place on the general election ballot an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to recognize individual rights to make health care decisions and to prohibit specified state actions limiting decisions. It also authorizes the attorney general to participate in litigation to protect the right to make health care decisions.

Summary: This bill authorizes the attorney general to sue the federal government and have the Affordable Health Care Act declared unconstitutional.

As a counterpoint to this nonsense, I offer up evidence of the benefits (thus far) that have accrued to Wyomingites through the Affordable Health Care Act. This comes from a new year's message on Jan. 2 from Chuck Herz, state chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

Obama’s signature accomplishment was the health care reform that had long eluded us. It was clouded by controversy and disinformation about what the reform does. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

When fully operational in 2014 "Obamacare" will ensure that millions (thousands of Wyomingites) who’ve had no insurance or insurance that covers too little no longer need play Russian roulette with family health and finances. It will secure us from having to pay for those who choose to play Russian roulette, forcing others to pick up the tab when they can’t pay. Those with "pre-existing conditions" will get coverage. Preventive care will reduce risk of serious illness and costlier care. Your insurer can no longer cut you off just when you need expensive care on grounds of some technical error. Trials of promising ways to limit costs will begin. And according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, all this will reduce, not add to, the federal deficit.

Those who attack "Obamacare" owe an adequate alternative solution to all these problems and a national health care system that has cost us far more of our GDP, and delivered poorer health results (life expectancy, child mortality, etc.), than the systems of other nations.

Here are stats for you from the Obama for Wyoming site: 9,112 Wyomingites with pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied coverage by greedy insurance corporations; 72,000 uninsured Wyomingites will now be insured; and tax credits can be claimed by 44,600 individuals, 400 families and 10,900 businesses.

That ain't hay, now is it?

Repubs know that the longer thoughtful people in Wyoming and elsewhere have to contemplate the benefits of "Obamacare," the less likely they will want to have those benefits taken away. Especially when those benefits are threatened by men and women enjoying universal health care coverage provided by U.S. taxpayers. House Republicans were scheduled to begin debate on repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act this Wednesday in D.C. That has been put on hold due to the tragic events yesterday in Tucson, when one of their own House members was gunned down at a town meeting.

The Wyoming Repubs may get to the topic before their D.C.-based brethren and sistren.

To what end? Most of the newbies in the Wyoming State Legislature owe their elections to Tea Party activists and other voters who were Simply Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything, real or imagined (mostly imagined). So legislators are carrying out the will -- real or imagined -- of the voters.

Still awaiting word on legislation to investigate Pres. Obama's American heritage ("He ain't no citizen -- I have proof he was born in Kenya!") and his religion ("He's a Muslim -- the Internet said so"). Other zaniness is sure to follow.

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