Dear editor:
Why do people yell? It’s because they want to be heard.
In politics, one side says one thing, the other side says something else and pretty soon everyone is yelling. We take sides, form up and lob verbal projectiles at each other.
For those outside looking in, the view seems disheveled at the very least. Outright scary at worst.
THIS IS MY UNPOPULAR TAKE: It isn't as bad as it looks. At least in Wyoming. Yes, there is a constant tug of war, but this is natural.
This is necessary. Wyoming does it well and I love it.
I approached the Wyoming Legislature for the first time in the middle of a session about 15 years ago.
It was to ask for a fix in the unemployment statutes that was causing an unfair result in some of the penalty rate assessments.
Sen. Tony Ross guided me through the process. Again, this was in the middle of a very busy session, but the bill was drafted, introduced and I was able to testify.
The bill passed. The Wyoming Legislature listened.
In 2017, myself and a group of other citizens approached the legislature right before a budget session.
During a fractious session in 2018 when the State didn't know where it was going to find enough money to keep its essential programs alive, it found time to foster a tech economy here in Wyoming.
The seeds planted there have blossomed into hundreds of jobs, thousands of new companies and millions in revenue for the State.
In 2020, when the Wyoming House passed a corporate income tax, the citizens of Wyoming rose up as one and soundly objected because that tax would have added an unseen cost to every citizen.
The legislature listened and the bill was set aside by the Senate.
There are countless other examples of how a normal, everyday citizen here in Wyoming can go to the halls of power and make a difference. This proves once and for all: Our Legislature works.
Do they always get it right? No. Does it sometimes take years for them to get something done? Yes.
But the work gets done, the bills get passed (or killed as necessary) and the State moves forward.
Sometimes, our elected representatives and some of the punditry try to pretend otherwise.
They snipe at each other and decry each other's actions. But truly, this is just their frustration in having to negotiate the system that has been created - the institutional tug of war - in order to slow down the legislative process and make sure everything the government does is deliberative and fully vetted.
Because if it isn't, we end up like an East Coast or West Coast train wreck (where the train derails quickly and neither the train nor the tracks are ever fixed).
I’m no centrist — my values lean strongly right, grounded in personal freedom, limited government and the Constitution (both the US and State Constitutions).
I hate taxes. I also get every bit as frustrated as the next person when I perceive that our elected representatives want to take more of my money, put more restrictions on me or spend my money on things I don’t agree with.
But I have also learned that those same representatives listen. And THAT is why I don't yell any more.
Sincerely,
David Pope, Cheyenne
