Freedom Caucus criticism is all the rage lately with our Weaksauce Republican friends.
Ads, opinions, disrespect, perfidy, all-around dyspepsia and grumpiness – this trend brings to mind the famous quote from Oddball (Donald Sutherland) in the movie “Kelly's Heroes:”
“Always with the negative waves,” tank commander Oddball scolds one of his soldiers. “Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?”
The way our Weaksauce Republican friends talk, you'd think their BVDs are too tight. It's giving them a wedgie.
Having waited a whole half of a two-year legislative term, Freedom Caucus critics have declared the votes we cast in 2024 - putting the Freedom Caucus in the driver's seat in the Wyoming House, but less so in the Senate - were all just a big mistake, and we should be ashamed of ourselves, apologize, and seek forgiveness from the all-knowing status quo.
The image of Freedom Caucus members as puppets taking orders from mysterious masters in D.C. (like Democrats responding to the dollars of George Soros) persists.
But, if you ask me (and once again I notice that you didn't), I have no problem with Wyoming Freedom Caucus members agreeing with D.C. Freedom Caucus big shots on things with which I agree.
Things like no boys playing girls' sports; no dirty books in the children's sections of libraries; no encouraging teens to switch teams when it comes to gender; no keeping secrets from parents when it comes to teens switching teams when it comes to gender; no drag queens performing for little kids; supporting low taxes; opposing our huge national debt; opposing vaccine mandates; and requiring an ID at the polls, just like at the liquor store, or to get on a plane.
Then there's the contention that Wyoming is on the road to ruin under Freedom Caucus influence.
One time I was invited to a newspaper editorial board meeting. When the subject of a $400 million shortfall in highway funding came up (now reportedly upped to $600 million), I voiced the opinion that I'd never seen a government agency that didn't think it was vastly underfunded. Seems to go with the territory, I said.
(Somehow, I wasn't invited back to that editorial board.)
I read recently that Wyoming's roads are in danger of being neglected to gravel road status. But I suspect the writer hasn't been on Dell Range in Cheyenne lately. They drove us crazy with construction last year, and today it's pretty much perfect.
And it isn't just here in Cheyenne. We travel Highway 59 to Gillette pretty regularly, and I think the addition of those passing lanes over the years has made it much safer. I like to get off the interstates whenever possible, and for the most part, the less-traveled routes are in pretty good shape.
Road to ruin? Seems kind of hyperbolic.
Same with schools. We're told they're falling apart before our very eyes. But every day I drive by a brand new junior high in Cheyenne, next to a high school with a new pool, and with artificial turf athletic fields for both schools, cheek by jowl. An opinion piece in the local paper once asked if it's fair that one school gets artificial turf, but another doesn't.
So artificial turf for everyone? And this is neglect?
The sum of Wyoming's permanent restricted funds reportedly came to $30 billion in 2024. We're the envy of just about every other state. Investment income generated from those restricted funds reportedly makes up about 30 percent of incoming dollars to the general fund.
And this is the state that's on the road to ruin at the hands of the Freedom Caucus?
Rep. John Bear and Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams have done yeoman duty in defending the work of the Freedom Caucus, in the face of withering, incessant criticism.
Rep. Chip Neiman has strongly supported the Freedom Caucus in past years.
It would be great, given the intensity of the current opposition to the Freedom Caucus, for Neiman – now Speaker of the House – to once again weigh in on the common sense thinking, the hard work so far, and the accomplishments already of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
Time for someone with the heft of the Speaker to cut through the negative waves.
Dave Simpson can be contacted at DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
