Joan Barron
Latest from Joan Barron
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Joan Barron: A Year Before College Well Spent
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "I’ll bet your average plumber makes more money than a regular English graduate. And that may be one reason more people than ever are questioning whether college is worth the time and expense."
Joan BarronSeptember 07, 2024
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Joan Barron: Interim Committee Work Dampened By The Prospect Of New Legislative Leadership
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The Freedom Caucus has openly stated its status as anti-government, anti-tax, anti-spending and other antis as well. All these antis can have a paralyzing influence on legislative business."
Joan BarronSeptember 01, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: The Two Party Solution
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The Wyoming Republican Party’s party’s center — the moderates, the traditionalists — is in danger of becoming irrelevant. Their power is being siphoned away by the party’s hard right wing."
Joan BarronAugust 24, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: No More Ballots In Shoeboxes, Please
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "It appears Wyoming voters will not be confronted with hand-counted ballots this year. That fate was a possibility for a spell there when Republicans of the hard right variety questioned the validity of pre-election balloting tests..."
Joan BarronAugust 17, 2024
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Joan Barron: A Vietnam War Protestor’s Trial in Cheyenne
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "Vietnam War protestor Randy Kehler died late last month at age 80 at his home in Massachusetts. His obituary in the New York Times makes no mention of the Wyoming federal court case or of his residence in Encampment."
Joan BarronAugust 10, 2024
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Joan Barron: Radical Tax Reform Bill Could Be A Legislative Hammer
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The state is always bumping up against the constitutional dictate of equal and uniform whether it’s taxes or schools. How can you have a uniform and equal form of taxation that affects Teton, Laramie and Niobrara Counties the same?"
Joan BarronAugust 04, 2024
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Joan Barron: Don’t Expect A 1968 Democratic Repeat
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "Pundits recently pointed out similarities of the 2024 Democratic party shakeups and what happened in 1968. True, there are some eerie resemblances to the violent upheaval that surrounded the August 1968 convention."
Joan BarronJuly 27, 2024
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Joan Barron: “Don’t Be a Patsy”
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "This is the time to be skeptical as we enter what promises to be a tumultuous election year. One where we will encounter lots of political news, including misinformation, false information and the occasional new wacko conspiracy theory.
Joan BarronJuly 20, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: Gambling -- We’re In The Big Time Now
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "[The Freedom Caucus] probably would oppose creating a professional Gaming Commission. The hard right folks would rather we be another Vegas. Elections have consequences."
Joan BarronJuly 13, 2024
![Esther hobart morris 9 7 22 scaled](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/esther-hobart-morris-9-7-22-scaled.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: It's Official, Esther Hobart Morris Will Stay In The Basement
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The movement [to move the statue of Esther Hobart Morris back out in front of the Capitol] apparently ended when the governor and the four other elected state officials agreed that Esther should be inside."
Joan BarronJuly 06, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: The Worst Job In State Government
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "As Denver school finance consultant John Augenblick once said: 'School finance is like a Russian novel. It’s long, it’s boring and in the end everyone gets killed.'"
Joan BarronJune 29, 2024
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Joan Barron: No Middle Ground On School Vouchers
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "It is reasonable to expect a move next year to expand the preschool subsidy program for low income children. I doubt if it will be successful given the newness of the 2023 law that authorized Education Savings Accounts. But eventually it will happen."
Joan BarronJune 22, 2024
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Joan Barron: Snippets From A Reporter's Notebook
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The Democrats were a wild bunch during the session in 1958. They carted the shaggy stuffed buffalo from the capitol rotunda to the lawn outside and began riding it. Some were bucked off."
Joan BarronJune 17, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: A Timely Tribute to a Beleaguered Politician
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "Wyoming’s Lester Hunt, who died 70 years ago June 19, is getting a lot of attention this year. Presentations and panels in Lander, where Hunt lived, with more to come in Cheyenne."
Joan BarronJune 09, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: It’s Time To Lure The Tourists
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "You know it’s summer travel time season when you find big magazine ads from state tourism organizations. Having precious little to brag about in a state that is long, flat and brown mostly, the Nebraska crew decided self- mockery was the key."
Joan BarronJune 01, 2024
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Joan Barron: Hugely Unpopular Proposed Book Policy
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "A local newspaper poll recently showed amazingly strong opposition to the Cheyenne school board’s proposed new policy on books."
Joan BarronMay 26, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: Term Limits For Legislature; The Story Of Two States
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The loss of institutional knowledge is why I have consistently opposed term limits for legislators. Wyoming has a high turnover every election and while there are some members who serve for many years, the vast majority do not.
Joan BarronMay 18, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: Sorting Social Betting From Professional Gambling
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "While gambling may have grown too fast and too big in Wyoming, so has the amount of money coming into the state for schools and local governments. Gaming is a one billion dollar golden egg and growing. Big decisions ahead."
Joan BarronMay 11, 2024
![Joan barron headshot 5 4 24](https://cowboystatedaily.imgix.net/joan-barron-headshot-5-4-24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
Joan Barron: Labeling The 2024 Budget Session
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "Government observers and historians have a tendency to label legislative sessions. I think the 2024 budget session could be labeled the 'elites and hillbillies session.'"
Joan BarronMay 04, 2024
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Joan Barron: "We Want It To Be As Pure As Can Be"
Cowboy State Daily columnist Joan Barron writes, "Does a Wyoming third political party have any chance at all to gain power this election year given the yawning fissures in the state’s dominant Republican party?"
Joan BarronApril 27, 2024