I'm voting absentee for the first time

A talking head on one of Denver's TV stations said that it may take as long as 20 minutes for each voter to complete the state's very long general election ballot. This could mean Florida-like chaos in the Mile High City on Nov. 4.

The Wyoming ballot is much shorter. Still, I'm going to vote absentee this year for the first time. I have enjoyed trooping off to the polls since the first time I voted in 1972. As a Wyoming state employee, I get an hour off to vote. I wish that all employers in the state did this.

I'm not concerned that thousands of registered voters will show up and clog the lines at my precinct. I already know who I'm voting for, not just for president (Obama) but for state and local offices. No amount of negative advertising by John McCain could influence me.

Absentee voting begins in Laramie County on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Here are the details from the county clerk's web site:

Absentee voting begins 40 days prior to each election. For the convenience of Laramie County voters, the Clerk's Office has an absentee polling place located in the Atrium of the Laramie County Governmental Complex, 309 W. 20th Street. This polling place is open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for the 40-day period prior to the election. Voters wishing to cast an absentee ballot may visit this polling site or:

• Call 633-4242 to request a ballot which will be mailed to the address provided
• Write to P.O. Box 608, Cheyenne, WY 82003 to request a ballot
• Bring a written request to the Elections Office at 309 W. 20th Street and pick up a ballot

Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk's Office by 7 p.m. on the day of the election to be counted.

There have been reports of voter intimidation at the Atrium during previous elections. Don't take any crap. Notify the county clerk of any untoward behavior at the polls. Also report it to the Laramie County Democrats. Or post a comment on this site.

And good luck to all you Colorado voters. You are going to need it.

Trauner holds Cheyenne press conference on U.S. economic crisis

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, 10:30 a.m., Gary Trauner will hold a press conference at his Cheyenne office about the state of the economy and the current legislation to bail out Wall Street. Trauner is the Wyoming Democratic Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives. His downtown Cheyenne office is at 211 W. 18th St. You can dial into the press conference by calling 712-451-6100, key code: 721718#.

FMI: Adam Ruff at (307) 699-4956.

I'm sure that Trauner will be advocating that Congress include some sort of oversight into the legislation for the mega-billion-dollar bailout for Wall Street. Sen. Chris Dodd outlined his plan today, as did Rep. Barney Frank in the House.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, will convene a hearing at 9:30 EDT tomorrow (7:30 a.m. MDT): “Turmoil in U.S. Credit Markets: Recent Actions Regarding Government Sponsored Entities, Investment Banks and Other Financial Institutions.” That's a mouthful. Expected at the hearing are Secretary of Treasury, Henry Paulson; Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke; and Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox. A live stream of the hearings will be available on C-SPAN until 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Columnists on bailout: "Not So Fast!"

Here's a sampler of headlines about the proposed Wall Street bailout which appeared this morning on the New York Times op-ed pages. Note that they also represent three distinctive voices, from neo-con William Kristol to liberal Paul Krugman. Here they are, in no particular order:

WILLIAM KRISTOL, A Fine Mess. Synopsis: A friend serving in the Bush administration tried to talk me out of my doubts about the $700 billion financial bailout. I’m not convinced.
PAUL KRUGMAN, Cash for Trash. Synopsis: Henry Paulson is demanding extraordinary power for himself to deploy taxpayers’ money on behalf of a plan that, as far as I can see, doesn’t make sense.
ROGER COHEN, The Fleecing of America. Synopsis: World leaders converge on a battered New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, my advice to them is: think Damien Hirst.

For more, go to your local newspaper's opinion page. Or to The Nation magazine, where William Grieder explains it all for you.

Just call me Sack Panther Palin

We bloggers scour the Internets for crucial news about war, famine, pestilence and Dick Cheney. As we perform this public service, we come across some humorous bits about Sarah Palin that we just have to share with our reader(s). This one comes via jhwygirl at 4&20blackbirds in Montana. If you go to the blog politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html, you can enter your real name into a name generator and find out what you would have been called had you been born to GOP Veep nominee Sarah Palin. Her kids all have real American names: Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow, and Piper. Not a Tiffany in the bunch. I entered my full name and came up with Sack Panther Palin. If that ain't a name fit for a politician from Alaska or even Wyoming, I don't know what is.

Pelosi: "Insulate Main St. from Wall St."

CNN Money reports this:

Democrats want the measure to include independent oversight, homeowner protections and limits on executive compensation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement early Sunday evening.

"We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome," she said.

Pelosi said that Congress will take action on the bailout this week but will act "to insulate Main Street from Wall Street."

The current economic crisis, in pictures

Social Security: Trauner vs. Lummis

In an Associated Press article that appeared in the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, the Billings Gazette and a host of others, Cynthia Lummis is quoted as saying she wants to extend the income tax to the poorest Americans and, if elected, will advocate the privatization of the Social Security System. Cheyenne's Lummis is the Republican candidate for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat. To her credit, she seems to have done a good job as the Wyoming State Treasurer. She demonstrated her money management skills by increasing the state's investment portfolio. I always admire anyone who can increase any investment portfolio, as I'm so lousy at it.

But privatizing the national safety net for retirees? Puts her on the same page with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and John McCain.

Lummis's Democratic opponent, businessman Gary Trauner, had this response in the AP story:

Gary Trauner, Lummis's Democratic proponent, criticized Lummis's proposal to extend income taxes to people who aren't currently paying them.

"One in every five kids in this country is born and raised in poverty," Trauner said. "A large number of those people are living below the poverty line, and she wants to raise taxes on the people who can least afford it in this country?"

Trauner also opposes privatizing Social Security. He pointed to the tumult on Wall Street over the past week as one reason why.

"I would just ask how all of our millions of Americans that look forward to having Social Security as a safety net would feel today if we had privatized Social Security, and they had been in the marketplace, investing in the market for the last 10 or 15 years," Trauner said.

"They would have lost billions and billions worth of money just in the last week alone."

"Im having a hard time keeping up...

Writer James Crumley dead at 68

Many of you already heard about the death of writer James Crumley in Missoula. He was the writer of great hard-boiled novels such as "The Mexican Tree Duck" and "The Last Good Kiss." Hard-boiled characters from a hard-boiled guy. Great books, though, with a hard shell surrounding the tough, age-old strugle between right and wrong. You couldn't always tell the good guys from the bad. But that's the heart of the matter, isn't it?

Here are the literary facts from Crumley's obit:

Crumley has published 11 novels, taught at universities across the country and worked in Hollywood for several years. Famous for his hard-boiled mysteries, his works include “One to Count Cadence,” (a novel about Vietnam) “The Last Good Kiss,” “The Wrong Case,” “The Mexican Tree Duck,” “Bordersnakes,” “The Final Country,” and most recently, “The Right Madness.”

Lummis would bankrupt Social Security

I've been reading lots of stories the past couple days about how the Social Security System would have gone into a nosedive if we had sided with George Bush in 2006 and decide to vote for John McCain and Cynthia Lummis in 2008. In the past week, you may have lost some (or a lot of) value in your investments, including your 401(K). And you want to trust these people to handle your retirement?

Here's an update from Bill Luckett at the Wyoming Democratic Party:

In April, Congressional candidate Cynthia Lummis said that on her first day in Congress, she would try to privatize Social Security. Lummis also said she would try to raise the age at which Wyoming’s seniors and people with disabilities are eligible for the guaranteed Social Security benefits on which they depend.

This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 800 points, or more than 7 percent of its value. Privatization replaces the guaranteed floor of economic security with the uncertainty of the stock market. Individuals are free, of course, to invest their personal savings in the stock market – but Social Security guarantees a floor beneath which their fortunes will not fall and in Wyoming, 84,022 count on their earned Social Security benefit every month.

Social Security privatization would cut guaranteed benefits for thousands of future retirees in Wyoming by thousands of dollars, according to a new report released in August by the research arm of the Campaign for America’s Future. The report shows that more than 18,000 older people living in Wyoming would have a greater risk of falling into poverty, each losing more than $130,000 over the course of their lifetimes, by the time a privatization plan is fully implemented.

In addition to the benefits that Social Security provides to Wyoming families, it also provides a stable level of individual income that fuels Wyoming’s economy. Thousands of businesses, and the state government, also depend on the Social Security guarantee. Fully $1 billion in individual income flows into Wyoming’s economy from Social Security each year – roughly $84 million every month.

Again today, Bill Luckett asked Cynthia Lummis a simple question: “Why do you support privatizing Social Security and raising the Social Security retirement age?”

Background:

Planet Jackson Hole: “If you could put one law into effect on your first day of office, with zero opposition, what would it be? Why?

Cynthia Lummis: “I would restrict domestic non-defense discretionary federal spending to inflation minus 1 percent, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, raise the age of social security eligibility for post-draft era Americans, stop raids on the social security trust fund, limit federal Medicaid dollars to current amounts plus 4 percent per year allowing states discretion in crafting their programs, and authorize voluntary personal social security accounts.”
[“In the Hot Seat,” Planet Jackson Hole, 4/09/08]

The U.N.'s loss is Wyoming's gain

Contrary to previous reports in various Wyoming media, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin won't visit the state next week. Instead, she'll attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. No, she won't be speaking there. Instead, she'll be out on the streets with several American Jewish groups protesting a U.N. appearance by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Wonder if she'll be knocked to the ground by NYC cops and hauled off to jail as were the RNC protestors in St. Paul. Probably not.

A scheduled Republican fund-raiser in Jackson Hole will now feature Cindy McCain instead of Palin.

Maggie Scarlett, organizer for the fund-raiser, could hardly contain her excitement (CST quote): "Needless to say, we are disappointed Gov. Palin is not coming, in that she is indeed creating a lot of energy and excitement everywhere, not just in Wyoming. But to have the opportunity to have Cindy McCain come in is equally exciting to us."

Maybe Cindy will be wearing the same $300,000 outfit she wore at the RNC. Or some other $300,000 outfit.

The Repub fund-raiser will be held at Teton Pines, home to Dick Cheney and other nogoodniks. Cost of the breakfast fundraiser will be $250 and $1,000 to have a photo taken with Cindy McCain. For $2,500, participants can participate in a round-table discussion with Cindy McCain and former Wyoming U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson.

Only $2,500 for a roundtable discussion? How much is that per lie?

Wyoming's senators oppose passenger rail revival

Westerners talk with pride about how railroads built the West. But it never would have happened without U.S. Government subsidies and a sweetheart deal to the railroads. You know, capitalism -- or is that socialism?

Now Congress wants to restore passenger rail service to Rocky Mountain states. Fact is, it can't and won't happen without subsidies such as those enjoyed by passenger airline service in Wyoming. Maybe there are only so many subsidies to be had, what with capitalist giants on Wall Street begging for money lest they go the way of, say, passenger rail service in the West.

Yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune featured an article about Congress's attempt to restart rail service in the Big Square States. Note that Wyoming's two senators, Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, oppose it. Thanks to Laramie's Nancy Sindelar for e-mailing the tip, and providing a great anecdote to go with it: "I had to ride the dirty grey dog up from Denver on my way home from MNLPS/StP because the train no longer comes to Laramie." The dirty grey dog, in case you've never ridden it, is passenger bus service, namely Greyhound. Wonder if that gets a subsidy? Nancy also wondered if Enzi and Barrasso had voted for "The Bridge to Nowhere" for Alaska.

Here's segments of the CST story:

An Idaho senator says he is organizing a congressional delegation to push for the return of the Amtrak Pioneer passenger train to the western United States.

Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, along with Rep. Mike Simpson, support plans to bring Amtrak rail service back to Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., say they're reluctant to support the proposal, however....

In comments to the Star-Tribune Monday, Enzi pointed out that Amtrak has failed in the past to earn enough revenue to cover its costs in the most populated areas of the country, a problem that he said will require the work of Congress to correct.

Enzi said he would be willing to fully consider the impact of passenger rail service on Wyoming if Amtrak "can present a financially viable plan for the Pioneer train in the state." But he sounded doubtful.

"While rail service is good in theory, the reality is that the cost is rarely offset without digging into taxpayers’ wallets to provide heavy government subsidies," Enzi added.

Barrasso’s spokesman, Greg Keeley, struck a similar tone when he said that passenger rail service in Wyoming, while appealing, even nostalgic, has historically bumped up against some "stark financial realities."

“For the past 30 years, Amtrak has not demonstrated any real ability to provide reliable and cost efficient service in Wyoming,” Barrasso said.

CANCELLED: Legislative Candidate Forum

Nancy Sindelar, veteran activist and activist veteran, keeps track of progressive news and events around the state. If you have news for Nancy's calendar, e-mail it to all.laramie-owner@lists.riseup.net.

Here's an event from the calendar:

On Thursday, September 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m., in Cheyenne, there's a Legislative Candidate Forum sponsored by Wyoming Conservation Voters and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. It will feature Wyoming House and Senate candidates for contested races in Laramie County. It's at the Historic Plains Hotel, corner of Lincolnway & Central Ave.

Info: 307-335-8796; darci@wyovoters.org, wyovoters@wyovoters.org

Fund-raiser in Denver Sept. 29 for Trauner

Christopher Findlater, publisher of wyofile.com, sends this invite:

I would like invite you to join me to support Gary Trauner in his run for U.S. Congress for the great state of Wyoming!

Gary Trauner is a solid Progressive Democrat who came within a 1,000 votes of winning in 2006. It is an open seat this time and in this climate of change thousands of new voters registered in Wyoming for Obama’s primary.

Five of the hosts for this event have donated $1,000 each. So we encourage you donate what you can even if you are unable to attend and I would ask that you send this invite out to your email list. Please note this event as “8 Rivers” in the memo field of any checks. The donation for those people that do attend or wish to donate would be a “suggested” $200. Any amount helps the cause!

The fundraiser will be held at 8 Rivers Restaurant, 1550 Blake Street, 5-7 p.m., in Denver's LoDo neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 29.

This is our year for change including in Wyoming!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Wyoming Democrats held a reception for Walter Mondale at 8 Rivers Restaurant during the recent Democratic National Convention. The Carribean-style cuisine was good, and the place has an expansive bar. If there's a Rockies game that night, and you're a glutton for punishment, you could attend the reception and then stroll own to the ball game.

UPDATE: Just checked the Rockies schedule. Their season is over on Sunday, Sept. 28. And I mean over. Meanwhile, Gary's just getting started.

McCain's lies: the gifts that keep on giving

Don't miss Wyoming's Equality State Bookfest 9/18-9/20 in Casper

Wyoming boasts two successful statewide book festivals. Not bad for the least populated state in the nation. During odd years, the Wyoming Book Festival lights up Cheyenne. During even years, the Equality State Book Festival brings thousands of readers to events throughout Casper.

The 2008 Equality State Bookfest kicks off this Thursday with writing workshops, readings, history presentations and school visits by writers. The Wyoming Arts Council's creative writing fellowship winners will read with Colorado fiction writer Laura Pritchett at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Casper College Library. Jack Gantos, author of the "Rotten Ralph" series of children's books, will offer some tips (and a taste of his wild humor) on becoming a children's book author at 4 p.m. in Casper College's Wold Physical Science Center. The University of Wyoming's top-notch creative writing faculty offers workshops on Thursday and Friday. That includes fiction writer Alyson Hagy, nonfiction writer Beth Loffreda, and poets David Romtvedt and H.L. Hix. Bookfest co-director Laurie Lye tells me that there's still room in some of these workshops. Register now at http://www.equalitystatebookfest.org!

Friday's highlight will be Alexandra Fuller's 7:30 p.m. talk about her new book, "The Legend of Colton H. Bryant," a 2008 Book Sense selection. This nonfiction account of one young man from Wyoming and his tragic death in the oil patch has generated a flurry of controversy. It also takes the reader inside a dangerous occupation, one that's claimed a record number of workers' lives in the state this year.

Friday offers a continuation of the writing workshops and tips on oral history projects from Nebraska's Twyla Hansen at the National Historic Trails Center on the ridge above Casper. The evening features a banquet with keynote speaker Gary Ferguson of Montana. A poetry slam follows at the Metro Coffee Company.

Saturday is the big day, with a book fair at the Nicolaysen Art Museum downtown, a trout-fishing panel with national expert authors, and an array of panels on poetry, publishing, and "stories of the West." Laramie's Mark Jenkins will be there. A real treat, since he spends most of his time climbing mountains in Chile and kayaking Africans rivers -- and then writing about it.

One bit of friendly advice: don't miss the bookfest in Casper Sept. 18-20. If you have any questions, ask me, as I'm on the planning committee -- and have been from the beginning.

Supercomputer still set for Cheyenne

Jared Miller reports today in the Casper Star-Tribune that plans for a "major climate-modeling supercomputer in Cheyenne" are back on track.

After months of delay, and speculation that the project might be stuck in federal bureaucratic gridlock, the National Science Foundation acknowledged on Sept. 5 that it had approved the next stage of the work, which will focus on computer design.

"There have been milestones along the way, but this more recent one has everyone smiling a bit more, just because it is a critical step to the rest of the process," said Randy Bruns, chief executive officer for Cheyenne LEADS, the city’s economic development arm.

Wyoming officials have since early 2007 been singing the praises of the supercomputer, which is expected to be one of the largest in the world once complete.

Local and state officials predict it will raise the profile of the University of Wyoming, whose scientists will have access to a portion of the computing capacity. Some also expect the supercomputer to help establish Cheyenne as a hub for technology somewhat like the National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer did for Boulder, Colo., and could help diversify the economy in southeastern Wyoming.

The computer is expected to cost $60 million to build, and $530 million over its 20-year lifetime, according to the most recent estimates.The state Legislature contributed $20 million to the project in 2007.

The supercomputer is slated for construction on a 25-acre portion of land owned by Cheyenne LEADS just west of town.

Cheyenne Mayor Jack Spiker said the National Science Foundation announcement is a "huge confidence builder for the community and the entire state." Spiker said he envisions the supercomputer as an economic driver that will attract businesses to Cheyenne, and as a destination for tourists intrigued by one of the largest computers in the world. He noted that the visitor's center attached to a similar supercomputer in Boulder, Colo., reported 50,000 visitors last year.

This is good news for Cheyenne. It will diversify the economy and bring a shot of high-tech to a city known more for government offices, the Air Force base and its refinery and chemical plant that for supercomputing. Many of the jobs brought to the county since I moved here 17 years ago have been in the retail sector, where low-wage part-time work is the rule. The Wal-Mart Distribution Center, close to where the big computer will be built, has brought some decent-paying jobs with it. Unfortunately, many of its workers and managers have elected to live 45 miles south in Fort Collins, Colo., location of major high-tech facilities (H-P, Intel, etc.), a lively downtown, not to mention the best micro-brewery in the Rockies -- New Belgium. Techies love their craft beers.

The brainiacs who will run the new computer may or may not live in the area. It would be great if they did. While support staff can be hired from Cheyenne, our repository of supercomputer engineers is not large -- if it exists at all. Imports from bigger metro areas will expect a lively arts and culture scene. NCAR in Boulder, Colo., has attracted a cluster of high-tech businesses. But Boulder is also the home of the biggest university in the state (but not the best -- CSU gets that honor), another university (if you count hippy-dippy Naropa), and a very lively cultural scene. The Pearl Street Mall draws retro-hippies and Republican businessmen alike. It boasts a high percentage of college grads in a state known for the high education level of its citizenry.

To Cheyenne's credit, we have a very good symphony, an active local theatre company, the "2008 Public Library of the Year" library, Depot Square downtown, an expanding Botanic Gardens and all the activities surrounding July's Cheyenne Frontier Days. Our Greenway is one of the best I've seen anywhere. We have a new wind farm east of town slated to provide some of the city's power, and an up-and-coming reputation for water recycling and reclamation. Let's not forget the mountains, notably the Vedauwoo Rec Area with its great rock climbing and boulder jumping.

It's a great family town. From what I hear, it's not great if you're young and single. I haven't been in that demographic cohort for three decades. But that's what I hear.

I welcome the climate-modeling supercomputer. In the short-term, it won't change much. But we're all in it for the long haul.

I want a dinosaur just like the one great-great-great-great-great-grandpa had

Now that we know that Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, believes that dinosaurs and humans coexisted and that global warming is a myth, it's time to take a look at the presidential candidates' views on science.

ScienceDebate2008 has been advocating a long time for a presidential debate on scientific topics. That's not going to happen. However, the organization has tracked the scientific views of the two candidates and now lists them side-by-side at http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=42.

I admit openly that I haven't read the entire list. So far, I don't see anywhere that McCain admits that his forebears in what is now Arizona had a pet Stegosaurus named Benny. But a look at his answers can reveal how far McCain has gone to kowtow to the Religious Right's view of life, the universe, and everything.

McCain's lies: 51 and still counting

So many lies. So difficult to track them all.

Until now.

As a public service, the Democratic National Committee has launched a "Count the Lies" page on its McCainPedia site. It spells out the whoppers emanating from the campaign of Mr. Maverick and Mr. Straight Talker. These have been tracked by independent nonpartisan fact-checkers.

The real story behind Palin's earmarks

From Congressional Quarterly:

CQ Politics blogger David Nather claims Sarah Palin's image as a fighter for earmark reform is central to the McCain campaign's narrative. Nather notes that while Palin doesn't claim she hasn't asked for earmarks, she leaves an impression that she's every bit as passionate a fighter as McCain against pork barrel projects.

However, thanks to the Web site of Sen. Ted Stevens, (R-Alaska), it's clear that the campaign narrative distorts her record. Palin submitted 31 earmark requests this year alone, totaling approximately $197 million.

In a memo e-mailed to reporters yesterday afternoon, the McCain campaign said Palin’s requests were a significant reduction from the record of the previous Alaska governor, Republican Frank Murkowski, whom Palin unseated in 2006. According to the campaign, Murkowski’s final request asked for $350 million in earmarks, according to the campaign.

Read the full story at: http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002947712.