White House's Gibbs slams Sen. Enzi

Not too many weeks ago, you could Google "Sen. Mike Enzi" and come up with a handful of hits. But holy moly, you Google the good senator from Wyoming now, and you walk right into an avalanche. And we all know why.

I just found this one (via AP):

The White House went after Wyoming GOP Sen. Mike Enzi for his comments in the GOP’s weekly radio address in which he criticized the Democrats’ health care plans, saying they would increase the deficit, “raid” Medicare, and limit or deny care to people based on age or disabilities, among other charges.

“Certainly, I think the radio address over the weekend by Sen. Enzi, repeating many of the generic Republican talking points that Republicans are using that have bragged about being opposed to health care, are tremendously unfortunate, but in some ways illuminating,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters this afternoon. “It appears that, at least in Sen. Enzi’s case, he doesn’t believe there’s a pathway to get bipartisan support.”

Gibbs added: “Sen. Enzi’s clearly turned over his cards on bipartisanship and decided that it’s time to walk away from the table.”

As one of the “Gang of Six,” Enzi has been part of a small group of Senate negotiators on a health care overhaul—a role that President Barack Obama had praised him for in the past.

The normally low-key and noncontroversial Enzi, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, stepped into the national spotlight last week when he commented on health care legislation at a town hall meeting.

“It’s not where I get them to compromise, it’s what I get them to leave out,” Enzi said. In a heated exchange with a constituent who called on the senator to walk away from the negotiating table, Enzi responded: “If I hadn’t been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care.”

How Wyoming progressives can take action on health care reform

Brianna Jones, the excellent communications director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, sends this list health care reform action items:

Taking Action for Health Insurance Reform

Be informed -- Know what is happening locally, state-wide, and nationally by glancing at the paper to see what elected officials, media, and activists are saying. Get the facts straight so you have the most up-to-date information. Along with your local media, some great sources are:
Wyoming Public Radio
Casper Star Tribune
WyoFile News Reader

Spread the word -- This may seem like a very small thing, but speaking to your neighbors, chatting in the local coffee shop, and generally voicing your opinion can be extremely powerful. Keep in mind that you must have your facts straight and keep your cool. This isn't about confrontation, it is about moving forward for positive change.

Connect Online -- It is fast and simple to update people through a number of online tools. Post a note on facebook, write a tweet on twitter, or tell your thoughts in a blog. It is simple to get an account with any of these websites and to bring more attention to the issues you find important. This is also a great way of letting people know about events in their area. You can find the Wyoming Democratic Party's version through the following links:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Hold an Event -- One of the most effective ways to gain attention regarding an issue is to hold an event. This could be a:
Roundtable discussion
Table at the farmer's market
Rally or march
House meeting
These events do not have to consume your life, but will help to bring greater attention to the issue. If you are willing to hold an event, please contact me and I will help you with the logistics, information, handouts, and general enthusiasm.

Attend an Event -- Know what is happening in your area and pay attention to events that have to do with health insurance reform. Having a presence, whether they are in favor or against, is important. Be sure to spread the word and then attend events that are happening near you. Some important ones to keep on your radar are town-hall meetings, rallies, conventions, and public forums.

Write a Letter to the Editor -- Letters to the editor can be a great forum for voicing your opinion. I have template letters available that speak specifically about health insurance reform and I can help you with research information or wording if you are unsure. The best letters will be backed up by facts, be concise, direct, and call for a specific action. Letters should not exaggerate, insult, or be riddled with jargon. Be sure to sign your letter with your name, hometown, and contact information. Your letters can be sent to regional papers and also your local papers. If you need help with contact information to your local papers let me know. Editorial emails for the two largest papers are as follows:
Casper Star Tribune: letters@casperstartribune.net
Wyoming Tribune Eagle: opinion@wyomingnews.com

Speak to a Member of Congress -- You can call, write, or go personally to let the Senator or Representative and their staff know how you feel. I do not recommend sending an email in this instance. Contact information for each of the following representatives can be reached by following the links below:
Senator Mike Enzi
Senator John Barrasso
Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis

FMI: Bri Jones, brianna@wyomingdemocrats.com, (307) 752-5288

Forget insurance -- Sen. Enzi lobbies for more of the same "nosurance"

Curious, but I guess not surprising, that Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi decided to abandon the middle road on health care and side with the screeming meemies of the Right.

As part of Saturday's Republican Party address, Enzi said that he's talked to people all over the state and all of them are against health care reform. That's 530,000-some people, if you include infants and handful of Democrats I hang around with. Every single Wyomingite is as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore -- whatever "it" is.

I'm reminded of Al Capp's comic strip of the sixties and seventies. Capp was a diehard conservative who drew L'il Abner and other strips. He lampooned longhair campus antiwar demonstrators by labeling them with the acronym S.W.I.N.E. or Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything. Because I was a student at the time who hung out with longhair antiwar activists, I got wildly indignant about that. Looking back though, it was funny. We were wildly indignant about Vietnam and Nixon and drug laws and cops and the rising price of pot and standing in line all night for ACC basketball tickets.

Here's a new set of words for Capp's S.W.I.N.E.: Simpletons Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything. It's a gross generalization caling all the birthers and town hall meeting screamers simpletons. But when you look at the non-questions they shout, there's no other conclusion.

One thing about Enzi, though, he held an open town hall meeting, even though it was in his heavily Republican home town of Gillette. Most of his Repub cohorts are holding invitation-only "town hall meetings." That includes John McCain and Mitch McConnell, an old white guy from Arizona and an old right-winger from Kentucky. Not quite brave enough to endure the slings and arrows of the crazies from their own party.

I attended a memorial ceremony this evening at UW for poet and professor Craig Arnold. Craig was a fine writer, teacher, gourmet cook and human being. After he disappeared in April while conducting research for his next book on a remote Japanese volcano, Craig's family sought help with Wyoming's Congressional delegation, including the state's senior senator, Mike Enzi. He lit a fire under the U.S. military, which sent choppers to the scene. Congressional staffers talked to the U.S. and Japanese governments, urging them to act quickly. All the effort was for naught, as Craig's body was never found and he's now presumed dead.

Senators Enzi and Barrasso and Rep. Lummis didn't make it to tonight's memorial. They did send staffers, thought, and Sen. Enzi sent a heartfelt letter of condolence, read aloud by English Dept. Chair Peter Parolin. The letter was all about the importance of poetry and education and family. In the letter, he invoked his wife's name and those of his two daughters who are teachers. He urged compassion, and sent condolences to Craig's family and friends and colleagues gathered in the room at the UW Art Museum.

I thought: this is a beautiful letter from a caring individual. O.K., it was probably written by a staffer but one who did some research to get names and facts and events straight. It was written in Enzi's name, so one has to assume that he has strong feelings for his fellow Wyomingites, including this 41-year-old poet whom he barely knew -- if at all.

The letter had empathy. There, I've said the forbidden "e" word.

So, it's difficult to reconcile the Enzi of the letter and the Enzi who is blocking health insurance reform for his fellow Wyomingites. He has his own ten-point plan but it's just more of the same, ignoring the plight of some 80,000 residents without health care and the many thousands who are underinsured. "Nosurance," is how some wags refer to health care in the U.S.A. No "insurance" about health care plans that cost more than a thousand dollars a month but still have gaping holes that sick people fall through. Nosurance. And Enzi wants more of the same.

Nosurance? No empathy!

The Wyoming Democratic Party held a press conference today about Enzi's health care reform blockade. Here's the press release:

Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen and former Wyoming Healthcare Commissioner, Barb Rea held a conference call with reporters today to express disappointment in Senator Mike Enzi for abandoning bipartisanship on health insurance reform.

This weekend in the Republican Party’s weekly radio address, Senator Enzi made many misleading statements about the health insurance reform proposals currently being debated in Congress and inaccurately said the proposals “will actually make our nation's finances sicker without saving you money.” Senator Enzi has also said recently that he was not negotiating with Democrats in the Senate to reach a compromise on a health insurance reform but was instead working to gut the bill.

Wyoming residents were proud that their state’s Republican Senator was taking a lead role in negotiating with Democrats on health insurance reform and are disappointed that Senator Enzi has chosen to toe the Republican Party line instead of working for the reform the American people want and need.

Leslie Petersen, Wyoming Democratic Party Chair: “We’re here today to express disappointment in our Senator, Mike Enzi, for abandoning bipartisanship on health insurance reform.... So it was incredibly disappointing when he came out this weekend and he not only said he was going to work to gut the bill but he misled the people of Wyoming on what was in the bill…It isn’t what the American people want, it’s certainly not what people in Wyoming want. We do need reform…We feel like he’s caved in to the Republican leadership…”

Barb Rea, Former Wyoming Healthcare Commissioner: “The one thing that we have all agreed on finally is that the status quo is not sustainable, so to continue to negotiate is really important… it’s really important for the American people and people in Wyoming to understand that reform will build on out current system and will help bring security and stability to those of us that already have insurance and give access to quality affordable care for those that don’t.”

Sen. Enzi Took Credit For Blocking And Delaying Health Care Bill, Rather Than Work On A Compromise. “This time, Enzi responded. ‘If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care,’ he said. ‘Someone has to be at the table asking questions,’ Enzi said, showing a flash of passion. He later quoted a favorite saying: ‘If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.’ ‘It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out,’ Enzi said.” [AP, 8/25/09]

Sen. Enzi Came Out Against Comprehensive Health Care Reform, Although He Admits Reform Is Needed. “Congress should approach health care reform in steps, instead of trying to put together a comprehensive package said U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. Health care is so massive that reforms can’t be made with one major bill, which is what the Obama administration and congressional Democrats are pushing, Enzi told members of the Casper Rotary Club on Monday at the Parkway Plaza Hotel. ... ‘We do need to have health care reform,’ Enzi said. ‘We do need to get it right. We need take the time to do it. I think the only way it will happen is we need to break it down into smaller parts than we have now and think it through one at a time.’” [Casper Star-Tribune, 8/17/09]

Sen. Enzi Boasted About Voting Against The Health Care Plan That Passed The Senate HELP Committee. "Enzi, Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and member of the Senate Finance Committee, repeated his opposition to a government-run health care plan today while addressing the Casper Rotary Club. Over the weekend, Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius hinted that the Administration may be willing to look beyond a government-run option. 'As I've said from the beginning, a government-run option is not an option. I voted against the Democrat plan in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month and would do so again,' Enzi said. 'A government-run plan would increase health care costs, lessen service and add to our huge debt. The American people are doing a great job of getting this message across to the Administration and Congress.'" [Sen. Enzi release, 8/17/09]

Sen. Enzi Predicted “Nasty, Nasty Town Meeting” For Democrats Over Health Care. “In an interview, Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, said he was committed to forging a bipartisan consensus on legislation that overhauls the U.S. health-care system. ‘We're past due for doing it, and the American people want it,’ said Mr. Enzi, one of three Republicans negotiating with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.). The Baucus-led talks are the only bipartisan health-bill effort on Capitol Hill. But Sen. Enzi said voters so far didn't seem impressed by what the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill has come up with, and predicted members of the House and Senate are in for ‘some nasty, nasty town meetings’ over the August congressional recess. ‘I don't think they like what they see so far,’ the senator said of voters.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/6/09]

Sen. Enzi, Along With Sen. Grassley, Brief The GOP Leaders Daily And Leader McConnell Said "They're Not Free Agents. They're Reporting To Us." "Grassley and Enzi brief a majority of the Republican Conference almost every Wednesday afternoon - and have for months - and they brief GOP leaders almost daily. While Enzi, Grassley and Snowe say they aren't being urged to resist a deal, neither are they being given carte blanche. GOP aides say they have been reminded they are not negotiating on behalf of the Conference and could find themselves on an "island" if they agree to legislation without first getting it approved. 'They're not free agents. They're reporting to us,' McConnell told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday. "' don't think they're going to sign onto a deal that a vast majority of my Conference can't agree to. And we don't, so far, like much of anything we see in this big-government, high-tax, mandate approach that the Democratic majority and the president would like to pass.'" [Roll Call, 8/3/09]

Two upcoming arts & justice events in Denver

These listings come from the "Open Letter," the weekly newsletter of Denver's Capitol Heights Presbyterian/10:30 Catholic Community and edited by Monte Clark. The 10:30 CC was my family's church when we lived in Denver. My son was baptized there. An incredible group of people (many of them community organizers) pray on both sides of the pew. The newsletter features two great arts-oriented events coming up in September:

“CATHOLIC LITERARY IMAGINATION: WHAT WOULD JESUS VIEW?” LECTURER AND AUTHOR – HOPKINS POETRY CONFERENCE on Thursday, September 17, 7 p.m. at St. John Francis Regis Chapel. Featuring Dr. Ron Hansen. Dr. Hansen was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and educated at Creighton University, the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop, and at Stanford University, where he held a Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship. He has received fellowships from the Michigan Society of Fellows, the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and the Lyndhurst Foundation, and was presented with an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Professor Hansen has taught fiction and screenwriting at such institutions as Stanford, Michigan, Cornell, Iowa, Arizona, and is now the Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Santa Clara University in California. His novels include "Mariette In Ecstasy" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by that Coward Robert Ford."

PLEASE COME OUT AND SUPPORT THE ROMERO THEATER TROUPE as we work to return Labor Day to the people. We will perform Voices From the Worker's Struggle, a series of scenes from American Labor History, past and present, including several traditional labor folk songs. Our show begins on Labor Day, September 7, at 6 p.m. at the Lincoln Park Amphitheater, 11th and Osage, next to the swimming pool. Seating is limited, so it's first-come, first-served. This will be the final public presentation in Denver of what has been a two-year journey of bringing the history of the Workers' Struggle to the community through Organic Theater. This is a free show. The People's Labor Day begins at Lincoln Park at 2 p.m. with free food open to the community. The afternoon's events include poetry, music, and children's games. All are welcome. The United Food and Commercial Workers and Jobs With Justice are co-sponsoring this exciting event. For more information, check out the website at http://www.romerotroupe.org/

House Committee reports on benefits of health care reform for Wyoming

Way back on July 24, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a district-by-district assessment of "Benefits of America's Affordable Health Choices Act" in Wyoming's lone district. Rep. Cynthia Lummis take notice. Under the House reform bill, more than 81,000 uninsured Wyomingites would get some -- and some 400 families would be able to avoid bankruptcy due to crushing hospital bills. Speaking of hospitals, they wouldn't have to put out some $23 million in non-reimbursed services if this reform passed. This is ironic, considering all the sob stories Lummis heard from the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper about low Medicare reimbursement rates (as recounted in the Casper Star-Tribune). They told Lummis they were against Pres. Obama's health care plan because they were afraid reimbursements would be even lower. I suppose they were just telling Rep. Lummis what she wanted to hear.

Get the rest of the story by going to http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090724/WY.Lummis.pdf

Ditto, Anne Lamott, Ditto

Here's the text of an open letter that appeared in the L.A. Times on Thursday. It's by Anne Lamott, one of America's most creative and most spiritual writers (funny, too):

I am afraid there has been a misunderstanding since that election in 2008, during which 66,882,230 Americans cast their votes for you. Perhaps one of your trusted advisors has given you bum information. Maybe they told you that we voted for you -- walked, marched, prayed, fund-raised and knocked on doors for you -- because we hoped you would try to reunite the country.

Of the total votes cast that long-ago November day, I'm guessing that about 1,575 people wanted you to try to reconcile the toxic bipartisanship that culminated in those Sarah Palin rallies.

The other 66,880,655 of us wanted universal healthcare.

You inherited a country that was in the most desperate shape since the Civil War, or the Depression, and we voted for you to heal the catastrophic wounds Bush inflicted on our country and our world. You said that you were up to that challenge.

We did not vote for you to see if you could get Chuck Grassley or Michael Enzi to date you. The spectacle of you wooing them fills us with horror and even disgust. We recoil as from hot flame at each mention of your new friends.

Believe me, I know exactly how painful this can be, how reminiscent of 7th-grade yearning to be popular, because I went through it myself this summer. I did not lower my bar quite as low as you have, but I was sitting on the couch one afternoon, thinking that this adorable guy and I were totally on the same sheet of music -- he had given me absolutely every indication that we were -- and were moving into the kissing stage. Out of nowhere, I thought to ask him if he liked me in the same way I liked him.

He said, in so many words, no.

And Mr. President, that is what the Republicans are saying to you: They are just not that into you, sir.

This may have thrown you for such a loop that you have forgotten why you were elected -- which was to lead your people back to the promises of our founding parents. Many of us no longer recognized our country after eight years of Bush and Cheney, and you gave us your word that you would help restore the great headway we had made on matters of race, equality and plain old social justice.

People, get ready, you said; there's a train a 'coming. And we did get ready. We hit the streets. We roared, whispered, cried, whooped and went door to door, convinced that even if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had not specifically dreamed of you, his dream of justice and equality and pride might come into being through your vision, your greatness, through the hope that your words gave us, through the change you promised.

He dreamed of a leader like you. Just like you. And something in the deepest part of this country's soul heard.

After eight years of Bush, and then the Palin nomination, we were battered and anguished and punch-drunk. But in rallying behind you, we came back to life, like in Ezekiel when the prophet breathes the spirit of bearing witness and caring onto the dry bones, and those bones come back to life, become living people again, cherished and tended to.

We did not know exactly how you would proceed to restore our beloved Constitution. It seemed beyond redemption, like my kitchen floor did briefly last week after my dog, Bodhi, accidentally ate 24 corn bread muffins. You said you would push back your sleeves and begin, that it would take all of us working harder than we ever had before, but that you would lead. While acknowledging the financial and moral devastation of the last eight years, you said you would start by giving your people healthcare. You would do battle with the conservatives and insurance companies. You said in your beautiful way many times that this was the overarching moral and spiritual issue of our times, and we understood this to mean that you took this to be your Selma, your Little Rock.

I hate to sound like a betrayed 7-year-old, but you said. And we believed you. Now you seem to have abandoned the dream. That is why moderates and liberals and progressives like myself all seem a little tense this summer. It is time to call your spirit back. We will be here to help when you get back from vacation. We want to help you get over the disappointment of Mr. Grassley's cold shoulder, of Mr. Enzi blowing you off, even that nice Olympia Snowe standing you up. We can and will take to the streets again, march and hold peaceful rallies, go door to door, donate to any causes that will help get out the truth of what a public option would mean. But we need you to shake off the dust of the journey and remember the promises of Dr. King, and we need you to lead us toward what is no longer so distant a shore.

Do it for Teddy Kennedy, boss. Do it for the other Kennedys too, for Dr. King, for Big Mama, for the poorest kids you met on the trail, the kids who go to emergency rooms for their healthcare, do it for their mothers and for Michelle. Just do it.

Trusting you, Mr. Obama
Anne Lamott

Saturday morning at the farmer's market

In honor of slow food, I took my time this morning perusing the wares at the farmer's market at the Cheyenne Depot Plaza.

Trees and bushes lined the entrance. I would love to buy more trees and bushes, but will wait for spring. I spent most of the spring and summer growing things with middling success. I also discovered that the crabapple tree I've nurtured from a sapling for four years is actually a plum tree. I ate one of the fruits, and it was more sour than sweet. I'm just chagrined that I didn't know it was a plum tree. Perhaps I should have known something was up when it never produced crabapples. My horticultural skills still need polishing.

My first stop was the Heritage Hills booth. This organic farm is located a few miles east of Cheyenne. I wrote about it after it was featured in a Wyoming Tribune-Eagle article about eating locally. I bought some spaghetti squash, two bunches of carrots and a bunch of beets. I told the young guy behind the counter that I'm not a beet fan and haven't been since eating too many canned beets as a kid -- and crappy salad bar beets as an adult. But he vouched for his beets, said they would turn me into a beet lover. Also said I should eat the leaves. "Toss 'em in a salad -- they're great." I'll let you know about the beets later.

I know it's corn season, but I passed up hundreds of good-looking ears. I'm sorry -- I know that this jeopardizes corn farmers who need to sell all their corn so they they can carve their fields into spooky Halloween mazes. But last time at the market, I bought three-dozen ears and we couldn't eat them fast enough. My cat liked it, though. I accidentally left out a bowl of shucked corn ears and in the morning found three ears gnawed down to the cobs and my cat passed out on the floor. A sad sight. Perhaps I would have reconsidered but I didn't see any of the Olathe, Colo., sweet corn that usually shows up this time of year.

I rounded out my purchases with a big basket of Palisade peaches, some Japanese eggplant from Monroe Organic Farms near Lasalle, Colo., a loaf of homemade cinnamon-raisin bread from Baumann's Bakery and a bag of Costa Rican coffee beans from Jackie at Jackie's Java in Fort Collins. I had a couple reasons for buying the coffee. First, Jackie's a fellow CSU grad and started her business while still a student. Second, the cover on the coffee bag told an interesting story. I'm a sucker for good stories, especially ones about food and beverages.

The bad showed a photo of Jackie among the coffee plants when she visited La Amistad Estate last March. Here's the copy: "Located inside a Costa Rican National Reserve, La Amistad is a finca like no other. Powered 100% by hydro electricity, shaded by banana trees dispersed amongst the natural rainforest, and processed completely on the farm to keep quality control at its peak."

Damn. That sounded so good that I wanted to open the bag right then and eat some of the beans. I didn't. I'll brew some of the java in the morning. I'm a coffee snob, that's true. But I also know how coffee was grown for so many decades. Big plantations owned by U.S. firms in cahoots with Latin American dictators. Peasants picking coffee for pennies a day. Coffee in the U.S. was cheap -- and horrible. Now it's expensive and very good. Grown in self-sustaining fincas that deal directly with small vendors and roasters in places like Fort Collins.

Bottom's up, coffee fans.

Why am I at the farmer's market when I have a garden of my own? Good question. I'm still waiting for most of my tomatoes to vine ripen. I've harvested some nice squash and zucchini and green beans and broccoli. But I don't have a peach orchard. I do have one plum tree. Who knew?

Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy -- BFF. Does that mean that Hatch will now support Kennedy's favorite cause?

I watched Orrin Hatch's comments today at Ted Kennedy's memorial. I wondered: who is this conservative LDS raconteur who was Teddy's best friend? Was he affable and humorous up there on the podium, or is it just me? I have to hand it to him: he showed up and spoke. Would Ted Kennedy have been welcomed at a memorial for Orrin Hatch? Possibly. Depends on how many of the senator's ultra-conservative brethren and sistren showed up shouting slogans and carrying signs.

Sen. Hatch said that some of his Republican compatriots disliked his working with Sen. Kennedy. Hatch came to the Senate in 1977, long after Kennedy but way before close-minded ultra-conservatives such as Bill Frist (now gone) and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Coryn of Texas and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Hatch and Utah Mormon colleague Sen. Bob Bennett have spouted off in public against liberal programs but still have worked in the Senate to support the arts and -- dare I say it -- federally-funded children's health care. Our own Sen. Enzi worked on legislation with Ted Kennedy. Too bad that some right-wingers have berated Enzi for just such bipartisan spirit. An now we have Enzi admitting this week that he's really not such a great bipartisan player with health care reform.

Oh for those golden days of Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy making music together. Of Republican Sen. Al Simpson of Wyoming and Democratic Sen. George Mitchell working together across the aisle.

All that's left now is the Kennedy clan to ask Sen. Hatch if he will recreate those halcyon days of yesteryear by voting for Pres. Obama's health care reform package, whatever (and whenever) it may be. A heartfelt eulogy is a fine thing. But his actions will speak louder than any words.

Pick up the phone, thank Sen. Enzi (for nothing)

From WyoDems on Facebook:

Wyoming Democratic Party Senator Enzi -- "If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care." Tell him why you don't appreciate this!

Call Sen. Enzi and thank him for being an obstacle in the way of affordable and sensible health care reform. Does this have anything to do with all the money he gets from insurance companies? Nah.

Sen. Enzi's contact info:

Washington D.C. Office:379A Senate Russell Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510 Main: (202) 224-3424Fax: (202) 228-0359Toll free: (888) 250-1879

Gillette (Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Niobrara, Sheridan and Weston Counties) Office:400 S. Kendrick Avenue, Suite 303Gillette, WY 82716 Main: (307) 682-6268Fax: (307) 682-6501

Cheyenne (Albany, Goshen, Laramie and Platte Counties) Office:Federal CenterSuite 20072120 Capitol AvenueCheyenne, WY 82001 Main: (307) 772-2477Fax: (307) 772-2480

Cody (Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Washakie and Yellowstone Counties) Office:1285 Sheridan AvenueSuite 210Cody, WY 82414 Main: (307) 527-9444Fax: (307) 527-9476

Jackson (Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton and Uinta Counties) Office:1110 Maple Way, Suite GPost Office Box 12470Jackson, WY 83002 Main: (307) 739-9507Fax: (307) 739-9520

Casper (Converse, Fremont and Natrona Counties) Office:100 East B Street, Room 3201P.O. Box 33201Casper, WY 82602 Main: (307) 261-6572Fax: (307) 261-6574

A year later: DNCC in Denver

This is what I was doing this time last year (August 28) in Denver. Blogging from the DNCC. In this photo, it appears as if I'm holding up the Wyoming delegation flag. In truth, the flag was holding me up.

How do I feel a year later? Still blogging. Still working for the Democratic platform. In for the long haul.

Sen. Enzi just another Republican obstructionist from Wyoming

From Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post:

Mike Enzi, one of three Republicans ostensibly negotiating health care reform as part of the Senate's "Gang of Six," told a Wyoming town hall crowd that he had no plans to compromise with Democrats and was merely trying to extract concessions.

"It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Enzi said Monday, according to the Billings Gazette.

Don't you wish you had free health care courtesy of U.S. taxpayers and delivered by the dreadfully inept U.S. gubment? Sen. Enzi of Gillette gets a cough, he gets a free health check-up. Sen. John Barrasso of Casper, M.D., gets a hitch in his getalong, he sees a doctor for free. Rep. Cynthia Lummis from Cheyenne has to undergo an operation (as she did recently) and she can recover in peace. No deductible to worry about. No bills from the hospital and later, when the payment is a few days late, no collection notices or annoying phone calls.

Ah, peace of mind. Don't you wish that you had a stake in that?

Jim Wallis at Sojourners remembers Sen. Kennedy

Jim Wallis remembers Sen. Kennedy's cause in a Sojourners' piece, "Honoring the greatest commitment of Sen. Edward Kennedy's life." Here's a sample:

On the occasion of his death, I pray that God may now move us as a nation to address the greatest commitment of Sen. Kennedy’s life — the need for a comprehensive reform of the health-care system in America — as a deeply moral issue and one that calls forth the very best that is within us. May we honor the life and death of Sen. Edward Kennedy by laying aside the rancor, lies, fear, and even hate that has come to dominate the health-care debate in America this summer, and regain our moral compass by recovering the moral core of this debate: that too many Americans are hurting and suffering in a broken and highly inequitable health-care system, and that it is our moral obligation to repair and reform it — now.

Read the entire column at http://blog.sojo.net/2009/08/26/honoring-the-greatest-commitment-of-senator-edward-kennedys-life/

Remembering Sen. Ted Kennedy

I sent my condolences to the Kennedy family:

I met Sen. Edward Kennedy on the deck of the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy during a NROTC midshipman cruise in summer of 1970. Among the 5,000 other sailors and marines on the carrier, I had the honor of greeting him and shaking his hand as we steamed into Boston Harbor. When I worked in D.C. during the Clinton years, I had an opportunity to meet and talk to the Senator about the importance of the National Endowment for the Arts (where I worked). He was a champion for the arts and creativity. He championed all of those who sought justice. I've followed his career all of these years and supported many of the causes that he championed. I intend to honor his final battle for health care reform by continued advocacy for Pres. Obama's plans. My family and I in Wyoming send our most sincere condolences to his family.

Write your memories and condolences at http://tedkennedy.org/pages/share_memories.

Wyoming Democrats mourn Sen. Kennedy

Statement from the Wyoming Democratic Party on the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy:

The Wyoming Democratic Party joins the nation in mourning the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

State party Vice Chair, Mike Bell, noted that Kennedy's death, while not unexpected, was still deeply felt across the country. "Ted Kennedy was such a force in American life for nearly fifty years, that it will take a while to get used to the fact that he is gone," Bell said.

Bell, a historian, pointed out that Kennedy had a real connection to the Cowboy state. He campaigned in the West for JFK and stood beaming amongst the Wyoming delegation, when the state put Jack Kennedy over the top for the Democratic presidential nomination at the 1960 convention.

Bell noted that Kennedy had an impact on millions of lives through his hard work in the U.S. Senate. "Kennedy was a driving force for change on immigration, education, health care and the rights of the mentally and physically challenged" Bell said. “Even his rivals would admit, that when it came to hard work, building real bipartisanship, and genuine concern for people, Ted Kennedy demonstrated again and again why he was regarded as one of the great leaders in the nation’s history.”

Wyoming Democrats send their deepest sympathy to the entire Kennedy family.

Wyoming Range Legacy Act Celebration

Kate Small McMorrow Wright of Wyoming Conservation Voters passes on this news release from Public News Service:

Lander, Wyo. -- A celebration of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act has turned into a bigger party than planned, with announcement by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that oil and gas leases on about 24,000 acres on the Bridger-Teton National Forest are being rescinded. Other leases may yet be canceled, while some are being eyed for donations or voluntary retirement.

Lisa McGee, national forests and parks director with the Wyoming Outdoor Council, says the BLM did the right thing, because development would have been too damaging to the area, and would not likely have resulted in much product. "We think it's a really great first step, and an indication that the rest of them will also be resolved."

McGee says there are still leases on thousands of acres on the range that need to be sorted out, and there are options for companies that hold the undeveloped leases."Those might include buyout, or trade, or donation if the company wanted to, so that area also remains protected."

The Wyoming Range Legacy Act bans future industrial development on most of the range, and ranchers, sportsmen, politicians, outfitters and conservation groups gathered last weekend to toast passage of the act.Opponents of cancellation of the leases say making oil and gas drilling off limits is wrong because the energy resources are needed for domestic supply.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/10241-1

Small state Senators -- scourge or menace?

Joan McCarter, writing under the handle mcjoan on Daily Kos, had a great piece today about the undue influence of small state Senators:

Wyoming's Senators are starting to talk tough on killing cap-and-trade legislation recently passed in the House of Representatives. That'll mean Mike Enzi will have to take some time out of his schedule killing healthcare reform, which he has been pursuing mightily for months, along with colleagues from North Dakota, New Mexico, Iowa, Maine, and of course Max Baucus from Montana. A handful of Senators, representing less than three percent of the nation's total population, have the ability to obstruct must-pass legislation that the rest of the nation is clamoring for. That is, unless another small state Senator, Harry Reid, decides to bypass them.

The nation's founders intended the Senate to be the deliberative body, the careful body that would provide the check on the unruly mob that the House would likely become on the one hand, and the potential tyrant the executive might become on the other. What we ended up with is the least democratic body in our republic. It means that, as Nate Silver points out, "A voter in Wyoming -- population 533,000 -- has about 70 times more ability to influence the Senate's direction than one in California -- population 36.8 million."

Read the entire diary at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/23/1602/02722

Mcjoan is a Westerner, so I tend to take her comments more seriously than I would comments from some Coaster. She makes some great points. She nails Sen. Enzi and Sen. Barrasso on cap-and-trade and Sen. Enzi on health care reform.

Her main question remains: why do Senators that represent such small rural constituencies have such undue influence over legislation that affects 300 million Americans. Is it the Senate itself? The seniority system? Lopsided majorities of Republican voters in states such as Wyoming, North Dakota and Idaho? All of the above? Or something else?

At last count, McJoan's post on Daily Kos had generated some 270 comments. A few were from Wyomingites -- but not many. Wyoming is a mystery to most liberals. Hell, Wyoming is a mystery to those of us who live here. So how to explain the impossibility of electing Dems to the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate?

My comment to McJoan's post:

After Wyoming Democrats got stomped in 2008, I decided I would no longer work on campaigns of Dems running for our two seats in the Senate and our lone U.S. House seat. Wyomingites voted the straight party line. Since registered Repubs outnumber registered Dems 2-1, we got our asses kicked.

My time spent working for Gary Trauner's race for the U.S. House would have been much better spent on Dems running for the state legislature. Our county is the most populous in the state and we have lots of registered Dems and some great legislative candidates. We're also on a winning streak.

My volunteer time would have would also have been better spent traveling with Dem pals to presidential battleground counties in Colorado: Weld and Larimer. As you know, Colorado went for Obama. He's now president. I keep waiting for him to say to Enzi and Baucus and Conrad: "You're irrelevant dinosaurs. We shall pass our progressive agenda without you."

What about it, Prez? When are you going to say -- and do -- what we elected you for?

Yes, people in Wyoming voted for you too. We were at your pre-caucus Laramie speech in which you spoke of real health care reform. "Change," in other words.

Wyoming progressives feel doubly cheated. Not only do we live in a red state with nobody representing our views in D.C. But we have a U.S. Senator holding up Obama's progressive agenda on health care reform.

A story to go with every zuke and tomato

Who put the loca on locavore? Dinner tonight was tomato sauce from homegrown tomatoes, steamed green beans and BBQ zucchini from the Shay garden and pasta from a package. Vegetarian too, which pleased my daughter Annie. Beer from Fort Collins (for me) rounded out the meal.

By the way, Jodi Rogstad's cover story, "Goal: Make a 100 percent local meal," in last Sunday's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle was great. She scrounged up almost all the makings of a meal from local farmers and ranchers. No easy task in this windswept high-altitude place with a short growing season. She found veggies at Lucas Loetscher's huge garden off Railroad Avenue between Cheyenne and Burns. Lucas is 23 and sells his veggies each Saturday at the Cheyenne Farmer's Market. His great-grandfather homesteaded the land in 1918.

That was one of the great things about the article. A story to go with every foodstuff.

Clair Schwan is a self-sufficient Libertarian who lives north of Cheyenne. He calls himself a "thrivalist" instead of a "survivalist." Schwan gives Jodi a bag of summer squash and allows her to harvest some eggs from his chickens. Later, Jodi goes to Catherine Wissner's Wild Winds Sheep Company near Carpenter. Wissner, a horticulturalist for the UW Cooperative Extensive Service, raises lamb and turkeys and grows her veggies in a high tunnels which "makes life here on Mars possible." "Life on Mars" -- I like that.

Jodi wrapped up her article with recipes and a list of food for locavores. Some of the growers were down in Wellington and Fort Collins, Colo., within the 50-mile radius preferred by locavores.

Democrats in Casper: Pres. Obama's health care reform will benefit all Wyomingites

Here's a press release about Friday's Casper news conference on health care reform hosted by the Wyoming Democratic Party. I was at a board meeting in Star Valley and missed the proceedings:

President Obama’s goals for health insurance reform will provide several benefits to the people of Wyoming, even those who already have health insurance, according to several speakers at a Wyoming Democratic Party press conference on Friday.

Leslie Petersen, Wyoming State Democratic Party Chairwoman; John Hastert, Wyoming State Senator; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, RN and Laramie resident; and Jeri Calabrese, retired teacher and Wilson resident, stressed the urgency and real need for reform in Wyoming.

“The status quo is unsustainable. Since 2000 alone average family premiums have increased by 100 percent in Wyoming,” said Chairwoman Petersen. “Health insurance reform will build on our current system to bring security and stability to the people who already have insurance and give access to quality affordable care to those who don’t,” Petersen stated.

Lorraine Saulino-Klein drew on her experience as a registered nurse in Laramie to advocate for health insurance reform. “88,000 people are uninsured in our state and that doesn’t include the people who are underinsured, which means that they carry some coverage that they can afford. Often those people neglect health issues because they don’t want to find anything wrong, because they will lose the little bit of security that the limited coverage affords them. In my 40 years of varied work I have seen many wonderful, hard working people fall through the cracks and come to ruin,” Saulino-Klein said.

Jeri Calabrese shared her story about the struggle to afford healthcare during retirement, “We paid our house off before we retired so we would be in good shape for retirement and yet health care costs have risen to the point that they are almost what our house payment was – and for less care.”

Senator Hastert reminded, “Reform isn’t only about the people who don’t have insurance though– it’s about anyone who’s ever been afraid of losing their coverage if they become sick, lose their job, or change their job. Health insurance reform will hold the insurance companies accountable.”

Hastert also encouraged everyone to remember President Obama’s health insurance guarantees. Under the President’s Health Insurance Guarantees, everyone will benefit, even people who currently have insurance, because any legislation he signs will include will reverse years of unfair insurance company practices. President Obama has laid out these eight guarantees for reform...

See my Aug. 18 post for the list of "eight guarantees."

Change in LarCoDems speaker: education the topic of Aug. 25 meeting

Dave Lerner, communications director of the Laramie County Democratic Party, sends news that there's been a change in speakers for the meeting on Aug. 25. Instead of Dr. Brent Sherard, director of the Wyoming Department of Health, the LarCoDems speakers will be Kathryn Valido, president of the Wyoming Education Association to talk about a variety of education issues. Coincidentally, the new school year begins the next day in Laramie County.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the IBEW Hall, 810 Fremont Ave., Cheyenne. FMI: http://www.laramiecountydemocrats.org/

While the topic of education is not as fiery as health care reform, there are a number of crucial issues. Before I pose some possible questions, let me say that I'm a union member and that both of my kids attended public schools. So, I've been on the side of public school teachers all of my life. But my personal dealings with schools on behalf of my kids revealed some flaws in the system.

So, some questions:

1. At UW and other U.S. universities, are students being trained for the schools of tomorrow or the schools of yesterday? If they're being trained for the schools of today, they're being trained for the schools of yesterday. No, we don't know what the school of tomorrow will look like. But technology and globalization and charter schools and magnet schools and home schooling and the needs of a new century will make them entirely different places. Are we ready?
2. Once we train effective and innovative teachers, why do we put them into buildings that look like prisons? McCormick Junior High in Cheyenne looks like the women's prison in Lusk. And vice versa.
3. When will the education establishment fully integrate the arts into the curriculum? Electives are fine, but we need creative thinkers in the 21st century and the arts are the best way to nurture them.
4. Should teachers be unionized? This is a tough one for me, the union guy. And teachers' unions are a big right-wing target, which makes me instantly suspicious. But this system protects bad teachers and doesn't provide enough incentives for the good ones. Maybe merit pay isn't such a bad thing?

That's a good start. Do you have questions you'd like to ask the head of the state's teachers' union? Come to the Aug. 25 meeting.

P.S.: No yelling and screaming. No signs showing teachers with a Hitler mustache. Fair warning.

Dr. Brent Sherard discusses health care issues at Aug. 25 LarCoDems meeting w/u

UPDATE: Dr. Sherard's presentation has been postponed to later in the year. Aug. 25 speaker will be Kathryn Valido, president of the Wyoming Education Association.

Dr. Brent D. Sherard, Director of the Wyoming Department of Health and State Health Officer, will be the guest speaker at the next monthly meeting of the Laramie County Democrats on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 p..m., at the IBEW Hall, 810 Fremont Ave., Cheyenne.

Topic of the discussion will be (what else?) health care reform.

For more about Dr. Sherard, please click here.