Our own Liz Cheney, Cyrus Western, flew in from Denver to make a rare appearance before the citizens of his House District today. Holding court in the oh-so-trendy Innominate Coffeehouse in Ranchester, Cyrus was confronted with a room full of not-so-happy voters. Having an event in a facility that provides wonderful, sugary pastries and beverages laced with caffeine may not be a good recipe for calm meeting.
Ranchester, and the Tongue River Valley in general, used to be a safe and secure venue for our young representative. Cyrus spent a lot of time attending meetings in that part of his district. We imagine that he felt he'd be in friendly territory, or at least among people who wouldn't challenge his intellect. Yet...today's event has been compared to the time that Senator David Kinskey was roasted by the Republican Women of Sheridan County. Oops.
Cyrus refused to answer any of the questions involving his campaign mailing that garnered a well-deserved Election Code Violation Complaint, a subsequent Sheriff's Investigation, and is now sitting on the desk of the Wyoming Attorney General. In January, when he swore his oath of office, he knowingly lied that he was not under investigation when, in fact, both he and his attorney were refusing to talk to the Sheridan County Sheriff's Office at that time.
He also couldn't answer any of the questions why, 85% of the time, he voted to spend more of your money. Of course, he, like every other state representative, likes to brag that they put excess funds into savings during this past session, but most won't tell you that they spent over half of those excess funds, much of it on unnecessary, and reoccurring expenses before doing so. Oh yeah, a lot of that excess money came from you in the form of a ~26% property tax increase. If they'd returned that money, it would have amounted to $4,500 for every person in Wyoming. But, hey, not being satisfied with what they got, they have no problem with your property taxes going up another 27% this year. Stay tuned for an even bigger, more expensive state government!
Speaking of property taxes, Cyrus claims he supports an "acquisition based" property tax, yet he did very little to get that proposal, or any of the other proposals, heard during the legislative session. Proud of his status as "the youngest Majority Whip in Wyoming history," Cyrus isn't going to do anything that blue-dot Speaker Albert Sommers doesn't order. But, hey, Cyrus tells us he feels our pain and that he really wants to do something about your property taxes. Noblesse oblige with feelings, not actions.
At the beginning of the last legislative session, new house leadership was elected. One of the contenders was Sheridan County state representative Mark Jennings. Mark is a seasoned legislator who just happens to be rather conservative. If you look Mark up on any of the ratings websites, you'll find he is ranked either at the top or very near the top of legislators who support the Wyoming Republican Platform. Being from Sheridan County, wouldn't you support a fellow Republican for leadership? Not Cyrus. Cyrus supported Albert Sommers. We can only surmise that Cyrus was promised the Majority Whip position in return for turning traitor on his home county compatriot. If you are not familiar with Albert Sommers, he claims to be a Republican but solidly votes as a Democrat. He is also the singular reason that many important bills were never heard on the house floor because he either assigned them to a committee that was sure to kill them or he smothered them in his desk drawer.
So, while Cyrus claims to have your best interests at heart, he is responsible for making sure that bills like parental rights, property tax reform, prohibition of red-flag laws, and other hot topics never saw the light of day. Note to Cyrus: People judge you by the company you keep.
What's a not-poor boy to do? Cyrus has been conspicuously absent from any of the Sheridan County Republican Party meetings since the legislative session ended. Even Barry Crago, who lives in Johnson County, has managed to make it to a Patriot Chat (and we both thank and applaud him for showing up). Cyrus, who supposedly lives in Big Horn, could not be bothered to attend. Is he afraid of the tough questions? Is he afraid of having to take responsibility for his deeds? Or is it just too much of an effort to fly back to Sheridan County from Denver just to meet with the little people?
Being generous, we'd like to offer Cyrus some advice:
Take responsibility for your actions.
Man up and take the heat associated with your actions.
Listen to your constituents.
Your job is not about your power, your future, the lobbyists, or your mega-donors, it's about the Sheridan County citizens you represent.
Ride for the Brand. That means supporting the Republican Platform and your fellow Republicans from Sheridan County.
Lastly, Cyrus, be ethical and publicly apologize to the four Sheridan County residents you slandered in your childish campaign mailer. Do the right thing and maybe the next time you visit the Innominate Coffeehouse someone will buy you a latte and a blueberry scone.
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