Talk of pension reform in the government sector starts the usual hand wringing among those who think they know best for everyone else. At the moment, Wyoming's government signs most of its workers up to a defined benefit pension plan, whether these workers would prefer another option or not. Most people in the private sector, if they have a pension...

Letter to the editor published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, September 28, 2014 As is often the case, those without a response to an argument resort to ad hominem attacks, as in Rodger McDaniel's commentary, the rick think differently, in Saturday's Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Former state of Wyoming pensioners, such as Mr. McDaniel, must understand tha...

Would your representative vote to require single mothers to pay an extra one percent on their phone bills to cover the cost of extending lines to a $4 million mansion someone decided to build on their newly acquired rural property? In the coming session, the Wyoming legislature will find itself faced with the sunset, or scheduled end, of the outdat...

Few people understand how the state pension system works but objections to reform are legion. Even though the type of pension benefit state employees receive has virtually disappeared in the private sector, many politicians, bureaucrats and state pension managers seem to think the government sector is different, making reform unnecessary. However, ...

Will it leave citizens freezing in the dark? Back in 2012, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead announced that Microsoft would build a $112 million data center in Cheyenne. Since then, Microsoft announced two data center expansions, for a total investment of about $450 million. Sounds great, but is it? Data centers move here because, in addition to taxpayer-...

Time to add some drag to the line The Game and Fish (G&F) department provides us with a cautionary tale about what happens when an agency's mandate creeps from "the protection, propagation, preservation and distribution of Game animals, birds and fish of this State," to "conserving wildlife—serving people," which could mean pretty much anything...