Author: Fritz Pettyjohn

In Utah that would be Rep. Kraig Powell.  We got Utah, #26, today because of him.  Last year, mid-session, Kraig volunteered to give it a go.  Other members were afraid of being primaried by the Eagle-Birchers.  It was kind of a last minute deal.  I went back and spoke to the Conservative Caucus and testified in committee, but despite all of Kraig’s efforts we lost 32-41.  But we set the stage for this year.  If Kraig hadn’t stepped up to the plate last year we wouldn’t be celebrating tonight. That’s what patriots do.

We’re on the floor in the Oklahoma House next week.  Rep. Gary Banz has been working the bill, but right now is around ten short.  Dr. Coburn’s speech to the House Caucus put us in play.  If we’re not sure of the votes I think we should pull the bill and try next year.  We’ll be stronger next year.  Much stronger.  We’ll have the enthusiastic support of the oil and gas industry, for instance.

Everything’s set in West Virginia for next week except Speaker Armistead.  Bill Fruth will visit with him before the vote.  We should get it, but if we don’t we will next year.  We’ll have the coal industry with us.

We’ve got a subcommittee vote in South Carolina next week, with Senator Bright the swing vote.  Dave Guldenschuh had a long talk with him, but couldn’t get a read.

We’re depending on Senator Crapo in Idaho.  Kasich is calling him this weekend.

North Dakota will have us in Senate Committee on the 19th.  No sign of trouble.  Bill Fruth, road warrior, will go to Bismarck to testify.

The Reagan Project may put up a booth at Freedom Fest  in Vegas in July.  If we do I’m going to lay a bet on Kasich for President.  Because we are going to get this done, and he’ll get the credit, and it’s a very big deal.  Bigger than anyone understands, quite yet.

I see a bright future ahead.

Money does not stink.  That’s what the Romans used to say, and look what happened to them.

I’ve always hated money in politics, maybe because I never had any.  But I’m a libertarian, and a free speech zealot.  I don’t want the government regulating speech, period.  When the Framers, in the First Amendment, said, “Congress shall make no law….” they didn’t allow for exceptions.  But now I’m open to the idea of allowing individuals complete freedom to spend their own money, and preventing corporations, unions and PACs from spending any.  Full immediate disclosure of all contributions on the internet.  I’m signing up with Wolf-Pac, and I’ll support calling an Amendment Convention on campaign finance reform.  Let’s have a Convention, and see what they come up with.  If it manages to get ratified by 38 states it will represent a national consensus.  That’s how our system was designed.

What really got to me was last year’s Republican primary in Mississippi.  Thad Cochran has no business in the U. S. Senate.  He’s old and feeble and just does what he’s told, which is raid the Treasury for his contributors.  Republicans in Mississippi had enough of him, and wanted him out.  But Haley Barbour and the big money boys played the race card, disgracefully, and bought him six more years.

These same geniuses are all lined up behind the brother of the last dope they put in the White House, W.  Yeah, that’s what we need, yet four more years from the stupid wing of the GOP.  On the Democrat side these wizards want Hillary, who is a complete joke.  Her major qualification for office is a lifetime of enabling the sexual predator she married.

But Jeb Bush is not going to get the Republican nomination.  We’ve had this dog food before, and the greatest sales job in the world won’t make it taste any better.  And now it looks like the Democrats may be ready to turn on the Clintons and their sleaze machine.  They will, if they’re smart.  She’s a terrible politician, and she won’t change.  The quicker they dump her, the better, for them.  The reverse for the R’s.  The longer this woman and her contemptible husband are center stage, the better, if you’re an R.

West Virginia Speaker Armistead is holding up our bill, and talking about doing it next year.  I hope this is not inspired by the example of Phil Nicholas.

Looks like Senator Crapo is the key to Idaho Senator Bart Davis’ heart.  The request will be made to Crapo.  He’ll get the message.  I don’t know anything about him.  Maybe he’s a patriot.

There’s a hitch in my run for Congress.  You can’t file until January.  This upsets my plan.  I’ll have to come up with a new one.  Actually my whole strategy is based on the political conditions in California a year from now.  Right now, it makes sense.  A year from now, maybe not.

God, it would be fun.

It’s a good one, and if it works it could win us Wyoming and every other western state we don’t get this year, including Oklahoma.  I’ve started working to implement it, but it will be something that comes together, slowly, throughout 2015.  I don’t mean to be coy, but this is something that’s accomplished behind closed doors, it it’s done at all.  It’s a challenge.  I’m not the only one who’s thought of it.  Most importantly, I don’t see any downside to it.  Even if it fails, the attempt may do some good.

On another front I’ve decided to run for Congress as a Democrat.  I’ve been thinking about it, off and on, for a year, and I’m going to file the papers as soon as I get them from the Secretary of State.  It will be a lot of fun, but more importantly it will do some good.  Naturally, with my overactive imagination, I’ve concocted a number of different ways to exploit it for the cause.  One stunt that I came up with today is a doozy.  I won’t pull it off for a year, but, trust me, it’s a good one, maybe my best ever.  I can’t wait.

It’s been a good day.  It’s spring here in the foothills of the Sierras, with buds blossoming, flowers starting to bloom, and green grass growing.  A good time to be alive, and an American.  One year from now my campaign will really begin, in the same weather.  Some kids, growing up, want to be a movie star or football player.  I wanted to be a Congressman.

I was an odd kid.

It was always about Senate President Phil Nicholas.  When I left Cheyenne last week he was with us.  From what I’ve heard, his amendment today in third reading killed the bill.  So what happened?

Nicholas is even smarter than I thought he was.  Put yourself in his position.  His state is the least populous in the country.  It is extremely vulnerable to budget cutters who want to eliminate the royalty sharing arrangement it has with the feds.  If that goes it blows a huge hole in the State’s budget.  He has just a few cards to play.  One of them is Wyoming’s vote for an Amendment Convention.  As Juneau Senator Bill Ray used to say, “What’s in it for me?”  He wants to get paid.  Not him, personally.  He wants Wyoming to get something for its vote.  If he gave it to us this year he gets nothing.  If he holds out until next year, and Wyoming is one of the very last states, maybe he’ll be able to figure out a way to get paid.  What’s the rush?

I’m not mad at Nicholas.  I want to accommodate him.  We need his vote.  I can think of a couple of things that might appeal to him. I’ll try and think of more.  We’ve got almost a year to figure it out.  If we had lost for some other reason I’d be really down.  But we can work this out.

It’s just business.

We got through second reading in the Wyoming Senate, but we’re not done yet.  Amendments were adopted on the floor, which the House must concur in before final passage.  And we’ve got third reading in the Senate.

But it looks good.  If we do get Wyoming the Reagan Project Achievement Award* for the State of Wyoming will go to Senate Majority Leader Eli Bebout.  Sometimes what you hear going into a state proves out.  I was told get Eli Bebout on your side and you’ll get a bill.  I was told right.

The amendments shouldn’t matter too much.  The aggregation of 34 Resolutions by Congress is not judicial, or quasi-judicial.  It is a political act, performed by politicians.  If the Republicans in Congress want to aggregate, they will.  If they don’t, they won’t.  They would be fools not to, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Dave Guldenschuh is a lawyer in Rome, Georgia who got the CoS bill through the Georgia legislature.  I didn’t think anybody, in any legislature, was going to be able to do what Dave did.  That bill is a tough sell, while the BBA sells itself.  Dave got fed up with the people at CoS and has joined our team.  We’re hoping he’ll be able to spend a couple days in Oklahoma City, on the ground in the Capitol.  Sometimes a person with an outside perspective can spot things.  We lost Montana (thank you, George) but we had a shot because of what I learned on the ground in Helena.  We almost got the Democrats only because of what I learned there.

I think the way to get to Idaho Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis is through his peers, to wit:  lawyers in leadership.  We know of several we can get, and will get more.  These people can assure him that they, and the other legislative leaders they know, will never allow a runaway.  They won’t let it happen, and they, collectively, will be running the show.

It as a big win in Cheyenne today.  For me, especially.  I’ve spent the last week thinking about Wyoming, and was sure I had it figured out — that we were going to win.  If I was wrong, then I was missing something, something I wasn’t smart enough to see.  That’s a bad feeling.

My wife and I saw Kevin Costner in “McFarland” last night.  Great movie.

It gave me an idea.