Dear Editor,

In response to Bob Kubichek’s  “Wyo. Legislature focuses on wrong issues,” Bob has severely missed the point.  He claims conservatives are confused because they believe in small government but then support HB74, HB118, SB47, and SB114.  He then proposes that the legislator’s time would be better spent elsewhere, claiming “the job of our representatives is, quite simply, to improve the quality of life in this state for our people.”

Well, first off, the right and responsibility to improve our lives rests squarely on our own shoulders.  

It is not now, nor has it ever been, the government’s job to do the things for us we are better capable of doing ourselves. Their role is to protect our rights and maintain our freedom so we can do for ourselves.

Mr. Kubichek fails to appreciate that there is a major difference between the rights of federal and state governments. Our system of government is not a pure democracy; it is a dual-federalist republic. 

A republic means that the people do not directly make the rules as would be done in a pure democracy (otherwise known as tyranny of the masses or mob rule).  Instead, we elect representatives and replace them when they don’t act in our interests. 

Dual-federalist means that there are TWO separate and co-sovereign (neither superior nor inferior) bodies of government: namely, the states and the nation.  

The Constitution clarifies this to anyone who actually reads it.  It specifically lists the federal government’s powers. Then it carefully clarifies that all powers not specifically given to the federal government are reserved to the states and to the people.

When conservatives talk about “small government”, we are reiterating the constitution’s limits on the federal government.  

The founders knew that no central, all-encompassing governing body could satisfactorily protect all the rights of all the people.  

Therefore, the Federal government is delegated ONLY those responsibilities necessary to maintain national unity. Abortion, gay marriage, education reform, health care, and a myriad of other controversial issues are beyond the scope of powers given to the federal government; therefore, it should stay out of it, period! 

However, the same does not apply to the state.  

The State Legislature is precisely the correct place for these issues to be decided.  

That is how the constitution says it should be, and this demonstrates the brilliance of our founding fathers. They knew state legislators would be more accessible to their constituents and, therefore, better able to listen to the will of the people on locally divisive issues.

I assert that the bills Mr. Kubichek brings up are NOT “symbolic pieces of legislation” or “meaningless business governing individual values and norms” as he claims they are.  

As the federal government persists in sticking its tentacles into every aspect of our lives without constitutional authority, it is the states’ obligation to take a stand to reclaim the rights and responsibilities delegated to them. Not only does this mean joining in the legal fight to reject the ridiculous health care law forced upon us last year; it means solidifying our state’s position on these “individual values and norms”.  

Settling these matters within our state is a solid step to securing our states rights and preventing an overbearing, self-aggrandizing Federal government from forcing their will on those whom they are supposed to be protecting. 

I applaud the State Legislature in asserting their constitutional rights on the issues that Mr. Kubichek considers meaningless and symbolic.  

As they continue to ward off the overbearing arm of the Fed., we as individuals will continue to have the right to improve our own lives as we see fit, instead of allowing Washington D.C. to force their will on us.

Braeden Hyde

Senior in Civil Engineering