I'm a "respected conservative leader. John Barrasso says so"

John Barrasso asked me to help fund his 2018 reelection. When I didn’t respond to the first letter, I received a second. It’s like trying to unsubscribe from Groupon.

John’s fundraising letters called me “a respected conservative leader.” No one else ever called me that. 

John assured me the perception that “Republicans aren’t accomplishing anything in Washington, DC” isn’t true. He cited Scott Pruitt’s helmsmanship at the Environmental Protection Agency. John and Scott are pleased ours is the only nation in the world that rejects the Paris Climate Accords. They blissfully ignore science and hand over the regulatory power of the EPA to the fossil fuel lobby.

But, as “a respected conservative leader,” I am more of a conservationist. I’d like to see a balance between the wishes of the exploiters and the needs of the planet.

John proudly noted the Justice Department is “clamping down and taking away” the federal funds from sanctuary cities, leaving out the part about how a federal court found this endeavor “unconstitutional on its face.”

As “a respected conservative leader,” I am more of a small government guy. Decisions about how local governments handle local law enforcement ought to be made by mayors and city council members and not bureaucratic zealots in Washington.

John’s solicitation trumpeted the work of James Mattis, claiming he was “gaining respect across the world.” John must not listen to anything but Fox News. Otherwise he’d know it’s like those games when the Rockies’ pitchers give up more runs than their high-powered offense could score.  Trump’s Tweets cost more respect than Mattis can ever recover.

John’s too young, but I’m old enough to recall the days when “a respected conservative leader” was wary of Russia and could never imagine an American president seeking to imitate Putin’s kleptocracy.

John’s letter didn’t mention Republican tax reform bill, you know, the one that cuts the taxes of huge corporations and the wealthy by hundreds of millions while slashing Medicare, raising taxes on many middle-income families, while ballooning the deficit. I suppose the Senator knew that like other respected conservative leaders, I wouldn’t think that was fair so he left it out. But I do get my news from places other than Fox, so I knew.

Neither did the letter include the old “repeal and replace” mantra. John deserves much credit for congress’s failure to “repeal and replace.” But I re-read the letter and found nothing about it. After all, John spent so many hours in one of those Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, SCIFs, they have in Washington. 

There, he and other Republicans, safe from bipartisan input, wrote the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. You’ll recall it had about 17% public support. John’s not worried that most Americans are opposed. He hopes to stuff it down our throats just like he and his GOP colleagues hope to do with the tax bill.

John’s letter warned, “Already potential candidates are being recruited to run against me…” John left out the part about how it’s other Republicans who are busily recruiting his replacement.

Then came the denouement. Dramatically, the loose ends came together. John’s asking me for campaign contributions because, “the fundamental causes of liberty and prosperity” are at stake.

He cautioned that “massive amounts of liberal money” are headed our way to “fuel a massive level of venomous attacks.” Now, when a politician uses the word “massive” twice in one sentence, you know something massive is about to happen.

However, that massive spending won’t come from Democratic senate candidate Gary Trauner who has disavowed corporate PAC money. John Barrasso and Steve Bannon’s alt-right candidate will spend massive amounts and, yes, their attacks will be venomous.

John Barrasso has already raised a whopping $3 million. Only 2% came from Wyoming. I didn’t send a check. It seems a senator who represented his state rather than national corporate interests would get more help from the home folks. But then, I’m just a respected conservative leader. What do I know?