Senate candidate visits county

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Gary Trauner visited Sweetwater County earlier this week, his visit culminating in what he dubbed a "listening session" with residents to talk about their concerns.

This isn't Trauner's first attempt at becoming a member of Wyoming's delegation. He initially ran for U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 against Republican Barbara Cubin, which he narrowly lost. A second try in 2008 against Republican Cynthia Lummis was a more decisive defeat, with Trauner earning 43 percent of the vote to Lummis' 53 percent.

Trauner believes the political culture in Washington, D.C., no longer favors listening to constituents. Trauner cites comments made by George Washington about the dangers of politicians placing their party over their county as having come true in federal politics more than 220 years later.

Politicians, Trauner claims, are bought through campaign contributions from corporations seeking favorable treatment and laws. As a result, Trauner said tax laws and regulations end up favoring corporate America and the country's wealthiest citizens, while Congress borrows against the nation's children and grandchildren through increasing the national debt.

Trauner said he wants to bring Wyoming values to Washington, D.C. He wants to favor legislation that would diversify Wyoming's economy and help break it from the boom and bust economy the state has.

He has also proposed fair tax legislation that treat people equally, saying tax cuts should not be temporary for citizens, while the wealthiest citizens and the nation's corporations are awarded permanent cuts.

He also seeks to help fix the system at the federal level, pledging to not accept campaign money from corporations or political action committees.

"I don't want to feel like I've been bought and paid for," Trauner said. "We need to get big money out of politics."

He said he wants to ensure the rules applied to the county's citizens are also applied to members of Congress.

He also wants to promote legislation that would increase access to quality, basic healthcare and education.

He also supports legislation that would reduce income inequity. He supports dedicating an income stream to the Veterans Administration to ensure funding the organization doesn't become a political tool for politicians. He also supports the idea of working with senators from both sides of the political spectrum to seek the best solutions to problems.

"This is about partnerships, not partisanship," he said.

Questions asked by residents included his inquiries about his thoughts on gun control, public lands and climate change.

In regards to gun control, he believes some regulation should be in place, such as universal background checks and age restrictions on firearms sales, but thinks regulations should not infringe on responsible gun owners' right to bear arms. With public lands, Trauner believes a solution can be found to protect the special locations, but believes enough land is available to promote responsible energy development, agricultural use and public access.

On climate change, Trauner said he isn't interested in assigning blame, but believes there is opportunity for Wyoming. He said coal, oil and natural gas won't go away over night, saying 30 percent of the nation's electricity is provided by coal, however he sees market forces positioning themselves to make a change towards other sources of energy.

He believes Wyoming can position itself to take advantage of all types of energy generation to provide stable jobs to its residents.