A Republican lawmaker in Wyoming who proposed purchasing an aircraft carrier for the landlocked state said yesterday afternoon that he was merely trying to get a proposed “doomsday bill” dismissed.
After Rep. David Miller (R-Riverton) introduced legislation setting up a task force charged with planning for the “inevitable” collapse of the federal government, his colleague, former Navy officer Rep. Kermit Brown (R-Laramie), proposed the aircraft carrier amendment as a way to poke fun at the bill.
Miller blames the negative attention from the military provision for the ultimate demise of his doomsday task force.
“It’s gotten, frankly, 100 times more play than I anticipated,” Miller said after the bill was voted down 27 to 30. “And the play may have helped kill the bill because if I could have kept it low profile, I could have had a better chance.”
Asked about his amendment, Brown said Miller’s bill “didn’t seem like a good use of public funds at the moment.”
Despite the setback, Miller intends to keep pursuing a last-resort plan that includes replacing federal currency with Wyoming currency, and raising a standing military to respond to any threats from neighboring states should Washington no longer be able to guarantee the Equality State’s security.
“We have a budget surplus,” said Miller, “why not do a little bit of planning, while we’re capable of planning, for a little bit of discomfort down the road?”
