Say it ain’t so! Well, Wyoming State Representative Monte Olsen spills the beans.
From the Casper Star Tribune:
Editor:
My good friend and colleague Bill Luckett, spokesman for the Wyoming Democratic Party, got a little carried away in the July 21 Casper Star-Tribune (CST) when he said, “Gov. Freudenthal was instrumental in removing the sales tax from food and creating the Hathaway Scholarship program.” This is simply not so.
Primary credit for removing the food tax belongs to Rep. Ann Robinson, with strong support from Sen. John Barrasso. To have some fun, here is what Mr. Luckett wrote when he was a reporter for the CST on July 12, 2005: “One significant difference between New Mexico and Wyoming is that Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal is not a strong supporter of removing the food tax.” Not only was the governor not instrumental in removing the sales tax from food, but Mr. Luckett reported so himself!
Turning to the scholarship, this was brought to Wyoming by Bill Schilling and the Wyoming Business Alliance. Primary credit for the Hathaway Scholarship itself belongs to Rep. Jeff Wasserburger, Sen. Charlie Scott, Rep. Steve Harshman, Sen. Tex Boggs, and Rep. Debbie Hammons. They researched, drafted, pushed, cajoled, carried and voted for the legislation.
The Hathaway Scholarship was a brilliant legislative idea. And to give credit where credit is due, the governor did sign the bill when it hit his desk. But he was not instrumental in it; rather, he caught up to a moving train as it pulled out of the station. Here’s hoping Mr. Luckett stands by his own reporting!
REP. MONTE OLSEN, Daniel
House District 22
I’d expect nothing less from DemonRats.
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I am almost positive that this Bill Luckett guy is the Democrat I sat next to during the WYGOP Central Committee meeting. He was a recognizable Democrat (Fred Parady said something about him) and a former reporter for the CST. Haha, crazy.
Hi Tieki,
I remember you telling me about that at the time. Wow, it wasn’t that long ago, but it seems like quite a while back when you were reporting the Senator selection progress in action live from Casper.
You mean to tell me that even in Wyoming, a Democrat is still a Democrat??!?!?!?? That’s quite a serious charge. Of course in this day and age, that’s all that matters, is the seriousness of the charge rather than the nature of the evidence. Unless of course your dealing with Democrats, then none of it matters; it’s all conspiratorial.
BTW, why is it, every elected official has to talk about a fellow elected official by referring to them as My good friend and colleague…? Why not be honest about it and say My fellow elected official that I reluctantly work in the same building with…
Hi Scott,
Why not be honest about it and say My fellow elected official that I reluctantly work in the same building with…
Must just be a part of that western chivalry. If it makes you feel better, I’m sure they have different and more colorful things to say behind each other’s backs when they don’t think the press will get a hold of it.
Do you mean western as in non-European? Even Teddy K. bears false witness when talking about the staunchest of conservatives in the Senate.
This reminds me of the runaway sucessful federal program of Welfare Reform. This is something that Bill Clinton ran on but refused to do since he had a compliant Democratic Congress. When the Republicans took control of Congress the passed welfare reform agais the cries and moans of the left and ran it down Clinton’s throat for signature. Even when he reluctantly signed it he stated that this could be fixed later (meaning rendered ineffective) later (meaning when the Democrats took back control of the Congress while holding the Presidency.
The problem is the reform measure has been a total success and subsequently Clinton tries to take credit for the program. I’m sure the Hilderbeast will try and score some credit here too when the D vs. R campaign begins…….steve
Hi Steve,
Yes, and let’s not forget about when President Bush’s tax cuts improved the economy hand over fist but it turned out not to be the tax cuts after all and instead was due to the previous 8 years Clinton being in office. Everything good that happens because of the Bush Administration is just because of the previous Clinton years, but everything negative that happens, including the terrible bridge collapse in MN, is Bush’s fault. And yes, in case you missed it, Lord Crimson with Conservablogs posted it.
Tammi…….I saw tonight on the news that in 1992 and 94 (I think) the detailed reports on this bridge were written up. Didn’t seem to move Clinton then…..I also understand that the Democrats this year cut $20 billion in these type of funds in order to finance their earmarks of which Murtha led the class……….steve
Hi Steve,
What can I say? Double standards, hypocrisy, liars, etc … the foundations of the demonRat party.
Some thoughts on this post and the comments. Comments first:
Tieki Rae: Yes, I was at the Republicans’ June 19 selection meeting in Casper to fill the Senate vacancy, so we may have indeed met. Were you the young lady from Fremont County? I don’t remember meeting anyone else who was blogging that day, but I was also busy, so I may have missed it.
Scott (and Tammi to a lesser extent): Rep. Monte Olsen and I ARE good friends, even if we disagree on a few issues. I am also proud to count Wyoming GOP Chairman Fred Parady and his wife, Lisa Skiles, as my friends. There are a couple explanations for this. First, realize I met these people when I was a newspaper reporter. I always did my best to honor the ethics of that profession (yes, conservative bloggers, there are people on BOTH sides of the aisle who behave ethically, and people on BOTH sides who don’t). As such, I gained the respect and trust of many politicians from both parties, formed lasting relationships with them, and did not sever my friendships with these people when I became the Wyoming Democratic Party’s communications director.
The second, and more important, explanation of why Republican politicians and a Democratic Party employee can be friends is that Wyoming is probably the least partisan state in the union. It is small enough that most people who are really active in politics get to know each other really well. There is an overriding sentiment here that good people can put their heads together and find solutions to our problems without politicizing every issue like they do in Washington. And if, at the end of the day, the biggest difference we have is disagreeing over who deserves the most credit for the accomplishments we are all proud of, we’re in a lot better shape than most people.
Finally, as to the original post here, I have two responses. The first is, “Get real.” A $300 to $500 tax cut for every family in the state, whether you make $10,000 a year or $1 million, is progressive tax policy, pure and simple. True conservatives would favor giving a larger tax break to the people who already pay the most in taxes. However, the food tax exemption issue is also wildly popular with the people, which explains why so many Republicans want credit for it.
My second response addresses the governor’s role in all this, and for that I’ll let Rep. Ann Robinson, D-Casper - who is universally recognized by everyone on BOTH sides of the aisle at the primary leader in the initiative to remove the food sales tax - explain, by reprinting her letter to the Casper Star-Tribune, which she wrote in response to Rep. Olsen’s letter:
Editor:
My good friend Rep. Monte Olsen’s acknowledgement of my work on the food tax exemption is greatly appreciated, but he is mistaken when he says Gov. Freudenthal was not instrumental in its passage.
If Democratic Party spokesman Bill Luckett, stated in 2005, as Rep. Olsen says, that Gov. Freudenthal was not a strong supporter of the food tax exemption legislation, he was correct. Gov. Freudenthal favored tax relief for the people of Wyoming but, given the Republican legislature’s defeat of the food tax exemption each of the previous eight years, he had no reason to believe it would pass in 2006. He, therefore, supported other types of tax relief for Wyoming folks.
In 2006, after House Revenue Committee Republicans killed the bill to exempt food from sales tax, and House Republicans defeated the attempt to bring the bill to the House floor for discussion, I could have accepted defeat. Instead, I continued to fight for the tax relief the people of Wyoming deserved, filing a budget amendment in the House for the food tax exemption. At my request, Sen. John Barrasso filed a mirror amendment in the Senate.
The Republican legislature killed every bill providing meaningful tax relief for Wyomingites. The budget amendment was the only option left.
Gov. Freudenthal met with the legislative leadership, expressed his disappointment in their failure to provide meaningful tax relief for Wyoming folks, reminded them the only option left was the food tax exemption budget amendment, and brought to their attention a statutory provision allowing the governor to decrease sales tax by one-half penny, if the legislature left $35 million in the general fund.
The Republicans realized three things: (1) Gov. Freudenthal would do what was necessary to provide tax relief for the people of Wyoming, (2) Gov. Freudenthal could line-item veto the legislature’s budget action to sweep the money from the general fund, and (3) the cost of the food tax exemption was tremendously less than the cost of reducing general sales tax by one-half penny.
Due to these realizations, the Republicans relented, and finally voted to exempt food from sales tax.
Interestingly, the 2007 bill making the food tax exemption permanent also eliminated the governor’s power to decrease sales tax by one-half percent.
Former Rep. Ann Robinson
Hi Bill,
Thanks for stopping in. I’m not going to argue that true conservatives favor tax relief for those who pay the most taxes as they are the ones in need of the relief. Over taxing the middle and upper class is just an ugly step toward socialism — which I hate.
As for ending the sales tax on food, I enjoy the savings. I consider myself to be a true conservative, disliking most taxes. So, I’m glad to see it gone.
As for being friends across the partisan aisle, I think that’s terrific and only to be expected in most cases. I use the term demonRat primarily for the people in your party who are constantly whining and complaining that we are losing the war in Iraq, which I do not believe to be the case. I feel like many members of your party are responsible for attempting to demoralize our troops, and I hate that. Maybe you don’t do this, but many in your party do. I also use the term for members of your party who are hell bent on killing unborn children in the name of women’s health. Other than these quite serious issues, I’m all for being friends.
Once again, thanks for stopping in. Oh, I’d be curious as to how you found my blog? I know there are thousands of bloggers throughout the nation, and I really do consider it an honor for the Spokesman of the party I oppose to leave a comment.
Thanks again.
PS. Bill — any thoughts to the comments left by Next Stop Lauderdale?
I’d like to thank my good friend Bill Luckett for his response to my (halfway) satirical comment on bipartisan friendship.
I have no qualms with folks on the left having friends on the right and vice versa, just so long as the waters aren’t muddied about the areas of disagreement (abortion, winning the war, often times taxes, government control, etc…).
Hi Scott,
I agree, there are issues that are just far too serious for me to be concerned about bipartisan civility. Like the ones you mention.
I knew exactly what you meant by your halfway satirical comment.
Hi folks. I found your Website from a Google alert I have set up. I have Google alerts for various Democratic and Republican officials as part of my media tracking efforts.
I think you’re both right, Tammi and my good friend Scott, that people on opposite sides of the aisle can generally be friends, but we still have to stick to what we believe in. I’m sure we have serious disagreements on a lot of issues. There’s also more truth than I initially cared to admit about Scott’s earlier comment regarding the “my good friend and colleague” tradition. Sometimes when we hear someone say that, they really are thinking what Scott said they were thinking. I personally have probably muttered under my breath, “Yeah, right,” when I heard someone in a floor debate begin their speech with the “good friend and colleague” line. It just so happens in this case that Monte Olsen and I are friends, so I thought I’d point that out.
As to the comments by Next Stop Lauderdale, I have enough to do working on behalf of the Democratic Party in Wyoming - WYOMING of all reddest of red states - without worrying about what Bill Clinton did or didn’t do 15 years ago. He did, however, leave office with a balanced budget. Other than that, I’ll stick to Wyoming issues.
Hi Bill,
Well, that settles it then, friends across the aisle of partisanship it is. Though apparently there are issues that we will disagree on. I hope you continue to drop in every now and again. It should be an interesting upcoming election year. If someday you come to your senses and decide to switch parties, I hope you’ll credit it to my blog.
Tammi,
You’re upsetting my delicate sensibilities by even suggesting that a Democrat would ever take credit for something not his own.
Hi Bridget,
Sometimes I forget how sensitive you are!
Or sarcastic. Whichever.