Correction: Harlan Sylvester did not sponsor the fundraiser for Salmon, as was reported to me. Shoulda confirmed that before posting. My bad. -odum
Remember during the height of the budget conflict between the Legislature and the Governor when Auditor Tom Salmon Jr. attempted an ill-advised grandstanding stunt by inserting himself (rather inartfully) into the process? Salmon offered himself as mediator (having, of course, no qualifcations to serve in that capacity and stepping far beyond his purview as State Auditor) in the midst of a debate that legislative Dems were managing quite well without him. By trying to play the role of wise father figure and casting the debating parties as self-interested partisans who needed to compromise further than the Dems already had, Salmon played into the hands of Governor Douglas, who tried (and failed, thankfully) to use Salmon’s play to his own advantage.
Well, as with the repetition of his casinos-on-the-ski-areas notion, Salmon seems recklessly oblivious to bad buzz, and is at it again. Last week he sent an email to Senator Shumlin, Speaker Smith, Secretary of Administration Neale Lunderville and Douglas Chief of Staff Tim Hayward trying to shove his way into the Joint Fiscal Office’s process of identifying cost savings by suggesting he might be cheaper than the consultants budgeted into the process. In the email, he reportedly demands to know what the status of the process is, as well as any so-dubbed bi-partisan crisis planning (?) underway.
O-kay. A politician with clear and rather blunt political ambition would be a better arbiter than neutral professionals with hands on experience in such matters. Frankly, I’m finding myself a bit concerned about Salmon’s perspective on reality.
After all, it was only last week that he indicated to Totten that he wanted to run for Governor in 2012. I suppose he’s not planning on being too helpful in putting a fellow Democrat into the office over Douglas next year?
So this guy, whose here-I-come-to-save-the-day schtick has already worked against his party’s legislative leadership this year, whose stated ambitions imply he might be less than enthusiastic supporting their electoral interests (as in, getting a Dem Governor) next year, and who has stated his intention to run against the current Governor next cycle… this guy is supposed to be taken seriously by all parties as a mediator or arbiter (or is it manager?) of this process? Is he nuts?
Or if not nuts, maybe just smug. Last week he had a fundraiser held for him by that reportedly included financier Harlan Sylvester – he of Democratic boogeyman fame. Sylvester is the conservative, so-called “Democratic” moneyman who was a supporter of Howard Dean, but dumped the Dems for Jim Douglas rather than back Doug Racine in 2002, who he saw as too liberal. Perhaps Salmon has decided that he’s been knighted by Sylvester, so everything else is just a formality? If so, he is – like so many others – comically overestimating Sylvester’s impact. We do still have quaint little things called elections.
Speaking of which, Salmon might want to bear something in mind; it’s only summer of 2009. There’s still plenty of time for a primary challenge this cycle to emerge.
As usual, the editorial and op-ed pieces are not online. Some paraphrases and excerpts from the six-paragraph piece:
1. Mentions FDR and his “new operating paradigm” replacing the “failed practices and policies that precipitated the crisis itself.”
2. “Today we Vermonters are faced with a crisis almost as challenging as the Great Depression and it is time for politicians across the State to move away from the status quo of partisan politics, the blame game, and one-upmanship.” Leaders … frank and sincere conversation … serve the people …
3. Refers to his letter from abroad, urging Douglas Admin and Leg. to “roll up their sleeves … to manage … a crisis,” by considering his “bold options,” intended to “shock” them into changing. The ones that were, he says, “warranted,” included “addressing unsustainable education funding” plus “immediately” getting ready for “known revenue decreases.” He characterizes his “controversial” proposals to allow gambling at Killington Resort and to raise income taxes as a way to make sure his “words from afar” would get some attention.
4. Upon his return from active duty, he writes, he offered to “help [state leaders] reach consensus,” the end result of that being “well known.” And “more work is to be done,” to address “a raft of serious problems that have been left unaddressed.”
5. The “central” issue is the tax rate, “seen as a cure-all for spending woes prompted by poor management and a lack of planning.” … “the Governor and the legislature must work cooperatively to protect Vermonters from higher taxes.” Despite the $700 million in federal ARRA funds, the budget as passed “eliminates important tax deductions” and levies new taxes “that make Vermont less competitive.” It ignores “serious problems” such as “health care costs, the unemployment fund and pension obligations …”
6.
I didn’t see anything new here, and there are some troubling Republican code phrases and words: “protect Vermonters from higher taxes,” “efficiencies,” worry over the elimination of “important tax deductions” making the state “less competitive,” the need for “painful” solutions (for whom?).
Sounds like positioning for a gubernatorial run, trying to thread the JimmyD / Dem divide, although if this is the evidence, he falls squarely on the Douglas side.
NanuqFC
It is easier to appear worthy of a position one does not hold, than of the office which one fills. ~ Francois, Duc de la Rochefoucauld