Small sidelight to Shumlin’s presser today. He was asked about the VPR report, cited by me in this diary, indicating that the federal sequester might open the door to consideration of tax increases.

And he did his level best to shoot it down.

Let me just say a word about that, because I did see a press report recently that interpreted my words differently than perhaps I expressed them, or maybe it was creative reporting.

He then pivoted to his talking points about the awfulness of the sequester, and then said:

My point is, Vermonters don’t have the tax capacity to bail out the ineptitude of the federal government. Period. No exceptions. We do not have that loot in our pockets.

When he talked about “creative reporting,” I don’ know if he meant Bob Kinzel or me, or possibly both. As for Kinzel, he was simply quoting the Governor. As for me, I’m not reporting, I’m offering analysis and commentary. And yeah, I do try to be creative. While also being as accurate as I can be.

Here’s the key passage from Kinzel’s piece:

The governor has strongly opposed most efforts to raise taxes this year but he says he might have to re-evaluate this position if the sequestration process drags on.

“If this thing were to go for any length of time we’d have to rethink everything that we’re doing.”

I saw wiggle room in that quote. If the Governor didn’t mean it that way, well, maybe he should have put it differently.