Comments on: Officials Fiesta Travel Style Differs

By: eric

eric — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:21:30 +0000

It occurred to me that perhape the “State plane” was pretty slow and not appropriate for travel to Arizona.. whereas the Simplot jet is surely a screamer. Seems to me that I remember reading that the Guv flies on a turbo prop.. perhaps owned by the Air Guard. I e-mailed the lady at teh Aeronautics Division of ITD and asked for a list of State planes. No response yet. Will keep you posted.

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:31:07 +0000

I actually gave Butch some credit for having libertarian leanings and fighting the Patriot Act based upon them. But that went out the window when he supported HJR 2 and refusing gay couples the same rights as straight couples.

He has no right to support laws restricting liberty and call himself a libertarian. It appears his philosophy for less government is now reserved for when new law would apply to restrict business concerns. Thank god Risch stopped Sempra before Butch got in the chair. But I suppose with all the money Sempra gave Butch they may be back.

I agree John, but lassiez faire economics would hardly be considered socialistic. Patman, he may have followed the law but I don’t agree that he did the right thing.

By: john

john — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:59:06 +0000

It will be interesting if Simplot only charges the State $1.00 for the R/T flight to the big game. That will really make for some amusing stories.

The thing about Butch is he talks a big line about being a “Libertarian” but the perks of that type of political thought are usually reserved for the use of the powerful. I’m sure in ole Butch’s mind he was just trying to save Idaho taxpayers some money.

Big business and big agriculture will benefit mightily from state sponsored corporate socialism under this administration. They will call it “freedom” for you and me.

By: Patman

Patman — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:21:23 +0000

I don’t see any problem with Gov. Otter riding in Simplot’s personal plane for free.

Their relationship is long established and connected by blood… it doesn’t get any closer than that. Seems to me that some might be nitpicking or uninformed of the law if they have issues with this. Governor Otter… Keep your money, you did the right thing and followed the law. We can’t ask more than that.

By: Treva

Treva — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 02:06:39 +0000

J.R. has been rich forever. Otter hasn’t known the word poor in a very long time. They are connected by blood lines (as in Otter’s children are J.R.’s grandchildren) – those relationships don’t go away with a divorce. I know this from experience. If we want a middle class guy/gal in office I guess we will have to check this stuff out before election day. Oh, I forgot, Idahoans only vote for Republicans. And, I expect none of the Dems that ran were poor folk either.

On another note, I am really glad that Otter made a honest woman (as we used to say in the olden days) of Lori just in the nick of time – Idaho probably isn’t ready for a First Girlfriend. 🙂 That might have been fun though.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:58:09 +0000

It always amazes me how we always vote in the rich and then complain cause they hang out with the rich. Surly you don’t think they work in their elected office to help the rich do you?

By: Clippityclop

Clippityclop — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 16:00:55 +0000

Sisyphus is dead on… it ain’t about the money.

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 15:16:09 +0000

I agree Stephen, we would have major qualms if Butch had used state money to attend the game. He’s got plenty of his own money, some of which we provide for the job he does for us.

Many folks of lesser means attended that game. But I think access to the Governor, not Simplot, is the ethical question here. And I haven’t heard that Simplot has been declared incompetent to handle his affairs. From all but the most recent reports he’s quite adept at continuing to control and manipulate his empire. You’re naive if you think that this type of face time does not translate into influence. But we all may be naive if we believed that Simplot wouldn’t be a driving force behind decisions in an Otter administration. Otter may look the good old boy rancher but make no mistake he is the face of big business in Idaho.

Guardian, I note that the decision to pay for the plane ride only came about after being confronted by the AP on the story. The offer to pay does not remove the ethical taint and instead underscores the closeness of the relationship because it never occurred to Otter that it may be wrong, whether he broke the law or not. It contrasts starkly with the Mayor’s style and discloses volumes about both men. Good post.

By: Yossarian_22

Yossarian_22 — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 13:56:22 +0000

Who’s getting access to who? Even if Otter pays for his spot on Simplot Airlines, it still smacks of special priviledges for the rich and powerful.

Otter gets a nice business jet ride and conversation (politicking) with Simplot (at what rate?) or Simplot gets *paid* to have access to the Governor for “conversation”. Must be nice.

The rich/powerful coziness just keeps on keepin’ on.

By: Jay™

Jay™ — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 04:55:19 +0000

“Guv Butch was reduced to hitch-hiking on his first official day in office. Seems he thumbed a ride to the Fiesta Bowl with ex-father-in-law J.R. Simplot on the company plane.”

A little harsh, in my opinion.