In a recent guest editorial distributed to Idaho media, Otter admitted he never actually planned on cutting IPTV’s funding. Apparently, he asked every agency to find ways to cut spending, and when IPTV told him there was no wiggle room in their budget, he made the threat to light a fire under them. If this is true (there’s always the possibility he’s just covering up a bad idea), it’s a bad policy. If Otter wanted to pressure IPTV to trim the budget, he should have done it in private. When the governor uses the press to pressure state agencies, it looks like the state is run by a headless group of bureaucrats who use the press to tattle to the people about each other. Otter and the entire state government have a very serious task in front of them. Let’s see some cooperation, not mindless bluffing/Jeffrey Reznicek, UIdaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: What do you make of Otter's claim that he never intended to cut funding for IPTV, after threatening to do so? Does he deserve the criticism leveled against him by the Argonaut?