James Williamson Says He's A "Rational" Conservative

Saturday, May 20th 2006, 12:32 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Of the three Republicans running for governor, state Sen. James A. Williamson says he's the one who is the most realistic and has the best track record on how to accomplish conservative goals.

In an Associated Press Newsmaker Interview, Williamson pointed to his legislative successes, criticized fellow GOP candidate Bob Sullivan for advocating a tax-cut program that is ``not rational'' and said incumbent Democratic Gov. Brad Henry is so tied to trial lawyers he can't accomplish ``real'' lawsuit reform.

Williamson, who will turn 55 on May 27, is an unabashed social conservative who believes government should partner more with faith-based programs to help solve society's social problems.

``I do have a base among the Christian community and I proudly say I'm a social conservative,'' he said. ``My religious convictions are an important part of my life.''

He is convinced the private sector can attack some problems better than government in many instances.

``And churches are very concerned about the soul, as well as just feeding them. And most all social problems start with the heart,'' he said.

A family law attorney, he is at odds with many of his fellow lawyers on changing the civil justice system to limit lawsuits. Trial lawyers, he said, ``hate my guts.''

He acknowledges he is behind the other two candidates in the GOP race _ U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook and Tulsa businessman Bob Sullivan _ on fundraising, with only about $200,000 raised so far, less than quarter of the amount collected by Sullivan and Istook.

Williamson said he expects to have enough money to effectively get his message out, however, and hopes to slip into a runoff. ``I believe that if I'm in a runoff, I will win the nomination and have momentum going into November.''

Williamson served 10 years in the House and then was out of the Legislature for 10 years before being elected as a senator in 1996.

He said leaving the Legislature was ``a healthy thing to do'' because ``you get to live under some of the laws you passed and get back to the real world _ the world of everyday life that people live and see what is important to the average person.''

In the House, he worked on law enforcement issues, including raising the drinking age in Oklahoma from 18 to 21 and supported establishing the University Center at Tulsa.

In the Senate, Williamson rose to minority leader, focused on education issues and was credited with a pivotal role in events that led to passage of a right-to-work law.

He and other GOP senators brought Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin to the floor to force a vote on sending the issue to a vote of the people. The next year, Democrats agreed to a referendum and voters adopted the law, which prohibits labor contracts that require all employees to pay union dues.

As governor, Williamson said he would be tight-fisted with taxpayer dollars and he would concentrate public spending in such areas as education and building roads. He said he would support education programs that ``demand results.''

He differed with Sullivan on the idea that you can run government like a business.

``I bring rational expectations to what can be accomplished, even with Republicans in charge,'' Williamson said. He said Sullivan's promise to repeal the income tax is ``not rational'' when you consider that tax makes up 35 percent of the state budget.

But Williamson said he thinks it is realistic to bring the income tax down to 3 percent and suggested the people would support a referendum that brings equity to the system by eliminating the sales tax on groceries, while making up that revenue by removing other sales tax exemptions.

That would allow Oklahoma to have the lowest income tax in the region, except for Texas which has no income tax, and would be an incentive to new businesses to locate in the state, he said.

``I would try to enact policies that make us the lowest workers' comp state in the region, give us the best lawsuit reform system in the region'' and show business leaders the state was serious about upgrading the state's infrastructure.

He said he began thinking about running for governor when it became obvious to him early in Henry's term that the governor was helping trial lawyers block ``meaningful'' lawsuit changes.

Paul Sund, spokesman for Henry, said Williamson's ``political rhetoric has no basis in fact'' and Henry ``led the effort in passing two tort reform packages, both of which were embraced by the medical community.''

Williamson said he would never negotiate on such things as raising taxes or his anti-abortion position.

``But on other issues, you have to face reality, and that's one of the differences between me and Bob Sullivan. I mean, he thinks he can come in on a white horse and will use his business experience to cut government by 30 or 40 percent.

``But he's never faced the tough realities (of government). You just can't fire an employee at the state government level if you don't like them or you don't think they are doing the job. A lot of them are protected by the Merit Protection System and you've got to go through a long, arduous process.

``And so government is different from business and people who claim that they are going to run government like a business usually do not have any experience in government.''

Sullivan said he ``respectfully'' disagreed with Williamson, saying the senator and Istook are career politicians who ``are stuck in the government rut, which is exactly why Oklahoma needs a fresh, bold approach.''

Williamson said he does not want to over-promise to voters. ``It's very important to me that Oklahomans can look at their leaders and believe them,'' he said.

The senator has a partially formed right hand due to a birth defect, but that did not deter him from doing such things as playing bass guitar as a young man in a group called ``The Quotations,'' or from having a successful law practice and political career.

``I think what it does for a person is it makes it clear that most people's restrictions or limitations are in their own minds,'' he said.

Sullivan has criticized Istook for adopting ``liberal'' spending policies. Williamson said that ``in all fairness to Congressman Istook, I think he is a conservative.''

But he said ``people in this day and time would have to wonder about his spending votes as well as they would have to wonder about all Republicans in charge of the current (Congress) at the national Capitol.''

Chip Englander, Istook's campaign manager, said ``the congressman's conservative record speaks for itself.''