Double standard on not paying taxes... Claytie Williams versus Bill White...

Why is Bill White getting away with not releasing his taxes, and why is it not a bigger deal that he admitted to not paying taxes in 1995? 

(link). Excerpt follows...

AUSTIN — When millionaire oilman Clayton Williams said he hadn't paid federal income taxes one year, it helped make Ann Richards governor.

Democrat Bill White's disclosure that he didn't have taxable income in 1995 hasn't sparked the same explosion. Circumstances, timing and candidates differ, but the issue isn't helping his battle against Gov. Rick Perry.

The GOP incumbent has made a crusade of demanding that White release his income tax returns for the years he served as deputy energy secretary and as state Democratic Party chairman, refusing to debate White because he hasn't done so.

[SNIP]

A recap: White left as deputy energy secretary in 1995 and started a venture capital business looking at oil and gas investments, according to his campaign. Spokeswoman Katy Bacon wouldn't release his tax return but said he paid $27,668 in federal income taxes, including withholding, estimated tax payments and an overpayment. Because of businesses losses, exemptions and deductions, he had no taxable income. He owed $3,482 in household employment taxes for his housekeeper. He got a refund of $24,186, she said.

That level of detail contrasts with the 1990 disclosure by Republican Williams, who'd refused to release his returns and answered a reporter's question the Friday before Election Day this way: "I'll tell you when I didn't pay any income tax was 1986, when our whole economy collapsed."

Williams - a wildcatter whose shoot-from-the-hip style was a far cry from White's boardroom persona - made the comment on the heels of other high-profile gaffes and couldn't recover.

"I always thought if that statement had not been made on that windy, sunny day in College Station by the side of a train, he would have pulled out that election," said Reggie Bashur, who worked for Williams. He recalled a main damage-control strategy was opening the bar early on the train carrying media. Democrat Richards seized on the comment as an example of Williams being out of step with working Texans and won the race.

Perry's working to make White's returns an issue. Spokesman Mark Miner said "you have working families throughout the state that work every day to pay their taxes ..... This is another example of why it is important for Bill White to release his tax returns. But it also shows why he probably isn't releasing his tax returns." He called White a "liberal millionaire."

That is a funny anecdote from the old days... hey reporters look over here... hey reporters drink some alcohol it is on us...

What is not funny is the double standard. Clayton Williams got reamed incessantly for his comment. By contrast this is one of the only articles in the entire msm about Bill White not paying taxes in 1995...