This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rep. Craig Frank, R-Cedar Hills, would make a wonderful Alice in Wonderland character.
He doesn't really say what he really says, you see. And to correct what he is quoted as saying, he says the very thing that he is quoted as saying but didn't really say, you see.
Frank felt the need to correct on his Facebook page the item I wrote in Monday's column about merchandising opportunities for the states-rights-promoting Patrick Henry Caucus.
I wrote about merchandise being offered for sale by the caucus, but I quoted Frank saying the lapel pins will be given as a token of appreciation to those who donate to the Patrick Henry Caucus.
Frank corrected that on his Facebook page, noting that the pins "are tokens of appreciation for individual citizens who donate to the Patrick Henry Caucus."
Notice the difference between what I wrote and what he wrote? It is a bit subtle.
I also passed on rumors of another product that would be numbered and distributed to members, but actual ownership would be retained by the caucus. But I noted Frank refused to talk about that.
He straightened that out on his Facebook page, noting that the pins that are "numbered" are property of the Patrick Henry Caucus and will be distributed to legislator caucus members.
This "I didn't say what I said" pronouncement seems to be a pattern for Frank. In 2009, The Tribune published a story about an item Frank introduced for interim study between legislative sessions. The issue was whether to put a special tax on caffeinated soda pop. It was a tongue-in-cheek response to the proposal to the cigarette tax. Frank noted that soda pop also could be harmful to one's health.
Frank immediately posted a video response on his blog, underthedome.com, correcting The Tribune's story. He said that actually, he was putting a study item on the agenda to look at taxing caffeinated soda pop.
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Standing for principle • As Rep. Craig Frank grows in stature among the conservative faction of the Republican Party, life seems to be getting ever more confusing.
Not only does he think words coming from him carry a different meaning than the exact same words coming from the media, ideological positions and personal goals can intertwine in a messy way.
Frank, being a loyal member of the Utah County contingent, is reigning vice chairman of the vaunted Conservative Caucus in the House. But as a member of the Governor's Commission on Strengthening Democracy, he was the House member tagged to run a bill promoted by the commission to limit the amount of campaign contributions, something he voted as a commission member to approve.
He found, however, that for a conservative, promoting campaign contribution limits is a bad thing and, according to commission chairman Kirk Jowers, he backed out of that responsibility.
The onus was then put on Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corrine, but, alas, something happened on the way to the Republican Convention and Ferry got ousted.
So much for campaign contribution limits.
Then, of course, there is the conservatives' peas-and-carrots issue of limited federal government and even, among the stalwarts, an angst toward accepting evil federal money.
Frank, a loyal devotee to conservatism, must have had to hold his nose real hard when he and his wife accepted $85,000 in federal No Child Left Behind grant money to develop a comprehensive instructional and developmental program for start-up charter schools.
The federal grant money was given to Lincoln Academy, a charter school in Pleasant Grove, through the State Office of Education's Charter School Board. Frank told me at the time that it was a competitive process and the grant he wrote for Lincoln Academy was the winning proposal.
So I'm expecting a post on Frank's Facebook page soon to set me straight by noting it was a competitive process and the grant he wrote for Lincoln Academy was the winning proposal.