Worlds Apart!

Back when the Baby Boomer Generation, the generation of Gov. Jim Douglas, was young, the White House had the "Selective Service System" - THE DRAFT - to provide the bodies to fill the bags in South Vietnam.

To pull off the current quagmire in Iraq, this White House didn't have the draft to rely on.

Instead, President Bush, who "dodged" the Vietnam-era draft by getting a special placement in the Texas Air National Guard, had to count on the Reserves and the weekend warriors of the states' National Guard forces.

National Guard troops can be federalized to protect the nation's security, but as Sen. Peter Shumlin pointed out on "Charlie & Ernie" this morning [see item below], the reasons President Bush cited to do so were bold lies and hold no water whatsoever. The nation's security was not being threatened by Iraq,

At his official weekly presser today, Gov. Scissorhands was informed of Shummy's comments on the morning radio and their connection to the bill, H.746, that  Rep. Mike Fisher (D-Lincoln) and 27 co-sponsors introduced in the House on that point. Said Vermont's reigning and apparently invincible King James:

"I share every Vermonter’s concern about the continuation of the war. I hope that we can find an exit strategy. That is the responsibility of our national leaders so that no one from Vermont or any other state is called upon to serve.

"But in the meantime, the Congress not only authorized the use of force, but continues to fund the war efforts and it’s really a question that’s best put to those who represent us in the Congress.

"I think it’s important for the Legislature to focus on the agenda they can affect, because they can’t affect the power, constitutionally and statutorily, of the President to federalize the National Guard. It’s been clarified by the Congress. It’s been litigated throughout the centuries and that power is quite clear.

"I hope the Legislature will focus on economic growth, on housing, on healthcare, on reducing property taxes, on matters that are within their provence."

Q. Do you think there's justification for Vermont Guard members to continue to be on the firing line in Iraq?

Douglas: "Well, the President has that authority."

Q. And you don’t question that?

Douglas: "No. It’s been resolved by the court system repeatedly."

Informed afterward of Douglas' remarks, the bearded Rep. Fisher told yours truly:

"It’s clear to me that the governor and the governor’s staff have not looked at this issue. We’re putting a very serious question on the table about the continued illegality of the President’s federalizing of the Guard. I hope that the Governor and his staff will take a good serious look at the questions we’re raising and invite him to the policy table.

"I think when his staff does take a look at it, they’ll realize there is a role for states to play with respect to the governing of the Guard."

One thing's clear: these guys are worlds apart on this one!

Charlie & Shummy

Got wind the other day - from a Montpeculiar business lobbyist, as a matter of fact - that 620 WVMT-AM morning radio jock Charlie Papillo, of "Charlie & Ernie" fame, was whining on the radio airwaves about the fact I'd snapped his picture at the Great Harvest Bread Store on Pine Street, but never published it in this blog.

Poor baby!

Charlie, so sorry. The opportunity simply hasn't presented itself. Haven't been tuning in.

But with the Vermont Legislature back in session and you having guests like Senate President pro tem Peter Shumlin, I tuned in this morning.

So here's the shot of your handsome self at long last!

Mr. Papillo leans to the political right. And he challenged Shummy about his support for Rep. Mike Fisher's bill declaring that President George "WMD" Bush's authority to federalize the Vermont National Guard for Iraq duty has terminated.

"The Governor’s already come out and said that any bill that would suggest that, he would veto it in a minute. You’re going to continue on that fight?" asked Charlie.

Shumlin: I have really strong feelings about the war in Iraq. I also think it’s a great example of why Americans are turned off by politics-as-usual. All these folks running around saying we’ve got to get out of Iraq, we’ve got to end this war. Nothing happens.

And the fact is the Vermont Guard has made the most extraordinary sacrifice for their country and they are fighting hard in Iraq and I think Adjutant General Dubie has done an extraordinary job. I am proud of the families and the Vermont Guard.

However, the resolution that was passed by Congress six years ago, in my judgment, has expired. It was based upon three tenets:

1. That the government of Iraq was a threat to the United States. Well guess what? Saddam Hussein is not longer a threat to the United States.

2. We had to get those weapons of mass destruction. Well, haven’t found them yet [because they do not exist].

3. That it was punishment, in effect, for their complicity in 9-11, which we know also didn’t happen.

So either Congress needs to authorize a new resolution saying we’re gonna mediate a civil war in Iraq, or we should bring our Vermont Guard members home.

Good point, eh?

P.S. Good bread, too.

Who are these guys?

Small world.

Reminded of that again today under Montpeculiar's Golden Dome.

Just getting there was an adventure. Cloudy to Williston, then the snow started. One lane 30-35 mph from Richmond to Waterbury. Then it cleared. The frickin' sun came out and the joint, as they say, was hopping!

Surrounding Sgt. at Arms Francis Brooks in the Statehouse Lobby are students and relatives from the Chinese Military Academy in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. A Norwich connection. The gist I got was a few of ours study there for a year and a few of theirs do likewise, studying here at the first private military college in America.

News-wise, the House Agriculture Committee voted on the Hemp Bill, H.267.

Sitting down?

It passed unanimously on an 11-0 vote!

Afterward I had a little Q&A with Committee Chairman David Zuckerman, the Progressive farmer from Big Bad Burlap [pictured doing his summertime Farmers-Market thing].

Q: What does the Hemp Bill do?

Zuckerman: The bill essentially outlines the process by which a farmer could grow hemp, get a license from the Agriculture Agency, pending approval by the federal government.

We took a lot of testimony to be clear about the differences. It is the same plant as cannabis sativa. However, hemp plants are .3% THC or less, and that’s clearly significantly lower levels than anything people would use for illicit drug use.

Q. North Dakota has also passed a law allowing this, but they haven’t issued licenses yet. They’re not growing hemp.  The federal government says hemp is the same as pot. Any THC and it’s pot.

Zuckerman: Well, as of next January we’ll have a new federal government, a new president. Partly, this is just setting the stage so when that administration, or some future administration is ready to acknowledge these differences and the economic value of hemp, our state will be well-positioned to take advantage of that and help our farmers with another crop option!

Q: Certainly this will be reviewed by the Judiciary Committee. Is this going to pass?

Zuckerman: I think this has a strong chance of passage. I’ve gotten nods in the hallway from people of all political persuasions. Clearly the vote was 11-0 in my committee. That includes all three parties and an Independent. I think there’s broad understanding by people in this building that there really is a difference between hemp and marijuana.

The Judiciary Committee review is really on a couple technical matters. There will be a background check on a farmer to grow it and they just need to make sure that’s appropriate.

Q. Surprised it was a unanimous vote?

Zuckerman: No. As the testimony went on over the last week, we kept seeing more and more evidence of why this is a good crop economically, and why it could easily be distinguished from marijuana. So, people’s comfort levels rose.

Q. So, what does one do with hemp?

Zuckerman: The primary economic value at first for Vermont farmers would be the seeds: hemp oil and hemp meal and seeds for hemp food products.

The secondary product would be the fiber and the stalks which could either be burned in the power plants for renewable energy, or could be chipped and used as animal-bedding where dairy farms are having a hard time finding bedding.

In the long term, if we grew more and more of this in-state, we could end up with a hemp-fiber manufacturing plant.

ALSO....

You'll never guess who returned my Monday call today around noon. 

Initials "P.G."

Insists he's "seriously considering" something. However, he adamantly declines to put a time-limit on his period of "serious" consideration.

April Fool's Day?

Hey, it's a free country.

"I'm Jeff Danziger...

"I'm a political cartoonist. I've been doing this for about 25 or 30 years, and slowly but surely, trying to figure out what it's all about."

That's the opening line in a snappy little four-minute video Jeff polished off and sent our way a couple days ago. Merci beaucoup.

I hear ya, man. I might utter the same line, only substituting "columnist" for "cartoonist."

Once upon a time, Ol' Jeff taught English at U-32 High School in East Montpelier, Vermont.

Hey, somebody has to, right?

Today he's nationally syndicated.

Here's the link to Jeff, the talking cartoonist on the Big Apple rooftop - his first on YouTube.

Nice

Vermont Takes the Point...

Just got word that legislation is being introduced today under Montpelier's Golden Dome that will put Vermont on point in leading our nation out of the illegal Bush-Cheney Quagmire in Iraq. The lead sponsor is Democratic Rep. Mike Fisher of Lincoln.

Says Fisher in a statement being released today at a Statehouse presser and also being released nationally by the Liberty Tree Foundation:

"It is clear that the mission that Congress authorized no longer exists. The President has no current or permanent legal authority to keep Guard members in Iraq. The Governor as Commander-in-Chief of the Vermont National Guard should take necessary steps to bring them home."

Statement of purpose: This bill addresses limits to the constitutional and statutory authority of the President to federalize and deploy the Vermont National Guard in Iraq; declares that the authority for that deployment has terminated; requests that actions be taken to terminate federalization and bring troops back to Vermont as members of the Vermont national guard; and reaffirms that Vermont national guard members be limited to service on behalf of the state of Vermont, unless properly and lawfully called into federal service.

Interesting, eh?

[Took the picture last Valentine's Day.]

More here.

State of the Mind?

Tuesday "Track" rush for Wednesday's Seven Days.

BUT....

Talk-show host Arne Arnesen, out of Massachusetts these days, called last night. Long time no hear.

She wanted me on her radio show this morning to talk about...get this... President Bush's Monday night "State of the Union" speech.

Told her I wasn't planning to watch it, but for her?

What the hell!

"Why don't you watch it? You're a political columnist."

I confessed. I haven't been able to watch or read about anything to do with presidential politics, the Liar in Chief, or the presidential race with the smiling wannabees and the distractions from reality. Is it an indication of my good health? Or of a persistent illness?

But for her, I told her, I would make an exception.

I watched. Did you?

Was reminded of why I had stopped watching. My beloved America is tumbling into the worst economic recession of my baby-boomer life. The Bush Administration's Iraq War, the war that, like Vietnam, never should have been allowed to start, continues unabated without any end in sight.

And Big Oil continues to rule, as Mother Earth's rising temperature forecasts the shameful legacy we shall leave for our children's children.

Mr. Bush preferred to emphasize the need for maintaining tax cuts for the rich. The repeated standing ovations by the Republicans to even the most meaningless of lines became nauseating  acts of forced theatrical absurdity.

Hey, Sen. Pat Leahy's come out for Barack Obama for president. Sen. Bernie Sanders hasn't made an endorsement yet. BUT, Ol' Bernardo did sit right behind Obama-wama and was real friendly with him.

A sign?

D.C. Senatorial Presser

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders did a 4:30 PM presser from his U.S. Senate office Monday afternoon - his preview of the real state of the union President George "WMD" Bush will paint in his State of the Union speech tonight.

This is a photo of the presser. Participation was by phone from Freyne Land HQ. Tape recorder, telephone, coffee cup and pooter. High-tech!!!

Ol' Bernardo went on for just seven minutes - you can imagine what he had to say, right? - before taking questions.

Aside from more pressing issues, like the illegal Iraq War, the economy and the Canadian border, Sen. Sanders was asked this by some wise guy:

Q. Is it true that you’re supporting the N.Y. Giants at the Super Bowl?

Sanders: No. It is another piece of malicious media gossip.  No, not at all. Actually I am supporting New England.

Q.Really? But you grew up in New York? [Brooklyn to be exact.]

Sanders: But I have lived in Vermont, as you may know, for 43 years and think it’ll be very exciting to see whether they can pull off an undefeated season.

Sorry, Bernie. I grew up in New York, too. Frank Gifford, Charlie Connerly, Sam Huff? And that defensive line of Robustelli, Katcavage, Modzelewski and Grier.

The names one never forgets in life, eh?

On a more serious note, Bernie was asked about the Brattleboro Selectboard's 3-2 Friday vote in favor of putting on the March ballot the question of arresting President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for war crimes as well as perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in that Vermont city.

Q. This is Evan Lehman from the Brattleboro Reformer. As you've probably heard, the city is potentially gonna vote on Bush's war crimes. Do you have any comment on that? And do you plan to go to the State of the Union yourself?

Sanders: Yeah. I will be at the State of the Union. I think Brattleboro...[pause]...I don't have really much to say about the war-crimes vote. I just simply reiterate my view that this president will in all likelihood go down in history as being the worst president, at least in the modern history of the United States.

I apologize, but I do have to get down there.

"There" was the floor of the U.S Senate where a floor vote was underway.

And at some point Ol' Bernardo will have to come up with a straight and complete answer on the Brattleboro war-crimes vote.

Right?

Dean And Me

A hundred people plus turned out for the 11 o'clock showing of - and almost final cut of - Heath Eiden's film about The Howard Dean Presidential Campaign back in 2003 and 2004 at the Roxy in Burlington this morning. That's the Stowe filmmaker in the lobby [right].

Thanks for the memories!

Heath showed it in Montpeculiar yesterday and at the Roxy in Burlap today. I knew if I didn't go, I'd regret it.  Apparently Sam Hemingway from the Freeps and WDEV morning talk-show host Mark Johnson had similar pangs.

Eiden the filmmaker was "feeling great."  The Associated Press wire and WCAX-TV covered yesterday's Montpelier screening, he noted, and,  “Most importantly, people from the grassroots showed up.  It’s really a testament to it years later, that people are still realizing that movement was no fluke. I was watching South Carolina’s returns last night," Heath told yours truly, "and I swear I’m watching Howard Dean in those speeches".

No Howard Dean here?

"Howard Dean’s not here," acknowledged Producer/Director Eiden, "but he’s got some very important things going on in Washington.  We look forward to doing another special showing in Burlington when he decides it’s time for him to show."

Distribution?

“We’re going to be talking to a company up in Toronto," he told us,  "and their potential partnerships with other politically like-minded groups throughout the country that have interest in the continuing story of the movement that was inspired by Howard Dean."

How refreshing to see and hear a presidential candidate way back in November 2003 - at the time the passionate Democrat front-runner - refer on the campaign trail to the "lies" President George W, Bush used to take us to war in Iraq.

How disturbing that more than four years later, the bloodbath those Bush-Cheney "lies" were used to start continues...with no end in sight.

Not even the New York Giants winning the Super Bowl can change that sad fact.

America Today

Big "Worker Justice Conference" today at UVM.

Yours truly finally hit the huge, new $70 million Dudley Davis Center to catch the show. Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders [right] was first elected mayor of Burlap in 1981 when Ol' Dudley was president of the Merchants Bank.

Bernie told the crowd that since George W. Bush became president, "Five million more people have slipped into poverty and we have by far the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country in the world."

"One of the great disgraces in this country," said Sen. Sanders, is that "one out of five children lives in poverty. And you know what the corollary of that is?" he asked.

Answer: "We lock more people up in jail than any other country in the world!" said Bernie.

Ol' Bernardo also noted, "We have lost over 3 million good-paying manufacturing jobs. In this small state alone, we have lost 25 percent of our manufacturing jobs in the last six years.

"Part of the transformation of the American economy is shown by the fact that 25 years ago General Motors was the largest employer with good wages, good benefits and a strong union. Today," asked Bernie, "who is the largest employer in the United States?

"Wal-Mart."

And what did Wal-Mart bring?

"Low wages, low benefits, and vehemently anti-union. That’s the transformation of the American economy," answered the Senator.

He neglected to mention that the man for whom the building we were in was named, the late Dudley Davis' son Jeff Davis, was the lead developer/builder who fought long and hard to finally construct our own local Wal-Mart in Williston.

Symington Says...

Caught the Speaker of the House's Friday "brown-bagger" via telephone today. And Gaye Symington said some things that certainly made my ears stand up. Sure sounded like she conceded they - the Democrats - have left a whole lot undone healthcare-wise. Said Speaker Gaye:

"We passed what was a fairly comprehensive approach to restructuring how we would pay for and deliver healthcare in this state [in 2005]. The Governor vetoed that.

"We were not able to override that veto.

"And we made a decision a year later to make an enormous compromise, which was to use the healthcare insurance as the delivery mechanism. And the bottom line for us has been that it needed to be comprehensive healthcare. And we’re on that road and once you make that decision you have a lot of work ahead of you to make that work."

Speaker Gaye acknowledged H.304, Rep. Topper McFaun's healthcare reform bill that yours truly wrote about in this week "Inside Track." That's the healthcare reform bill providing hospitalization coverage for all Vermonters that wasn't supposed to see the light of day, the one that will be getting some attention after all. Said the House Speaker:

“I know [House Healthcare Committee Chair] Steve Maier is taking a lot of testimony about that bill and there are significant questions around H.304.  I think H.304, I mean regardless of the details of it, step back from the details - H.304 basically reflects people’s impatience with the pace of healthcare reform and their impatience with using this compromise we made after the original veto."

Good observation, Madame Speaker!

P.S. Want to get up to speed on H.304 AND see Chairman Maier on the hot seat in his hometown?  Check out this meeting on healthcare reform that was shot in  Middlebury at the end of November. No beating around the bush....

Hemp promotes marijuana?

On Thursday afternoon, Sgt. Dean Hoover of the Saskatchewan Drug Unit told Wavy Davy's House Ag Committee via telephone from Saskatoon that that's not what happened up there.

"We really don’t have a big issues with the hemp growers," said Hoover. "It’s such a different looking crop and it really doesn’t look like marijuana," he said. "There’s basically just one flower on top, so most people really don’t know what it is." So we really don’t have a lot of issues.

"It would be really easy to spot marijuana plants in the center of a hemp field because there’s such a difference in the look. Hemp plants are absolutely filled with seeds, and, of course marijuana are all female plants, so there are no seeds. They want the smokable product," said the Sarge from Saskatoon.

As for smoking hemp to get high, said Sgt. Hoover, "You’d have to smoke 400 pounds of it to even get a smile on your face."

As it is, he said, "Marijuana is huge everywhere up here. Most of our marijuana grows are indoors.  A lot better product. Readily available anywhere. Canadian marijuana’s pretty popular. Big indoor hydroponic grows because of the short outdoor growing season."

Hemp in a field has got one stalk coming up and one flower on top, noted Hoover, where marijuana plants "have stems coming everywhere and the more bud the better. It’s totally different looking."

The Hemp Bill, H.267, appears to be gathering steam.

Interesting.

Hemp Has Legs

Don't spend much time in the House Agriculture Committee chaired by Progressive Burlington farmer Dave Zuckerman. Today was an exception. An interesting exception.

Check back to find out what Alex Miller [right], founder/owner of True Blue Green Food in Bethel had to say about how nice it'd be to be able to grow hemp seeds right here in Vermont instead have having to order from Canada.

Interesting story about this former Australian chef to the rich and famous in Seven Days last Halloween. I missed it on the first go-round. Maybe you did as well?

Also find out what the two top-ranking Vermont State Troopers behind her had to say about it - and a cop on the speakerphone from Saskatchewan where it is legal.

Rep. Michael Fisher of Lincoln's H.267, a bill that would allow commercial hemp production - it's not the same as marijuana, witnesses emphasized - actually looks like it has legs.

Work in Vermont?

This is what a talented, hard-working, successful newspaper publisher looks like. Took the pic this afternoon.

Paula Routly came to Vermont to go to Middlebury. Stuck around. Started Seven Days with Pamela Polston... jeezum-crow, in 1996?

"Inside Track" departed Vermont Times to join them about two months after they started. Hillary Clinton was First Lady.

I never see Paula on a Wednesday. But today I followed an impulse and bagged my trip to Montpeculiar - snowing and traffic moving at 50 mph, so I got off on the Richmond exit and came back to Burlap.

Did taxes, would you believe? Then went to 7Days to make copies.

Ol' Paula's been doing extra duty promoting this Saturday's big Creative/Tech Expo on the Burlington Waterfront. It's called "Vermont 3.0."

We're talking Green Technology, software/website development, graphic design, cutting edge you-know-what. Right here in the Peoples Republic. This week's edition of Seven Days has a bunch about it.

Did you know that there are a whole bunch of high-tech, laid-back businesses in your backyard looking for talent?

I didn't.

Mission Accomplished

Made it. Print column, the ol’ “Inside Track” all done. The Tuesday miracle. Whew!

This, after a topsy-turvy few days that included a car accident in the Mary Fanny parking garage on Hospital Hill. Yes, the one convicted former CEO Bill Boettcher and the boys got built.

Thanks, Bill.

Bob from Huntington in his white 2007 Silverado wagon just threw it into reverse and backed into me as hard as he could. I was stopped on the downslope at the time. Said he didn’t see me. I need a new bumper, headlights and a few other items - $1600 and change is the estimate. Hadn’t even made it to the doctor, yet.

The doctor, by the way, said the blood tests looked good. I'm a healthy dude these days.

Then the furnace in the 27-year-old building I call “home” started banging and clanging and spitting and spewing and leaking and on the way out. “Home” is a three story house on Burlap’s South End. The Ol’ Five Sisters neighborhood. I’ve got the ground-floor/ basement/mother-in-law apartment. Unfortunately, that’s where the furnace, original to the building, is, too.

The owner/lamdlord is on top of it.

Hey, at least it’s not boring, eh?

A pal took that photo of yours truly in Sweetwaters recently. The painting on the wall - by Wendy Copp, right? - includes the Peter Freyne of 1982 eying the Tony Pomerleau of the same vintage. “Inside Track” was running in the Vanguard Press, the “alternative weekly” of those days in Burlap when a guy named “Bernie” was occupying the mayor’s office.

Whatever happened to him?

A few other characters of that era in Burlap were also on the big wall at Tony Perry's "Sweets", including Denny Morrisseau, founder/owner of Leuing’s. Denny sold it in the mid-1990s. Yours truly was one of his early bartenders. What fun!

Time flies.

Anyway, knocked out the column for Seven Days, writing about a surprise on the healthcare front in Montpeculiar and also about marijuana which is scheduled to receive a little attention on tonight’s city council agenda and under the Golden Dome this week, too.

[Hey, if the council meetings are available “live” on BurlingtonTelecom, why the heck aren’t they available “live” online in the People's Republic of Burlington?]

Ward 1 Democrat Ed Adrian [right] wants Burlington voters to have an advisory question regarding the decriminalization of marijuana on the March ballot.

Councilor Eddie’s an attorney and former prosecutor in Franklin County. Currently cashes a paycheck from the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. Even admits to toking up in his younger years.

Besides Gov. Jim Douglas, who hasn’t?

Let's get real.

Tuesday Turmoil...

There talk on the morning airwaves of world financial markets crashing.

At 2 PM, Gov. Jim Douglas will deliver what's expected to be a rather austere "tough times" budget address at the Statehouse.

And veteran Rep. Cola Hudson (R-Lyndon) won't be there to catch it.

Cola, 81, who's been there every winter since 1973, died Sunday. He came down sick on Friday.  At least he got one last January in the House he loved so well before passing.

Ah, but the man sure had a heart!

Vermont heart.

Save me a spot, would ya', Cola?

Shumlin Show

Senate President pro tem Peter Shumlin did You Can Quote Me with Marselis Parsons and Kristin Carlson Sunday morning.

Anyone watch?

He made it absolutely, positively clear he has no interest in running for governor.  Shummy says there'll be a Democratic candidate, but he won't say who.

Sounded like a guy convinced nobody can beat Jim Douglas, the three-term Republican incumbent. But the Democrats, the main-streamers, all sound like they won't run for governor unless they're positively certain ahead-of-time they'll win.

Politics is all about money. Raising money. Spending money. So's governing.

Shummy doesn't like Gov. Scissorhands' proposal to lease the Vermont Lottery to Wall Street for 40 years for a one-time, up-front $50 million payment. Says it's making us $20 million a year "and there’s certainly ways we can increase those proceeds."

One of the things Wall Street wants to do is put advertisements on the backs of lottery tickets to increase revenue. Why, he asks,  don't we do that?

“Go ahead. Let’s do it!," said Sen. Shumlin, "Why not?

"There’s probably three, four, five things that we could do like that."

Said he gets his advice on this stuff from State Sen. Dick Mazza, owner of Mazza’s General Store in Colchester.

“He’s selling the tickets. He knows what the demand is. He and I agree that we’ve got it on low-idle. You can barely hear the engine running. We could turn the engine up a bit, get more revenue out of it. We’re going into a tremendously difficult time fiscally. Let’s have that discussion."

OK. How about a little discussion about casino gambling.  The Green Mountain Casino?

Said Shummy:

"It’s my judgment that the problems that you get with casinos, that come with gambling - prostitution of all kinds, is not something that would be coming to the Green Mountain State. I don’t think we should be so desperate in our pursuit for money that we start to make choices that aren’t in synch with Vermont values. And I just don’t think that casinos are."

Agree with him?

Governor on Pot

Beating city councilors to the roach-clip, Gov. Jim Douglas [right] weighed in Thursday on Burlington citizens voting for-or-against marijuana decriminalization on Town Meeting Day.

Next Tuesday night, Burlington city councilors will debate whether or not to place an "advisory" question on the March Town Meeting Day ballot, asking voters if  they think possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized in Vermont’s largest city.

The resolution, sponsored by Democrat Ed Adrian and Progressive Tim Ashe, would also call on the Governor and the Legislature to “explore creating a similar system for all communities statewide.”

"I really believe the appropriate place for that debate is in the General Assembly," said GOP Jim, "not in individual communities or counties in the state, but here in the Legislature where the lawmakers ought to decide what the appropriate penalties are."

"It’s awkward," said Douglas at his Thursday press conference, "for a state to have individual municipalities making criminal laws different from district to district."

Currently there’s a bill in the State Senate that would decriminalize possession of up to four ounces of marijuana, making it a civil offense punishable by no more than a $1000 fine.

Incidentally, on St. Patrick's Day 30 years ago, when he was representing Middlebury in the Vermont House, Rep. Jim Douglas was one of 75 House members who voted in favor of a marijuana-decriminalization bill that would have made possession of one ounce of pot punishable in Vermont by no more than a $100 fine.

Though it passed the House on March 17, 1978, the pot-decriminalization bill died in the Vermont Senate where it never made it to the floor for a vote.

Should he? Or shouldn't he?

Should Peter Galbraith, a complete unknown to the people of Vermont, run for governor on the Democrat ticket?

That's a shot of Ambassador Pete taken on Church Street in Burlington last November, holding a copy of his book The End of Iraq. He'd just had coffee with Anthony Pollina at Uncommon Grounds.

Yesterday on VPR's Vermont Edition he was asked directly: Are you going to run for governor?

“I’m thinking seriously about it, but I haven’t decided,” he answered.

What more goes into your considerations, I mean, Anthony Pollina  is running. We know Jim Douglas is running. What are you still working on deciding?

"There are a number of points," replied Galbraith.  "First I have to say this is very early in the season. We have a two-year term for governor. I don’t think anybody in Vermont is interested in a permanent campaign. I’m not a politician. I was one 30 years ago [as chairman of the state Democratic Committee], basically I turned my attention to international affairs and dealing with some difficult problems. The question for me is whether I want to continue to do that and whether that’s the best way I can make a contribution... or closer to home."

Doesn't Tony the Prog's candidacy make things a little tough?  You and he split the "left" and Jim Douglas skates to an easy victory!

"My decision," said Galbraith, "doesn’t depend on what Anthony Pollina does. I’m going to come forward, if I were to run, with a  set of issues. I’d like to see something done about property taxes, which is an enormous burden for a lot of people. We need to find some solutions there. I’d like to see us move toward comprehensive and frankly affordable healthcare...I’d like to look at alternative energy. These are some of the issues I would talk about if I were a candidate."

Exciting, huh?

What's your advice for Mr. Galbraith?

Madame Speaker!

Democratic Speaker of the Vermont House Gaye Symington of Jericho is in Year #4 of her reign.

That's a picture of her in her corner office taken last winter. Below is one we snapped last week.

The other day we asked her what, from her travels around Vermont, she's hearing as the No. 1 issue Vermonters are raising?

"I would say it's the cost of healthcare," she replied. "If I had to add up the numbers over and over again, that would be very high up there."

Have to agree with her. That's the issue we're hearing the most about: the high monthly insurance bills that Vermonters have to pay, and the high-deductibles in the $5000-$10,000 range that go with them.

"The cost pressures on what they're paying for fuel," she added is another top issue. "And the pressure points of property taxes."

But healthcare's at the top? That's what you're hearing?

"I know, Peter," she replied with a tinge of irritation in her voice, "you want to know just the No. 1 thing."

Told her I'd listen to as many as she cared to mention. That all I can do is ask the question.

Also asked Speaker Symington how she felt about the prospects for the session?

She said she thought things had gotten off "on the right foot."

"I think we're talking about working together and as things get more specific, we'll see if that proves to be the case," said Gaye.

We dared ask: "On a scale of 1-10," how would she rate communication between herself and Gov. Jim Douglas?

"It's difficult to get information out of the Fifth Floor," she answered, "in terms of specific proposals." Speaker Gaye did say that she and Gov. Scissorhands have been meeting "regularly this past summer and fall."

And while she described her pow-wows with King James to be "more informative" than in the past, she told us she still has been in the dark on some things, including some in his State of the State speech.

While "the governor has the prerogative to have a few surprises in his State of the State address," she said, "it's common for governors to give people a heads-up on what's likely to be said and give us a copy ahead of time."

Gov. Douglas "chooses not to," she noted. "That's his prerogative."

Symington did say, with a touch of sarcasm, "I think Walter probably had a copy."

That's a reference to her predecessor  - Republican House Speaker Walter Freed, who was speaker for Jimbo's first term.

Bet she's right about that, eh?

Inhale slowly....

Shocking!

Actually, yours truly would argue that what's "shocking" is not that the Burlington City Council will be discussing on Monday the possibility of putting an "advisory" question  regarding "marijuana decriminalization" on the Queen City's Town Meeting Day Ballot, but the fact that it's 2008 and pot-smoking is still a crime!

Ol' white-haired, baby-boomer City Hall scribe John Briggs has a front-pager in today's Freeps titled "City Hall to Discuss Decriminalization of Pot."

Do check it out.

Got a kick out of the fact the first reader comment online was about how the city council has "more pressing" things to spend time on like "out of control" property taxes.

Probably written by a pot dealer, eh?

After all, the marijuana trade is a multi-million dollar business in Vermont, multi-billion nationwide, and it is completely untaxed!

And enforcing our current ridiculous pot law constitutes a ridiculous drain on law enforcement resources, from the men and women in blue to the court clerks, judges, corrections staff, probation workers and on and on and on.

And that, mes amis,  constitutes a ridiculous drain on our tax dollars.

Windsor County State's Attorney Bobby Sand has raised the issue for attention under Montpeculiar's Golden Dome this winter.

City Councilor Ed Adrian says it's high time the city of Burlington discuss it as well.

Reality?

What a concept!

Thoughts?

By the way, that's a picture of the fresh snow on Catherine Street early yesterday morning. Recycle Day it was.

Who are these guys?

The two smiling kissers on the left belong to key members of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' accomplished inner circle. Been with Jim since before he moved into the Fifth Floor office formerly occupied for more than a decade by Democrat Howard Dean.

On the far left is Press Secretary Jason Gibbs. Next to Jason stands Secretary of Administration Mike Smith.

Jason, who grew up in Forestdale, north of Brandon, graduated UMass-Amherst. Followed that up with communications posts at the Big Tunnel Project in Beantown and at the Mary Fanny Hospital in Burlap. Then he signed on with the Jim Douglas for Governor Campaign in 2001 and the rest is...history.

Mike Smith, also a Rutland County native, picked up a bachelors and masters from Groovy UV. Mike was a commando with Navy SEAL Team Two, a state rep for Woodstock [the town not the four-day concert], town manager of Hardwick, a financial consultant, then deputy state treasurer when Jimbo was the state treasurer.

Quite the team, eh?

The Dems haven't been able to lay a glove on them.

Snapped this at a recent 5th Floor gubernatorial presser. Two reporters, Louis Porter and Peter Hirschfeld [Vermont Press Bureau] are on the far right.

This Monday morning, King James spoke to the Rutland Chamber at breakfast.

He'll do the Springfield Chamber for lunch.

Sunday Sun

Went on a little laundromat run this sunny Sunday in beautiful Burlap. This was an hour after sunrise.  Main Street in America's smallest largest city of any state.

And that other state - home of the Yankees - across the pond

First laid eyes on this vista in 1956 - a six-year-old in the back seat of a spanking new Mercury with sister and brother. Mommy was driving and Daddy was smoking and holding the map.

Time flies, eh?

Lot of miles since.

Clothes all clean. Ready to catch Gov. Scissorhands on WCAX's "You Can Quote Me."

Anyone else watching?

Old Meets New

Ah, yes. The hallways are buzzing once again under the Golden Dome. Suddenly, each and every January the Statehouse halls fill with traffic and buzz and gobs of chat. Yet the present tense is only warmed and enhanced by the past-tense feeling provided by the magnificent reminders of yesterdays long gone.

Thank you, Governor Edward Curtis Smith (1898-1900), who also served in the United States Senate. Excellent railroad connections had he.

The son of Governor J. Gregory Smith, nephew of Congressman Worthington Smith, and grandson of Congressman John Smith, he graduated from Yale in 1875, studied law at Columbia University, and became an attorney in St Albans. He succeeded his father as President of the Central Vermont Railroad, was President of Welden National Bank, and was a founder of People's Trust Bank of St. Albans and New York City's Sherman National Bank.  More here.

And with Gov. Smith are distinguished daily lobbyists of the present Legislature: Rebecca McCarty and Gerry Morris, aka "Morris the Cat", of Morris Demag McCarty, Inc. More here.

State of Our State

Here in sunny Burlap this Thursday afternoon, we turn to Comcast Cable CH. 17, and Under the Dome where the Internet - not the local commercial stations - is making live viewing, not only of Gov. James Scissorhands' magnificent, warm and briefly interrupted State of the State Address possible, but the "Democratic Response" in Room 11.

Thanks.

I confess. I avoid the great, ceremonial days under the Golden Dome when everyone's hair is perfect and clothes pressed and shiny [even though we had learned that several antiwar protesters had something planned.] Can't read the Anti-Iraq War sheet hoisted in the back of the House.  Just before this one was raised and antiwar slogans shouted, another was carried through the floor of the House of Representatives - about seven minutes into Gov. Jimbo's 30-minute pep talk.

Bet you forgot, eh?

All this presidential primary saturation media coverage, and it's hard to remember America's men and women who continue to get killed and maimed for the Big Bush-Cheney Lie.

"The state of our state stands strong," said Gov. Jim Douglas. "We have the healthiest deer and moose herds in decades!" He called for "investments in job creation and our natural environment."

AND, would you believe, Gov. Douglas wants to "reduce healthcare costs," AND he wants "to reduce obesity," too!

Damn fat people! This Bud's for you!

Vermont's governor also has the radical view that "Drug pushers have no place in our communities...no place anywhere in our state!"

AND he wants to cut the capital gains tax-break for coupon clippers, while leasing the Vermont Lottery to Wall Street!

What a guy!

Afterward, live on VPR with Bob Kinzel, Senate Democrat Bossman Peter Shumlin said the Guv was "not being honest with Vermonters." Everyone acknowledges "we need more money," said Shummy. The question is "How should we get it?"

[Hemp? A few blog posters think so.]

Sen. Shumlin said he does "not think you’ll see Vermont give away this asset [the Vermont Lottery] to Wall Street and let them gin up the games."

It's a good bet Putney Pete ought to know, right?

Fuggedaboudit?

We are going to experience healthcare services like the rest of the civilized world. Like France and England. Like Sweden and Canada. Like Germany and Spain and Finland and the rest.

When you or your loved one gets sick or injured and needs expensive treatment and hospitalization and rehab, all you're going to have to worry about is getting well - not going broke. You will not have to worry about being unable to get the procedure you need because you cannot afford it. Or because you  cannot afford the $10,000 deductible on the insurance "coverage" you do have.

We're going to see that day, right here in Vermont and right here in the United States of America.

It's only a question of when.

Presently, we've reached the point where, not only the political activists and the sick are pushing for it, but internists, surgeons, family-practice doctors, shrinks, nurses and business owners are demanding it too. Can the inevitable be that far off?

Dr. Deb Richter, a family practice physician told the standing room only crowd in Room 11 that the special-interests have for years used the  “single-payer” label to block progress on healthcare.

The bill the reformers back, she said, H.304, would not only extend healthcare coverage to all Vermonters, but improve service and reduce cost by dramatically reducing paperwork and removing the middleman - the insurance companies.

Shocking!

Said the Good Doc:

I’d like to make the point that this satisfies the governor’s criteria of not increasing spending. And with a 40-percent drop in premiums, it has the potential to decrease property taxes, which is another one of his criteria...and it is compatible with Catamount, because Catamount premiums would go down, too.

Well, if it’s so good, why don’t we have it?

The special interests are against it.

That is a lot of where our money is going and they want to keep it. It’s perfectly understandable.

But I’d like to address something that always seems to get in the way when we talk about healthcare reform, and it’s managed to keep this issue from advancing by applying the single-payer label.

“Single-payer.” Those poisonous words which mean to marginalize what turns out to be what the majority actually wants.

Fortunately, as you can see from the number of people in this room, it’s getting harder and harder to marginalize the majority.

You know, the Governor’s healthcare is covered by single-payer, and other state employees have single-payer healthcare.Those with Medicare have single-payer healthcare. Those with Medicaid have single-payer healthcare. Those with veterans care have single-payer.

Single payer is simply a more efficient way of collecting and paying for healthcare and it is not the issue...

So let’s put the single-payer business to bed!

The opportunity for change doesn’t come along very often and it should not be wasted.

That's a good line, eh?

About the "opportunity for change" not being wasted?

A few observers have suggested Ol' Doctor Deb, a Montpeculiar resident, wife and mother with a Cambridge practice, run for political office. Some say we're getting pretty tired of the same-old, same-old faces.

But married medical doctors with kids don't get into politics, at least not in Vermont, do they?

Crosswalk Duty

Caught these fine gentlemen today sharing good wishes in a key Montpeculiar crosswalk right next to the Pavilion Building.

Hey, it's a small town.

Montpelier fixtures are they, for as long as I can remember. Damn baby-boomers!

That's Lobbyist Steve Kimbell of Kimbell Sherman Ellis [on the left] shaking hands with whatshisname, oh yeah, the Governor of the State of Vermont, the Honorable Jim Douglas!

However, the hot action under the Golden Dome Wednesday wasn't being generated by elected officials, but rather by the 200-plus folks who packed the Cedar Creek Room and Room II - doctors, nurses, patients, seniors - folks who took off from work, folks who won't take "no" for an answer when it comes to seeing Vermont make real progress on healthcare reform.

This year they want H.304, the global-hospitalization bill, to move. They insist it's not only doable, but includes everyone and cuts costs, too.

The Democrat leadership and the GOP Guv say fuggedaboudit.

More later...

Bernie & the Guv Race

"Gonna say anything about that?" we asked Vermont's Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders the other day before he departed for Africa with Sen. Tom Harkin.

Bernie was heading off during the congressional recess to take an up-close-and-personal look at where our chocolate actually comes from.

Not a sweet story.

I asked Ol' Bernardo if he will get involved in the 2008 Vermont gubernatorial race which now has Progressive Anthony Pollina's hat in the ring and still - still - no Democratic Party candidate [though several insist they are considering thinking about considering thinking about running].

Replied Sen. Sanders:

"At a certain point I sure will. I’ve known Anthony for many years. He worked for me when I first came into the House. Anthony is obviously a very bright guy, very articulate, and very knowledgeable about a whole lot of issues and I’d think he would be a good candidate."

And Sanders agreed that were a Democrat to jump in as well, making for a three-way race, Incumbent Republican Jim Douglas would have a smooth sail to victory lap #4.

"If you had a Democratic candidate and a Progressive candidate like Anthony, obviously that would be counterproductive."

"Obviously?"

Even to Democrat Party State Chair Ian Carleton?

Year of Low Expectations?

The elected people's representatives from every corner of Vermont get down to business today under Montpeculiar's Golden Dome. It's Year II of the biennium.

Whoopee!

The first year was noted for all it did not achieve, for the impasse between our Republican governor and Democratic Legislature. For the vetoes that were sustained. For the lack of communication.

The second half kicks off with the real meat-and-potatoes issues being voiced loudest by folks outside the building - regular Vermonters.

With every passing day, more people get fed up with our healthcare system. Both people experiencing it as patients and people administering it as doctors and nurses.

Let's get real.

And after almost 40 years of building more courts and more prisons, more and more gray-haired folks, including prosecutors and cops, are willing to acknowledge the absurdity of our illegal-drug policy. It's costing us a fortune and creating more crime while doing nothing to reduce drug abuse.

If there was one bill you could sponsor AND get passed by the Legislature and signed into law this year by the Guv, what would it be?

C'mon.

Seriously....

Douglas vs. Pollina

I realize just about everyone is focusing on the New Hampshire Primary. Even Mark Johnson's taken his WDEV morning radio talk-show to Manchester, New Hampshire for Monday & Tuesday!

However,  for mental health reasons, yours truly has tuned it all out. Life's too short. Had more than enough of the presidential pack, though I could not avoid Sam Hemingway's piece in the Freeps about our ol' pal, Mad Dog Jim Barnett of Barre. Mad Dog's about to do for John McCain in New Hampshire what he and The Boy Wonder Neale Lunderville did for Jim Douglas in Vermont back in 2002.

Gov. Douglas was the guest-of-honor at Monday morning's Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast. Good turnout - 300-plus. Maybe I'm just getting old, but it sure sounded like all previous the gubernatorial legislative kick-off Chamber Breakfasts I've had the pleasure of covering since the early 1980s.

Filed a story for WDEV News off this one, as well, BECAUSE, Gov. Scissorhands made no bones about it - he will be proposing that the Democratic Legislature lease/sell the Vermont Lottery to Wall Street for $50 million.

"I think it’s a good idea," said Gov. Douglas. "I think it makes a lot of sense."

AND one of the attendees in the packed audience listening was none other than Progressive gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina.

Said Pollina to Freyne Land afterward:

The only idea that I heard was to sell the lottery to a hedge fund, someone who would give us a one-time payment in exchange for taking away an asset the state of Vermont has.  In a couple months maybe we’ll hear about selling the local fire departments or the state police?

It’s an idea that makes you think the governor is grasping at straws. It’s an idea that Vermonters I talk to think is just off the wall and inappropriate and not good policy.

That's Democratic State Sen. Hinda Miller over Tony the Prog's shoulder. Did not get the name of the gent he's talking to. Sorry. Nice tie on Tony, eh? 

He'll be wearing more of them in the months [and years?] ahead.

Welch heads for Iraq

Sen. Bernie Sanders isn’t the only member of the Vermont troika doing some official traveling during the current congressional recess.

With the intense US media saturation-coverage of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, our war in Iraq may have slipped some people's minds.

Word from Capitol Hill just now that Democratic Congressman Peter Welch is heading for Iraq today. Ol’ Welchie, according to the e-mail release from his Press Secretary Andrew Savage:

“will also travel to Jordan and Lebanon as part of the trip organized by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on which he serves.

“The delegation will examine the political and military situation in Iraq, investigate the status and quality of U.S. taxpayer-funded reconstruction projects (a topic of recent Oversight and Government Reform investigations), visit U.S. troops currently serving our country in Iraq, and seek to further understand the Iraqi refugee crisis in the region.

"Welch traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan last March.”

The Democrats have been unable to come up with a candidate to challenge GOP Gov. Jim Douglas.

But the Republicans have been equally impotent in coming up with a legitimate challenger for Rep. Welch.

Interesting, eh?

Hillary Down...but not out!

When yours truly made it to the Church Street Marketplace in Burlap this afternoon, Anne O'Brien of Richmond had already been on the street more than three hours. The Democratic "activist"  from the Burlington 'burbs showed no sign of being down after her candidate, Hillary Clinton's third-place finish in the Iowa Caucuses behind Sens. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.

"I think it was great," O'Brien told yours truly. "I think Obama's great. John Edwards is a good guy. And Hillary will be the nominee," she added. "I'm just sure of it."

[Wonder if a person so gifted with certainty goes to Saratoga in August?]

Why is she behind Hillary Clinton?

"She’s smarter," said O'Brien. "She has the resume, aside from everything else. Take away race, gender  Put up the resumes for who you want to be the CEO of the country - she’s it!"

Think we can handle a woman president?

"Absolutely. We need one."

Anne then asked a passing mother and daughter if they'd sign the petition to get Hillary on the Vermont Primary ballot.

Jane Helmstetter, 55, of South Burlington was happy to sign [right]. What was her reaction to Hillary's surprisingly poor Iowa finish?

"I was shocked a little bit," she answered frankly. "Surprised, certainly,  that she didn’t come in ahead of Edwards."  But she noted that, "Iowa doesn’t always signify what’s going to happen later on."

Her daughter Maria Diferdinando, 22,  [behind her] also signed on.

"I think people find it easier to slander Hillary," said Maria. "That’s why she’s having a harder time. It's easier to say bad things about her because she’s been in the spotlight. There’s been more stuff about her out there and decisions that she’s made."

And what If Barack were the nominee?

"I’d be fine with that," replied O'Brien the Clinton for President volunteer. "I will vote for the Democratic nominee."

Bernie heads for Africa...

Vermont's junior senator, Independent Bernie Sanders, is departing on a 6 AM flight to Africa Saturday morning.

Just got off the phone with him from Capitol Hill.

He's going with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY). First stop will be Ghana to take an up-close and personal look at child labor in the cocoa fields and "to see to what degree indentured children are being used to manufacture products which come into this country as chocolate."

"This is consistent with legislation Sen. Harkin and I passed a number of years ago," he told us, "and other pieces of legislation as well."

Be on a plane at 6 AM, he told us.

"The issue of child labor and the fact that you have very young kids who are working horrendous hours and not going to schools is an international problem," said Ol' Bernardo, "and it’s one that has concerned me for a number of years. So we’ll take a look and see what’s going on in the chocolate industry."

How sweet of him, eh?

The trip will last a week with additional stops in Morocco and the Ivory Coast.

It's a year and a day since Bernie Sanders took his oath of office as a United States Senator.

Time flies.

Man behind the throne

He's been a Montpeculiar fixture since the early 1970s, but we bet most of you don't recognize him, eh?

In Vermont's political world, he's a veteran insider, a powerful player and he keeps a very low profile.

Smart.

His past includes Middlebury College, the U.S. Marines (captain), getting Jim Jeffords elected to the U.S. House in 1974, a brief stint in the Legislature, followed by seven years on Gov. Richard Snelling's staff followed by many years as the Statehouse lobbyist for the Vermont Bankers Association.

The election of Jim Douglas in 2002 has been the icing on the cake for this Fifth Floor maestro - the one and only Tim Hayward!

Here's GOP Gov. Scissorhands' chief-of-staff as we caught him outside the palace yesterday in the state capital.

Tim was so kind, he even took off his sunglasses for Freyne Land!

Tough guy, Ol' Tim.

No hat.

At the top of his game...