All posts by BP

Randy Brock goes negative … again

local/regional, ,

Well, with just a couple weeks left until Election Day, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor Randy Brock has gone negative. In two 60 second radio ads Brock is questioning the character of his opponent, David Zuckerman, and wonders ominously whether he should be “a heartbeat away from being governor.”

When asked: “With issue differences, why go after character?” today on VPR’s Vermont Edition Brock defended his negative ads against Zuckerman, saying: The election is about character, who you trust — and adds, “Character is the core issue.” thatrandycharacter

But you know,speaking of character Randy Brock has done this negative bit before and still come up short and lost.

Running for governor in 2012 against Peter Shumlin, behind in the polls Brock went negative in a series of TV ads.  From 2012: With less than a week until voters head to the polls, Republican Randy Brock has broken out the political knives with a new television ad that insinuates lies and corruption by incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin. And back then fellow-Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, nothing short of aghast, had to flop down on his fainting couch about Brock’s attack. Said Scott in 2012:

“…[Brock’s] spot was “unlike anything I’ve seen from a campaign perspective here in Vermont.” randybrockbear2

Fast forward to now — and Brock is at it again.

So it  bears asking: what does this willingness to repeatedly resort to negative ads at the last minute of his latest campaign say about Randy Brock’s character?

The GOP are all Trump-heads now

National, Uncategorized, ,

trump-falls-3

A poll conducted by Politico/Morning Consult allowed respondents to view the  lewd “Access Hollywood” video and Trump’s subsequent “apology.”

Those who took the poll rated their reactions to the clip on a scale from zero (very negative) to ten (positive) and a 74-percent majority had a negative reaction. However, other findings are unsettling but probably not surprising.

As of now, GOP voters largely want the party to stand behind Trump. Nearly three-quarters of Republican voters, 74 percent, surveyed on Saturday said party officials should continue to support Trump. Only 13 percent think the party shouldn’t back him.

Well, Trump knows he solidly captured the GOP base and did so early on. I am thinking back to his remark from back in January: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

The Washington Post broke the story!

NBC News had access to the Trump Access Hollywood tape for four days last week but due to legal  hemming and hawing it was finally scooped by The Washington Post. The Post moved quickly and took just five hours to vet the tape and decide to make it available to the public.

It is worth recalling that months ago a vengeful Trump took away The Washington Post’s campaign press credentials,  banning the newspaper’s staff from his campaign events. In June, Post executive editor Marty Baron wrote this: “Donald Trump’s decision to revoke The Washington Post‘s press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press,”

Shortly afterward blogger Charlie Pierce wisely noted what this meant for Trump:

“ […] See, in my experience, this is how Marty Baron tells someone that they f*cked with the wrong executive editor.”

Pierce suggested helpfully that it might aid Trump’s understanding of the gravity of what he had done for him to  visit disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law “[…]  at the Basilica of Our Lady Of The Clean Getaway in Rome” [also see the movie Spotlight].

Howard Dean “twitters” and Sanders puts on his traveling shoes

National, , ,

Now just suppose that back at the most contentious part of the primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders someone had asked who might eventually be a more effective campaigner for Clinton: Howard Dean or Senator Bernie Sanders. Would anyone have said or guessed Sanders?

Well former Vermont Governor Dean tweeted the week away following a post-debate twitter comment insinuating that Donald Trump might have a cocaine problem. donaldcoke At first he seemed to double down on his remark, until on Friday in more tweets he backed off a bit. I’ve got to side with what David Axelrod tweeted about Dean’s tweet “I love it, but this is nuts”.

Meanwhile Bernie Sanders is preparing to hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton, hoping to draw large crowds in Iowa and Minnesota. togethercs

A spokesperson said: Sanders hopes to reach a broad audience, including young people, working families and people involved in the labor movement. […] his message: People need to get out and vote for Clinton because either she or Donald Trump will be president and the stakes are too high to vote for a third-party candidate.

“We’re going to go wherever Secretary Clinton’s people think that I am needed,” Sanders said on MSNBC. “And I am going to work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become the next president.”

So you have to wonder who is helping more to defeat Trump and elect Hillary, the former head of the DNC, Howard Dean or the “self-avowed socialist” Senator Sanders.

Mike Pence wants to channel Dick Cheney

National, , ,

As if Trump alone wasn’t bad enough, his running mate, hardcore conservative Mike Pence shared his thoughts on what kind of vice president he would like to be. If the unthinkable happens and they are elected, Indiana’s’ governor and former congressman apparently wants to be another Dick Cheney. He recently expressed his deep admiration for George W. Bush’s former vice President.

Said Pence: “I frankly hold Dick Cheney in really high regard in his role as vice president and as an American.”

Dick Cheney’s approval ratings have improved since he left office in 2010 but at the end of his eight years as VP he had “earned” a shockingly low 13% approval rating. He accomplished this feat in a variety of ways, not the least of which was seizing the  lead role in deceiving the country into the disastrous war in Iraq, expanding government monitoring of US citizen phone calls, and supporting torture. Some international war crimes experts now recommend Cheney (and his former boss George Bush) should be charged and tried for war crimes.

The conservative record that Pence established in Indiana has failed to get much attention with running mate Trump dominating the daily election news. An article in Rollcall.com spotlights some of his controversial efforts, including one that his hero Darth Cheney would just love. Governor Pence established an official state of Indiana news bureau — to be called “JustIN” – overseen by his administration, and to hire a “managing editor” to assist in the production of “news stories.”  Despite quickly abandoning the plan, Pence’s project set the media world ablaze, and drew comparisons to government-backed news outlets in communist countries.

Trump is supposed to have kind of a short attention span, and may want a VP to handle the “details.” But it seems unlikely, if elected president, that he would allow VP Pence to wield as much power as Cheney did — I doubt the Donald would share center stage that much. But it remains alarming (though not surprising) that ultra-conservative Pence would journey to the dark side and channel Darth Cheney’s spirit  as a role model.

The VTGOP is hair today

local/regional, National, , , ,

It’s “all business in the front and party in the back” that’s a description of the classic mullet hair cut,famous in the 1970’s and 80’s, infamous by the 1990’s. And now with 20,000  votes for Trump  in the primary the Vermont Republicans needed a general election strategy to cope with Trump for President in a blue state. So,by intent, or by accident the VTGOP has styled itself a political “mullet”cut.vtgopelephaint1

At the presentable front of the “mullet”, gubernatorial candidate Phil Scott has denounced Trump and pledged to write in Jim Douglas for president rather than the party nominee (Scott picked the “Donald Duck for President” ploy). So he isn’t brave enough to totally disown Trump’s deplorable basket of views and  vote for Clinton, as many well known national Republicans are doing.

Randy Brock, the VTGOP candidate for Lt. Governor had supported John Kasich for President and denounced Donald Trump, but as far as I know, remains mostly mum on a write-in Douglas presidential vote — or one for Clinton.

Meanwhile on the backside of the VTGOP “mullet” you can find caucus leader Don Turner in the Vermont House of Representatives joining other Vermont Trump supporters, including Darcie Johnston (Johnston ran Randy Brock’s 2012 gubernatorial campaign). Turner boldly declares: “I am not afraid to say that I’m going to vote for Donald Trump,”  He does add the thoroughly meaningless comment that he will not endorse Trump for president. So,Don Turner isn’t afraid to vote for him, but curiously is afraid of endorsing the man.

So, “Dude! Check out the VTGOP’s hair style! Equivocation in the front, Trump supporters in the back!!” Or maybe it’s not a mullet at all, just a bad GOP comb over.

And coming next week: birtherism goes local: Was Phil Scott born in Vermont? Of course I am not endorsing this ridiculous question, but since people are talking and questions are being asked …!

The climate around Phil Scott

local/regional, , , ,

scottbalanceRepublican Phil Scott is doing his bit for the party to promote carbon tax hysterics on climate change this week.

One of his many recent tweets,(Team Scott must not have heard that marketing studies show that after three tweets,engagement dramatically decreases.) a “news” story from Vermontwatchdog.org  warns of an alleged carbon tax apocalypse.

Vermont Watchdog is the local franchise mouthpiece of the Franklin Center for Government, a nationwide organization said to be at the forefront of right-wing efforts to thwart action on climate change and blur the distinction between statehouse reporting and political advocacy.scottwatch

Watchdog dutifully prints a Vermont Republican Federal Elections Committee  ad in part of the article, but if you peel away the hysterics, the gist of the piece is centered on a series of  VPIRG’s proposals. Their proposal to fight climate change (and yes, Phil it is real) suggests a series of tax changes, instituting a global warming impact tax (carbon tax), starting an energy investment fund, and also energy rebates and tax cuts.

But this post isn’t exactly about the complicated carbon tax issue, but rather the policy crowd Scott runs with to get elected — his “in crowd.” The Vermont Watchdog is actually a “local” outlet, but also funded by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a 501c3 non-profit. Much of its funding is reported to be fueled with money from various hard right sources including the infamous Koch Brothers’ climate-change-denying organization.

Former Reuters chief White House correspondent Gene Gibbons didn’t mince his words in a 2010 report on the Franklin Center:

“For the most part, the people in charge of these would-be watchdog operations are political hacks out to subvert journalism in their quest to grab and keep power using whatever means they have to do so.”

The keynote speaker at a Franklin Center Watchdog.org  training session in 2012 was none other than right-wing  provocateur and ACORN “sting” artist James O’Keefe

So,what was it, only a couple weeks or more ago that Scott actually made it clear…well sort of that he thought climate change science was real ?

And now he is tweeting support for Koch Brothers-sponsored  “news” stories about climate issues.This doesn’t exactly fit with his own claims that his view “evolved.” Lie down with Big Carbon, get up covered in soot.

Phil Scott wants a Tiger Team of his own

local/regional, ,

Once upon a time, Governor Douglas had nine Tiger Teams, and now Phil Scott wants one of his own. If you’re thinking these are bad kung-fu action movies, you’re off the mark; instead they’re teams of officials created to prowl through state government, supposedly looking for inefficiencies and ways to save money. I don’t remember if the nine Douglas Tiger Teams ever actually accomplished anything, but Phil Scott says he will form a very similar group. scottstigerteam

I know this because of his crowing on twitter that he is “…the only candidate w/ a plan to modernization [sic] State Govt.” These declarations of his seem to occur at surprisingly regular intervals — but that’s what Twitter is for, I guess.

Scott says: “On the first day I am Governor, I will sign an executive order creating the Government Modernization & Efficiency Team (GMET).” And I can’t begin to guess why on day one. You know, god save-our-souls and have mercy on the state of Vermont if he doesn’t get to this on his FIRST freakin’ DAY, should he become governor! I wonder: is Phil liable to forget to do this if he waits a day or two?

Anyway, Scott’s proposed GME Team will be overseen by Vermont’s Chief Information Officer. According to the campaign website, the team’s areas of interest include: increasing operational efficiency, accounting improvements for IT projects, consolidating and streamlining and/or automate services (layoffs?) to name a few.

But like the Douglas Tiger Teams of yore, Phil’s GME Team may prove a handy cover for a little Republican budget slash n’ burn “In addition to the limits we would impose on budget growth, our goal will be to reduce the current operational cost of every agency and department by one cent for every dollar currently spent, in my first year in office.  This could generate as much as $55 million in savings.”

One of the Douglas’ Tiger Team so called “savings,” highlighted in his 2010 budget address, was a proposal to cap certain types of ER visits funded through Medicaid. This Medicaid “savings” (along with earlier proposed cuts to mental healthcare providers’ salaries) were heavily criticized because advocates said it would have made it harder for Vermonters in need to get proper health care.

Scott’s GME Team proposal gives little hint at any specific cuts, but it sure looks like his version of the Tiger Team will be wearing the same stripes as ones from the Douglas era.

Bernie makes a binary pitch

National, , ,

Senator Bernie Sanders had a busy Labor Day in New Hampshire. The campaign visit to Vermont’s upside down doppelganger is the first since his big win over Hillary Clinton in the early spring primary. On this trip he headlined three rallies to support Clinton for president, including a Labor Day breakfast sponsored by the AFL-CIO. upRdown

Sanders expressed support for, and urged supporters to cast their vote for Hillary Clinton. “We are talking about which candidate will better represent the needs of the American people.”

He stressed the points of agreement with Clinton but made it clear what the stakes are. “I am not the world’s most partisan person,” he said. “But the truth is, if you look at Donald Trump’s record, what you find is that this guy is a pathological liar.”

Clinton, he said, “is the superior candidate, hands down.”

Speaking prior to Sanders at the breakfast event, Democratic Senator Jean Shaheen reminded voters about New Hampshire’s recent history with third party presidential candidates: “What happened in 2000 is Al Gore lost New Hampshire by about 7,000 votes, and 19,000 people voted for Ralph Nader,” she said. “And we got George W. Bush, and we got the war in Iraq.”

Shaheen translation:  “You can’t bet half a cigarette. If you break it in half, you don’t get two nickels, you get shit.”

Some random Labor Day stuff with an old cartoon

Business, National, ,

strike
[Note: the guy is leading with a left] 1919: 150,000 coal miners strike for higher wages, better working conditions, and recognition of United Mine Workers of America.
Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894. In Vermont, 1895 there were Labor Day parades and celebrations in Barre and Montpelier. After speeches in Montpelier the Barre baseball team defeated National Life, 11-7. The machinists defeated the stone cutters, 13-12.

 

Some misc. 2016 labor statistics:

16.4 million The number of wage and salary workers age 16 and over represented by a union in 2015. This group included both union members (14.8 million) and workers who reported no union affiliation but whose jobs were covered by a union contract (1.6 million). Among states, New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (24.7 percent), and South Carolina had the lowest rate (2.1 percent).

108.0% The projected percentage growth from 2014 to 2024 in the number of wind turbine service technicians (4,400 jobs in 2014), the projected fastest-growing occupation. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add the greatest number of positions over this period is personal care aides (458,100).

6.3 millionThe number of commuters who left for work between midnight and 4:59 a.m. in 2014. They represented 4.5 percent of all commuters. The most common time was between 7 a.m. and 7:29 a.m. – with 20.6 million commuters.

26.0 minutes The average time it took workers in the U.S. to commute to work in 2014. New York (32.6 minutes) and Maryland (32.3 minutes) had the most time-consuming commutes.

And does anyone remember back when Labor Day was considered the traditional  start of the presidential campaign season?

Phil Scott’s key answer

Business, local/regional,

I’ve read and heard one of the keys to the Phil Scott vision for the state’s future is increasing the number of 25-45 year-olds who live in Vermont. Now Scott doesn’t supply many specifics for meeting his goal and enticing this age group to Vermont, but in comments to the Burlington Free Press he indicated he believes helping a company feel more confident by way of various tax incentives should be a big part of it – or maybe that’s the key to all his plans.

But there are other solutions to this puzzle. And here are samplings from a short list (lifted from here ) of policy suggestions that might realistically incentivize the desired demographic (and other age groups) Scott claims he wants to woo to the Green Mountain state:

a) Offer a higher wage. Yes, yes, wages are so 20th century, but The Kids Today have a strange affinity for them. Maybe it’s nostalgia. […]

b) Good health insurance. […] Silly Kids Today.

c) Retirement benefits. […] They’ve been told their whole lives that Social Security just won’t be there for them so they need an alternative. Blame whoever keeps telling them that (shhh!!!!).

d) On the job training. […]

e)Job Security. The Kids Today would like some assurances that their jobs might be around a few months hence. […]

Oh, but implementing any of those would take a bit of leadership, and Scott’s business buddies would squawk a lot. Philand the millennials

But let’s be fair to Scott’s key solution – business-friendly tax policy – it might be just the thing 25-45 year-olds are into.

And I am probably not alone in recalling those times long ago, when we were still young, meeting up with friends on a Saturday afternoon and making plans to head out on the town that evening, in search of a little “business certainty, a tax incentive” or if we got really lucky “a tax exemption.”