All posts by BP

“Very surprising that we all could see the plot and claimed that we could not…”

National, , ,

lightlyTrump1The latest revelations from the Mueller investigation showing criminal activity by those surrounding then candidate Donald Trump, and even potential felonies (an impeachable offense) perpetrated by the Donald himself have brought on a strong wave of nostalgia for an earlier constitutional crisis.

And I don’t mean the GOP’s failed Clinton impeachment but — wait for it — Watergate.

H2Ogate Blues

And the poem is called “H2O-G-A-T-E Blues”
And if H2O is still water, and G-A-T-E is still gate
What we’re getting ready to deal on is the Watergate Blues
(Rated X!)  

Let me see if I can dial this number right quick
*Click! Whirrr! Click!*
“I’m sorry, the government you have elected is inoperative
Click. Inoperative”                 

[Verse 2:]
Just how blind will America be? (There ain’t no telling)
The world is on the edge of its seat
Defeat on the horizon. Very surprising that we all
Could see the plot and claimed that we could not… (Alright)

Gil Scott-Heron/ Brian Jackson

Yeah, the real old days — way, way back to the 1970’s when articles of impeachment against President Nixon passed — with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Nixon, widely believed to be guilty of various crimes, resigned — some say to save the nation suffering a trial. He was quickly pardoned of all crimes by President Gerald Ford.

Any bets on how current events will fit the Watergate rhyme?

 

 

The RGA bought Phil Scott’s TV campaign ads but who bought him flowers?

local/regional, National,

Today WCAX’s Neal Goswami re-tweeted Governor Scott’s message to Vermonters about the upcoming Montpelier tree lighting — and he suggests the flowering poinsettia “looks like it was from Arizona.”RGAsflowering gov

Scott’s message was likely sent from Arizona where the Vermont re-elected governor flew to attend the post-election gathering of the Republican Governors Association (RGA). Although the RGA invested less in the Scott campaign this year — it contributed almost $3 million in 2016 for his first successful race for governor — the GOP organization still spent a bundle. According to Seven Days, the conservative-funded super PAC spent $826,366 on Scott’s re-election advertising — more than any other single group, the bulk of it on pro-Scott television ads.

So while it isn’t clear if those really are flowering Arizona poinsettias, Governor Scott is posing next to, we do know who is behind the RGA and what they bought: almost all of  Scott’s blooming television campaign advertising.

Here’s Seven Days list from the IRS of the conservative donors to the RGA bundle spent on Phil Scott’s 2018 campaign ads:RGA$

No agendas here to worry about, amiright? You know the Koch Brothers,CEO prison corp. and buddies are  just kicking in a few hundred thousand here and there to keep Phil Scott’s poinsettias blooming. No strings attached, obviously.

Problem Solvers Caucus creates problem for Nancy Pelosi

National, , ,

A bipartisan Congressional group co-founded by Vermont’s lone Congressman Peter Welch that says its members are dedicated to “getting things done” is giving a big headache to Nancy Pelosi. For now these Democrats are opposing her bid to become Speaker of the House in the next session when the new Democratic majority takes control.

In a statement to thehill.com, nine Democratic Problem Solver Caucus members vowed to withhold their votes for Pelosi as Speaker unless she agrees to their rule changes. The rule change dispute, according to thehill.com, involves: [A] package of 10 proposals designed to empower individual members and grease the skids for passage of popular bipartisan bills that, in recent years, have frequently been ignored.

[According to Problem Solver Rep. Tom Reed’s (R-NY) press release this will give fast-track priority consideration to bipartisan legislation and guarantees markups on bipartisan legislation from every Member of Congress].

Central to their reforms is a proposal requiring a supermajority vote — three-fifths of the House — to pass any legislation brought to the floor under a closed rule, and another ensuring fast-track consideration of any bill co-sponsored by at least two-thirds of the chamber.

It also proposes changes designed to prevent a small group of hard-liners from using threats to “vacate the chair” as a bludgeon to keep certain legislation off the floor, as the far-right Freedom Caucus has done in recent years.

The rule changes, ironically enough, appear to make it more difficult for the new Democratic majority to actually pass legislation by requiring more than a majority of votes on specific bills.

The Democrats who signed onto the statement are Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Jim Costa (Calif.), Tom O’Halleran (Ariz.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), Daniel Lipinski (Ill.), Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Vicente González (Texas) and Darren Soto (Fla.). Vermont Rep. Peter Welch did not sign on to this statement but has declared he is withholding his support for Pelosi.

U.S. Representative elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York City’s 14th district tweeted her dismay over the problem the “Problem Solvers” are creating.tweetACO

Are the Problem Solvers Caucus just a Blue Dog cover band?  The Washington Post noted that the group actually solves few problems, along with a major Democratic criticism of them: Democrats in particular say that by supporting the group, members of their own party have given political cover to lawmakers with conservative voting records without forcing those same lawmakers to take concrete action to stall Republican legislation on health care or taxes. The caucus’s Republican members have on average voted in line with the White House’s position 93 percent of the time, according to calculations based on FiveThirtyEight’s vote tracker, with at least nine Republicans in the group doing so more than 95 percent of the time.

None of today’s accounts of the Problem Solvers’ threatened stalemate include any specific comment from  Rep. Welch — a Problem Solver Caucus co-founder. Welch, who voted for Pelosi in the past, has withheld any declaration of support of current minority leader Pelosi for Speaker this time. Recently Welch, who will now serve in a Democratic  House majority for the first time in eight years, said to SevenDays.com: “too much power has landed in the speaker’s office,” and he expressed a desire to decentralize power and responsibility to committees. After talking generally about  House “rule changes” quite a bit during the campaign he sure is staying in the shadows now that the caucus he’s a big part of  makes their big play.

According to the report from thehill.com, after meeting with the Problem Caucus last week Pelosi agreed to some of the group’s desired changes.

But the Democrats say they have yet to receive any specific commitments, calling the situation a “stalemate.” They had initially requested a response by last Friday but agreed to give the California Democrat a few more days.

“While we appreciate Leader Pelosi’s broad commitment to our effort, we have yet to receive specific commitments to our proposed rules changes that would help ‘Break the Gridlock’ and allow for true bipartisan governing in this new era of divided government,” the Democrats said in a statement provided to The Hill.

Pelosi has faced down earlier opposition to her return to Speaker from her fellow Democrats “with honey not vinegar.” Maybe that’ll be the problem solver with this House caucus that declares it is dedicated not to obstruction but to (ahem) getting things done.

But somehow I suspect that the people back home who voted in the Blue Wave are going to feel swamped if Rep. Pelosi doesn’t offer more than a sand castle easily destroyed by beach-blanket bullies stomping through it. Pelosi was re-elected to the House to return Democrats to effective power, not to give that power away.

 

 

Pardon me,but watch out for the turkeys

Uncategorized

Here’s a little GMD safety reminder and a classic GOP Thanksgiving holiday video

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the peak day for home-cooking fires, followed by Christmas Day, Christmas Eve and the day before Thanksgiving. In 2016, fire departments in the U.S. responded to an estimated 1,570 home cooking fires on Thanksgiving.

And just for nostalgia from ten years ago a video featuring Sarah Palin, then Alaska’s Governor, pardoning a turkey. And while she speaks on camera she appears unaware that another turkey is being butchered in the background.

Waging minimum parity

local/regional, National, ,

Nationally one thing became clear in last Tuesday’s election: when a minimum wage hike is on the ballot, even red state voters can pass it — often overwhelmingly.

In Missouri and Arkansas an increase to the minimum wage was on the ballot, and although aggressively opposed by state GOP leaders and big money business groups, it passed overwhelmingly in both red states. Voters passed measures that will raise those states’ minimum wages almost immediately, and thereafter increase it at regular intervals — over years it’ll be edging up substantially. In Arkansas the minimum wage measure passed with 68 percent in voting in favor.builtonwages

If red state voters can accomplish such a feat for low-wage earners can blue Vermont do more?

Regionally pressure to raise the minimum wage is increasing. New York is phasing in a $15.00 minimum, and Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island have proposals in their legislatures to reach a $15.00 minimum. It isn’t too far-fetched that even traditionally low-minimum-wage New Hampshire might experience some pressure, now that the last election gave both houses in the state legislature a Democratic blue majority. And at NH’s current $7.50 per hour minimum, who can afford to work there if they can earn significantly more in a nearby state?

Vermont’s current minimum wage is $10.50, goes up to $10.80 in January 2019, and to $12.16 by 2024. Now Vermont doesn’t have ballot measures but a plan to increase the planned minimum was passed during the 2018 legislative session.

The 2018 legislative bill would have hiked our minimum to $15 per hour by 2024. It is estimated by the Economic Policy Institute that to meet basic housing, food, and transportation needs, a single full-time worker in rural Vermont needs to earn at least $15.00 per hour. However our GOP Governor Scott vetoed the increase which (along with a vetoed paid family-leave bill) would have made life in the state more affordable for actual working class families.

Maybe the new bluer so-called “super” majority of Democrats and Progressives in the Vermont legislature will decide to give Republican Scott a second chance at doing the minimum: making the lives of low-wage earners more affordable.

How bad is it?

National, Uncategorized,

 America, checks with top advisers:

Q.) U.S A. : How fucked am I?

A.) First adviser: Well, you look awful, you look terrible. I mean, you often look quite bad, but…

Q.) U.S.A.: In terms of basic functional health of our federal government on the fuck-o-meter, where am I?

A.) Second Adviser: Oh, 12.

 A.) First adviser: Yeah. 12, say.

Q.) U.S. A.: Out of what?

 A.) Second Adviser: Er… 50.

 A.) First adviser: Oh. Mine was out of ten.

U.S. A.: Right, (to Second Adviser) so I’m 24% fucked according to you, (to First Adviser) but according to you I’m 120% fucked? *

Two years of Trump & GOP rule and now post-election the prognosis may be a little better. The Democrats did take control of the house. “So for the first time in two years, there is an institution of the government that is neither afraid of, nor controlled by, the president”. Women candidates running for office made huge gains. From the NYTimes.com: There will be at least 100 women in the House next year — the largest number in U.S. history.  And Democrats gained in state legislatures, CBS news reports: […] as well as obtaining governorships in seven formerly Republican-held states. Additionally, the majority of state attorneys general will be Democrats come January. 

The glimmer of light at the end of the Trump/GOP tunnel is a little brighter.

unclesamgreenBut the GOP in the Senate still has Trump’s back covered. And at two post-election press conferences  Donald more than demonstrated his continuing contempt for normal rules of behavior. Not only did he escalate his attacks on the media and revoke a CNN reporter’s White House press credentials but he threatened more reporters with the same. He topped off his belligerent performances by firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Then by placing a complete GOP hack with questionable ethics as acting Attorney General he put the Mueller investigation in real jeopardy.

I’m an optimist today so let’s say we’re at 24% on the “f” meter.

*Apologies to Armando Iannucci and The Thick of It.

VOTE and then watch the election coverage because: “Nothing riding on this but …”

local/regional, National, ,

After the polls close here in Vermont we are lucky to have the Secretary of State Election results website with frequently updated results on all the statewide races throughout the night. From 7 pm VPR will have national NPR and local election coverage and Vermont PBS goes with to News Hour national coverage and Democracy Now! On their HD service Vermont PBS Plus.

For the nearly 33 million cord-cutting people without cable TV Poynter.com has listed a dozen different video platforms, streaming services and phone apps where one can follow the mid-term election results. There is a lot available, everything from FiveThirtyEight’s live blog and real-time updated House, Senate and governor forecasts to  Fox News (tin-foil hat propaganda network). And the always  thorough  Poynter.com even has suggestions for anyone with  “fancy new digital TV antennae” (rabbit ears and tin-foil?). They  link to a searchable FCC map that will show you  what TV stations and signal strength are available  in your location.unclesamstarz

But, you know, go VOTE first because:  “Nothing’s riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys fuck up again, I’m going to get mad. Goodnight.”

Free Flannel & Half-truths: Vt Commerce and Community Development Fall Foliage Guide:

Business, National, , , , ,

VTDigger.com has partnered with politifact.com and are now using their honesty lantern to check the state’s facts. In their latest fact-check, looked into a statement made by Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Michael Schirling (formerly Burlington’s top cop) in response to a Saturday Night Live TV comedy sketch that parodied Vermont as “a Caucasian paradise.”  In his press release to Boston.com about the skit, Schirling said: “We invite SNL viewers to Vermont to see all that we have to offer, including our increasingly diverse communities and wide array of tourist destinations including the African American Heritage Trail.

Now is a perfect time to visit or to consider a move here. The leaves are changing and so is Vermont,” he said.leavesRturning

He also noted it was true “we do lack a good hip-hop channel,” plugged real Vermont maple syrup, and even generously sent a free (tax-payer-funded) load of Vermont flannel shirts to the cast of the NYC-based show.

Vtdigger.com dug into that response: The statement that Vermont is becoming increasingly diverse needs further clarification. Schirling does not explain that the increase in Vermont’s racially diverse populations is slight.

[…] The U.S Census information Shirling used showed that Vermont as of 2017 was 94.2 percent white [while] it had been 95 percent white in 2013. Vtdigger explained: From 2013 to 2017, the increase in the African-American population from 1.1 percent to 1.3 percent was not statistically significant. But the percent change in the Asian and Hispanic populations was: Asians went from 1.2 percent of the Vermont population to 1.8 percent, a 0.6 percentage point increase; Hispanics went from 1.5 percent to 1.9 percent, a 0.4 percentage point increase.

They rate his statement Half True.

One commenter on Vtdigger.com’s fact check  wondered:  “Who really cares what SNL spoofs? […] It’s a C-O-M-E-D-Y show, too bad people feel the need to defend VT from a comedy skit.”

Good question. Well, I wonder if the administration’s sensitivity can be traced back to an opinion piece early this summer during Gov. Scott and Sec. Schirling’ splashy roll out of their $10,000 move-to-Vermont scheme. The plan, part of Scott’s Stay to stay and Think!Vermont  promotional programs, targeted young professional people and planned to pay them to move to Vermont and work remotely out of state.

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Yang wrote the following in a criticism of the scheme for CNN titled The Problem with Vermont’s bright idea: What’s ironic is how inside the box its “outside the box” thinking really is. Because while Vermont could be taking this moment to bring new diversity to a state that’s the second-whitest in the United States, it’s instead investing in initiatives that could easily end up maintaining the state’s culturally monolithic status. If Vermont had aimed this policy at explicitly encouraging new Americans to migrate to the state (the policy does not), it would be redressing a significant shortfall in the state’s demographics.” [added emphasis]

Sure seems like the SNL joke touched a nerve in the image-conscious Scott administration over their expensive glossy promotional schemes. But if they are still into giving out free flannel shirts — I could use a couple, size large please — I’ll stay right here in Vermont.

turn·out /ˈtərnˌout/

local/regional, National, , ,

One week to go until election day and if there is to be a blue wave of Democratic and progressive voters then it is all down to showing up at the polls .

turn-out /ˈtərnˌout/  noun: turnout; plural noun: turnouts; noun: turn-out; plural noun: turn-outs

  1. the number of people attending or taking part in an event, especially the number of people voting in an election.votetoday123

    synonyms:   attendance, audience, crowd, gathering, showing, throng, assembly, assemblage, congregation, number; participation [emphasis added]

Nationally and here in heavily Democratic Vermont the signs are good that the turn-out may be one for the record. Vermont saw a hint of it in the August primary when 107,000 people cast ballots. This proved to be the second highest in state history for a primary.

Turn-out predictions nationally are that next Tuesday might set a fifty-year record. NPR reports:“It’s probably going to be a turnout rate that most people have never experienced in their lives for a midterm election,” Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who studies turnout and maintains a turnout database, told NPR.

McDonald is predicting that 45 to 50 percent of eligible voters will cast a ballot. That would be a level not seen since 1970 when 47 percent of voters turned out or 1966 when a record 49 percent turned out in a midterm.

Commenting  on record-breaking early turn-out in Texas McDonald stated what we all know: “There’s a guy named Donald Trump [and all his GOP enablers] and either you love him, or you hate him, but he inflames passion, and when people are passionate, they’re going to vote.”

So, ya gonna let Texas beat Vermont for election turn-out?

Go vote — now at the town/city clerk’s office or next Tuesday at the polls. It won’t work to leave it to your neighbors. It’s up to you.

Go. Vote.

Sanity pause is coming

National,

Even a wave of more than a dozen bombs mailed to outspoken public figures, Democrats and liberal politicians by a Trump supporter didn’t slow the wave of monumental lies and fear mongering from Trump and the GOP.

Alarmed by Trump’s willingness still to smash all rational political barriers Josh Marshall at TPM wrote “At the end of the day, the only real restraint on officeholders isn’t norms or even laws. It’s elections.”

Days later at a campaign rally former President Obama offered up a healthy dose of truth and sanity in Wisconsin. He said without exaggeration “the character of our country is on the ballot.”  Even if you’ve already seen the video, it’s probably worth a re-run.

Obama cited a recent Trump comment that he would pass a tax cut before the November election. Obama then told the crowds in high school gymnasiums that “Congress isn’t even in session before the election! He just makes it up!”

Obama spoke about the slow-moving migrant caravan from Central American bound for the United States as another example of a Republican scare tactic.

“Now the latest, they’re trying to convince everybody to be afraid of a bunch of impoverished, malnourished refugees a thousand miles away,” he said. “That’s the thing that is the most important thing in this election,” he said. “Not health care, not whether or not folks are able to retire, doing something about higher wages, rebuilding our roads and bridges and putting people back to work.”

“Suddenly,” he continued, changing his voice to a high-pitch to strike a mocking tone, “it’s these group of folks. We don’t even know where they are. They’re right down there.”

Referring to Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp,” Obama said that instead “they have gone to Washington and just plundered away.”

“In Washington they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team,” he said. “Nobody in my administration got indicted.”

Maybe ‘Sanity Pause’ will come in November this year. So don’t forget to VOTE!