(Bumped, with some edits. This is outrageous, and its not the first time Douglas has acted aghast (ha) at the actions of some underlings taking inappropriate electoral action on his behalf (remember the “Sandinista” schtick?) – promoted by odum)

Earlier during the budget cutting the Douglas talk was of shared responsibility and doing what had to be done for Vermont and Vermonters. Now a letter blaming cuts on the legislature has been  mailed from the State of Vermont to more than a 1000 seniors receiving state aid as part of the “Choices for Care” program without approval of “higher-ups” according to Jason Gibbs, Spokesperson for the Governor.

Passing blame may be just another tool in Governor Jim’s re-election tool box. The cuts will save $500,000 I am not sure how that stacks up to which is roughly the pay for his team of public relations spokespeople. The Choices for Care program is described this way on the DDAS web page.

The program assists people with everyday activities at home, in an enhanced residential care setting, or in a nursing facility.

The Douglas administration letter attempted to let these older Vermonters know where to pass the blame.

The letter in part, “The Vermont Legislature has directed the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living to reduce every Choices for Care program participant’s assistance with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living by one hour per week.”

The decision to cut the care was part of a series of budget rescisions the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee made with the Douglas administration. Gov. Jim Douglas touted the bipartisan work during an election debate Wednesday

Jason Gibbs, spokesman for Douglas, said the wording of the letter was a mistake and that Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville apologized to Joint Fiscal Committee Chairwoman Susan Bartlett when she brought it to his attention.

Gibbs said the letter went out without approval from higher-ups, including the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living commissioner, the Agency of Human Services secretary and the Governor’s Office. The letter was written by a Medicaid waiver manager.

The cut in service will save $500,000 and means 1,300 elderly will receive one hour per week less in support services such as grocery shopping and cleaning that helps seniors remain in their own homes.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

Workers were wearing special work clothes provided by their employer  

I didn’t think they could re-fuel without an “event” and it’s still not completed(several more weeks) .850 contract workers are re-fueling the aging Vermont Yankee while it is off line .Could this nuclear plant even survive at this rate until 2032?

There must be a point between incident and tragedy that some official will say enough to this .Our Gov.Jim doesn’t have the stomach to bait his own fish hook let alone take on a corporate giant like Entergy of New Orleans and it’s Yankee franchise .These articles are almost routine in their bland statements,promises of never ,never again and fill in the blank style reassurances .The frequency and routine of these event says more than any spokesperson is capable of glossing over .

Given this record and the new difficult financial situation Entergy  faces with it’s efforts to spinoff  5 aging plants into an Enexus shell entity a tougher road lies ahead.On top of all this re-negotiating the power contract rates has been kicked down the road until after the election.In a manner of speaking this could continue to be a hot button issue for some time .

Alarms went off on the refueling floor alerting workers to the rising levels of radiation, and workers were evacuated from the refueling floor for four hours, checked for levels of contamination and later returned to work, according to Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams.

“There was never any issue of public health,” according to William Irwin of the Department of Health.

Irwin said that while the incident “was something we wished hadn’t occurred,” Entergy Nuclear had handled the incident well.

“It was a minor contamination event. You don’t really want them to happen, but Entergy handled it well,” said Irwin.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

More like this might be a good idea,you know elbows better late than never.Douglas has denied it but not explained it .If I was an undecided voter hearing Gov.Douglas may have missed a chance at Federal highway funds would be my list of concerns. Higher than say a campaign funding dispute.

Symington: Douglas may miss chance for highway aid

October 17, 2008 2:15 PM ET

RICHMOND, Vt.  – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington says the administration of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas is likely to pass up more than $137 million in federal money to fix Vermont’s roads and bridges.

Symington says lack of planning by the Agency of Transportation is to blame for what could be a missed opportunity to receive federal funds.

The outgoing House speaker says she and other lawmakers have been asking for months for an accounting of federal funds unclaimed by the state – and just got one Thursday from the Federal Highway Administration.

Douglas has denied there’s any federal money available that isn’t being used.

http://www.fox44.net/Global/st…

(Oh, good god. What is this “aw gee, I dunno, I guess if I HAVE to support SOMEbody…” nonsense? Especially since Shumlin helped get Costello into the race in the first place, reportedly. Shumlin throws precisely this kind of unhelpful fodder to the media WAY too often.   – promoted by odum)

With approval for Douglas and Dubie perhaps thin and Democratic turnout expected to be high every little nudge of support that can be added to a Democratic candidate could help could make the difference .With this in mind I was puzzled to read this quote about the Lt.Gov.’s race  from State Senate President Shumlin.I may be missing something here but isn’t this just a little shy of enthusiasm?

The struggle voters may face in deciding between the two is illustrated by the observations of Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, D-Windham.

“I find myself in an awkward position because they are both my friends,” Shumlin said. “I think they both would make good lieutenant governors.

“Obviously I’m a Democrat and Brian is a Republican,” Shumlin continued. “So I’m helping Tom.”

If the race were close — and that’s hard to know because of a lack of public poll results — having party affiliation as a deciding factor should worry Dubie and encourage Costello. Why? If, as predicted, a group of voters flock to the polls to support the Obama/Biden ticket, they might be more inclined to mark their ballots for Costello than Dubie.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

After wondering for weeks what Gov.Jim Douglas meant when he said he shared Sarah Palin’s values. What values could a man that won’t bait his own hook and caribou woman have in common ?I found it .They both know the basic value of well placed PR people paid by the taxpayers of states they govern.Gov.Douglas seems to need more help to sell what he’s got though,Palin got by with just one PR expert .

An outside public relations expert hired under a $31,000 contract with the state Department of Natural Resources pitched the “upstart governor” as a crusader against Big Oil, a story line that Palin has adopted in her campaign as Sen. John McCain’s running mate. The contract was the only time the Palin administration hired an outside consultant to set up media interviews, a function performed in many states by government employees.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

…questions Tuesday. Don’t forget Gov. Douglas’s  Commissioner O’Brian recently sent a sternly worded letter to the NRC suggesting they find out more about these leaks as it is “unacceptable “.Maybe they can prove it’s not just an election season ploy with some follow-up action.But we all know they are “pretty darned careful”

BRATTLEBORO – Federal regulators will hold a public meeting next week to discuss the condition of Vermont Yankee’s cooling towers, after more leaks were discovered in recent months.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said NRC and plant officials will be available to answer questions at Tuesday’s meeting at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

An un-hatched chicken headline ?

The Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee has reported that Vermont can borrow more than expected .

A little surprising that given the financial earthquakes and uncertain atmosphere within the big money world to read this article.After the last week of money news it amazes me that there aren’t more reservations around this

announcement.  

A new member of the panel was very enthused ……“It will go a long way to help with a lot of projects,” said Neale Lunderville, secretary of administration and a new member of the debt affordability panel.

MONTPELIER – Vermont can afford to borrow $64.65 million for capital projects this fall, $10 million more than originally recommended, a special financial advisory committee concluded Tuesday.

…..The unanswered question Tuesday was when the credit market might thaw. If the state tried to sell bonds today, it’s likely no one would buy – despite the state’s solid financial rating. Spaulding said some states have had to shelve bond sales.

…The debt affordability panel didn’t automatically conclude the state had extra borrowing capacity, despite a desire by the Douglas administration and the Legislature to borrow more to reduce the backlog of deteriorating roads and bridges and stimulate the economy. The group began its discussions in July, meeting twice before Tuesday’s 20-minute session to take a vote on its report.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

( – promoted by odum)

Dubie touts record as ‘co-pilot’

Dubie says candidates for lieutenant governor have never been expected to make such disclosures, and he finds it curious that the issue has surfaced now.

“There’s never been a public disclosure other than the governor’s office, period,” Dubie says. “I’m hesitant, in the middle of a political campaign, to break precedent. Where does it stop? Does he want my health records too? There just isn’t any guidance on this.”

Well it can be easily explained and there is guidance to be had.

Governor Jim Douglas the man for whom Dubie is the self proclaimed co-pilot made an issue of Symington’s tax release disclosure. He even made a TV commercial about this specific issue you may have missed.

So its not at all that curious. There is guidance on this. Gov.Douglas has made an issue of it and your actions are in opposition to his stated position. Heading in two directions at once …now that’s no way to co-pilot.

I wish the Times-Argus hadn’t buried this at the end of the article. It is worthy of being the main focus given the elevation of the tax issue by the Gov.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

or Don’t we want to keep the Gov. away from this story?  

Field & Stream named Douglas a fishing “villian” this month.according to the Times-Argus

“The Vermont trout opener reportedly found the governor on the river and in front of cameras – flipping his hook back to a Fish and Wildlife official, who dutifully baited it for him,” according to the magazine.

That is not exactly what happened, said Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs.  

http://www.timesargus.com/apps… Its a long way from an issue but it is a basic illustration of how the Douglas team operates. If the work is dirty keep the Governor’s hands clean  

( – promoted by odum)

As usual flying under the radar Brian Dubie kicked off his campaign at what one newspaper is calling a quickly organized and quiet event. Dubie declared himself ready to “fill up his Saturn with gas ” and travel the state. A common criticism of Dubie is that he actually does very little in his post as Lt.Gov.and has few solid achievements to cite.

His website does make note among other things of his declaration of a symbolic heating emergency last summer or was it a symbolic declaration of a real heating emergency?  

From the Free Press:

To help voters learn more about the candidate’s records and ideas, Costello(Dubie’s Democratic challenger ) proposed weekly conversations among the four lieutenant governor candidates at locations across the state, starting Oct. 2 at Castleton State College.

“His Thursdays are booked,” said Susie Hudson, Dubie’s campaign manager. She complained that Costello set the schedule without consulting the Dubie campaign.

A check this morning shows his official State website calendar of events listing only April and March 2007. The campaign website lists no campaign events …..just keep a sharp eye out for a saturn full of gas coming to your town (unannounced) .