Here's a link I just got from Joanna Cole. I don't know her personally, so I can't vouch for her, but she does sound like someone whose values line up with the typical (is there such a thing?) GMD reader. 

Follow up at her site, but here's some of what she has to say:

 Goals:

The New North End of Burlington needs a woman's voice to help balance all the male voices.
I want to help bring about a State of the Art Healthcare Plan for all Vermonters that we can be proud of, leading the nation.

Issues:

1. Healthcare for all including Mental Healthcare.
2. Energy Efficiency.
3. Finding a new way to fund Education (fairer than based on property taxes)

So this afternoon I got an email about how the House D's, led by Steny Hoyer, are planning on rolling over for Bush and the telcos on the FISA bill, so the first thing I did was to call Peter Welch's office. Now that I'm home I was all set to post that people should call Peter's office and demand that he oppose it (J.D. beat me to it) and here's the press release I just got:

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Peter Welch (VT-AL) issued the following statement on his opposition to H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act:

“I simply do not believe any president, especially this president, should have unilateral or unchecked authority to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight.  Congress has an obligation to protect our national security without sacrificing basic rights provided in our Constitution. 

“While this compromise reflects improvements over previous flawed proposals, it is a compromise I will not support.  I have consistently opposed any legislation that grants retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies that cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping.  Regrettably, this latest proposal fails to hold the administration and the companies accountable for their actions.  The American people deserve to know exactly what happened and they deserve to know who is accountable.  This bill fails that test.”

Background:

On November 15, 2007, Welch supported and the U.S. House passed The Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective (RESTORE) Act, H.R. 3773, despite opposition by the Bush administration and House Republicans.  This legislation refused to give retroactive immunity.

In August, 2007, Welch voted against both a temporary FISA extension offered by the House leadership (H.R. 3356) as well as a compromise version supported by the White House (S.1927), which passed the U.S. House.

I think this is great news. I still think people should call Peter Welch and thank him for taking a principled stand on this bill. He's been favored by House leadership, but that hasn't stopped him from standing up for civil liberties and the views of his constituents.

Thanks, Peter! 

Cross posted from Rational Resistance:

I've been saying and writing that Jim Webb seems like the logical choice for Obama's Vice Presidential candidate. He has a military background, he's from the South, he even served in Reagan's cabinet. On the face of it he would seem to bring a lot to the ticket.

Well, maybe not so fast. Tim Noah has a piece in Slate today arguing that Webb would be a terrible choice for the job. He starts out with the fact that his prior sexist writings would likely alienate Clinton's supporters, even though he no longer supports the views he expressed, and goes on from there.

I encourage you to read it.

Over at vtbuzz, the Burlington Free Press blog, Sam Hemingway has a great entry on the Second Vermont Republic:

The Second Vermont Republic has always had a nice ring to it, especially in a state that celebrates its independent streak and maverick political heritage. SVR touts the idea that Vermont ought to sucede from the US of A and its entangling military and economic commitments and strike out on its own. Sounds sort of cool, right?

Trouble is, the group has been revealed to have ties to a white supremacist Southern group that's been designated a “hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Now comes a detailed article in The Intelligence Report, a newsletter the center publishes, that examines the connection in depth.

For those who don't believe that the SVR ally League of the South isn't a racist organization, get a load of this:

Get this: According to the Intelligence Report article league members purportedly offered housing to “whites only” refugees from New Orleans after the Katrina disaster. For a full read of the article, click HERE.

Sam has a lot more, including details from the SPLC report on the neo-Confederate movement.

Anyone in Vermont, and anyone who considers themselves liberal, progressive, or even a decent human being, has an obligation to have nothing to do with these racists. The more we learn about them, the more vile they and their northern sympathizers like Vermont Commons are. 

Or: Who's writing the jokes for the Douglas Administration?

I was out of town most of the week, but here's what I saw  on the front page of the Freeps when I got home late last night:

Deputy Natural Resources Secretary John Sayles accused EPA of “fronting” for the Conservation Law Foundation

That's right, the administration that is possibly the most hostile to environmental protection in history, the one that calls enabling increased air pollution its “Clear Skies Initiative”,  is carrying the water for Vermont's long-time environmental watchdog, the CLF. Then, go inside to the editorial page, and we see this: My Turn: Douglas an environmental steward

Are they shooting for a new standup career, or is Governor Douglas trying out for the role of the White Queen?

“I daresay you haven't had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Alice in Wonderland.

Only time will tell. 

I know John Odum is being too modest to post this, so I will.

 (Host) Internet blogs have become nearly indispensable to American politics, as they dish up news and rumors even while events unfold.

And, as VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, they've become so integral to politics that bloggers will be given unprecedented access to the Democratic National Convention.

Listen to the podcast. 

They edited the story severely, so John's mention of other bloggers and blogs didn't get on the air, but I think it's great both that we're getting the exposure and that we'll be covering the story live from Denver. 

Friends,

As fuel prices continue to soar, renewables and

home efficiency are becoming even more attractive in terms

of financial return on investment. The announcement below

describes how you can learn more about renewables and how to

help finance them. Next update I will send info on

energy-saving tips for around your house and SERG’s expanded

energy audit services.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Bob

SOLAR HOT WATER WORKSHOP

Sunday, June 8, 10am – 1pm

Tracy Hall, Norwich

Solar hot water systems are efficient and cost-effective and

they are easy to install as a retrofit or in new

construction.  Federal, state and SERG discounts (SERG

supporters can get discounts on renewable systems through

our Energy Alliance – learn more at:

http://www.serg-info.org/energ… coupled with

higher energy prices, are making solar an even more

affordable option. Several local renewable energy vendors,

contractors and advocates will discuss the how to’s of solar

hot water at this workshop, organized by the Norwich Energy

Committee and SERG.

The workshop is free, open to the public and refreshments

will be served. Thanks to the First Branch Sustainability

Group, groSolar, Mascoma Bank, ReKnew Energy Systems, Sun

Catcher and USA Solar Stores for their assistance with this

workshop. For more information call the Norwich Energy

Committee at 802-649-2857.

Bob Walker

Sustainable Energy Resource Group

432 Ulman Rd.

Thetford Center, VT 05075

802-785-4126

SERG@valley.net

www.SERG-info.org

From today's Times Argus:

Douglas won't veto new hemp law

May 30, 2008

By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER – Gov. James Douglas will allow a bill legalizing hemp to become law despite concerns from the law enforcement community about its impact on marijuana eradication efforts in the state.

 But the money quote comes a couple of paragraphs down:

“It's a do-nothing bill,” Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs said Thursday.

I guess we should have thought of this strategy before. “Do-nothing”? Now that's something Douglas can really get behind.

 But wait a minute. Wasn't it just days after the session that Douglas was telling us that there would be no way for him to allow bills to go into effect without signing them this year because they decided not to schedule a veto session?

Advocates were appalled last week when information leaked out that the State was going to enter into a new contract to provide transportation for Medicaid patients with a company that had been in trouble or lost its Medicaid contract in four other states.

The Times Argus reported that  

in 2007 The Washington Post reported that the company had received 200 complaints (out of 15,000 trips) in the first week of managing transportation for patients in the District of Columbia. Patients arrived early or missed their appointments, according to the Post.

And the company reached an out-of-court settlement with Missouri in 2005, although it did not acknowledge wrongdoing at the time, according to news reports.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt called the state's agreement with MTM “a terrible contract” that inflicted harm on “Missouri taxpayers and low-income Missourians” in a statement at the time. “By bilking the system MTM hurt low-income Missourians,” Blunt said in that statement.

 Advocates at Vermont Legal Aid challenged the idea that an agency that has already shown an inability to comply with its contractual obligations or the requirements of the law should be relied on to provide transportaion for our most vulnerable citizens:

“My worry is that the people who use the Medicaid transportation system are by definition very vulnerable folks. They are elderly or disabled, generally,” said Trinka Kerr, the state's health care ombudsman. “In a rural state, they really need transportation to get to doctors' services.”

 And VLA attorney Chris Curtis said: “Medical Transportation Management Inc.'s past performance raises questions about its ability to deliver quality services to low-income Vermonters,” he added. “We believe that our clients and Vermont taxpayers have a right to know more about how this contract was awarded and how they can be reassured that the kinds of problems other states have experienced with MTM will not be encountered here.”

The news today is that the state has backed out of the contract, and is back to the drawing board. In a memo released this afternoon, Cathy Voyer, Director of Housing and Transportion for AHS, announced that the current RFP (and the selection of the out-of-state contractor) is cancelled, and the current provider will stay on until a new RFP can be completed.

I say good work to my colleagues who were able to slow this particular train down to give us a chance to actually learn the facts. 

Okay, I know this is blowing my own horn, but I can't help it.

I've mentioned before that I'm a regular viewer of bloggingheads.tv, a site that posts diavlogs, generally setting up disagreements between the two interlocutors.

Today I get Bob Wright and Mickey Kaus not only to mention one of my comments, but to both agree with it.