One of the distinguishing — er, what’s the opposite of “distinguishing”? — extinguishing features of Mitt Romney’s candidacy is his lack of specifics. He’ll cut spending, but he won’t say how. He’ll close tax loopholes, but refuses to say which ones. He’ll project “leadership” on the world stage, but can’t really give a coherent explanation. I think he thinks it means jutting his jaw forward and gazing heavenward like the Prophet Nephi, depicted at right. (Mormon prophets, unlike the Hebrew Bible variety, spent a lot of time in the gym.)

And, of course, there’s his tax returns. Still haven’t seen ’em.

Well, our own Randy Brock seems to have a Mitt Romney problem, revealed in this week’s gubernatorial debate sponsored by the Freeploid. Brock has called for cutting the size of state government, which triggered the following exchange:

“So you aren’t going to tell us where you are going to make the cuts?” Shumlin asked.

“I’m not going to tell you, absolutely not,” Brock answered.

Just like Romney. Brock wants us to elect him, and then he’ll figure out where to cut. He plans to rely on that moldy Republican artifice, “zero-based budgeting,” which I suspect is an entirely mythical creature like Sasquatch; and something he likes to call “force ranking,” in which the importance of all government functions would be ranked. By force, ahem. With the lowest ones, presumably, getting the ax.  

Y’know, to some extent — a very limited extent, mind you — this opacity is somewhat understandable when it comes from Mitt; after all, he’s never run the federal government or even been involved in it. (Well, except for when he staged a big-time raid on the public purse to save the Salt Lake Olympics.)

But Randy? He’s been a state Senator. He’s been Auditor, for crying out loud; the one person who ought to know some of the soft spots in state government. Even if you cut him some slack for not having a complete, detailed plan, he ought to have a few good ideas. But…

“I’m not going to tell you, absolutely not,” Brock answered.

Really? Really? Not even one little cut?

The problem with zero-based budgeting and force-ranking and all that “run government like a business” codswallop is that it don’t work in real life. For one thing, just about all government functions are crucial to some and irrelevant to others. For another, many government functions are deliberately inefficient; there are always (or there should always be) more firefighters and EMTs than you absolutely need, and the road crews have to be tooled up for the worst storms.

For yet another, government functions are inherently political and subject to political pressures. That’s why Congressional efforts to limit or ban earmarks have always failed. And that’s why, when Republicans talk about what to cut in the federal budget, they always start with public broadcasting and foreign aid. The easy stuff.

(Although in 1995, Newt Gingrich found out the hard way that a lot of conservatives are fans of public broadcasting. He’d promised to cut CPB funding in the Contract With America, but as it turned out, plenty of rural residents depend on their public TV and radio. Congress backed off.)

Anyway, back to the main point. Randy Brock packages himself as an experienced hand with a sharp eye for detail. But when it comes to streamlining state government, he is absolutely as foggy as Mitt Romney at his worst.

“I’m not going to tell you, absolutely not,” Brock answered.

_________________________

p.s. I confess the wafer-thin pretext for posting a picture of Nephi. But good God, what a hunk! Gotta say this for the Mormons: they don’t cotton to no scabby locust-eating holy men; their prophets were real Amurrican he-men, messengers of a muscular, free-market-promotin’ God.

Oh, look what  you’ve gone and done, Vermont Democratic Party! You’ve bruised the delicate fee-fees of Tayt Brooks, International Man of Mystery, triggering a bad outbreak of Bunched Knicker Syndrome.

See, yesterday the VT Dems accused Vermonters First, the Lenore Broughton vanity project spearheaded by I.M.O.M., of violating campaign law by omitting one candidate’s name from their official list of candidates to be targeted by its latest mailer. It’s a technical violation, but a violation nonetheless, and playing “Gotcha” with the other side is part of the game.

Hey, Angry Jack Lindley and Wendy Wilton play “Gotcha” all the time – -and they don’t even have evidence of violations, just a bunch of “questions.”

Still, the Tayter didn’t take kindly to the Dems’ complaint. He was so upset that he actually sent a dispatch from his secret mountaintop lair. (Possibly by carrier pigeon.) A rare event for a guy who’s basically cut himself off from any unwanted communication, especially from journalists. And who, we believe, has adopted a clever disguise depicted in the Artist’s Rendering at right.

Mind you, he didn’t actually talk to any reporters. He issued a “statement,” reported by the Freeploid:

It is telling about the Democratic Supermajority that they spend so much time poring over filings and complaining about their opponents and no time defending their tax and spend record.

Well, actually, Tayt, the “Democratic Supermajority” (do they get to wear a cape?) is capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. Or in this case, keeping a sharp eye on your shenanigans while also defending their record. Whereas you seem to have trouble preparing a mailer and keeping track of who’s mentioned in it. But here’s the kicker:

Vermonters First will not be bullied and distracted by the power of one party rule.

Oooooh, poor ol’ Tayt feels bullied. Probably suffering flashbacks to middle school days. The Dems not only filed a complaint, they also gave him a wedgie! Possibly even a wet willie!

Bad Democrats! Bad, bad, bad!

Hey, Tayt, here’s an idea. The Dems will stop “bullying” you by pointing out your missteps when YOU stop trying to bully the entire state through the sheer power of Lenore Broughton’s checkbook.  

The Messenger followed-up today with Tayt Brooks’ response to Ms. Monroe’s closing questions. Unfortunately, neither article is available online at present; but suffice it to say that Brooks simply doubled-down on the misrepresentations made in the mailer. He had no response to the question concerning Kathy Keenan.

Whichever the case, we have to conclude that Lenore has bought herself a lemon.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

You may recall the shenanigans last August when the Franklin County Republican Primary was at hand, and the candidacy of businessman Joe Sinagra fell victim to what appeared to be a smear campaign from within the party ranks.  It is therefore unsurprising that the dirty tricks did not end with that primary.

Tuesday’s St. Albans Messenger carried an excellent front-page expose by Michelle Monroe on the ham-handed attempts by Vermonters First to spread false information about some of Franklin County’s Democratic candidates; and it seems that, this time, even a prominent Franklin County Republican is crying foul.

Our story begins with some of those infamous mailers from Vermonters First, urging voters to withhold their support from Democratic Senatorial candidates Don Collins (Swanton) and Caroline Bright (Georgia.)

The mailer claims Democrats now want to “push through the largest tax increase in state history. And they voted to keep it a secret from us.  They want to raise taxes on day care centers, dentists, barbers, carpenters, doctors and plumbers.”

Pretty scary stuff; and patently untrue according to Republican Carolyn Branagan (Georgia):

“What people have told me face-to-face…is there is no chance of expanding that sales tax to services. Not going to happen.”

The mailer goes on to distort the impact of Legislative changes to the property tax structure, suggesting that they were part of the supposed plan by Democrats to “push through” that huge tax increase.  In actual fact, the measures enjoyed bipartisan support and had nothing like the impact alleged by Vermonters First, even resulting in property tax reductions for a couple of towns.

The Messenger article concludes with a look at the mailer sent specifically to St. Albans City residents, which also targeted  first-time Democratic House candidate, Mike McCarthy, but curiously omitted longtime Democratic Rep., Kathy Keenan.  

As Ms. Monroe notes, Rep. Keenan joined Franklin County Republicans, Branagan, Chuck Pearce (Highgate) and Peter Perley (Enosburg) in supporting H.436, one of the two bills the mailer specifically blamed for the supposed tax hike.

At press time, Vermonters First custodian, Tayt Brooks, had not yet responded to Ms. Monroe’s questions:

…why Keenan was not listed with other Democrats as a candidate “we can’t afford;” what evidence Vermonters First has of a Democratic plan to tax services; and how, given the variable impact of the increase in the base education tax rate, increases in that rate can be presented to voters as a tax increase.

‘Looks like the Tayter is once more in the soup.  

Well, this wasn’t quite the Big Dem Bus Tour, but we saw a heartening example of intra-party support on behalf of Treasurer Beth Pearce today. And another case of giving Wendy Wilton a taste of her own attack-dog medicine.

Several Democratic State Senators held a news conference to slam Wilton’s tenure in the Senate (she served a single term in 2005-06), saying that her record indicates that she’s not the right choice for Treasurer. Freeploid’s vt.Buzz:

“I would consider Wendy to have been an obstructionist when she was here,” said Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, who was Senate majority leader during the 2005-06 biennium when Wilton served before losing her re-election bid.

… Campbell cited several votes in which when Wilton stood alone or with only a couple of other senators on issues…

… Wilton, the senators charged, will bring a more partisan approach to the treasurer’s office, including her opposition to single-payer health care.

The Senators on hand included Claire Ayer, Dick Mazza and Dick Sears, plus either Dick McCormick (the Freeploid account) or Mark MacDonald (VTDigger). Yeah, I always get those guys confused.

Well, Mc or Mac, I’m glad to see the Dems continue to press the counterattack against Wilton. I’d still like to see that Big Dem Bus Tour, though.  

Oh geez. Following state campaign law is just so hard!

At least it must seem that way to Tayt Brooks, International Man of Mystery, and sole paid staffer at conservative Super PAC Vermonters First.

Last week, the Tayter filed notice with the state elections office that VF was putting out mailers in numerous House and Senate districts, targeting Democratic candidates. As part of that notice, VF is required to list all candidates who are named in the mailings. They also have to send notices to those candidates, that they are being named (er, slammed) in the mailings.  

Well, they missed one: Maida Townsend of South Burlington. And unfortunately for the I.M.O.M., the candidate received the anti-Townsend mailing herself. Oops.  

From the Democratic Party’s news release:

“Under Vermont law every candidate has the right to know within 24 hours when mass media buys targeting them are made. This requirement is particularly important when misleading information is being spread about the candidate. The decision by multi-millionare political puppeteer and Vermonters First foremost funder Lenore Broughton to violate this requirement is unacceptable,” said Vermont Democratic Party Chair Jake Perkinson. “Only when Maida received the mailing herself did we realize that she was also a targeted candidate in Broughton’s most recent misleading Tea-Party inspired attacks.”

The Dems have filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office. Now, as campaign violations go, this is small potatoes. But it does point out the potential problems when you have basically a one-man operation… even if it’s Tayt Brooks, Super-Genius … doing the paperwork for a $700,000 (and counting) operation.

And I have to congratulate Jake Perkinson for coming up with the “political puppeteer” line … except now I have an indelible mental image of Lenore Broughton’s hand up Tayt Brooks’ backside.

Pardon me, I’ll be taking a very long, very cold shower.  

Really, Wendy? “News to me”?

Just a quick follow-up to jvwalt's piece about yesterday's debate for Treasurer. 

If you listened to the whole debate, or read today's story about it in the Free Press, you might have caught a very revealing exchange between the two candidates.

Remember, Beth Pearce is the incumbent State Treasurer and Wendy Wilton is the current Rutland Treasure. You know, the person in charge of staying on top of Rutland's finances.

Anyway, here's how the Free Press reports the exchange:

 Pearce countered that the financial sustainability of Rutland’s pension fund is even more uncertain, and that’s why the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank put the city on a watch list in June. 

“That’s news to me,” Wilton said when Pearce surprised her with a comment about Rutland’s watch-list status during the WDEV radio debate hosted by Mark Johnson.

 “That's news to me.” The person in charge of Rutland's finances doesn't even know that Rutland was on the state Municipal Bond Bank's watch list, and has been on that watch list since June.

 Whether it's a bad thing to be on the watch list may be open to question, but as an outsider I suspect that it's probably not a good thing, or at least not as good as not being on the watch list.

 I do know, though, that if you're the treasurer it's not a sign of competence to not know whether you're on the watch list or not.

Is this the level of competence Wendy Wilton plans to bring to the State Treasurer's office? 

Apparently Beth Pearce isn’t the shy, wonky non-politician that lazy media stereotyping has made her out to be. Yesterday, in a debate on WDEV’s Mark Johnson Show and at a later news conference, she came out swinging. And landed quite a few punches.

It was about time. After absorbing loads of attacks on her performance as Treasurer, she issued stout and thorough defenses of her own record and — finally — put challenger Wendy Wilton’s resume under the same kind of spotlight.

And she did something that the political media should have done a long time ago: called out Wilton for completely changing her public persona in a way that would make Mitt Romney blush.

You might recall that WIlton made herself a rising star (well, what passes for a “rising star” in today’s VTGOP) by producing an “analysis” showing that Governor Shumlin’s health care plan would be a $5 billion financial disaster. Which has become a key point in the propaganda campaign of conservative Super PAC Vermonters First.

Funny thing, though: since WIlton’s been running for Treasurer, she’s stopped talking health care. “My job is not to worry about the policy at all,” she told reporters. She’s actively distancing herself from the right-wing dogma that propelled her onto the Republican ticket, claiming that she didn’t remember writing a comment on Vermont Tiger slamming ShummyCare as a “fiscal disaster” and a “huge stealth tax increase.”

Didn’t remember? Did she also forget all her other public comments, remarks, speeches and interviews attacking health care reform?

After the jump: Competence and preparedness.

Pearce also staged an effective counterattack on the “competence” issue, poking holes in Wilton’s record as Rutland City Treasurer and questioning her preparedness to be Treasurer for the entire state. Some of the attacks were more relevant than others, but all were effective in political terms.

She noted that Rutland is on a special bond monitoring list maintained by the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank. Wilton had to admit she was unaware of the listing. Pearce also questioned the solvency of Rutland’s pension plan, and Wilton’s lack of experience in some key aspects of the Treasurer’s job. A point also made on VTDigger by Vermont Pundit Emeritus Eric Davis:

…Davis said that some issues Wilton has raised during the campaign, like fiscal transparency or overtime management, aren’t directly related to the treasurer’s duties, even if they’re admittedly important.

“Put the point in a different way: I haven’t heard Wendy Wilton say very much about bonds, cash management, and pensions,” said Davis, who highlighted those three issues as key responsibilities for any treasurer.

All in all, a very good day for Beth Pearce. And with any luck, it will prove to be the turning point in the race for Treasurer.  

So the Monday morning Freeploid gives us a little window on how Governor Shumlin is spending his time these days — traveling the highways and byways, stopping for pre-arranged campaign* visits and whoring himself out to any camera in his vicinity. (While Randy Brock wanders the state in his Jaguar — life’s tough — forlornly seeking out random strangers willing to talk to him. And, in some cases, tell him to his face that he doesn’t stand a chance. Sucks to be Randy.)

*And non-campaign visits, a.k.a. “governing.” You can tell the difference, so sez the Freeploid, by which staffer attends him — a campaign aide, or a state employee.

By the reckoning of just about everyone except Randy Brock and Jack Lindley, Shummy’s got this one in the bag. He’s hardly touching his million-dollar campaign stash. He did pay for a grand total of one television ad; otherwise, he seems to be feathering his nest for a future run at a higher office. (Succeeding Leahy in 2016?)

What he doesn’t seem to be doing much of, is helping the rest of the Democratic ticket. He did take time out to attend Saturday’s “Victory Rally” in Stowe, give him credit for that. (Is Stowe really the Democratic heartland these days?)

But is that the best he can do? Couldn’t he maybe do a Big Dem Bus Tour with the whole ticket attending rallies across the state? Couldn’t he arrange some policy pronouncements that involve incumbent Dems like Beth Pearce or even Bill Sorrell? Especially Pearce, who’s got a tough race on her hands thanks entirely to the deep pockets of Lenore Broughton.

Could he, at the very least, stop saying things like this?

“Phil [Scott] is rarely wrong.”

And then there’s this little WTF moment on Shumlin’s East Montpelier land deal, taken from last week’s WPTZ debate:

“Most people don’t spend $35,000 and gain $113,000 over night,” Brock retorted.

“That’s because I’ve improved the property,” Shumlin said. “Phil Scott built a road. We put in a septic system. We built the foundation.”

Huh? Phil Scott built a road for the Governor’s new manse? Would anyone else like to hear a little more about that?

IMO, Shumlin’s got some ‘splainin’ to do to his purportedly handpicked candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Cass Gekas, who’s out there fighting the hard fight with no income and limited campaign resources. It’d be nice if he could at least pretend he likes her as much as he likes Phil Scott.

There’s also the buzz on the street about Shumlin and the Auditor’s office. Namely that the Guv would greatly prefer Vince Illuzzi over Doug Hoffer, presumably because Vince is a back-slappin’, deal-makin’, backroom kinda guy with some ethical squick in his past, while Doug (although solidly liberal) is an authentic “numbers guy” who might actually check the state’s math once in a while.

I don’t necessarily put a lot of stock in street buzz, but it certainly jibes with Hoffer’s low fundraising numbers. (He has, of course, actually outperformed Illuzzi in raising money from other people, but that’s not saying much; all Republicans have done very poorly in fundraising this year. And he doesn’t have the resources it’d take to wage an all-out fight against the Lenore Broughton money machine.

I realize that there’s political value in appearing to be nonpartisan and maintaining relationships with reasonable Republicans. But the big negative on Jim Douglas’ resume is his utter failure to build a competitive Republican Party. I’d hate to see the same thing happen at the tail end of the Shumlin years.

C’mon, Shummy. A little Guv love for the Democratic ticket?

Green Mountain Daily Community,

    In 2012 the Sierra Club made extraordinary progress in advancing a new Tribal Forest model of conservation in Vermont.  And now, with your support, we intend to close on the first Nulhegan Abenaki Tribal Forest in over 200 years by the first of the year.  This first, modestly sized, tribal forest (70 beautiful acres in the heart of Nulhegan traditional territory) will be in Barton, in the Northeast Kingdom, and will be owned directly by the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, with permanent conservation easements on the land held by the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB).  With help from many friends and partners, such as the Vermont Workers Center and Northeast Kingdom State Senator Vince Illuzzi, we successfully gained the support of the Town of Barton for the project, and have now secured $112,000 in grant funding for the land purchase through VHCB.

    To read a great article on the project from Vermont Digger, please go to the below link:

http://vtdigger.org/2012/10/16…

    This first model forest will forever conserve the land as wildlife habitat, and will allow the Tribe to generate up to 1000 gallons, annually, of maple syrup.  Through this activity the Tribe will generate up to $30,000 a year in gross revenue, which, in turn, they can invest in further forest purchases or social programs for their low income tribal citizens.  This first tribal forest will also allow the Nulhegan Abenaki a place to hunt, gather, and pursue tribal-community gardens in existing clearings.  

    But for us, this is not an end; it is a beginning.  The truth of the matter is we are not saving our forests through one successful, tribal forest project, no matter how historic it is.  From an environmental point of view, this project is important because it serves as a pilot program; a working model that can be replicated on a grand scale; as an Abenaki State Forest!

    We have therefore brought our idea to the Governor, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation.  Over the summer we presented the state with a petition signed by over 1000 Vermonters stating our common support for new tribal forests.  We, along with the Chief of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, Don Stevens, also met with the head of the Agency of Natural Resources, Secretary Deb Markowitz, and Commissioner Snyder of Forests, Parks and Recreation.  We made our case, and, in turn, heard their point of view.  As a result, the State of Vermont is now open to the basic concept of Abenaki State Forests, as a place where the state would still retain ownership and official management responsibilities, but where the Tribes may be allotted a special relationship to the forests whereby they may utilize the land for low impact cultural activities, gathering of resources, access to firewood, and possibly sugaring rights.  This understanding is still a work in progress, but we are very pleased to report that the state is open to the idea.  In fact Secretary Markowitz has told us that Vermont would “consider” a proposal for a new Abenaki State Forest through the regular, competitive, application process.

    So of course we still have a very long row to hoe, but with the establishment of this first 70 acre Abenaki Tribal Forest, we will have a real working example of what we are aiming for.  In turn, we look forward to pivoting the Our Forests Our Future campaign towards a large Abenaki State Forest project after we close on this first project.  And with your continuing support and direct participation, we intend to further pursue this innovative tribal-state model in order to achieve meaningful forest conservation, and sustainable social, economic, and cultural development opportunities for Vermont’s lowest income and most endangered of peoples; the Abenaki.  

 In conclusion, in order to close on this deal, we still need to raise $20,000.  If you believe in what we are doing and want to support this historic project, please:

*write a check, made out to “The Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club” for whatever you can afford.  

*In the memo, please write “For Abenaki Tribal Forest Project”.  

*Checks should be sent to:

Chris A. Miller, Treasurer

Vermont Chapter of The Sierra Club

145 Blue Heron Lane

North Hero, Vermont 05474

###        

Solidarity,

David Van Deusen

Conservation Organizer

Vermont Sierra Club  

(This could use broader visibility… – promoted by simplify)

Checked my mailbox today, and there sat Vermonters First FOURTH slick mailing to me . Oh my god, will it ever stop ? , I want it to stop because it’s f…in’ bad for my health…you’ve heard of “road rage”- I suffer from “mail rage”, and I feel like, what did Romney’s son say ?, ” I feel like taking a punch at …someone – not sure who… maybe Target Enterprises in California, who produced this beauty. They don’t even look like Vermonters in the photos – couldn’t Tayt have at least sent them some Vermont photos ?

Here’s the new twist – instead of telling us who to vote FOR, they’ve done that 3 times already, maybe they’re not sure that strategy is effective enough, or something, now they’re trying something NEW…..now they’re telling you who to vote AGAINST. Just trying to cover all the bases, so to speak, maybe they don’t have faith in the voters to figure out that if you vote FOR someone, you probably won’t also vote for the other one on the ballot.

Oh, and the scare line of b.s. this time ?  Let’s try to DOUBLE  the  scare line – if voting to raise them once hasn’t left them quivering piles of jelly, let’s raise ’em twice…wow, that’ll get ’em : WITH TOTAL CONTROL IN MONTPELIER – DEMOCRATS VOTED TO RAISE OUR PROPERTY TAXES TWICE – AND THEY WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES AGAIN. ( I’m not sure exactly what they’re referring to here, but it doesn’t really matter, does it ? )

OK, and stuff like this : “Now they want to push through the largest tax increase in state history. And they voted to keep it a secret from us. They want to raise taxes on day care centers, dentists, barbers, carpenters , doctors, plumbers.”

Now this seems wildly disengaged from the truth, but what are you going to do : patiently go through it step by step, explaining the reality ? That didn’t work so well as a debate tactic for Pres. Obama, did it ? He had to come up with ” it’s Romnesia ! “.

So here’s the thing folks…..if you find this as aggravating as I do, PLEASE come up with some catchy little phrase that sums up what you think is going on here, and write a little letter to our local papers. If we can’t complain to the Republican Party, ( who had “nothing” to do with this ) or to the Republican candidates themselves ( ditto) , we need to at least let people know what we’re thinking about this……