Well, well… the Burlington Free Press today published an editorial harshly critical of Wendy Wilton for her baseless charges of malfeasance in the Treasurer’s office. Here’s the first paragraph:

Republican candidate Wendy Wilton is showing the kind of state treasurer she will be. She will be accusatory and she will poke fingers in eyeballs.

And that’s just the warmup. The Freeploid then points out that Wilton’s request for a state investigation isn’t a compilation of evidence; it’s just a list of unanswered questions. THe evidence, says the editorial, consists entirely of

…a single opinion of a former employee in the treasurer’s office who commented on a story on a web site and three years of overtime in the treasurer’s office.

… This specious support falls well short of constituting a valid reason for making these serious accusations.

And the conclusion::

Without offering any evidence other than conjecture, this tactic comes across as nothing but a mean-spirited attack from a candidate whose primary leverage is to drag down her opponent with innuendo rather than run on her own merits.

Congratulations to the Freeploid for taking such a strong stand in the heat of a campaign. It’s too bad that most media sources, including the ‘Loid itself, have given so much ink/airtime to Wilton’s attacks. And it’s too bad that most journalists feel constrained to simply present both sides in a case like this — Wilton attacks, Pearce responds, and we’ll have to leave it there — rather than searching for the truth and drawing conclusions where appropriate.

Wilton is likely to continue her attacks because they’ve drawn a lot of attention to her campaign. (And because her only option is to “run on her own merits.”) WIll the Freeploid’s news pages continue to report her attacks, in spite of the paper’s own judgment about their validity?

( – promoted by Sue Prent)

After reading about Lenore Broughton, who has given $680,000 so far to her controversial right-wing superPAC, Vermonters First, I came upon some fascinating information on her family, especially her grandfather. Important disclaimer : This bears no reflection on Mrs. Broughton, but it does describe a world of historical precedent that echoes eerily of the present day political climate.

So much was I reminded of the efforts of our current batch of financiers against “the government”,such as the Koch Bros., Sheldon Adelson and many others, that I offer these links to anyone who wants to brush up on this era in our history, and to contemplate FDR’s words in a speech that to my ears, could be delivered today. He was speaking of a group in particular, the American Liberty League, that plotted a coup against him, and which was financed in part by Mrs. Broughton’s grandfather, Sewell Avery.

About Sewell Avery, Lenore Broughton’s grandfather:

 “Sewell Avery, a precocious darling of the right-wing anti-New Deal movement, came from a wealthy Michigan family of lumber barons. Avery was president of Montgomery Ward, America’s first mail-order business. Created in 1872, its first store opened in 1926. By 1929, it was the world’s top retailer, with 530 outlets. He was a director of J.P.Morgan’s U.S.Steel Corp. In 1931, Avery was president of U.S. Gypsum, America’s top supplier of plaster.”…

About the American Liberty League:  

“Lurking in the background behind the plot to oust FDR was the American Liberty League , a pro-business think-tank and ultra-right wing lobby group. Avery was a financier of the American Liberty League and a National Advisor for the Crusaders, a fascist front group for the A.L.L. He was also a University of Chicago trustee “where an anti-radical drive took a sudden spurt after the Crusaders went into active anti-labor activity.”‘….

FDR on the League:

On Jan. 3, 1936, in an unprecedented joint session of Congress, when President Roosevelt announced a ban on military exports to fascist Italy, he blasted the American Liberty League.

“They steal the livery of great national ideals to serve discredited special interests…. This minority in business and industry… engage in vast propaganda to spread fear and discord among the people. They would gang up against the people’s liberties…. They seek the restoration of their selfish power…..

Our resplendent economic aristocracy does not want to return to that individualism of which they prate, even though the advantages under that system went to the ruthless and the strong. They realize that in 34 months we have built up new instruments of public power. In the hands of a people’s government this power is wholesome and proper. But in the hands of political puppets of an economic aristocracy, such power would provide shackles for the liberties of the people. Give them their way and they will take the course of every aristocracy of the past – power for themselves, enslavement for the public.”

The 15th annual Homelessness Marathon national radio broadcast will air live and be streamed online on Sunday, October 21st from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Eastern Time), airing locally within Vermont on WGDR in Plainfield and WVEW in Brattleboro.

via WGDR (here):

This year the Homelessness Marathon will be partnering with seven radio stations around the United States, featuring reports from Illinois, Maine, Indiana, New Mexico, Vermont, New Hampshire, Oregon and New York.

The Vermont programming will originate from WGDR-WGDH, from 2 to 3 pm, hosted by Joseph Gainza.

Topic: When You Are Forced To Leave Home

For more information, see the Homelessness Marathon national broadcast schedule:

http://news.homelessnessmarathon.org/2008/08/broadcast-schedule.html

For additional details, the Homelessness Marathon founder, Jeremy Alderson, sent the following by e-mail this morning:

From: Jeremy Alderson

Date: Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 9:25 AM

Subject: 15th Annual Homelessness Marathon on Sunday!

We are pleased to announce that the 15th Annual Homelessness Marathon will air on Sunday, October 21st, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., eastern time.

This broadcast will be different from any of our previous ones.

In the past we have broadcast overnight.

This year we are broadcasting during the day.

In the past we have broadcast on a weekday.

This year we will broadcast on a weekend.

In the past, we have originated from a central location.

This year, we will originate from all over the country.

Seven different affiliates in seven different cities will be originating an hour each, reflecting local issues where they are.  Our eighth hour will be a “Vice-Presidential Candidates Forum.”  Cheri Honkala, the vice-presidential candidate of the Green Party and Judge Jim Gray, the vice-presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party will answer questions from homeless people on how their tickets, if elected, will address poverty.

It should be interesting.

Our list of affiliates is published on our website.  If you don’t live near a station that will be carrying the broadcast, you can tune in on our computer at:

http://pacifica.org:8000/live.m3u

and if you happen to have an iPhone, you can listen in at:

http://pacifica.org:8000/live

Jeremy Weir Alderson

Founder, Homelessness Marathon

http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org

(As an ex-New York City area kid way back when there were 3 teams in New York and the Yankees‘ top salary to The Great DiMaggio was something like $100,000, I cannot resist seeing some curious analogies to the Tigers‘ sweep.  Now, GO San Francisco!!!)

The New York Yankees managed to get two (count ’em) two hits in Thursday’s Game Four of the American League Championship series against Detroit. (Tigers–8, Yankees–1)  The New York Times said today on its front page, more or less, here’s a $200 million dollar (payroll) team that can’t hit.  Or, as we should look at it–2 hits for 200 mil on Thursday; that’s a 100 mil a hit.

After 36 years in Vermont, my ‘team loyalty’ to the Yankees has been eroded by my friends who are Red Sox fans, but mostly by the big money the Yankee owners waste in trying to buy a winning team.  And also by how the Yankees have pretty consistently fucked-up in a goodly number of post season series.  So, money doesn’t bat.

Now, we’ve seen Wall Street, the Banks, and the Feds waste trillions.  Our National Guard troops are dying and killing in Afghanistan.  And, oops, sorry, those unemployment checks will be late, and us folks on Social Security are going to get the lowest increase in decades.  But, you know folks, the price of a base hit, well, somebody’s got to pay for that.

If Mitt Romney gets elected, the Yankee owners will probably ask him for a bail-out.  You know, keep sending all that money to the top where the assholes kick it around off the edge or drop it down the toilet.  Create some more A-Rod paying jobs for A-Rod types, and make up for the waste out of the pockets of the 47%, while 47 more % lose their livable wage jobs?

If it’s bad for Baseball, it’s bad for the Country.  Simple.  The Yankees deserved to lose.  The line has to be drawn somewhere, and I’m glad those Tigers of that 47% city of Detroit showed Americans last night that BIG MONEY CAN BE BEATEN!  And also showed us what is wrong and maddening with an economics that says the Rich Guys can just…well, fuck up and give C- performance, cause, hell, they’ve got the money already.  Giving them more money will not fix things.  Things are broke because they do not appreciate the value of the money they have because they didn’t (or REFUSE TO) earn it.

Before the Wall Street Yankees spend more money during off-season, perhaps they should consider moving the goddamn franchise to Atlanta.  After all, those goddamn Braves are there almost every post season but do not quite make it all the way.  Why not the Atlanta Yankees?  Sort of a Gone With The Wind team.

And Romney?  He’s pitching shit and popping out.  He needs to be traded–to China, let us hope.  In Baseball, the team that plays the best should win, not the team that spends the most and thinks it can fake it through.  It looked like the Yankees didn’t have a plan, or a clue.  Or that plan was a secret plan.  Romney will not tell us his plan.  Don’t bet money on him.

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, Vt.  

Lenore Broughton’s conservative Super PAC, Vermonters First, has reported another big media buy to the Secretary of State’s office.

And guess who’s not on their advertising list? VTDigger:

The super PAC has spent $39,330 on ads to support 41 Republican or independent candidates for the Vermont Senate and the Vermont House of Representatives.

…In addition, Vermonters First has bought $28,037 worth of advertising on Wendy Wilton.

But not a sou for Vince.

This could be a simple fluke. It’s one report, and VF will almost certainly continue to buy ad time. But I see a lot of VF web ads while I’m trolling for Vermont news. And while I’ve seen a lot of issue ads attacking “Montpelier” and some backing Wendy Wilton, I haven’t seen a single one for Vince Illuzzi since VF had to withdraw its web ads that featured the Vermont state seal.

But if VF has stepped back from Vince, it could mean a number of things. We know VF just spent $17K on polling, so they presumably have a pretty clear picture of the campaigns. Maybe they’ve decided he’s a shoo-in, or a likely loser. Maybe they’re going all-in on Wilton, either because they smell blood in the water or because she’s a better ideological fit with VF.

One thing I do know: We won’t find out anything from the man in the trenchcoat, Tayt Brooks, International Man of Mystery. Oh no, the doings of Vermonters First are a state secret. Just like the face of Lenore Broughton.  

Three items regarding our local news: An embarrassing goof at Channel 3, the Incredible Shrinking Freeploid, and an ill-timed fundraiser at VPR.

WCAX oopsie: You know you’re in trouble as a Republican candidate in Vermont if… WGOP can’t get your name right. In a brief item written by one of its news anchors and posted on its website, the station refers to the Republican US Senate candidate as “James MacGovern.”

Er, the guy’s name is “John.”

Extra embarrassing for Mr. MacGovern: there are 18 viewer comments posted under the story, and NONE of them pointed out the error.

(If WCAX is reading this, the error may be fixed by the time you click on over.)

How small has the Freeploid gotten? We can all see, every morning, how much smaller the physical newspaper has become. But here’s an even starker indication: The ‘Loid wants to sell off its landmark downtown headquarters. And there’s a rather amazing statistic in the article:

The seven buildings on College Street that will be offered for sale total about 55,700 square feet, but the newspaper’s Information Center and business operations require only about 10,000 square feet.

So in the past, the Freeploid’s news and business operations required almost six times as much space as they do now. There’s the impact of all the outsourcing and cutbacks.

The company plans to retain ownership of its printing facility and mailroom on South Winooski Avenue, but it wants to sell off the downtown space and become a tenant, occupying a sliver of its former HQ. Sad.

After the jump: Why now, VPR?

Did VPR think this through? As anyone who listens to public radio is aware, it’s fundraising time at VPR. Ah yes, that magical time of the year when they pre-empt one-third of their drive-time programming, plus smaller chunks in the off-hours, to do the necessary job of begging for money.

A common refrain in this fall’s drive? The value of public radio’s election coverage.

Which it is PRE-EMPTING to raise money.

I know that mid-October is the standard time for pubcasters’ major fund drives, and there are some very good reasons for that. But during the height of the campaign? Less than three weeks before Election Day? Really?

Did anyone at VPR give this any thought? Or did the fundraising process simply roll on as usual?

It’s too late to fix this now, but I have two ideas for 2016. One, do the drive in late September and early October, before the campaign reaches its height. Or two, postpone it until shortly after the election and couple it with a very active mid-October pitch during regular programming breaks. 30-second spots or live reads, saying “We’re postponing our fund drive in order to bring you complete election coverage. This reporting is only possible with your help. Please consider making a pledge now, so we can continue to bring you complete coverage.”

Are both of those options so unworkable? Would the financial returns be so much lower? Somehow, I doubt it. But public radio has become a very large, high-stakes enterprise, which has to maintain a sharp eye on the bottom line. Sometimes, to the detriment of its supposed mission.  

The BBC and the Times are both posting stories this week about a dramatic development in Cuba. The country is moving away from its status as a closed society and dropped the requirement for exit visas for Cubans wishing to move away or simply to travel abroad.

From the BBC:

Cuba has announced it is removing the need for its citizens to obtain exit permits before travelling abroad.

State media said the move, to come into effect on 14 January next year, would “update” migration laws to reflect current and future circumstances.

Cubans currently have to go through a lengthy and expensive process to obtain a permit and dissidents are often denied one, correspondents say.

The move is the latest in a series of reforms under President Raul Castro.

Cubans who have permanent residency on the island will also be allowed to stay abroad for up to 24 months, instead of the current 11, without having to return to renew paperwork.

And from the Times:

The new policy – promised by President Raúl Castro last year, and finally announced in the Communist Party newspaper – represents the latest significant step by the Cuban government to answer demands for change from Cubans, while also maintaining a significant measure of control.

…

But the new law gives Cubans leeway to stay abroad longer, letting them remain outside the country for two years before losing their rights to property, citizenship and benefits like health care, an increase from 11 months under the current policy.

Analysts say the government is encouraging more Cubans to travel so that they can go earn money elsewhere and return, injecting capital into the island’s moribund economy. Whether that creates a temporary – or permanent – mass exodus, Cubans and experts say, will be determined by how many people have the means and passports to leave, and which countries welcome them.

Obviously this isn’t everything. For instance, the law will retain restrictions on emigration for people, such as doctors and other professionals, who are considered too valuable to the population to be allowed to leave.

Nevertheless, this is a move in the direction of greater freedom and fewer legal restrictions.  Although it has been obvious for years that our half-century long state of economic warfare against Cuba has utterly failed to produce positive change, this change in Cuban law creates a political opportunity for the administration to make a reciprocal move in Cuba’s direction. If you assume that the rational and humane choice, a complete end to the embargo, is not a possibility, a related move, such as eliminating travel restrictions, could and should be initiated as soon as possible.

 How about an announcement on November 13? It’s our turn.

Two brief items combined in one diary here. First, in case you don’t obsessively track Seven Days’ online presence, I direct your attention to a funny, disturbing Reporter’s Notebook from Andy Bromage. Subject: the paper’s attempt to get a photograph of Vermonters First moneybags Lenore Broughton.

As you may know, Miss Daisy is a shy, retiring sort, but she does fulfill at least one civic function, as a member of Burlington Telecom’s Cable Advisory Council. Well, 7D couldn’t find a photo of Broughton anywhere, so they sent photographer Matthew Thorsen to a CAC meeting.

When he got there, Thorsen says, two members of the board had already arrived, but not Broughton. They asked who he was and what he was doing there, and Thorsen says he replied that he was taking pictures for the paper. Broughton showed up a few minutes later, Thorsen says, and asked the same question. Thorsen repeated who he was, at which point, he says, Broughton said, “No, no,” put her hands across her face and bolted from the building.

Yipes. Considering that Broughton was attending a public meeting, Thorsen would have been well within his rights to simply start snapping, but he was more polite than that. In fact, he left the meeting rather than cause further disruption. After he departed, Broughton returned from her spider hole and the meeting went on.

This is the oddball who’s trying to buy our elections.

After the jump: Vince Illuzzi has raised a lot less money than you think.

On to the second item. Earlier this week, I reported (along with many others) on the mid-October campaign finance reports. And all of us, looking at the raw totals, said that Vince Illuzzi had raised a total of $74,527 for his campaign, while Doug Hoffer had raised $47,427. A significant discrepancy.

What we failed to report, as Doug the numbers guy points out, is that Vince’s total includes a $25,000 loan to his campaign, plus $17,000 he rolled over from his State Senate campaign fund. Take out that money, and Vince has actually raised — in the manner of getting people to give him money — a little under $32,000. Hoffer’s total includes a $10,000 loan to self, making a total of $37,447 in funds actually raised from others

So, if you look only at actual fundraising performance, Doug has actually outdone Vince. In spite of Vince’s vaunted political connections and lifelong insider status. (Generally speaking, all the statewide Republican candidates have done consistently poorly in  fundraising, from Randy Brock on down.)

And, as I did accurately report earlier, Vince has spent quite a bit more of his pile. He has about $5,000 left in the bank, while Doug has $13,000 on hand.

Let the record show…  

Oh, our old friends at WCAX-TV and news director/former Douglas functionary Anson Tebbetts are at it again. Yesterday they aired a 3-minute piece on Wendy Wilton’s flimsy charges against Beth Pearce — and the report seemed to be stacked against Pearce.

First, when I (twice) watched the story on WCAX’s website, it was preceded, each time, by a 15-second Vermonters First ad for Wilton. Maybe that was inadvertent, but it’s absolutely inexcusable.

Then we get to the video. The anchor introduces the piece by referring to “the two candidates trading barbs,” which is not true, because it’s Wilton who’s throwing the mud. Then, Kristin Carlson spends the first 1:35 of her report focused on Wilton’s accusations. In the middle of this, there’s a brief B-roll clip of Pearce — but you don’t hear her, you just hear Wilton slamming her.

During this (by TV standards) endless attention to Wilton, WCAX airs a rather startling claim:

Wilton says her campaign was tipped off to the problems by seven current or former employees who have concerns about Pearce. Channel 3 talked to several people about their worries; none would go on camera.

There’s a nice piece of yellow journalism for you. WCAX repeats a very strong — and very vague — charge from Wilton; WCAX speaks to “several” people (they don’t remember how many?), but can’t get any of them on camera. And reports absolutely nothing about what they might have said off-camera. Were they willing to substantiate WIlton’s charges without showing their faces? Did they want to be anonymous? Did they refuse to say anything? We don’t know; WCAX did not tell us. That’s an abject failure of journalism.

Finally, at the 1:37 mark, after some very specific accusations from Wilton, we get a briefer and less specific defense from Pearce. After less than a minute with Pearce, Carlson returns to Wilton, noting that she has requested investigations by the Auditor and Attorney General.

And that’s about it. A slanted intro; two-thirds of the time spent on the Republican and less than one-third on the incumbent Democrat. Apparently WGOP is alive and well.

Tell me, why do any Democrats give any of their ad money to this station?  

If you’re a political journalist and you don’t know how to begin a story, there’s always the old standby “The race for ____ heated up yesterday when…”

And there it is, in this morning’s all-in-color-for-a-buck Freeploid. Today’s fill-in-the-blank is “Treasurer.” And the heating is courtesy of Republican challenger Wendy Wilton*, who is accusing incumbent Beth Pearce of a veritable cornucopia of malfeasance, and demanding not one, but TWO investigations.

*Wilton’s cheap-ass campaign website bears the misleading headline, “Treasurer Wendy Wilton for Treasurer.” Wilton is, of course, Treasurer of the city of Rutland, population 16,399, a tiny bit different than being Treasurer of the state of Vermont, population 626,431. So Wendy, if I’m the president of my local Elks Club chapter and I run for President of the United States, can I put “President John Walters For President” on my website?

Wilton has filed complaints with the Attorney General and the State Auditor, regarding overtime pay in the Treasurer’s office and reputed delays in an upgrade of state retirement systems. Wilton depicts her action as a simple request for information, but an e-mail blast from her campaign refers to “an overtime scandal” and “gross mismanagement.”

Yeah, not political at all. Three weeks before the election. When there’s no way any investigation or audit can be completed by Election Day.

After the jump: a closer look at Wilton’s bluster.

The overtime stuff is old news. One key staffer ran up significant overtime* because some experienced staff left the office, while Pearce kept the overall payroll under budget. In her new complaint, Wilton asks why Pearce didn’t hire additional personnel instead of allowing overtime pay. (Gee, Wendy, you want to INCREASE the state payroll?) Pearce’s response: the work was highly technical in nature, and you can’t just hire a few temps to get you through a rough patch. In short: This ain’t McDonald’s, lady.

*Although the overtime figure isn’t nearly so scary when you break it down. Wilton says the staffer accumulated 3,216 hours in overtime. In a three-year period. So if you divide 3,216 by three years, you get 21 hours per week in overtime. So the staffer in question was putting in 60-hour weeks, while filling the shoes of two departed senior employees. That sounds a lot less appalling, no?

As for the overdue pension system upgrade, Pearce acknowledges some delays (which are pretty much par for the course in this kind of thing) but says the entire project is on track — and under budget.

Now, that’s my kind of malfeasance.

Pearce also points out that another audit would be superfluous, since the State Auditor conducts a yearly audit of the Treasurer’s office. The most recent audit, she says, found no problems.

And yet Wendy Wilton wants two investigations.

Well, not really. She just wants to stir up trouble.

________________________

p.s. I began this piece with a flip observation about lazy writing, so I’ll end the same way. The Freeploid’s article is headlined “Candidates Spar in Heated Treasurer’s Race.” Oh boy, cat fight!

Thing is, last I checked, a fight requires two participants. In this case, Wilton is attacking Pearce’s credibility and professionalism (and even adherence to the law), while Pearce is responding to the accusations. That’s not a fight, and that’s not a “heated race.” That’s one candidate going off the deep end in a desperate attempt to smear her opponent.

p.p.s. I’d like to put in my own request for an investigation. Wilton’s cheap-ass campaign website features a photo of the candidate. The exact same photo used by Vermonters First in its recent, ill-fated State Seal webvertising campaign.

The same photo!!!!!!

I smell collusion.