I’ve been listening to the gubernatorial and lt gov wannabes as they debate down in Tunbridge on the Mark Johnson show, and I believe every one of them has brought up this “I’m a native Vermonter” bullshit.

WHAT THE HELL DOES YOUR ACCIDENTAL PLACE OF BIRTH HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

Blech.

If you heard the VPR debate last night between Brian Dubie and Peter Shumlin (which you can listen to in full here), you may have been struck by how whiny Dubie was. For much of the debate, he seemed almost like a petulant – and often confused – child. It wasn’t pretty.

Here’s a You-Tubized version of some of the highlights:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Franklin County Democrats Host Comedy Night Fundraiser @ Chow Bella! 9/29

House Representative (and professional comedian) Jason Lorber will host a night of comedy to benefit the Franklin County Democratic Party at Chow Bella Wednesday, September 29. Doors will open at 6:30pm and the performance will begin at 7:00pm. All are invited! A $20 donation grants admission. Cash bar.

Performers include:  

Jason P. Lorber

Nathan Hartswick

Traci Spencer

Dustin Bruley

Wendy Whaples Scully

Event sponsors include Chow Bella! and Lorraine and Larry Handy.

For more information contact Democratic County Chairwoman Euan Bear @ 827-6674.

the most vulnerable

I dream about them

how they suck on pennies

hold yard sales

bake cookies

for the churches

who the fuck

do they think

they are?

while the rich suffer

all this abuse

these selfish bastards

whimper about jobs

and health care

and their goddamn

entitlements

taxing the life

out of us all

I want what’s

in their boxes

under their beds

give it to the rich

say ‘here, I found

them out, I got them’

the rich will love me

elect me to office

where I can make rules

where I won’t have

these dreams and these

headaches and where

no one can find me

where I won’t

have to talk

I’ve been seeing things

panhandlers with guns

people on crutches

made of plastique

poor kids with tasers

old women knitting

body armor

it makes me crazy

I’ve got to do

something

got to get them

before they get me

the most vulnerable

the sonsabitches

they want to eat me

I can see it

in their eyes

hear their voices

out there waiting

with their fucking

dirty hands out

and nobody to stop them

except me…what?

my time is up?

sorry

thank you

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, Vt

Today was another campaign filing deadline. This report included all contributions received from the last report until 5:00 p.m. on the third day prior to the filing deadline (which would be Sunday the 12th). It was midday on Friday the 11th that the recount was complete, and the call went out to release $36,000 of pledges promised through this site and the Facebook group 1000 Vermonters for Change (okay, so it didn’t get to 1000…).

Although there were several pledgers who indicated to me they had already donated prior to the completion of the recount, this announcement from the Shumlin campaign seems a little unlikely to be coincidence.

“While raising money during the recount was challenging, since Peter accepted the Democratic nomination, the campaign has seen an outpouring of financial support,” said Alex MacLean, campaign manager.  “We are incredibly encouraged by the fact that the final two days of the filing period, the campaign received over $34,000.”

Go team!

( – promoted by JDRyan)

Just a heads up for those of you following the Washington County House and Senate races, from a press release:

The Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post 59 is sponsoring their biennial Waterbury Candidates Forum on September 16. The event begins at 6PM with a meet and greet and the forum will begin at 7PM. As in the past, the Legion has invited the candidates for both the House and Senate.

Rep. Sue Minter and Rep. Tom Stevens invite you to join us at this event – the Legion has graciously hosted these forums for several election cycles and we are grateful that they are again. We would love to see you show your support for us at this event. We are aware that there are school meetings going on at the same time (which we will both miss!), but we hope you will be able to spend some time at the Legion.

WDEV will be broadcasting the event live, and ORCA Media will also be recording this for airing on cable.

This is an important election and we appreciate all the support you have given us this year. Please share this with your friends – let them know!

See you there!

Waterbury Candidates Forum

Thursday, September 16, 2010

6PM, Meet and Greet

7PM – 8:30, Forum

Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post 59

16 Stowe Street

Waterbury, VT 05676

Hope to see you there.

Now, you all probably know Rasmussen tends to skew Republican (and as Eric Davis pointed out in the comments below, has a rather suspect methodology), but this released today is rather interesting:

Just days after emerging as the winner of an extremely close Democratic primary, Peter Shumlin is running slightly ahead of Republican Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie in Vermont’s gubernatorial race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey shows Shumlin, the state Senate president pro tempore, picking up 49% of the vote, while Dubie draws support from 46%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided.

Rassmusen aside, the more Dubie actually opens his mouth, we very well might see that gap get a lot wider in the coming weeks.

(I am posting this here because apparently Art Woolf closed comments on his below referenced blog without me having a chance to do a response to a response. The gist of my argument is simple: it makes more sense to explore Vermont’s SAT test results based on income than race or other minority status.)

Here is the link to Art Woolf’s post that got me going down this path: http://www.vermonttiger.com/co…

In short Mr. Woolf poopoos any contention that the Vermont education system is proving itself yet once again by claiming we can attribute our SAT success story to nothing more than Vermont being a mostly “white” state.

I say no, and I say the numbers support me – not Mr. Woolf.

Before you read the following, you should read the Vermont Tigger post ….

Art … an interesting claim, and quite correct about Vermont’s median income. That isn’t, however, what my “much lower” description was referring to – I was referring to the great increase in the number of folks from $100,000+ plus households that were taking the test. Obviously I failed to make that clear, but I stand by that statement.

But it is those numbers and the fact that Vermont is actually in the middle of the country median income wise that makes a comparison of SAT scores by income much more pertinent than scoring by skin color or other minority status.

Here’s a quick comparison of two states with similiar SAT populations but a wide variance of median income …

Median incomes:

Vermont …….. $51,809

New Hampshire .. $67,508

(All the below comes from links taken from http://professionals.collegebo…

Percentage of test takers that were “Black or African American”:

Vermont …….. 1%

New Hampshire .. 1%

Mean reading/math/writing = average of means for “Black or African American”:

Vermont …….. 469/460/462 = 464

New Hampshire .. 478/474/463 = 472

Mean reading/math/writing = average of means for all SAT test takers

Vermont …….. 519/523/507 = 516

New Hampshire .. 521/523/511 = 518

Mean reading/math/writing = average of means for “White”

Vermont …….. 524/525/511 = 520

New Hampshire .. 520/522/510 = 517

Interestingly enough when one views the income level of test takers, one finds that Vermont has higher percentages of test takers in the lowest four economic ranges ($0 – $80,000), but New Hampshire picks up the lead for anything above $80,000. Even more telling is those lower four subgroups provided 61% of Vermont’s test takers but only 51% of New Hampshire’s. Conversly the $80,000 and up group in New Hampshire comprised of 49% compared to Vermont’s 39%.

These two states have almost identical demographic descriptions by percentage ( http://quickfacts.census.gov/q… and http://quickfacts.census.gov/q… and both states had pretty much equal percentages of the under 18 population taking the SATs.

This is a good apples to apples comparison, and the above comparison shows that all other things being fairly equal Vermont’s education system is helping young adults move on into their adult lives well prepared academically.

Today, Wednesday, Sept. 15 is National Jobs Emergency Day and a rally will take place at Montpelier City Hall from noon til 1pm.

The rally will call on Congress to:



Recognize the jobs emergency in the nation and pass the Local Jobs For America Act.

Extend the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families emergency fund jobs subsidies program.



Extend unemployment insurance.

Renew the country’s infrastructure by creating a national infrastructure bank.

And that Wall St. must be made to pay their fair share for the economic collapse they created through a tax on financial speculation which would be aimed at raising $200–$500 billion every year.

Local Contact:

Jessica Moseley 223-6772

Also, check out: http//www.jwj.org

If only those out-of-state conservatives making jokes about the “socialist paradise” that is Vermont could get a load of the state of labor in Vermont, they might change their tune.

Consider: Two of the most effective union organizations in the state (the Vermont NEA and the Vermont State Employees Union) have faced a coordinated effort by the current Republican administration to undermine, even eliminate them. That same administration has worked to undermine prevailing wage laws to the best of it’s ability. Now the administration’s number two man is looking to be promoted to the top position, promising more of the same focus on outsourcing and arbitrary firings to break the VSEA, undercutting the salaries and benefits for union brothers and sisters working in education, taking a hatchet to collectively bargained pension agreements.

And to this date, Dubie has been endorsed for governor by two “fellow” unions of the NEA and VSEA: the Professional Fire Fighters of Vermont and two International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers locals.

Solidarity forever, eh?

In the case of the leaders of the fire fighters union, they’ve always had a thing for Republicans in this state. Go figure. What do they care, I guess? Nobody messes with them, they’ve got theirs, screw the other workers and vulnerable folks – unionized and otherwise – in the state.

The IBEW is simply a case of phenomenal foolishness. A Brian Dubie administration would be an extension of the same administration that brought them the Fairpoint fiasco, driving a stake into the livelihood of IBEW rank and file across the state. Endorsing Dubie is akin to ritual suicide.

And now, according to sources within Labor, those same IBEW interests may have an ally in acting AFL-CIO President Jill Charbonneau. What’s their issue? What trumps every other principle – even the very right of collective bargaining itself?

Two words: Vermont Yankee. The IBEW has transformed its entire existence into the political arm of the Entergy Corporation, and at an AFL Executive Board meeting  on Sunday the 26th of this month, they will try to use their muscle to make the AFL-CIO proper follow suit… and given that the sympathetic Charbonneau reportedly has a relative employed at VY, they may well succeed.

More on how we got to this sorry state of affairs below…

Back during the VT Yankee Senate debate, sharp eyes might have noticed an odd contradiction. Traven Leyshon, President Of The Washington County Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO put out a personal statement in opposition to VY’s relicensing. Clearly, there are many on the Executive Board who opposed the aging, dangerous plant – even while they support the workers. When the IBEW announced it would participate in a press conference opposing the efforts in the Senate to hold Entergy accountable, the AFL did not release a statement.

And yet, here was the newspaper photo from the press conference:

Standing to the right of that champion of worker’s rights (cough, cough) and Chief Vermont lobbyist for IBM John O’Kane, you’ll see the director of the state AFL-CIO.

So what was he doing there?

To put it mildly, some members of the AFL Executive Board were not happy.

According to sources, at the AFL COPE convention prior to this press conference, the AFL State Executive Board had a very lively debate on the issue. While there was no official vote, the majority of the Board seemed to support the notion of the union staying neutral on the plant closing (in respect for those members from the IBEW which stood to lose their jobs).

However, the majority did appear to support the union coming out publicly with a demand that the Legislature require from Entergy to include significant funds in in the decommioning fund to retrain VY union workers (possibly even to train them to build and maintain wind farms and other renewable, green, energy plants). Although there apparently wasn’t any kind of an official vote, this approach appeared to have the support of the great majority of the board.

It was also decided that Local 300 (IBEW) rank and file would have to first agree to this strategy. IBEW Local 300 President (and sometimes Democratic candidate for State House) George Clain apparently talked to his members, who – for reasons unclear – rejected the State Federation’s offer to help on this issue, and the whole approach was left to wither. (NOTE: Clain has also been a labor representative on the VT Democratic Party’s Executive Board for some time… more on the odd case of a Dubie supporter on the most powerful VDP committee in another diary)

Why? Hmmm…

After the AFL convention, who directed AFL staff to stand in support of relicensing at the press conference, in defiance of the desires of the group?

According to insiders, that was likely acting Vermont AFL President Charbonneau, who had recently assumed the top spot after the official President had been hospitalized for a serious stroke. What is not in question is that Charbonneau did not confer with the Executive Board over the AFL presence at the Press Conference.

And now it looks like the Entergy-focused elements of the AFL may be coalescing to attempt to hand Dubie a political coup with the absurdity of the Federation’s endorsement.

None of which is to say there isn’t continued opposition to the Dubie/Entergy agenda being rammed through. When contacted, one AFL Executive Board member – Dave Van Deusen – had this to say, indicating he would resign if such an endorsement is made:

In the event that the Executive Board decided to back Dubie (and therefore forsake healthcare reform), I recognize that that would signal a huge disconnect between the average working class Vermonter and the current AFL-CIO leadership. Such a demonstrated disconnect would be so great, so wrong, and so against the interests of working families that I would personally feel compelled to resign my seat on the Executive Board. I will have nothing to do with any effort to elect Brian Dubie as Governor. I suspect that other union leaders would feel the same. BUT AGAIN, I fully expect to leave the September 26th meeting with a united labor movement against Brian Dubie and for the working class.”

One wonders, though – why did labor stalwart Clain seem uninterested in a perfectly reasonable compromise approach by the AFL? Why would a longtime labor activist blind himself to everything remotely connected to Vermont workers except for the controversy surrounding an objectively dangerous nuclear plant, even to the degree of (apparently) scuttling an attempt by the union to pressure its corporate owner into taking more responsibility for its workers?

Consider what Dubie’s plans include, according to vtdigger:

* Widespread government deregulation;

*Mandatory education spending cuts or caps based on the often-disputed assertion there are too many teachers for too few students when the ratios are actually skewed by ever-rising special education teacher needs;

*Shifting resources from K-12 education to preschool and higher ed. (Shumlin would shift money from Corrections to early education);

* Changes in eligibility standards for Medicaid-funded health benefits and strong opposition to government-sponsored health reform, including single-payer. He favors, instead, cost-containment through enhancement of preventive care, hospital coordination and tort reform.

*Unspecified alterations to the current pension system for state workers and teachers.

Real worker-friendly stuff, eh?

Now consider who Dubie shares the credit for his blueprint with:

“We’ve crafted it from you business owners, from you managers, from you employees and George Clain, the members of IBEW,” Dubie told the crowd.

When I first read this, I was angry. Now it just makes me profoundly sad.

Amidst the screw-ups, masochists and self-loathers in the labor community pushing the Douglas/Dubie agenda, there are also a lot of the finest people you could ever meet. Obviously not enough of them in key spots in the IBEW and the firefighters to prevent this exercise in self-flegellation and humiliation – but perhaps there are still enough in the AFL proper to hold the line against this nonsense.

If anybody is ever to take them seriously again as institutions, they’d better hope so.