The Rutland Herald reported and today the Free Press follows with news of the gathering storm in diary farm business.Prices per hundred weight have dropped 30% from last year at this time .Last month 11 farms failed .The dangers of the situation were recognized at UVM’s farm extension service and they established a telephone crisis line for stressed farmers.It is noted that two struggling farmers in California committed suicide during a period of financial stress.  

Once again the crack team of Douglas administrators have taken notice,sat up ,shrugged and are doing little if anything. According to the Sec.of Agriculture the best hope is to wait for the federal stimulus package .

No new ideas,no innovative emergency plans were reported .Last week we had multiple complaints from republicans about others executive salaries, makes me wonder what they are doing to earn theirs .At least they didn’t offer the Dept of Labor’s telephone game show format for the stress hotline.Multiple failures of diary farms will have a dynamic effect on character of the state,someday someone may wish they had done something.We are real concerned.

Officials said Thursday there’s little the state can do, in the short term at least, to resolve the mess.…”‘Send money now’ would be the best thing, but there isn’t any money to send,so we’re trying to find ways to decrease the cost side for farmers and find a way for them to get through this,” Diane Bothfeld, dairy industry specialist for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. The worst, she said, is yet to come.

Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee said Vermont’s greatest hope right now lies in the federal stimulus package. Vermont farms, he said, provide 15,000 jobs to the Vermont economy. He estimates that the industry’s woes could cost the state $200 million in lost economic activity in 2009.

“It’s a big impact and we’re real concerned,” Allbee said.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/a…

Every once in a while, a good story slips through the cracks about our congressmen in Washington. This was one of them.

Amer Shurrab is a Palestinian from Khan Yunis living in Washington, DC. Shurrab is a recent graduate from Middlebury College.

Democracy Now! reported last Wednesday, that “Shurrab’s father and two brothers were fleeing their village when their vehicle came under Israeli fire. His twenty-eight-year-old, Kassab, died in a hail of bullets trying to flee the vehicle. His eighteen-year-old brother, Ibrahim, survived the initial attack, but Israeli troops refused to allow an ambulance to reach them until twenty hours later. By then, it was too late. Ibrahim had bled to death in front of his father.”

On Wednesday, Senator Pat Leahy made a moving speech on the Senate floor about Shurab, his family, and what he’s been through. Personally, I appreciate this because it’s not easy for any Congressman to speak out on behalf of Palestinians.

Below the fold is Leahy’s speech. I highly recommend everyone take a few seconds to read it. As many of you know, the plight of Palestinians is something I care very deeply about. It makes me proud we have a Senator who also recognizes their struggles. We need more like that.

– Christian  

“Mr. President, we have all seen the photographs of houses, schools and other civilian infrastructure destroyed in Gaza, and the reports of civilian deaths, including over 400 children, and many thousands more injured.  Behind each of these statistics is a story of a family tragedy.  I want to take this opportunity to talk about one that has touched the lives of Vermonters, and which should cause each of us deep concern.  

Amer Shurrab is a recent graduate of Middlebury College, which is located not very far from my home in Vermont.  Amer is also a Palestinian, whose family was living in Gaza during the recent Israeli invasion.  His father, Muhammed Kassab Shurrah, is a farmer who grows fruits and vegetables on a small plot of land.

On January 16th, Amer’s father and brothers were returning home with provisions from their farm during the 3 hour humanitarian cease-fire that was in effect that day.  Although there was apparently no indication that the route was unsafe for a civilian vehicle carrying civilian passengers, Israeli soldiers fired from a civilian house at their car as it passed for reasons that remain unknown.  In a panic, Amer’s brother, Kassab, already wounded, got out of the vehicle and was shot a total of 18 times and died a short distance away.  Israeli bullets also hit Amer’s father and younger brother Ibrahim, who were unable to leave the car to get medical attention because Israeli soldiers refused to allow movement in or out of the area.

Muhammed tried everything he could to save his son Ibrahim, who was bleeding to death before his eyes.  He phoned a hospital with his cell phone, but the hospital told him the Israeli Army was preventing an ambulance from reaching them.  He called relatives, who contacted the Red Cross on his behalf to ask for assistance, but the Red Cross had to wait for assurance from Israeli authorities that an ambulance would get through unscathed, assurance which was not forthcoming.  He spoke with several members of the press, including the BBC, who even broadcast his plea for help.  But an ambulance could not reach them until 22 hours after the incident, even though the hospital was located less than a mile away.  By this time, Ibrahim had died in his father’s arms.  Israeli troops reportedly looked on and ignored Muhammed’s pleas for help.  

This case cries out for an immediate, thorough, credible and transparent investigation by the Israeli Government.  Any individuals determined to have violated the laws of war should be prosecuted and appropriately punished.  In addition, it is important that the U.S. Embassy determine whether any Israeli soldiers who were equipped by the U.S. violated U.S. laws or agreements governing the use of U.S. equipment, both in relation to this incident and others involving civilian casualties.  This should include the use of white phosphorous in heavily populated areas, which is alleged to have caused serious injuries to civilians.

Mr. President, this is a heartbreaking story.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Amer Shurrab and his family and friends, and to the families of other civilians, Palestinian and Israeli, who died or suffered other grievous losses in this latest escalation of violence.”

Well, Groovy UV (in honor of Peter Freyne) has made national headlines this week, only not in a good way.

PZ has a post about their boneheaded choice of commencement speaker. Have you heard already? It's Nixon chum and creationism apologist Ben Stein.

 As PZ says, picture being a biology professor and sitting there while ths quizmaster and right-wing Republican gives the big sendoff to the graduates of Vermont's flagship institution of higher learning.

What are they failing to see? Wasn't anyone from the Flat Earth Society available?

Source: whitehousefarmer.com

Everyone, from your family and friends to our First Family and their guests, needs to know who grew their food and how it was grown.  PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND VOTE! This would be great for the State of Vermont…

There is a Vermonter in the running to be the White House farmer. Please visit the website and vote for Professor John Hayden.  Below the fold there’s a note from Professor Hayden.

Dear friends,

I have been nominated to be The White House Farmer. I think this is a great campaign to bring awareness to the local organic food and self-reliance movement. Take a look at the website;

http://www.whitehousefarmer.com.

I am a dark horse candidate as I was just added to the list.

This is the extent of my campaign, but I would love your vote. The polls close tomorrow, Jan 31 at midnight. Please tell your friends about this push to get an organic garden in our new president’s backyard. Yes we can… on to a victory garden in The White House!

Warm wishes,

John

—

John Hayden

Lecturer, Ecological Agriculture Program

Plant and Soil Science Department

103 Hills Building

University of Vermont

Burlington, VT 05405

802 656-4046

• So, tell me what you would do. Say you've just been diagnosed with possibly terminal cancer and you'll need off and on chemotherapy treatments indefinitely in order to have any hope of surviving even a year. But you have no health insurance and cant get any, so you're SOL. But then – miracle of miracles – help from on high arrives, as someone will cover your first few months of treatments. After that, though, prospects are uncertain. Do you:

a. Take the treatments to stay alive and work to change your situation over the coming months, or otherwise hope your insurance environment improves?

b. Figure, “well, I cant take this because it's just a one-shot deal, and it'll make it all that much harder in a few months when it runs out.”

If you picked 'a', you're probably a sane, reasonable person. If you picked 'b,' you have the right reasoning skills to be a member of Governor Douglas's economic team. Congratulations. No doubt a cushy, superfluous political appointment job awaits you on the public dime. As to those 600 state employees that Douglas seems bound and determined to fire? Eh, screw 'em. They're nothing more than union members.

• Of course, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Bartlett was walking dangerously close to the Governor's rhetoric herself on the Mark Johnson Show this morning.

• And then there's Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, who we mildly took to task already for lending his name and credibility to the Vermont Tiger symposium on conservative conservativeness, thereby helping to boost the hard right wingers clout and profile. If you're wondering why that's such a bad idea, here's from VT Tiger:

   

  The executive editor of the Burlington Free Press has a personal blog on the paper's website and he used it recently to hyperventilate about the debate over the state's budgetary problems and whether raising taxes will ameliorate them.  The climax of his argument goes like this:

   

  The perennial GOP slur of all elections has been erased. The governor has embraced a tax because he must, and as a result Vermont business will pay. The times do these crazy things to our senses. The times make us eat our words. The times make even the hardest anti-taxer an old softie. The VermontTiger reactionaries must be stunned.

   

  I've e-mailed the following:

  
  

  Dr. Mr. Townsend,

  
  Jeb Spaulding, Art Woolf, Daniel Fogel, Mary Powell, and many other “VermontTiger reactionaries,” will be gathering this Monday at the Burlington Sheratonwhere we will be listening to speakers from California's Silicon Valley, the Albany Nanotechnology Center, and the Atlantic Monthly and discussing, among ourselves, strategies for returning Vermont to primitive 19th century economic arrangements.  Please join us as my guest.

   

  There it is, Mr. Treasurer. You're now Vermont Tiger's beard of moderation and respectability.

  Let's just make something clear to all those who might like to get through a Vermont Democratic Primary for a run at the Governor: you go Republican lite, or otherwise showcase your uberhipness by promoting Republican ideas at the expense of progressive policies, this site won't be the only group of primary voters determined to insure you come in dead last.

• Nope, can't have cwazy Howard Dean anywhere near an Obama administration, but Judd Gregg at Commerce is just fine. Excuse me while I go vomit.

• Auditor Tom Salmon seems to be the only one who isn't going to voluntarily accept a 5% pay cut among State employees making more that sixty grand. Salmon rejected it loudly and clearly, calling it a “gimmick.” Well, no duh its a gimmick, but that doesn't change the fact that by not going along with it in this economy, to 99% of Vermonters the $95k-a-year Salmon will look arrogant at best, like a total ass at worst. Between this and the ski resort-casino idea, methinks this younger Salmon is still in the learning curve of the political big leagues. Better learn up quick, buddy. They're coming after you next time for sure.

• You've probably read this elsewhere by now, but just in case – “S.O.S.(Save Our State)-VT” is the new blog set up by Chris Curtis and other advocates for low-income and working Vermonters to focus on those issues and try to drum up some activist energy in the face of major potential cuts. Among other things on the site, the blog announces a series of rallies and vigils for Monday, Feb. 2nd statewide. Click over and get involved.

( – promoted by odum)

According to deputy commissioner for the Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Department  based on calls to the state mortgage assistance program, 53 percent of foreclosures in Vermont are blamed on job loss, 20 percent on medical problems, 14 percent on divorce and 14 percent on adjustable and subprime mortgages.

Although Vermont has been spared huge numbers of foreclosures lets run through a quick check list of how Douglas’s proposed budget might effect what are called Trigger Events of mortgage foreclosure.

His budget calls for saving $17 million by cutting 660 jobs, some of which are vacant but many of which would involve layoffs. The cuts come on top of 400 earlier layoffs and vacant job elimination in the last two years. A possible total of 1060 jobs overall .

The governor has proposed increasing premiums for state-sponsored insurance programs, cutting reimbursement rates for doctors and slashing in half state funding for anti-tobacco programs.

This remark the Governor ads at the close of his comments to WCAX regarding IBM layoff is amazing .  “The IBM employees are well paid, they recirculate their resources in the economy, they pay taxes, so any layoff of that magnitude has an impact not only on the economy of the region but also on the state’s fiscal health. It’s part of the reason we’re facing the budget challenges we are confronting.”  Out goes his heart .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…

My night started by heading over to the Old Labor Hall in Barre (diatribe: if you’ve never been, the Old Socialist Labor Hall in Barre is an absolutely amazing building: opened in 1900, it hosted some of the most radical thinkers of the early Twentieth Century and served as Barre’s central community space for decades).  There, the Vermont Worker’s Center was hosting a form on “Health Care as a Human Right” as part of their build-up to May 1st- for which every Vermonter is urged to call in sick to work and rally at the State House in Montpelier for universal health care now!

There were a number of moving testimonials from community members and then reactions from a panel of community “leaders”.  Before I left I got to hear Barre Rep Topper McFaun (R) take his turn on the panel and give an impassioned call out the the 60+ people in attendance to get in touch with their local representative’s and enact universal health care now… Rep McFaun, along with almost everyone else in attendance, was openly disgusted by the waste and greed and heartlessness of the American health care system and pleaded- pleaded- with everyone in attendance to “demonstrate outside the Statehouse” on May first, but also be in touch (“every chance you get”) with our local legislator’s to let them know that- like the rest of the industrialized world- we view health care as a human right that should be provided to every man, woman and child in this country.

There were many, many a moving speeches at the Old Labor Hall, but coming from an elected Republican, Topper’s was by far the most poignant to me.  Having heard the tales and woes of the previous speakers (as well as many others during his time in the legislature) Topper seemed just downright angry at the state of our health care system, and only passingly mentioned his recent “removal” from the Senate Health Care Committee (having, of course, nothing to do with the fact that he favors the immediate adoption of universal health care).

Summing up most of the evening’s speaker’s was Traven Leyshon of Middlesex, who noted (and offered to back up with cold, hard stats) that over the next three years a universal health care system in Vermont could save us “$240 million” merely on State employees and school system related costs.  “That’s not counting retirees” said Leyshon.

It was all very exciting and if you, like the rest of the industrialized world, consider health care- the chance to life a long and healthy and meaningful life- to be a human right like fire departments and running water and electric lights than you should join thousands of other Vermonter’s who will “call in sick” on May 1st and rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier.  If you do, and if you tell your friends that you’re going to do it, it will be meaningful and amazing and effective.

But so then later in the evening, on my way home, I stopped at Charlie-O’s for a beer or two, because hey, the ol’ lady is working overnight in Burlington.  And who should walk in but a local Senator who shall remain nameless (rhymes with “Will Rot”).  The (drunk) guy next to me sees him in his suit and tie and asks “So…. you’re a legislator?” to which he answers “yes” and introduces himself.  The patron asks the Washington County Republican “So… what’d ya say? if it was a Democrat in the governeor’s office, would he be proposing 600 layoffs?” (good fucking question, I thought) to which the Senator replied “Yes, you’ve got to do something, and there’s just nothing else to do; but hopefully you aim high and start a dialogue and what gets agreed upon isn’t so drastic…..” “Yeah, it’s bad out there” says the patron and “There’s just no other option” says the Senator, to which I say (loudly) “unless you want to close the capital gains tax loophole or otherwise tax the rich assholes in Stowe” to which the Senator smiles and turns around for a game of pool with his blond companion.

Shortly after, it was just time to come home to see the dogs and feed the fire.  But I still can’t help wondering: could the rest of the industrialized world be right? Do I really have a right to a chance at surviving illness debt free?  If I call my Senator’s and Representative’s and call out sick on May 1st will someone finally do something?

It’s worth a shot.

The Legislature's been back in town for a couple of weeks, which means that they've had time to start introducing bills. I thought this might be a good time to take a look at what's been introduced, and give GMD's readers a chance to take a look at them.

One point to be aware of is that nothing happens to most bills. They get introduced, read on the floor, assigned to a committee, and that's where they stay: on the wall, on an index card. This happens to bills that we really want, and also to bills that we're really worried about. It's a long session; in fact, even bills that don't pass this year are fair game to keep moving through the process and pass in the adjourned session, which will start next January.

At this point, though, we don't know which bills will have legs, and which will just expire on the wall, so it's important to keep checking and see what might be coming. Here's a quick view of some bills I noticed as I went through the newly introduced bills tonight.

H. 10. AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNET PUBLICATION OF STATE AGENCY RULES

Sounds like a real snoozer, right? Maybe not. In addition to legislation, a lot of the way we are governed is through regulations promulgated by the administrative agencies. This bill, sponsored by Willem Jewett, would require all state agencies to post their proposed rules on the Internet. I don't know if this is going anywhere, but if this passes it will make it easier for ordinary citizens to find out what their administrative agencies are doing, and maybe do something about it.

H. 29. AN ACT RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT OF MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION; THE ELIMINATION OF STRIKES AND IMPOSED CONTRACTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS; AND VOTER APPROVAL OF SOME CONTRACTS

 Union busting, anyone? It outlaws teacher strikes (how often do we have them, anyway), requires binding arbitration that considers, among other things, prior salary and benefit increases and comparable contracts in other communities, and otherwise imposes a whole list of measures that will depress teacher compensation. This is bad news if it ever gets any play, but I'm hoping that it doesn't.

H.37  AN ACT RELATING TO THE REPEAL OF THE REQUIREMENT THAT SCHOOL BUDGETS IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUM INFLATION AMOUNT BE PRESENTED TO THE VOTERS AS A DIVIDED QUESTION

I'd like to see this pass. It's got a lot of sponsors and it would repeal the two vote requirement for school budgets that Douglas rammed through.

 H.80  AN ACT RELATING TO THE USE OF CHLORAMINE AS A DISINFECTANT IN PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS

 Chloramine is a highly toxic additive used in public water systems. This bill would prohibit its use in publc water systems until 2012 unless the prohibition is later extended. 

H.98  AN ACT RELATING TO LIBRARIES AND MINORS

Last year the Legislature protected our civil liberties by making library records confidential, but created an exception for parental access to the records of children under age 16; this bill would raise the age to 18, which means that parents would have access to their children's library records even if the kids are looking into information relating to sexuality, religion, politics, or other sensitive areas their parents may disapprove of. This seems to be a major attack on civil liberties. The bill is sponsored by three liberal Democrats from Windham County, which makes me think that there may be some local issue motivating it.

S.0014  AN ACT RELATING TO EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF THE BEVERAGE CONTAINER REDEMPTION LAW

When our bottle bill was passed the market for individual, portable beverage was basically soda and beer. Now we have bottled water, iced tea, and all kinds of noncarbonated beverages, none of which are subject to the bottle deposit. This bill would study the idea of expanding the deposit to noncarbonated beverages.

S.0018  AN ACT RELATING TO LIMITING THE POWER OF MUNICIPALITIES OR DEEDS TO PROHIBIT THE INSTALLATION OF SOLAR COLLECTORS, CLOTHESLINES, OR OTHER ENERGY DEVICES BASED ON RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Want a solar collector, wind generator, or clothesline? This bill says your town can't stop you.

 S.0024  AN ACT RELATING TO THE REPEAL OF THE REQUIREMENT THAT SCHOOL BUDGETS IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUM INFLATION AMOUNT BE PRESENTED TO THE VOTERS AS A DIVIDED QUESTION

 Same as H. 37–get rid of Douglas's two vote requirement for school budgets.

S.0048  AN ACT RELATING TO MARKETING OF PRESCRIBED PRODUCTS

Tired of wondering if your doctor is prescribing treatment because it's good for you, or because of the goodies he's getting from the drug company? This bill's for you.

 So far we've seen 109 House bills and 53 Senate bills introduced. By the end of the session it will be up in the hundreds. If I get the chance I'll do more reviews, especially as we see that some bills of interest to GMD readers are moving forward.

(Mr. Hoffer saves me the trouble. I’ll just add that this nonprofit schtick is the lamest, tackiest, and one of the more desperate Republican change-the-subject lines of attack I can remember for a long time. – promoted by odum)

Rep. O’Donnell’s call for non-profit executives who earn more than $60,000 to take a pay cut is a perfect example of Jim Douglas’ cynicism.  Attack (some) non-profits, ignore the elephant in the room, and divert attention from the core issues.  Let’s talk about “shared sacrifices” shall we.

The 40% capital gains exclusion has cost the state $160 million in only four years (2003 – 2006).  Yet the Gov. is focused on saving a few hundred thousand dollars by attacking non-profits (except I think they may have left out UVM and FAHC).  And what about the $300 million in personal contracts to consultants?  Many of whom earn hefty hourly wages (including the Snelling Center, a favorite of the Douglas administration).

And what about executives in the for-profit firms that do so much business with the state?

The fact that the VT media is giving so much time & ink to Rep. O’Donnell is shameful.  C’mon people, why do you give these folks a free ride?  

Although the analogy is stretched, I find myself thinking of the lawyer (Joseph Welch) who said to Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954:

[Gov. Douglas] “Have you no sense of decency”?

Actually, it's probably just a coincidence, right?

Last week a bunch of nonprofits advocates came out and criticized the Douglas Administration for proposing to kill off the VPharm program. This is a program that provides money to cover prescription drugs for people who can't afford them, even after their Medicare Part D benefits.

Douglas of course mouthed the platitudinous I'd rather not be making this cut but blah blah blah, and the advocates have been standing up to him.

And then today, the Douglas administration, hiding behind the Republican caucus, came out with a new proposal: