A message to the legislative leadership: Don't do it!

Douglas has now joined Dubie in calling for a special legislative session to pass bills that even he admits would not have prevented the tragedy of Brooke Bennett's murder. Still, he is calling for a one-day special session to rubber stamp a series of his pet bills that the Legislature has already considered and rejected. 

This call is a transparent piece of demagoguery, and our Democratic leadership in the House and Senate should reject it.

Let's take civil commitment as one example. I served on the committee appointed by the Legislature to consider civil commitment, a process whereby a convicted sex offender would be committed to some kind of treatment facility after the completion of his sentence. We met for months, took testimony from many experts, and closely examined the experience of other states where civil commitment has been adopted, before concluding that it was a bad idea. There is no evidence that it works, virtually no offenders who are sentenced to civil commitment receive actual treatment, and it winds up being just a way to lock them up and throw away the key. And it's also really expensive. As a result, civil commitment is a way for the government to look tough, but it diverts money from efforts, like special investigative units, that actually work.

Here's what we said in our report:

The committee finds that sex offender civil commitment laws are well-intentioned, but are not the best use of Vermont’s resources for protecting the public from potentially dangerous sex offenders. The annual costs of such programs range from an estimated $46,500 in South Carolina to $125,000 in California per offender, with an average state expenditure of about $100,000 per offender. True costs are difficult to determine because some states that report costs for civil commitment include the capital, evaluation, and legal costs, while others do not. The committee is concerned that such a program in Vermont would be costly and divert scarce mental health resources from other mental health programs and patients to a relatively small number of sex offenders.

. . .

In addition to the general fiscal concerns, the committee finds that implementing a civil commitment program in Vermont would serve further to burden our struggling state mental health services.  . . .  Any substantial addition to mental health services, such as civil commitment of sex offenders, would likely result in a diversion of funds from other important mental health programs. The committee believes this would not be in the best interests of our mental health system or most Vermonters.

The committee made the following recommendation:

Recommendation
The state should not pursue civil commitment of sex offenders at this time, but should invest resources at earlier stages in the investigation, prosecution, sentencing, and treatment of offenders, as proposed elsewhere in this report, to reduce the number of unsupervised high risk offenders in the community.

What purpose would be served by returning for a one-day session? Only two: either the Legislature would capitulate to Douglas's calls for more ineffective legislation, giving him a win to campaign on, or they would hand Douglas another stick to beat them with for failing to cave. His shameless appearance at this little girl's funeral was bad enough. Why give him another chance to broadcast his demagogic tactics across the state?

Legislative leaders, just say no to a special legislative session! 

In a speech given in Washington Al Gore attempted to move some ‘real’ into the Presidential campaign. Real as in pointing out a problem that is desperate for real solutions.

“It is only a truly dysfunctional system that would buy into the perverse logic that the short-term answer to high gasoline prices is drilling for more oil 10 years from now,” Gore used a quote from a Saudi Oil minister “The Stone Age didn’t end because of a shortage of stones.”

The Alliance for Climate Protection, estimates that the cost transforming America’s energy infrastructure at $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion over 30 years in public and private money. Gore says that it would cost about as much to build coal plants to satisfy the country’s electricity demand.

The speech was a call for action rather than one with specific proposals.He likened the challenge to the 10 year effort to reach the moon which JFK proposed .Ten years being what Gore describes as the workable attention span of country.Gore is wise to use his status to try to move the dialog back in focus as the drill our way out of this attitude creeps in .The pressure for more drilling and quick answers is massive as attitudes toward getting more oil by any means increases .This happily encouraged by the oilmen at the top.This isn’t the kind of challenge that will have easily identified heroes as the race to the moon. A massive shift in public attitudes will need to be lead by whomever wins in November .

The idea that we must wait until it’s easier is illustrated by this Congressman’s remark

“I think the American public will be much more receptive to arguments about climate change when gas prices aren’t so critical,”

said Rep. Zack Space, a freshman Democrat who represents a mostly rural district in Ohio.

But Gore cited the foolish irony of the situation

This speech may(will)get lost quickly in the headlines as Obama travels to Iraq and Congress debates expanding oil leases but at least  Al Gore took the time to tell us what we need to hear .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…

http://thehill.com/leading-the…

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Freeman grateful for bipartisan approach

Working together to address sexual violence important

NORTHFIELD – In response to news of bipartisan efforts to meet and address the difficult issue of sexual violence in the wake of the Brooke Bennett tragedy, Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Nate Freeman weighed in today with appreciation of the new direction in this difficult discussion.

“Every Vermonter must respond to the tragedy in Randolph because the specter of sexual violence is epidemic. In addition to a review of what happened and how we approach the punishment of predators, we need to also work on the best ways to prevent sexual violence, or at the very least, intervene and rescue children immediately after they suffer this tragedy.

Freeman revealed this week his personal experience as one who suffered childhood rape.

“I am one of thousands of Vermonters who have suffered childhood sexual abuse, and yet I am extremely fortunate as I was rescued almost immediately after the event occurred. I am proud of my parents and my family for saving me from repeated sexual abuse. The sad fact is that my single-time experience and the protection my family provided is not the norm in this phenomenon. While I applaud lawmakers for assuming a role of responsibility in the protection of children, we also need to consider the responsibility of parents, grandparents, and extended family members in protecting and rescuing children from predators. Every family needs to overcome the shame of sexual violence perpetrated by another family member or a person of trust in the community.

Freeman stresses the importance of working both on preventative measures as well as punitive measures in response to sexual violence.

“In challenging Brian Dubie and Jim Douglas on the politicization of this issue earlier this week, my intent was to help move the conversation in a more productive direction. Vermont's legislature, judiciary, governor and political parties need to come together at this time to work hard and fast on the best possible measures to protect our children. We should not enter this process with immediate disagreement about what measures will be the best solutions, but we must work hard and fast to look at comprehensive models in other states to find the best possible protection for Vermont children.

Freeman is also clear about how he considers his own experience.

“I was rescued. I do not consider myself a survivor or a victim, but one who was rescued and later in life learned about how my single experience affected my approach to life.”

Nate Freeman is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor from the Democratic Party. He is the owner of Freeman's Upholstery Shop and Green Mountain Kitty Litter in Northfield.

—

For information on the Freeman campaign, see www.NateFreeman.com or call 802-485-4428.

# # #

David Gram's AP article, “Missing brackets blamed in Vermont nuke mishap,” puts the nail in the coffin for Vermont Yankee and Public Service Commissioner O'Brien's oversight of the old, worn out, falling down plant.  

Gram reports:

A top official with the federaNuclear Regulatory Commission, director of operations William Borchardt, traveled from Washington to meet Tuesday with Entergy Corp.-owned plant and state officials and participate in a conference call with Vermont's three congressional offices.

Borchardt told reporters after that meeting that a cooling tower leak discovered last Friday resulted from an inadequate fix to a much bigger leak that struck one of the towers' 22 sections, or cells, last August.

The bold, underlined phrase can't be empasized enough.  The inadequate fix?  Let's just call it the “two will do” repair special.

O'Brien and Williams said another weakening of supports and a leak in a pipe appeared to have been caused by the fix installed since last year. Two support brackets were attached to the beams where three should have been, they said.

At this point, even proponents of “cheap” nuclear energy must realize that Vermont Yankee is an old jalopy struggling to make it through the backstretch.  If a race car driver can decide it's time to pull into the pits and call it a day, then you might think the decision makers overseeing a nuclear power plant can do the same.  

The end of Vermont Yankee will only be the end of Vermont Yankee, and the questions about how badly the plant is being operated have been answered.

It's time begin start winding it down and begin the hard work of creating new energy sources.

Nate Freeman

DNC head Howard Dean is heading on a bus to tour of the South .Crawford ,Tx. the location for start of the trip is a nice touch.I just like the idea of Howard Dean on red,white and blue bus motoring through Crawford waving out the window at Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch.Not quite certain why exactly.  

Dean’s trip begins Thursday in President Bush’s hometown of Crawford, Texas, riding an eye-catching bus wrapped in the red, white and blue of presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign logo.”I think the big reason is we haven’t tried,” Dean said. “If you don’t show up, you can’t win. And that’s not going to happen this time. We are going to show up everywhere.” Dean said the voter registration drive is focused on boosting Obama’s standing in the states, but local candidates will join the tour when it comes their way and he hopes it can help them, too.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/…

Freeman thankful of bipartisan approach

Working together to address sexual violence important

NORTHFIELD – In response to news of bipartisan efforts to meet and address the difficult issue of sexual violence in the wake of the Brooke Bennett tragedy, Nate Freeman weighed in today with appreciation of the new direction in this difficult discussion.

“Every Vermonter must respond to the tragedy in Randolph because the specter of sexual violence is epidemic. In addition to a review of what happened and how we approach the punishment of predators, we need to also work on the best ways to prevent sexual violence, or at the very least, intervene and rescue children immediately after they suffer this tragedy.

Freeman revealed this week his personal experience as one who suffered childhood rape.

“I am one of thousands of Vermonters who have suffered a similar experience, and yet I am extremely fortunate as I was rescued almost immediately after the event occurred. I am proud of my parents and my family for saving me from repeated sexual abuse. The sad fact is that my single-time experience and the protection my family provided is not the norm in this phenomenon. While I applaud Brian Dubie for assuming a role of responsibility in the protection of children, every Vermonter should consider the responsibility of parents, grandparents, and extended family members in protecting and rescuing children from predators. Every family needs to overcome the shame of sexual violence happening perpetrated by another family member or a person of trust in the community.

Freeman stresses the importance of working both on preventative measures as well as punitive measures in response to sexual violence.

“In challenging Brian Dubie and Jim Douglas on the politicization of this issue earlier this week, my intent was to help move the conversation in a more productive direction. Vermont's legislature, judiciary, and governor and political parties need to come together at this time to work hard and fast on the best possible measures to protect our children. We should not enter this process with immediate disagreement about what measures will be the best solutions, but we must we must work hard and fast to look at comprehensive models in other states to find the best possible protection for Vermont children.

Freeman is also clear about how he considers his own experience.

“I was rescued. I do not consider myself a survivor or a victim, but one who was rescued and later in life learned about how my single experience affected my approach to life.”

Nate Freeman is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor from the Democratic Party. He is the owner of Freeman's Upholstery Shop and Green Mountain Kitty Litter in Northfield. He is also a male survivor of early childhood sexual abuse by a female perpetrator.

—

For information on the Freeman campaign, see www.NateFreeman.com or call 802-485-4428.

# # #

Word finally got into the papers about the push-poll, but it wasn’t a reporter delivering the news:

Jim Douglas and Brian Dubie have taken the strategy to a new low. Word is out that Gov. Douglas is doing a push poll using Brooke Bennett’s death. Can even diehard Douglas supporters stomach that level of cynicism?

That’s from an op-ed by Assistant House Majority Leader Floyd Nease, and it’s a rather salient piece of information against the backdrop of the Governor’s brazen statement in Douglas’s own piece immediately preceding it:

There has been a great deal of talk, finger-pointing and grandstanding in recent days regarding the tragedy of Brooke Bennett’s death. This does nothing to serve Brooke’s memory.

Nease also had this heretofore unknown tidbit:

At his press conference last week, a reporter asked Gov. Douglas repeatedly if either Jessica’s Law or civil commitment would have prevented the horrific tragedy in Randolph. Each time, the governor avoided answering. The reporter finally said, “I hate to keep harping on this, but …” to which the governor responded, smiling, “That’s all right, I’ll keep avoiding it.”

Fascinating, isn’t it? Someone in the press corps found the question important enough to ask, but didn’t find Douglas’s response to their important question important enough to actually report. And again, that response from Governor The-buck-never-stops-anywhere-NEAR-me was“That’s all right, I’ll keep avoiding it.”.

What this tells us is that Nease is only about 70% right when he says in the piece:

Every election year, Jim Douglas exploits tragic events to push reactionary and emotional solutions to real Vermont problems. He doesn’t seem to care so much about whether the solutions work, only that they ensure his re-election.

What he left out is the other part of his standard re-election strategy; depending on the Vermont media to bend over backwards not to make him look bad. Oh sure, there’ll be the occasional report – like the latest pieces about the failure of the Corrections Department – but there will never be any follow through, follow-up, or holding of the Governor’s feet to the fire. Why? Because Douglas’s answers, when actually reported, always make him look and sound bad. And he’s Mr. Nice Guy. The press has long committed to that narrative. As to the reporters that may be inclined to push, they’ll likely be shut down by editorial, or by the eye-rolling condescension of their more seasoned peers.

And in return, Douglas runs the Reporters Benevolent Society, providing nice, well-paying, superfluous jobs on the public dime. Just ask former Brattleboro Reformer editor Sabina Haskell, now the highly paid spokesperson for the Agency of Natural Resources. According to an insider, it was exclusively at her insistence that the Reformer endorsed Douglas over Scudder Parker last go-round. Looks like it paid off.

And so it goes and goes and goes and goes…

Ugh. I’m off on a family trip. See y’all when I get back.

One third of Vermont’s power source is still down due to the second round of cooling tower problems in less than one year .NRC officials deem it important enough to show up at the aging plant in person and remain here for a week .Acting out of character regarding anything Yankee Gov.Douglas has had no comment .Sometimes the appearance of something is as important as what actually is the case .Given the Vermont Yankee events these past several days the appearance certainly is that the Gov. welcomed a program of diversion from his troubles.No ribbons here just a big problem that might require the leadership of a Governor willing to do more rather than less.Or in this case perhaps appear to do more rather than less

Quoted in the paper today Commissioner of Public Service O’Brien

while saying he was not satisfied with Entergy’s performance  stressed that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, the company that owns and operates the Vernon reactor, is not bound by law to contact his office when there are non-safety related issue.

Honor system,no legal controlling authority to require this .

How can the public have confidence if state officials are not informed?

he asked.Good very good question .

This from the man that last week who warned us in an op-ed not to look at Entergy’s $750 million unexpected profit as a “windfall”or use the term “cash cow” as these are slanted terms that serve no purpose other than to cloud the discussion.

Mr.O’Brien  added that  

The failure to inform his office and the long string of incidents the company has faced over the past few years reflects a corporate culture that demands close scrutiny. He promised to talk to Entergy corporate officials about the state’s ongoing concerns.

http://www.reformer.com/ci_989…

Nothing to see hear keep moving

Citizen panel begins review of Vt. Yankee

The panel, which includes representatives picked by Republican Gov. James Douglas and the Democratic leaders of the Vermont Legislature, met for more than three hours Thursday morning in a closed-door session.

“This is not a public body so it does not have to adhere to public meeting requirements,” explained David O’Brien, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service. “There is a need to keep some of this information private.”

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

(Although Vermont doesn’t have the resources to compete with $150 million incentive packages, there’s an important conversation here – and it leads into a debate about what makes a “good” incentive package for businesses. Is it as simple and gimmicky as tax breaks or the circ highway, or do we need to be thinking more broadly and sustainably..? – promoted by odum)

Today, IBM announced a $1.5 billion dollar investment in NY state for a nano-tech plant.  The new plant will create roughly 1,000 really good jobs.  The state government kicked in $150 million in incentives to make the deal come together.  1,000 jobs will bring a lot of income tax and revenue into the state coffers.  My guess is the state government will recover that $150 million in less than 4 years.  Those 1,000 jobs will help keep RPI and other top grads in upstate NY.

In Vermont the most exciting thing our leaders can come up with is a VermontCard, credit card.  Just what Vermont needs to build its economy – a credit card!   Only this time instead of earning FF miles, you can put money towards ag projects.  

What I find astounding is that these people expect us (the voters) to take them seriously.    

If Pollina (or any other candidate) wants to be taken seriously, I think they need to do more than come up with gimmicks.  They need to show they’ve got some clue how to encourage investment (either local or out of state) and private sector jobs.  Right now, we’ve got Do-Less running around doing nothing, we’ve got Symington talking the same vague language that served Scudder Parker so well in ’06 and we’ve got Pollina who seems to think he can revive the state through a Mastercard bonus plan or something…  

We need to do better than this. We need leaders capable of something more than empty rhetoric or goof-ball gimmicks.  We need leaders who understand that to pay for social services you need good-paying private sector jobs to provide the tax revenue.  We need leaders who understand that, like it or not, Vermont must compete globally for investment and for the best people.  

Time to add another one to the list…

As the Douglas administration's escalated rhetoric regarding what to do about protecting Vermont's children reaches new, shameless heights in both pandering and finger pointing, with draconian legislative proposals that really don't solve the problem but throw red meat to the base, and even disingenuous push polling, there is yet another failure of the Douglas administration in that regard worth bringing attention to. Although Vermont hasn't led a military attack on New Hampshire yet under false pretenses, Douglas' damage to our fine state is reaching Bush-like levels of neglect and incompetency.

The state's Child Development Division is the agency responsible for ensuring that the state's child care providers are following the necessary procedures and safety standards, often dealing with simple matters such as numbers of fire extinguishers, property and facility inspection and such. The inspections are necessary to the initial licensing process, but unannounced inspections are also conducted to make sure regulations are being complied to.

That is all well and good, but there's a big problem here. Most of the child care providers are not being inspected, and the budget for the agency is getting cut. More below the jump.

It's certainly not for a lack of effort. The problem lies in that there are over 2,000 child care providers in the state, and only seven, yes, you heard right, seven licensors responsible for the above mentioned inspections. That's something like 286 sites per licensor, meaning they'd have to each inspect more than one a day in a typical work week. Although that may not seem like much, it doesn't leave any time to perform any of the other important duties involved with the job: follow-ups, weekly meetings, paperwork, court appearances, electronic transcription of the endless amount of notes taken, answering the phone, etc. The licensors also aren't allowed to conduct inspections in their own towns, which means they must cover each other's towns, which can add a substantial amount of travel time, especially if the inspectors live in a remote area to begin with. 

Yet somehow bringing back the death penalty will address the problem. Huh?

Let me be clear: this is no fault of the inspectors. It's just that the way the system is set up, it's impossible to do their jobs the way they are supposed to. To top it off, my source tells me that home providers (people working out of their homes as opposed to licensed centers) are getting little, if any visits, as the division prioritizes the licensed facilities. There was a situation in Tennessee, of all places, that was similar to Vermont's… until there were four deaths over a six year period,due to neglect. Due to the lack of funding to get a sufficient number of inspectors in place, one has to wonder how long before a similar occurrence happens in Vermont.

A leaked internal memo that I've obtained shows that in the 2009 budget, the Douglas administration is are cutting two positions in the the agency, and possibly one or two more in the near future, as well as targeting supplies, travel expenses, and just about everything else needed to have the agency function even somewhat effectively.

So the question for Douglas (which, sadly, can be applied to just about every problem he complains about and proposes the wrong solution) is why is the budget being cut for one of the primary agencies responsible for ensuring our children are being cared for in the safest, healthiest environment possible? Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer (and by “answer” I don't mean anything Douglas' spinmeister boy Jason Gibbs feeds us). It's not chemical castration, that's for sure.