It’s creeping fascism and it’s quite creepy. I woke up this morning and turned on C-SPAN to watch Washington Journal. What do I see on the “spellcasting machine?” Senator Orin Hatch is exhorting the virtue of using the Constitution as notepaper to send the Supreme Court a message: “Don’t limit the power of Congress.”

The burning issue of the day in Hatch’s mind is flag desecration. He wants Congress to have the power to turn the flag into a national sacrament, something we will all treat with the greatest of reverence. He thinks it is a big issue that the Supreme Court said … years ago … that flag-burning was an exercise of free speech protected by the Constitution. So he and his Republican co-conspirators want to turn the flag into a national religious sacrament to signify that we have now become a secular state with a religious symbol which is sacrosanct. The next step will be treating the Government like God.

It reminds me of the story a few months ago of the cartoons from Denmark which led some Muslims to violent and destructive protests over the defamation of the image of Muhammed these cartoons allegedly portrayed.

So we are trying to compete with Islam for fundamentalist idiocy, for pandering to moronic reasoning and unquestioned support for our government. There’s a word in the dictionary for this kind of thing: FASCISM.

Excuse me, is it OK to shred the Constitution in order to protect the flag? I’m uncertain. Is the Constitution protected against defamation as well or is it only the flag?

One man called into the CSPAN show and pointed out that most of our flags are made in China nowadays. I suppose that’s OK, even if they were made by slave labor and paid for with borrowed money. It’s the symbol which matters most, not the people or the processes associated with it.

The Republicans made a big deal about these seven Miami “terror suspects” who where apprehended last week. But their ambition was more “aspirational” than “operational” according to the government. In other words, they wanted to do something but didn’t have the means or the plan to actually accomplish it.

They were poor people living in a warehouse who felt some compulsion to DO something about the state of affairs. Is it any wonder they picked a violent course when given the chance by an FBI undercover agent? Our government is constantly instigating violence with our foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now they are doing it at home as well.

Excuse me for my irreverent attitude towards our government. We should all worship our government, right? It can do nothing wrong. Afterall, it’s a Republican-dominated government and everyone knows that Republicans have the best interests of all Americans in their hearts, right?

Wrong. They have the interests of power in their hearts. Their hearts are blackened with greed and powerlust, of service to the rich and the super-rich, and for the desire to control everyone and every thing in the world. The Republicans have lost their virtue. This November we should all do something good for our nation and “REJECT REPUBLICANS” at every level of government. They are trying to set up a fascist state with a “unitary executive” (dictator) who we can worship for as long as he lives. Please, people. Stop this insantity! Resist the temptation to seek certain security in a party or a person. It’s the wrong road.

Enough already! Show some reverence for the Constitution rather than the flag. Stand up to the fascist Republicans and “just say no” to amending the Constitution for wrongful purposes. The Constitution should be used to expand and protect our liberty rather than to restrict and assault it.

Steve Moyer
http://stevemoyer.us

—
Think virtue.  Teach virtue.  Live virtue

Lightheartedness Assertiveness Faithfulness Kindness Respect Caring Flexibility Love Responsibility Cleanliness Forgiveness Reverence Compassion Friendliness Mercy Self-discipline Confidence Generosity Moderation Service Consideration Gentleness Modesty Steadfastness Courage Helpfulness Obedience Tact Courtesy Honesty Orderliness Thankfulness Creativity Honor Patience Tolerance Detachment Humility Peacefulness Trust Determination Idealism Prayerfulness Trustworthiness Enthusiasm Joyfulness Purposefulness Truthfulness Excellence Justice Reliability Unity.

“Seek the truth.
Speak the Truth
Support the Truth”

Steve Moyer
Candidate for U.S. Senate

Web site: http://stevemoyer.us 
Blog: http://stevemoyer.us/blog
RR1 Box 60,  Warren, VT 05674

802-882-1949

Cross-posted from Rational Resistance

Once again the R’s are pushing a flag-burning amendment. I don’t buy that this is motivated in any way by a sincere adherence to American values. If you value America, and what it stands for, you value freedom. These guys just don’t.

Pat Leahy, our senator, has it just right:

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, argued that burning the American flag was precisely the kind of speech the First Amendment is meant to protect.

“I would hope that all of us in this chamber champion liberty … but when I hear some talk about cutting back on our First Amendment rights, you can see why people would wonder,” Leahy said.

Democrats are not the only ones against the amendment. It also does not have the support of the Senate’s No 2. Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

“I think the First Amendment has served us well for over 200 years. I don’t think it needs to be altered,” McConnell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

( – promoted by odum)

Come join the rally!

From MoveOn:

“Gas prices are off the charts, the situation in the Middle East is unstable, scientists are warning that global warming is at a tipping point, and last month, MoveOn members decided that “clean, sustainable energy” should be one of our key goals. That’s why we’re launching a major push for an “Oil-Free Congress.”

“This is going to be a big campaign for us. Together, we’ll spend the next month exposing the ties between oil companies and politicians in Washington and pushing Congress to go “oil-free.” A critical part of our strategy is spreading our message to folks when they’re feeling the effects of oil-dependence the most—at gas stations.

On Wednesday, June 28th—right before the 4th of July when gas prices will be front and center as folks plan for the long weekend—we’re going to be holding rallies at gas stations across America. We’ll expose how Congress is tied to Big Oil and urge your representative to lead the way to an oil-free future.”

Since 1990, Big Oil has given more than $190 million to members of Congress and 75% ($142,635,314!) of those donations have gone to Republicans. That money has guaranteed energy policy that serves the oil industry rather than the public interest.

Until we stop politicians from taking money from Big Oil, it’ll be hard to stop global warming and move into a clean-energy future. We need Democrats to fight oil-corruption in Washington and lead the way to an “Oil-free” Congress.

Over 300 rallies are planned nationwide. One of these is in Brattleboro!

Come rally in Brattleboro for an oil-free Congress so that we can work toward homegrown, renewable, and safe energy!

For info about the Brattleboro rally:
http://political.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=9629
 

From CNN.com:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Vermont’s limits on contributions and spending in political campaigns are too restrictive and improperly hinder the ability of candidates to raise money and speak to voters.

In a fractured set of opinions, justices said they were not sweeping aside 30 years of election finance precedent but rather finding only that Vermont’s law — the strictest in the nation — sets limits that unconstitutionally hamstring candidates.

(UPDATE: 1:53pm EST) Adam B at dKos obviously knows more about the issue than I, and had time to deal with it in greater depth.)

Randall v. Sorrell, 04-1528, 04-1530 and 04-1697.
Before the scream, Presidential hopeful Howard Dean raised a ruckus in Vermont with campaign finance reform.

In his inaugural address as governor in 1997, Dean said money causes corruption and the appearance of it. “Money does buy access and we’re kidding ourselves and Vermonters if we deny it,” Dean announced.

In response, the Vermont General Assembly drafted Act 64, a comprehensive campaign finance reform law that limited both contributions to campaigns and campaign spending. The law passed after lengthy inquiry, with 145 witnesses testifying before the state legislature.

So get ready. Get ready for GOP money to flood our state races. Get ready for conservative PACs to flood the airwaves with their poison.
I find it interesting that the Supreme Court, and the Republicans, are ardent defenders of states’ rights UNTIL and UNLESS it does not fit in with their agendae – or their ability to buy political power.

Three lawsuits were filed challenging Vermont’s limits by groups that included the Vermont Right to Life Committee, the Vermont Libertarian Party and the Vermont Republican State Committee.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. How is it that this entire thing seemed to slip under the radar? Was it me? Was I just not paying attention?

Just another move by a political party that controls all three branches of government to solidify power and influence. Forever.
Even where it clearly conflicts with the expressed will of the people.
It’s the Golden Rule once again: them that gots the gold, makes the rules.

References:

http://www.radicalmiddle.com/x_rankism.htm
http://tinyurl.com/qrb4d
http://c-span.org

This morning on Washington Journal there was an interesting segment with the author of “Somebodies and Nobodies : Overcoming the Abuse of Rank” a book by Robert Fuller. ( see tinyurl )

Fuller believes there is an insidious force in America that has heretofore gone unrecognized. This “disorder without a name,” which he terms “rankism,” is discrimination beyond race, gender or educational background.  He gives it a name: rankism.

Fuller describes the various forms of rankism: scientists taking credit for the work of assistants, nursing home staff treating elderly patients poorly, priests sexually abusing churchgoers, etc. Rankism is an assault on personal dignity and should not be tolerated, says Fuller.

This struck me as an endeavor in “virtue politics” even though the author stays away from a discussion of virtue.  He’s talking about “power as control” but stays away from talking about “domination politics.”  He’s talking about “unfair advantage” but stays away from talking about fairness.

It’s really simple to understand from my point of view.  We’ve lost our virtue in pursuit of unfair advantage.  This pervasive quest for unfair advantage is rooted in our economic system, which from the beginning was the most powerful principle of our political system.

There is a provision in the Constitution which says that slaves shall be considered “three-fifths of a person” for purposes of allocating seats in the House of Representatives.  But slaves never had ANY political power.  So what this meant is that if a slaveowner increased his stock of slaves that he received an increase in political power.  That means “money buys power” which is still the operative meme of our society.  Take a look at our elections.

Money is an inherently unfair method of distributing power in society.  It favors the rich.  It’s easier to make money when you have money.  We rarely talk about how the rich can sit back in liesure and have their wealth increase without doing “one stich of work.”  Money is unfair by it’s nature.

We’ve built a society on money ( capital ) and
capital is inherently unfair and produces indignity by its nature.  The lesson of money is that it is “OK” to seen unfair advantage over others.  Indeed, that’s the way most people “succeed” in this capitalist political economy.

So while we might all rally behind Mr. Fuller’s
quest for a society based on human dignity, we are rolling a rock uphill within this economic paradigm.

How about rewarding people based on the helpfulness of their contributions to society?
That would be a different paradigm and produce a more dignified society.  But, of course, if you were a rich person living off of your “investments” you wouldn’t get much dignity because you wouldn’t be doing anything that was
helpful to others.

Oh, excuse me, you would be “managing your investments” for the benefit of humanity.  Or would you be managing them for your own unfair advantage?  How would we ever know the difference?

It’s a argument.  Sounds pretty Republican to me.

Upon relfection, I think Mr. Fuller’s book is a diversion from the truth rather than an explication of it.  Honor is a virtue.  Mr. Fuller fails to honor the truth by telling the BIG  truth … money produces oppression which is undignified by its nature.

Teach Virtue!  It’s the better way.

Steve Moyer

It’s Sunday night, it’s been a beautiful weekend, and I’m just up waiting for my cheesecake to be done for my book group , the Montburries, going strong since 1975,  meeting tomorrow night. So rather than post something substantive I’ll just invite you to hop over here to take a little quiz that tests your ability to distinguish Ann Coulter from Adolph Hitler.

A warning: it’s not easy!

( – promoted by Ed Garcia)

“An unjust composition never fails to contain error and falsehood.”-Ethan Allen

Lotta schadenfreude today, and we’ll also examine a reprehensible example of the fascist jackbooted thugs being unleashed by their corrupt political masters to oppress the proletariat, just to make sure we don’t lose focus on the glorious revolution against the yellow running dogs and the lackeys of imperialism.
Catamount’s open. Check your sidearms at the door, and we’ll see ya on the jump.

An interesting in Franklin County: a gop is taking his marbles and going home, per the St. Albans Messenger:

GOP conservative disenchanted, backs Savage’s legislative bid

By LEON THOMPSON | Messenger Staff Writer

SWANTON –– Rep. John Winters, of Swanton, announced this morning he will not seek re-election to the legislature this year, but he has already recruited someone to fill his spot on the fall ballot.

Disenchanted? Gee, what could the problem be?

“I want to try something different,” he said, “like spending one or two months in the winter in a warmer climate with my wife.”

OK, more time with the family…we’ve all heard that before……..

Also, Winters is disenchanted with the Republican Party – and Gov. Jim Douglas.

“The Republicans don’t dare be Republicans in this state,” he said.

Well, I guess that depends on if you accept the definition of “Republican” as representative of “the party of Abraham Lincoln.” Few of us do, I think.

If his definition of “Republican” is the party in its current incarnation, well,hell then, I guess we Democrats are doing SOMETHING right…

When Winters ran in 2000, part of his aim was to oust former Republican legislator John Edwards, of Swanton, because Edwards voted for the historic and controversial civil union law. Winters succeeded.

At the time, Winters called Edwards’ stance on civil unions “lower than whale dung.”

Lower than whale dung. Another example of how Republicans help to elevate the discourse in the legislative halls at every level across our great nation.
How far is it really from whale dung to box turtles or man-on-dog boom-boom?
Just another example of the bizarre Republican obsession with the….uh…baser functions of the animal kingdom.

Well, at least he’s honest about it, which, from personal experience, is more than I can readily say for a certain Republican state senator to the south of him that’s currently in the death throes of a rightfully-doomed campaign for the GOP nomination for the US House.

(And our buddy Phil at VDB saw fit last week to give that nose a tweak once again…….which made me smile, naturally. Be sure to follow the link to the original story and read it, if perchance you haven’t. I’m like herpes. I may go away for a while, but I ALWAYS come back.)

Anyway, as we saw in the lead-in, Winters has already found an anointed one to fill his shoes, Swanton Village trustee Brian Savage, who immediately puts his best foot forward by distancing himself from his benefactor:

“I’m far from being liberal,” he said. “I take a middle of the road approach, but I’m not a strict conservative.”

Sigh. Kids these days. I bet Rep. Winters threw up in his mouth a little when he heard that:

“The moral values of this country are going down the tubes, and they are still more important than anything we’re discussing right now.”

More important than staggering deficits, health care, the occupation of Iraq, violation of Constitutional rights and civil liberties…is the theocon’s faddish obsession with homosexuality, abortion, flagburning, Ten Commandments at the Courthouse, yada yada yada STFU already! Jeezum crow! Can we do some BUSINESS here?

So long, dude. Don’t let the door hitcha where the Good Lord splitcha.
Enjoy Florida. Why don’t you send us back some pictures of Richie Rich’s multimillion dollar mansion once you get there?
Good night and good luck.

OK. I have a confession to make. I have, occasionally, at various points in my radio career, glommed hooks or riffs from songs and used them in commercials for car lots, restaurants, dog grooming salons, and the like. Now that’s really not nice, but for some struggling little business in a small town who dug deep on faith to buy 50 commercials that’ll run for a week in the hopes it’d build their business, I don’t have too many karmic problems with it. If the Chambers Brothers want to come after me for using their song to tell people that the Time Has Come Today to get a nice flea dip for Rover at half the regular price, I guess I’ll just have to take my lumps.

But I’ve never hijacked somebody’s song for political purposes without their permission. That’s a low-rent move, as BushDaddy found out:

A diehard Democrat, (Bobby) McFerrin was horrified to learn that Republican presidential candidate George Bush was using “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” as a campaign song in his 1988 bid for the White House.

But it seems that Richie Rich missed that object lesson. He’s apparently, among other transgressions, gotten on the bad side of the Thin White Duke, the Archies, and even Darth Vader, for God’s sake.

This from vt.Buzz, the BFP’s new political blog:

What was still unclear Friday afternoon was whether Tarrant had the rights to use Bowie’s voice, or those of the Archies, who were singing “Sugar, Sugar” on the ad, or the musical strains of Darth Vader’s entry music from “Star Wars.”

You need written permission to use somebody else’s music for commercial purposes. And unless the publisher of that music is feeling generous, you have to pay. The process of getting a synchronization license for the right to use three songs is fairly cumbersome. You have to find the publishers of the works, fill out a form detailing what you plan to use, where you plan to use and for how long. You submit it and get a price quote from the company.

Take a look at the end of the spot. Just like every other political spot you see or hear, that little “Paid for by” tag is at the end. But did Richie Rich pay everybody he was supposed to pay?

Tarrant spokesman Tim Lennon said he didn’t know if the campaign had gotten permission or paid for use of the songs. He said Thursday he would check with those who made the ad. By Friday afternoon, Lennon was out of town, but campaign aide Kate O’Connor was still trying to reach the makers of the ad.

Uh-huh. Last I heard, OJ was still trying to reach the real killers. A cheap shot on my part, to be sure; but sometimes, I just can’t help myself.

Anyway, just to make sure we keep this in perspective, I’ll pass this along from Terri, the vt.Buzz blogger who made this catch:

The ad accused Sanders of changing his tune on accepting political action committee money because of $500 he accepted from Florida Crystals, a sugar farm that operates in the Dominican Republic where workers are allegedly paid $2 a day.

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. Just wanted to make it hard for Richie to tie Bernie to Jack Abramoff. No Indian casinos in this mix. No free boxing passes either.
I guess when you spend almost four and a half million dollars to beat somebody, have a name recognition of eighty-something percent, and the most conservatively-biased polling firm in the country has you down by thirty-eight points, you grasp at any straw-or stalk of sugar cane- you can get your hands on.

Sweeet.

Yep, things in Vermont are smelling pretty good:

BURLINGTON — The Queen City can add yet another feather in its caps of top U.S. rankings, that of one of the sweatiest cities.
According to the fifth annual Old Spice Top-100 Sweatiest Cities list, Burlington is the 91st sweatiest.

91 out of 100. That’s not TOO too bad, but I wish they’d measure Montpelier.

OK, before I turn on the jukebox and the pool table in the Catamount, I want to call your attention to something that happened to a fellow tavern proprietor:

(Wayne) Ryan had taken out an ad in the Bellows Falls Town Crier that criticized the size of the village police department budget.

Is that why Ryan was arrested at his bar, Nick’s Food and Spirits, a day before a revote on the village budget, in a highly orchestrated show of force?………

  The Rockingham Selectboard has had its share of beefs with Ryan. How convenient that, now that Ryan has been arrested, the board has the power to pull his liquor license.

Scary thing. Maybe I better not blog anymore. After all, what would the Catamount Tavern be without a liquor license? I’d hate to get cuffed and stuffed by the Bennington Police Department, after all.

The picture that ran in Thursday’s Reformer that showed Ryan clutching his cane as he limped across Rockingham Street shackled to a state trooper shows that perhaps seven troopers weren’t needed to carry out this arrest.

Wow. That DOES look rather draconian. You’d think the guy had thrown someone down a flight of stairs or something.

That’s all I’ve got today….except the ale. As always, the first round’s on me.
All tales of wingnuttery are welcome, as always. Oh, by the way: impeach any presidents lately?

“The idea of a revengeful God… is offensive to reason and common sense, and subversive of moral rectitude in general.”

“… while we are under the power and tyranny of priests, since as it ever has, it ever will be their interest, to invalidate the law of nature and reason, in order to establish systems incompatible therewith.”

-Ethan Allen

“Arrived at Onion-river falls [Winooski] & passed by Ethan Allyn’s grave. An awful Infidel, one of ye wickedest men ye ever walked this guilty globe. I stopped & looked at his grave with a pious horror.” –Rev. Nathan Perkins in his Narrative Of A Tour Through The State Of Vermont on 25 May 1789

Nobody expects him to even win the primary, but in doing some correspondence regarding the VSH Futures Project I came across some information about Dennis Morriseau, one of the candidates running for House of Representatives in the Republican primary.

Years ago, before he started running for office, Morriseau owned a restaurant on Church St. in Burlington called Leunig’s Bistro. Annoyed that there were too many “undesirables”–homeless people–in the area, he came up with an idea for a program he called “Westward Ho!” The idea was that this organization would give bus tickets–one-way tickets, of course–to the crummy people they didn’t want hanging around Burlington anymore. Presto! Problem solved!

Apparently only one person actually took them up on this offer and the idea pretty much went away. One very interesting angle, however, that I just found out about recently,

is that they actually tried to get the IRS to consider the organization a tax-exempt charity.

Yes, they did, I’m not making this up, and I can’t say that I appreciate your skepticism.

Anyway, here’s the link to the Tax Court decision denying the tax-exempt status: One-Way Ticket Out of Town for Homeless Not Motivated by Charitable Impulse.

Here’s one paragraph from the court’s decision:

“It is apparent that petitioner’s activities were designed to rid the Marketplace and downtown Burlington of disruptive homeless persons and to protect the commercial interests of petitioner’s creators, who owned restaurants in the Marketplace. Homeless persons had caused disturbances in the Marketplace and in the restaurants owned by petitioner’s creators. Through various media, Morrisseau, Thompson, and Halvorson expressed their concerns with the problem of homeless persons in Burlington. These expressions, however, reflected frustration with the harassing and abusive behavior of some of the homeless persons and fears of financial loss, rather than concern for the homeless persons. By ridding the area of homeless persons, petitioner’s creators were providing themselves with a more desirable commercial location.”

I understand that Morriseau’s candidacy is motivated by his opposition to the war in Iraq. Still, if you happen to catch him at a campaign appearance, you might want to ask what he thinks of “Westward Ho!” now.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer weekend.

(Haven’t bumped up a diary of vtpeace’s for a while, and we don’t have near enough Scudder coverage, so… – promoted by odum)

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_3970699
Front page in the Bennington Banner:  NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
Friday, June 23
BENNINGTON — Being governor requires more than being a nice guy. It also requires action and results, says Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker. And that is why he is challenging Republican Gov. James Douglas this November.

Parker, a former Caledonia County state senator, said Douglas has been on cruise control in the governor’s office, counting on Vermonters to re-elect him because he is likeable.

“The conclusion when I press people is that Jim Douglas is a nice guy. If that’s what the race is about, I’m in it. I’ll take him on. We can have a nice-guy race for governor. This will be very exciting. We’ll show them all how nice we are. It will be very charming. And I think I can win that race, too,” Parker said.

But Parker is counting on the voters to look beyond the two nice guys and focus on the issues.

“If you really want a race about who can govern the state of Vermont; who will actually address the crisis in health care; who will actually address the crisis that we face in energy affordability and availability; who will actually make housing affordable … then I think it’s going to be a very interesting race. And if that’s what people focus on, then I will be the next governor of this state,” he said.

Parker is in Bennington County for three days as part of his “candidate in residence” program. After spending Wednesday in the Manchester area, Parker arrived in Bennington Thursday for two days. He has spent three to four days in each county to give Vermonters a chance to get to know him and to listen to what Vermonters are concerned about.

As part of his visit, Parker hosted a community forum at the Bennington Free Library Thursday evening. Parker, who attended Williams College in nearby Williamstown, Mass., told the crowd that Bennington “feels very much a part of home.”

He also took advantage of an opportunity to speak candidly with voters. His message was that the state is at a crossroads. It can continue to elect a governor who is in line with the White House, or it can go in a new direction.

“What I want to say to all of you is that this is a critical time in the state of Vermont. We have, at the national level, an administration that is systematically trying to dismantle all of the good things that have been put in place … in the last 100 years,” said Parker.

Parker is hoping voters understand that what is happening in Vermont is not separate from what is happening in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.

“The real issue in this race is whether Mr. Douglas provides the kind of leadership the state needs. I believe that people will begin to move away from this kind of mindset that says, ‘Well, It’s not as bad as the national level’ to realizing that … what’s happening here is kind of an echo of the national level,” Parker said in an interview.

Parker believes that voters are beginning to take notice of the Douglas administration’s lack of results.

“They have had kind of a mental exception to Jim. I think that’s going to evaporate,” he said. “And I think, although his popularity may be relatively high now … I think it’s breaking through. Where is the substance? Where is this administration really delivering something that will protect Vermonters and make their lives better?” he said.

Parker said he will work more effectively with the Legislature than Douglas has been able to do in his two terms. He said Douglas has a habit of passing the blame when things don’t go his way.

“He challenges (the Legislature) … and then blames them for doing something when they do proceed with something that he doesn’t like. He vetoes their health care bill; vetoes the GMO legislation; the first governor to veto a piece of civil rights legislation in Vermont and then tries to draw the Human Rights Commission in to cover for him. This is a governor who is not standing up for the principles of Vermont, and I will,” he said.

During the forum, Parker called for the governor to act on behalf of the state’s farmers and ask President Bush to support a $4 billion emergency farm aid package that he threatened to veto.

“On agriculture has (Douglas) really come through for the farmers of Vermont? Will he in fact pick up the phone and call his president, the man he was bragging about who would be an ally to Vermont and benefit Vermont because they were of the same party?” said Parker. “The president is tying up the legislation that would provide money for that emergency funding, and Jim Douglas will not call the president and say, ‘Get off the dime. Get the money here and help the state of Vermont.'”

——————————————————————————–

E-mail Neal Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com

Remember how proud Douglas was to be part of the Bush Team?  Why isn’t he using the ‘collateral’ he earned from the 2000/2004 campaigns to stop Vermonters from being decimated from all the Federal budget cuts?  What’s he saving it for? 
Notice not much is ‘trickling down’ from the Federal Government — could it be the same (gasp) voodoo economics Bush 41 accused Reagan of endorsing?  Is Douglas afraid to pick up the phone?  Come November: Let’s see Douglas retired, and put Scudder Parker, Leahy, Sanders and Peter Welch (the grownups)in charge.

Barbara 
 

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The bill went down hard, with only thirteen Senators voting for it.

Hall of fame (Senators who voted with the majority of Americans to move towards an endgame):

• Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), co-sponsor
• Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)

 

• Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
• Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
• Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT)
• Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
• Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
• Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), co-sponsor
• Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Hall of shame: all the rest