vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

12.26.2007

Rank 'em, cowboy

Truth be told I'm not a big fan of ranking things. Favorite album/song/book/movie of all time? Must we pick one? I can't hold them all together in my brain long enough to set them up next to each other for comparison.

So it is with ranking the year's news stories. I see some value in it once it's done - it allows us to take stock of what happened over the course of a year and put it into a measure of perspective. Doing the actual ranking, though, that scrambles my neurons. This year, especially, seems to lack an obvious front-runner.

Which accounts for why I never got around to casting a ballot for Vermont This Week's annual rankings. Looks like they managed without me. Here, for your mulling purposes, are the results, first from VTW panel members, then from VTW viewers. (The show on which VTW panelists discuss the top 10 will air Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.) Then, I'll let you play the game yourselves using The Associated Press' ballot (because I happen to have it sitting here handy).

As selected by Vermont This Week panel members (18 votes)
1. Vermont Yankee cooling tower collapse causes alarm
2. Federal Court upholds Vermont’s emissions law
3. Climate change dominates much of legislative session
4. Democrats fail to override Governor’s vetoes
5. Leahy assumes leading role in battle with White House
6. Catamount Health begins
7. PSB OKs industrial wind project for Sheffield
8. Verizon seeks to sell landlines to FairPoint
9. Valentine’s Day blizzard sees up to 30" fall
10. Communities back impeachment resolution

As selected by Vermont This Week viewers (39 votes)
1. Democrats fail to override Governor's vetoes
2. Leahy assumes leading role in battle with White House
3. Vermont Yankee cooling tower collapse causes alarm
4. Communities back impeachment resolution
5. Rep. Welch targeted by anti-war activists
6. TBA (there was an error in the list that was sent)
7. School spending caps increases
8. Climate change dominates much of legislative session
9. Valentine's Day blizzard sees up to 30" fall
10. Catamount Health begins

RANK 'EM YOURSELVES (choose 1-10 from these 21 choices):
— CLIMATE CHANGE: The Vermont Legislature focuses on global warming in its session, but after passing a bill aimed at addressing it, cannot muster the votes to override a veto by Gov. Jim Douglas.
— WAR BACKLASH: Protesters target Vermont’s congressional delegation over war funding, with arrests at three sit-in demonstrations and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch enduring much of the criticism.
— VERMONT YANKEE: The nuclear plant suffers through two serious incidents within 10 days of each other, shaking public confidence and leading to stepped-up calls for safety reviews.
— KILLINGTON SOLD: Killington Ski Resort is sold, and changes by the new owners upset local businesses, longtime Killington patrons and others.
— SIMPSONS-SPRINGFIELD: The town of Springfield, which wasn’t even invited to participate, wins a contest to host the premiere of “The Simpsons Movie,” with thousands turning out for the first public showing of the movie.
— PRO-LEGALIZATION PROSECUTOR: Windsor County State’s Attorney Robert Sand comes under fire over a decision to permit court diversion for a pot suspect, prompting a war of words with Gov. Jim Douglas and new calls for changes to Vermont’s drug laws.
— PHONE DEAL: FairPoint Communications announces $2.7 billion deal to buy landlines in three northern New England states from Verizon, but stiff opposition to the deal delays action on it.
— CATAMOUNT HEALTH: The state’s new health program kicks off.
— AUTO EMISSIONS: Vermont wins a legal victory in the fight against greenhouse gases when a federal judge in Burlington finds for the state in a lawsuit brought by auto makers over emission standards.
— CANADIAN DOLLAR: The strong Canadian dollar triggers a border-crossing exodus, with Canadian shoppers descending on stores in Burlington and other Vermont towns.
— GAY MARRIAGE: Pressed to go beyond civil unions and permit gay marriage, the Vermont Legislature appoints a task force to go around the state seeking input before reporting back to lawmakers.
— IMPEACHMENT: Citing “serious questions of constitutionality,” the state Senate calls for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, becoming the first state lawmakers in the country to do so.
— LIZ JEFFORDS: The wife of former U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords dies at 68.
— VETO-PROOF GOVERNOR: Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican in a Democrat-dominated state, maintains his political grip, fending off veto overrides and discouraging would-be 2008 challengers.
— HUNTING FATALITIES: Two hunters criminally charged after accidentally shooting people are sent to prison, signaling tough new stance by law enforcement on hunting deaths.
— HEAVY WEATHER: Severe storms take a toll on Vermont, with an April 16 nor’easter unleashing 70 mph winds that felled hundreds of trees in Rutland and a July 11 downpour inundating downtown Barre and washing away some roads.
— SICK BUILDING: After years of complaints from workers who said it was making them sick, state officials relocate workers from a Bennington state office building into a hastily-arranged temporary site while cleanup work continues and employees ask not to be returned to it.
— PRIEST SEX: The first priest sex case against the Diocese of Burlington to go to trial ends with a jury blaming the Diocese but saying the suit was filed too late.
— BACKWARDS BANDIT: A convenience store thief dons a hooded sweatshirt — backwards, with eyeholes cut out so he could see— for a string of heists before being caught and pleading guilty.
— BORDER WOES: Long lines at checkpoints, a proposal to block off three streets linking Derby, Vt., with Stanstead, Quebec and a pending plan to require passports for border crossings elicit concerns on the U.S. side, with merchants saying they are losing business from Canada.
— WEIRD WINTERS: A late-arriving winter spells trouble for ski resorts, winter festivals and other outdoor pursuits, some of which had to be canceled or postponed for lack of snow and ice.

Hint: There are no right or wrong answers here, but if you chose "heavy weather" you are seriously bordering on "wrong answer."

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 11:35 AM |

Comments:

I'd add "The Death of the Vermont Press" to this list and place it in my top 10.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:58 AM, December 26, 2007

TBA gets my vote...all the other choices are just fluff especially the do nothing Democrat legislature (of course that should be the story)

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:46 PM, December 26, 2007

How about 10 stories that aren't on the list (in no particular order):

1. Firing of Chris Graff
2. Veto of campaign finance bill upheld
3. Manufacturing job losses in Vermont
4. Corrections – prison overcrowding and rising budget
5. Legislature accomplishes little on school property tax
6. Vermont Public Radio splits into two services
7. Legislature passes broadband bill
8. Democrats can't find a candidate for governor
9. Rising oil prices and their effect on Vermont economy
10. Real estate slowdown and its effects on Vermont

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:48 PM, December 26, 2007

"Vermont This Week" is a joke and so is its moderator Mr. Bedwetter. The only things he has his pulse on are how his hair will look on this week's broadcast and how many softballs he personally tossed to Douglas in 2007. In all honesty, does anybody really care what a few lackidascial Vermont reporters think was important in 2007? I sure don't.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:38 PM, December 26, 2007

You care when they say things you agree with.

It's like the jokers getting all excited on GMD about Peter Freyne. They love him until they don't.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:46 PM, December 26, 2007

Hear, hear!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:45 PM, December 26, 2007

Unbelievable. VPT puts the Simpsons Movie on a list of big stories in 2007, and nothing about property taxes. After global warming, that was THE hot issue of the session.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:09 PM, December 26, 2007

Note to anonynous 6:09 p.m.

Breathe deep and go back and read more carefully.

The list you see there with the Simpsons on it is The Associated Press ballot, not VTW's top 10. Indeed, AP's ballot does not include the property tax issue.

VTW's original ballot had both the Simpsons and property tax on it. The Simpsons didn't make the top 10, but you'll notice that property taxes (aka school spending caps) was VTW's viewers' #7.

- TH

# Posted by:

vt.Buzz | 6:32 PM, December 26, 2007

It's not the individual stories but the trend that matters.

It's all bad for VT and the Country and unless and until VT gets a decent Governor and a Speaker who can count votes, nothing is going to change for the better and VT will continue to struggle to keep its head above water.

As for the Country, we need a legitimate, competent, intelligent President and some shackles and chains for the idiot prince currently squatting in the WH so we can pack him and his slime ball accomplices off to the Hague to be indicted, tried, convicted, sentenced and executed for the war criminals they are.

Toss in some more Dems in Congress and some gops who put the Country before their pathetic morally and intellectually bankrupt party and we can get a start on going about the business of cleaning up this clown's mess the way Clinton cleaned up the first Bush-league mess and stick the RNC with the tab for the toxic waste clean up.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 6:46 PM, December 26, 2007

This comment has been removed by the author.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:06 PM, December 26, 2007

Here is a top story:

The Republicans can't find anyone to run for Congress against Peter Welch.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:13 PM, December 26, 2007

The top story was

In an effort to minimize Global Warming, the Vermont GOP declares sky is falling.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:00 PM, December 27, 2007

Top story should be:

Vermont Governor has nothing but harsh words for the state of his state. Six years in office and the crickets are still chirping.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:44 PM, December 27, 2007

Or:

Democrats control both chambers of Vt. Senate for two sessions in a row with lopsided majorities and do nothing as the leadership focuses on . . . um . . . you know . . . um . . . whatever.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:29 PM, December 27, 2007

Anonymous said...
Or:

"Democrats control both chambers of Vt. Senate for two sessions in a row with lopsided majorities and do nothing as the leadership focuses on . . . um . . . you know . . . um . . . whatever."

Well, it's like this, little fella. Leaving aside the fact that there's only one chamber in the Vermont Senate and the Dems there have had no problem defying Douglas and rendering Dubie the mute, inert afterthought he's qualified to be, the Vermont State Legislature is comprised of two bodies.

There's the House and then there's the Senate.

One has to control both houses of the Legislature to override the Governor's Veto. The Dems were unable to do that because they lacked sufficient numbers in their coalition this year on a number of occasions. Once, they came within one vote.

Moreover, while this years failures to override the Governor could be attributed to Speaker Symington's failure to adequately manage her caucus, it was not the case in the previous biennium when the Dems held a smaller majority in the House.

Let me know if I'm goin' too fast for ya, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 5:18 PM, December 27, 2007

Excuses, excuses.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:24 PM, December 27, 2007

six years!

He had six years to do something.

He's no better than the welfare deadbeats who abuse the system and keep their status quo in order to keep receiving benefits.

Thriving on conflict at the expense of Vermont is pathetic.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:08 PM, December 27, 2007

I agree that the Guv's squandered his time in office. After he survived his first re-election, he should have done SOMETHING other than keep a seat warm.

But Symington and Shumlin are both also in their second sessions as the leaders of their respective chambers of the Vt. Legislature and what have they done?

Absolute sh**, that's what.

Vermont is the poorer for both the Executive and the Legislative branches behaving like children.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:58 PM, December 27, 2007

Anonymous said...

"Excuses, excuses."

You're tellin' me, little fella. It's high time you came up with something even remotely substantive.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 8:52 PM, December 27, 2007

Hey JW:

I'm curious; what should Douglas have done that he hasn't?

He's proposed and got enacted:

Jobs creation package;

Workers' compensation reform (albeit watered down);

Permit reform (albeit watered down);

Lake Champlain clean-up plan;

Health care reform (Catamount);

Medicaid reform (Global Commitment); and

Workforce development package.

He agreed to:

Energy bill including renewable incentives;

Minimum wage increase;

Act 60 reforms;

GMO seed labeling law; and

Anti-discrimination legislation for transgendered Vermonters and minority students.

All this while holding the line on taxes; keeping the state's bond rating up; and facing a Legislature controlled by the opposition.

You can quibble over whether he's gone far enough on these or other issues, but the guy campaigned on a platform of job creation and fiscal responsibility and been re-elected by wide margins.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:21 PM, December 27, 2007

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:21 PM, December 27, 2007

"I don't give a damn what he campaigned on my little "loyal dues-paying Democrat" friend. I care about what he did and did not do."

You're a dunce. You think you're talking to me but I'm not the one who posted the above at 10:21 p.m. Sport.

"All he did was gum up the works and prevent the Legislature from enacting the Legislation the majority of the people of Vermont want."

Nice try, Ian. Douglas was elected by the same Vermonters who elected the Legislature. The same Vermonters who rejected Parker by a wide margin.

And exactly what legislation is it that "the majority of the people of Vermont want" and how do you know that a majority want it?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:28 PM, December 27, 2007

Like I've said elsewhere, don't bother arguing with JW, or Doug, or whoever he is.

Notice he didn't answer the quesion, just accused Douglas of not "respecting the law, the facts and the Will of the People of Vermont and ... vetoing popular progressive legislation."

No specific examples or pesky evidence. As for the "will of the people," as divined by JW, isn't this the same JW who famously said in the "Ruminations" thread, "I never said I speak for anyone but myself."

The legislation he seems to be referring to -- the Vermont Yankee tax bill and campaign finance reform bill -- well, they couldn't have been too popular. Neither could muster the votes for an override, which was the framers' standard for popularity.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:59 PM, December 27, 2007

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:31 AM, December 28, 2007

Anonymous said...

"Like I've said elsewhere, don't bother arguing with JW, or Doug, or whoever he is."

You should take your own advice, sport. If you can't make a case that's your problem and it most certainly is your problem. Once again, it's not my job to disprove what you've been consistently unable to prove.

"No specific examples or pesky evidence."

Funny you should mention that, shmendrik. Are ya ever gonna address that issue or are ya just gonna keep pretending you've established the sky is green and the grass is blue? You've had 6 weeks and ya still haven't come up with anything. How much more time ya gonna need, little fella?

"As for the "will of the people," as divined by JW, isn't this the same JW who famously said in the "Ruminations" thread, "I never said I speak for anyone but myself."

Are you saying that the vetoed legislation was not popular with the majority of Vermonters, little fella?

"The legislation he seems to be referring to -- the Vermont Yankee tax bill and campaign finance reform bill -- well, they couldn't have been too popular. Neither could muster the votes for an override, which was the framers' standard for popularity."

Nice try. Legislative rules aren't carved in stone, shmendrik. They've been modified and amended a time or two in the past 216 years. Look up reapportionment. Ya just might learn something, little fella.

You're welcome.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:51 AM, December 28, 2007

jw - Douglas has vetoed "popular progressive legislation"? Popular with fruitcakes like you, but apparently not with most Vermonters or the vetos would have been overridden. Does that sink in, dunce?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:31 AM, December 28, 2007

bubba said...

"jw - Douglas has vetoed "popular progressive legislation"? Popular with fruitcakes like you, but apparently not with most Vermonters or the vetos would have been overridden. Does that sink in, dunce?"

Always with the sweet talk, bubbles.

Evidently not since you keep spewin' the same ignorant, ill-informed, thoroughly-discredited gop-slop nonsense, knucklehead.

Little Doogie Souser's actions are about as popular with Vermonters as Bush and the War in Iraq, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 9:13 AM, December 28, 2007

"Little Doogie Souser's actions are about as popular with Vermonters as Bush and the War in Iraq, little fella."

Care to support that with some evidence, little fella?

1. Which "actions" in particular are you referring to, and

2. What's your evidence for the popularity/non-popularity of the specific actions you're referring to?

Name the action and show us the reliable poll showing approval/disapproval.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:43 AM, December 28, 2007

Anonymous said...

Little Doogie Souser's actions are about as popular with Vermonters as Bush and the War in Iraq, little fella.

"Care to support that with some evidence, little fella?"

Sure. Tell ya what, I'll do that and you can prove I'm Doug Hoffer and Ian whomeverthehellheis and we'll see who finishes first, little fella.

Ya think ya can pull that off, chuckles?

Either do I.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:36 PM, December 28, 2007

Right. In other words, ya got no evidence to back up your slogan.

That's what I thought.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:05 PM, December 28, 2007

Anonymous said...

"Right. In other words, ya got no evidence to back up your slogan."

No, that would be you, little fella.

I've got it. You don't.

I'm lazy. You're clueless.

Big difference.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 9:42 PM, December 28, 2007

Right. In other words, ya got no evidence to back up your slogan.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:54 PM, December 29, 2007

I heard Randy Brock will run against Welch - now that is a big story.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:06 PM, December 29, 2007

This comment has been removed by the author.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:26 PM, December 29, 2007

Yeah, a big funny story.

No doubt about it, the gops need a one-term, former State Auditor to run against a popular Dem incumbent in a State where the only question is whether it's 2 outta 3 or 3 outta 4 people who detest Bush, the War in Iraq and all things gop.

Do you really think his failure to be intimidated by the Anti-War Left is gonna hurt him with moderates, little fella.

If so, you're a dimmer bulb than you think I think you are.

You should run the VT Gop, little fella.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:33 PM, December 29, 2007

Anonymous said...

"Right. In other words, ya got no evidence to back up your slogan."

No, once again, little fella, that would be you.

Once more with feeling:

I'm lazy.

You're clueless.

Big difference.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:36 PM, December 29, 2007

Right. In other words, ya got no evidence to back up your slogan.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:29 AM, December 30, 2007

Brock could beat Welch. Welch keeps voting to fund the war and he said he would get us out of there.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:00 PM, December 30, 2007

Ican't believe 39 PBS viewer votes!!

Must be that some of them voted more than once

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:03 PM, January 03, 2008