vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

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

7.24.2008

Questions, please

Time was when newspapers were solely this thing that plopped on your doorstep in the morning to become your breakfast companion. We're still that thing, but we're so much more.

Thus, as we propel into the 2008 election season, we here at the Freeps will haul out of the video camera, take moving-pictures of some of the candidates, record their voices and post it on our Web site for your benefit. Yes, you'll still get the written word, but you'll also have the voice and mannerisms to go with it.

The video will be there throughout the campaign, so two months from now, when your neighbor wakes up and realizes there's an election going on, he'll be able to check out said video too.

We'll start with the governor's race, asking candidates a few questions on key topics. I have plenty of questions I can ask, but because we're open to hearing from all kinds, we thought we'd offer you the opportunity to suggest a question too.

Try to keep it fairly contained, clean and well-meaning. Have at it.

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 12:18 PM |

Comments:

Interesting that Sam hasn't posted here since the false story that he posted here about Tony Pollina.

Where'd he go? Is he still working on typing up his retraction??

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:49 PM, July 24, 2008

Gaye Symington’s platform per her website is filled with vague promises.

She says if elected she will develop an energy plan. If elected she will redefine health care. If elected she will create partnership with education and the business sector to create jobs.

We should reasonably expect, and any responsible candidate running for office should have, a vision and executable plan, not the ambition to develop one once in office.

I would like to ask her to clarify and explain in specifics what it is she will do in connection with each promise, give us an idea of what it will cost and how she proposes to finance her promises.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:59 PM, July 24, 2008

She's made specific proposals in each of these areas.

The better question is, why doesn't Douglas have an energy policy?

He's been governor for 6 years and he hasn't developed a coherent energy policy?

Our energy costs keep rising and he's going to sit on his hands and not do anything??

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:16 PM, July 24, 2008

Like it or not, Douglas has a 5-year energy plan. You don't like it so you call it incoherent. Since he doesn't have personal contact with OPEC it is hard to control gas/oil prices. He has been fighting to keep VT Yankee open against the wishes of VPIRG and Sen Shumlin. Wind and solar are in the plans. The Legislature just steered more revenue to Inefficiency Vermont at the expense of ratepayers. It is difficult to reduce utility costs when the legislature wants to increase the cost.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:27 PM, July 24, 2008

You might start by asking Jim douglas why he has not used the services of this group. The group has not met in several years. Several of the terms of office have expired and apparently no one has been appointed to fill the vacancy. this group was created by law. Douglas has simply ignored the law. What other laws has he ignored?

Business Recruitment Partnership, Vermont
Establishing Statute: 10 VSA Ch 1 § 15a
Description: This advisory committee shall be responsible for promoting Vermont's image out of state and marketing the state in order to attract industry. The committee may participate in the activities of organization including direct mail campaigns, telemarketing efforts, prospecting trips outside of Vermont, trade show appearances and an ongoing image campaign, including the establishment of a web site.
Website:
Board Members - term expires:
Steven Bourgeois - 10/17/2009
Aminta Conant - 10/17/2009
Cairn Cross - 10/17/2007
Joseph Giancola - 10/17/2008
Robert Justis - 10/17/2008
David Marvin - 10/17/2005
Allan Rodgers - 10/17/2007
Michael Walker - 10/17/2004

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:27 PM, July 24, 2008

He's fighting to keep VT Yankee open but isn't taking into consideration any safety issues, or any financial consequences.
Entergy is going to jack up rates in a couple of short years – when the current contract expires and Vermonters won’t have any other choice but to pay up … because Jimmy Douglas is making it impossible for us to buy from other suppliers of energy. Since there won’t be any competition, Entergy will set their price as high as they want to.
Jimmy doesn’t think that Entergy should take care of any of the nuclear waste and he wants to get Entergy off the hook for the cost of decommissioning. We are going to have to pay for that, after Entergy makes off with huge profits.
Efficiency Vermont has saved rate payers far, far more than it has cost.
Conservatives don't believe in conservation anymore. They just want to consume, consume, consume. Cost, safety and common sense be damned.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:33 PM, July 24, 2008

"Conservatives don't believe in conservation anymore. They just want to consume, consume, consume. Cost, safety and common sense be damned."

What an idiotic statement!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:47 PM, July 24, 2008

Nobody makes more idiotic statements on this board than you, NEK.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:56 PM, July 24, 2008

Absolutely right!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:19 PM, July 24, 2008

Get real. NEK is one of the few sane voices on this board.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:25 PM, July 24, 2008

Anon 2:27...Great point and it raises a real question. Do we have too many laws for a state of 600,000 people? If we don't know what is on the books, we probably have too many.

Left to the path we are on with the Libs, we will continue to become more of a Nanny State.

As a State, we should do what successful businesses do when they get bloated...downsize, simplify.....

Captain America

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:32 PM, July 24, 2008

anonymous....

""Conservatives don't believe in conservation anymore. They just want to consume, consume, consume. Cost, safety and common sense be damned.""

NEK said...

"What an idiotic statement!"

And apart from their insistence on pulling the plug on all funding and tax credits for alternative energy sources almost 30 years ago and reducing the quality and quantity of clean air, clean water and clean, safe food in their tireless efforts to make the world and the US Food supply safe for E. coli bacteria and kids toys for lead paint, just what measures have gop-scum made to adopt and promote any conservation efforts since energy became an issue 35 years ago?

That's what I thought.

As always, any and all idiotic statements made on this board emanate from you and your clueless-cretin comrades, nekkie boy.

Always a pleasure.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:38 PM, July 24, 2008

Cut the victim whining and grow up Coop. Everyone Repubs and Dems have had more than their fair share at each of these issues and turned their back for political expediancy.

Polarizing and demonizing are the first two rules of any demogogue. Nice job.

Captain America

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:45 PM, July 24, 2008

I agree with ANONYMOUS 12:59. Although I did hear that Symington and Shumlin want to do some studies first so they might have a ghost of a clue by the time the Governor's NEXT term is up.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:14 PM, July 24, 2008

It seemed like a great way to counter Obamamania. Sen. John McCain would board a helicopter in New Orleans today, skim quickly over the Gulf of Mexico and land on an oil rig -- a made-for-TV moment to highlight his call for offshore drilling, an issue that Republicans believe will be a big winner in November.
Then came Hurricane Dolly, a Category 2 storm that made a helicopter ride impossible. And then, improbably, a 600-foot oil tanker collided with a barge on the Mississippi River, creating a 12-mile oil slick and causing diesel fumes to waft over the city's French Quarter. The trip was off.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:23 PM, July 24, 2008

I would like to know if (in the future) environmental rules are ever "bent" to accomodate compost manufacturers, whether the same special considerations will apply to farmers and all other manufacturers?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:27 PM, July 24, 2008

I would like to hear the candidates short-term and long-term plans for handling ALL sex-offenders.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:42 PM, July 24, 2008

RE: ANON 4:23, I bet right now that Gaye (Rules Are For Other People) Symington says NO. Unless of course you're talking about the tenant farmers at the Interbale. They're special.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:47 PM, July 24, 2008

Ask Douglas and Symington why they abandoned closing the capital gains loophole when it could have generated tens of millions for Vermont and helped our state get through this economic rough patch.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:49 PM, July 24, 2008

I'd ask the gov how many talking heads he thinks he needs spread across state government? Does he have no faith in his top appointees, like past governors, to articulate the message de jour?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:53 PM, July 24, 2008

What????

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:55 PM, July 24, 2008

Why is a money guy running corrections and not a career corrections person, who might know how to handle the sex offender oversight issue?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:01 PM, July 24, 2008

When the legislature reopens, why don't we insist that each of the legislators bring a sex offender to work with them. Let's insist that they have to keep their sex offender buddy (S.O.B.) with them until they can come up with a solution to sex offender crime and oversight.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:14 PM, July 24, 2008

I would ask Gaye to explain and not spin the issues on her website:
Property Taxes- she will not shift state burden to local towns- how does this save money?
Job creation- "great place to do business" and "build on positive qualities and assets"- wow! but how does this differ from at least 20 other states?
Infrastructure- build and repair sooner - ok but more upfront money
Health Care- Douglas' budgets drive up premiums! how?
Education- since ACT 60 our education budget has gone from $600 mil to over $1.3 BIL -that's in 10 years and enrollment has decreased and Gaye wants to "invest" in "child care options"!!
Energy- increase conservation programs- sounds like a nanny state where we will be mandated to conserve-55 MPH- thermostats at 62!Adopt Algore's plan to cut energy cost even though the alternate source is still on the drawing board. Is Gaye going to budget new heating, new insulation and new hybrid cars for everyone?
If you really want to save energy- close all schools in Jan & Feb and open in the summer.
Gaye doesn't mention affordable energy or affordable housing. The liberal elite only want you to sacrifice, not them.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:39 PM, July 24, 2008

I second that! With Anon 12:59 that's 3 people that would like specifics. Sounds like the winner.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:43 PM, July 24, 2008

Anonymous said...

"Anon 2:27...Great point and it raises a real question. Do we have too many laws for a state of 600,000 people?.."

Sure, if we'd had fewer laws on the books for Doogie's Department of Corrections not to enforce, nobody would be taking Corrections to task for recommending Jacques be granted early release from supervised probation because he wouldn't have been on probation in the first place.

Sure, that's the ticket, auntie amerika. If there's fewer laws for Doogie's Corrections Department to not enforce, nobody can blame them for not enforcing them.

It wouldn't have helped Brooke Bennett any but nobody could blame Doogie for not doing anything if there's not anything for them to do but to do what they do best - blaming Symington and Shumlin for doing their jobs by refusing to be a rubber-stamp for an incompetent gop-scum Governor and not doing said incompetent, gop-scum governor's job for him, and irrespective of whether or not it helps Vermont or saves the Brooke Bennetts of the world, it gets and keeps critics off Doogie's back and holding him accountable for his actions and inaction's as Governor and at the end of the day, that's really the important thing here.

Sure thing, cap'n clueless.

"...If we don't know what is on the books, we probably have too many."

Ah, so if you're not a neurosurgeon, crazy lady, and you've got no idea what's in neurosurgery books, there's no need for neurosurgery books. After all, if your ignorant anonymous ass doesn't know what's in neurosurgery books, there's probably too many neurosurgery books.

Think of all the time and money we can save by not wasting time and resources on the training of Med Students. Think how much cheaper and quicker it would be to get through Medical Training and pay for Med School if you take the training out of Medical Training and the school out of Med School.

Sure thing, crazy lady. Clearly, the bush administration and the doogie/dubie debacle have demonstrated time and time again that competence is overrated.

Think how many doctors they'd be if they just had to tear the cover off a book of matches to become a doctor and they didn't have to waste all the time and effort, to say nothing of running up all the debt associated with Med School, if they could cut to the chase, eliminate all that boring medical stuff they make ya read in Med School, skip the school and go straight to the Operating Room.

In keeping with the gop-scum philosophy of deregulation, deregulation, deregulation, letting the free market decide and leaving industry to clean up their act and enforce safety standards on a strictly voluntary basis, as with smoking, scrubbing in before surgery will now be strictly optional.

After all, that approach has worked so well with Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater along with the Meat Packing, Restaurant, Coal Mining, Cruise Ship, Investment, Cable, Banking, Insurance, Health Care, and Financial Services industries.

Who needs surgeons with clean hands who know what they're doing when doogie can be Governor of the State of Vermont and demonstrate the good judgement to put experienced people in key posts like Rob Hofmann at Corrections and Boy Blunderville at AOT.

If there's a God, Pollina doesn't gum up the works and Vermont finally pulls the plug on the jimi douglas experience and dumps the doogie/debacle, those two will no longer be qualified for their jobs even in the eyes of doogie and they'll need to get jobs they're qualified for. If they're no longer needed to bait doogie's hooks, they can tear the cover off a book of matches and complete the new, improved, streamlined neurosurgery program and be cuttin' on their gop-scum friends and family before they're called upon to carve the Easter Ham.

Neurosurgery. I mean, c'mon! How hard can it be if you can become one just by tearing the cover off a book of matches and making a phone call or two. It can't be any more difficult than learning how to drive the big rigs.

If you streamline the process involved in becoming a neurosurgeon, there'd be a lot more neurosurgeons and if one of every three people you see on the street is a neurosurgeon, think how much easier it will be to get in to see a neurosurgeon. Goodbye, neurosurgeon shortage.

Another problem solved by the free market.

Ya know what else they found in that study, crazy lady? The leading cause of death in this country continues to be life.

Ya gotta love that conservative gop-scum "thought process".

After all, the number one cause of the health care shortage and tens of millions of people being without health care coverage is the result of too many people having health care insurance.

"Left to the path we are on with the Libs, we will continue to become more of a Nanny State.

As a State, we should do what successful businesses do when they get bloated...downsize, simplify....."

Ya mean like Ford is doing today, crazy lady?

Henry Ford's descendants are doing for Ford Motor Company what the Bushleaguers and their gop-scum collaborators have done for the USA.

Always a pleasure, crazy lady.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 6:30 PM, July 24, 2008

JWCoop10 said: "blah,blah,blah,blah and blah"

Always Ignored.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:20 PM, July 24, 2008

Anonymous said...

"Cut the victim whining and grow up Coop. Everyone Repubs and Dems have had more than their fair share at each of these issues and turned their back for

Political expediancy.", eh?

Clearly, you passed on post Fifth Grade Education and failed to master the many mysteries of spell-check in the interests of expediency, too, crazy lady.

Ignorant, ill-informed and illiterate is not a good look for your ignorant anonymous ass, little fella.

Ah, the ol' "Hitler didn't invent Anti-Semitism. What's the big deal about the Holocaust? How come the media never reports about all the people the Nazis didn't systematically eliminate", song and dance.

Gee, now who coulda seen that comin' from the lunatic-fringe, lyin'-slime likes of your ignorant anonymous ass, auntie amerika.

Nice try, nitwit. No sale.

The fact that the Nazis didn't invent Anti-Semitism didn't get them off the hook for the Holocaust and their other assorted Crimes Against Humanity and it ain't gettin the likes of bush and the doogie/dubie debacle off the hook for their criminal incompetence and incompetent criminality either.

On the international, national and statewide level, this country and this state's troubles are a gop-scum creation and the biproduct of gop-scum "thought", so spare me the ludicrous, lunatic-fringe, pathetic " both sides do it. there's plenty of blame to go around" routine.

I ain't buyin' it from them and I ain't buyin' it from your ignorant anonymous ass, either, punk.

"Polarizing and demonizing are the first two rules of any demogogue."

Yeah, I know. I've seen the gop-scum platform and I've caught your act.

Given the fact that that's the extent of your ignorant anonymous ass's act, one would think even the likes of your ignorant anonymous ass would have learned how to spell the word by now, crazy lady.

Then again, you never fail to fail, little fella. You're money in the bank. I'll give ya that much. My bank. Thanks, I appreciate that.

If your ignorant anonymous find a recounting of the facts and reality "polarizing and demonizing", you're even more fooked than you think I think you are.

Well, you would be if you possessed the capacity for thought and the ability to spell demagogue, that is.

Clearly, those will just have to be tossed the ever-expanding pile of things you don't get, can't do and can't prove, deduce bag.

You're dumb, you're scum and ya got bupkis, bonehead. There is nothing legitimate about you or your pathetic lunatic-fringe belief system. There never was. There never will be.

It's been fun.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:31 PM, July 24, 2008

Anonymous....

"JWCoop10

said: "blah,blah,blah,blah and blah"

Always Ignored."

Yeah, so your ignorant anonymous ass never fails to tell me whenever you've got bupkis, so you get plent of opportunities and you never miss one.

You're very thoughtful that way, little factually-challenged fella.

Always a pleasure.
Dimsissed.

In other words,

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:40 PM, July 24, 2008

Q: Is it still Governor Douglas' opinion that cutting the size of the state workforce by 400 won't negatively impact public services?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:27 PM, July 24, 2008

Why is the corrections dept. being staffed by temps with no corrections experience?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:27 PM, July 24, 2008

Why is the VT Dept. of Public Service refusing an independent inspection of VT Yankee if the Governor himself agreed to the study a few months ago?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:29 PM, July 24, 2008

NEK....

"I would ask Gaye to explain and not spin the issues on her website:
Property Taxes- she will not shift state burden to local towns- how does this save money?"

In other words, your ignorant, ill-informed ass wants her to drop out of the race and promise to vote for doogie as penance for her failure to mindlessly rubber-stamp whatever dimwitted delusional-dreck doled out to and having the unmitigated gall to do the job Vermont elected her and her caucus to do - provide adult supervision for the doogie/dubie debacle and keep their incompetent gop-scum butts from goin' nuts, hold their feet to the fire and keep them as honest as incompetent gop-scum can be kept.

It's unfortunate that Vermont was victimized by doogie and the gop-scum minority to negotiate and legislate in good faith during her four years as Speaker, but gop-scum's choice to be gop-scum is not her failing. It's theirs.

Nekkie boy, to paraphrase Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff, Lawrence Wilkerson's comments regarding Iraq War architect and neocon nitwit extraordinaire, Doug Feith, you may be the dumbest fookin' idiot on the planet and given the fact that the collective IQ of you and your clueless-cretin comrades doesn't clear the mid single digits, that's sayin' somethin'. Somethin' more than your ignorant anonymous ass has been able to say since ya got here.

Always a pleasure.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 9:53 PM, July 24, 2008

Anonymous has left a new comment on the post "Questions, please":

"Why is the corrections dept. being staffed by temps with no corrections experience?"

Because this the incompetent, gop-scum doogie/dubie debacle.

That incompetent, gop-scum trash is staffing Corrections for the same reason that Brownie was placed in charge of FEMA and Michael Chertoff is still head of Homeland Security.

Like his boy, bush and gop-scum everywhere, doogie places more stock in loyalty than competence.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:21 PM, July 24, 2008

Two questions for Gov. Douglas:
- you consistently refer to your opponents or the Legislative leaders as being "too liberal for Vermont", yet in the last three elections our Socialist US Representative, Bernie Sanders has received 89,000 more votes that you. Gov. Douglas are you too conservative for Vermont?
- In 2006 you ran on an Affordability platform. You have been in State government or a Legislator for over 20 years. Did you wake up one morning and discover that it cost a lot to live in Vermont?

for the skeptics out there - here are the figures from the Sec. of State website:

2006
Sanders - 171,638
Douglas - 148,014
difference - 23,624

2004
Sanders - 205,774
Douglas - 181,540
difference - 24,234

2006
Sanders - 144,880
Douglas - 103,436
difference - 41,444

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:18 PM, July 24, 2008

I'm skeptical. You provide two different sets of numbers for 2006.

Terri - can you ask Symington who is the biggest drag on her campaign: Anthony Pollina or Peter Shumlin?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:07 AM, July 25, 2008

Governor Douglas, when was the last time you held a job in the private sector?

What was that job? How long did it last?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:38 AM, July 25, 2008

Coopy- as usual you try to impress all by your historical references (I, for one, am not impressed)instead of answering the question.
I repeat the question for Symington, and you, since you can't seem to answer questions when asked.
How does shifting property tax burden from towns to the state save money?
We shifted education costs from the town to the state via ACT 250 and the cost went up over 200% ($700 million)

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:27 AM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous 11:18 PM I am not sure I understand the point behind the statistics you present. Sanders was running for a Senate seat and Douglas was running for the Governor's seat. There's a difference. They were not competing against each other for votes and they faced unique opponents in their own individual races.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:32 AM, July 25, 2008

Anon 7:32am, July 25,
While you are correct, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the results would have been any different if Bernie had been running against Douglas. In fact, Douglas, who would love a Washington gig, has refused to take on Bernie directly. I suspect that is because Douglas does know how to count.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:43 AM, July 25, 2008

I would like to know if Gaye Symington has an opinion on the style of politicing that bloggers like JWCOOP10 bring forward in support of her.

Does she accept his endorsment of her campaign? Does she condone the style of campaigning he brings to the political landscape? If not, will she deannounce this devisive rhetoric?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:44 AM, July 25, 2008

Governor: Why are you afraid to bait your own fish hook and do you think raging water is good to fish in? Also, why does that LaRocque guy look like he wakes up and puts his hair on (but at least he's not a girly girl who won't bait a hook).

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:16 AM, July 25, 2008

I agree- no one should ever be the Gov if they can't bait their hook!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:39 AM, July 25, 2008

Jim D - What minimum qualifications should a person have to head up the Department of Transportation?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:15 AM, July 25, 2008

Mr. Douglas: Seeing that you acted as George W. Bush's campaign manager twice and told Vermonters to trust your decision because it was best for Vermont, do you now feel that you owe Vermonters an apology?

Do you think Bush's economic and foreign affairs decisions have been good for Vermont and America?

Why should Vermonters trust your judgment on any issues given the poor judgment on Bush?

Is it true you slept in the White House twice at Bush's invite?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:28 AM, July 25, 2008

So much nekwit nonsense, so little time.

NEK said...

"...We shifted education costs from the town to the state via ACT 250 and the cost went up over 200% ($700 million)"

"We" did, eh? And just when did "we" make ACT 250 the central culprit in the war on rising educational costs and just when did you and your coalition of the clueless cretin comrades establish that Gaye Symington was responsible in any way shape or form for any or all of the dimwitted delusional dreck you've alleged in your latest brain-dead, bogus allegation, nekkie boy?

That's what I thought.

Once again, nekkie boy, when confined to the facts and Planet Earth, the only thing you've managed to establish is that ya can't distinguish ACT-250 from ACT-60 or your ignorant anonymous ass from your elbow, demonstrate that you know what day it is, establish that you're in possession of a case and/or a clue or would know where to locate or recognize one in the unlikely event you should happen to stumble across one or indicate that ya know what your ignorant anonymous ass is talkin' about in any event.

Of course, those facts were never in dispute, nekkie boy.

Your ignorant anonymous ass closed that sale in your first post, little fella.

So, that said, apart from establishing the fact that you don't know ACT-250 from ACT-60 and failing to demonstrate how Gaye Symington managed to morph a 1970 Land Use and Development Act championed and enacted by Republican Governor Deane C Davis into the chief culprit for rising educational costs during the reign of of the incompetent, gop-scum jimi douglas experience some 38 years later, were there any other ludicrous assertions you wanted to make and fail to substantiate or points you wanted to fail to make or do ya wanna quit while you're ignorant anonymous ass is only 99 runs down with the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the first and cut your losses before things really get outta hand, nekkie boy?

Always a pleasure.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:19 AM, July 25, 2008

Your right, I did not mean Act 250, ACT 60 is the one to blame for the rising educational costs, not Act 250, because it was taken away from local control and sent to Montpelier. I did not say Symington had anything to do with Act 60 or Act 250, I was using the analogy of not having cost containment once it gets to the Legislature.
I have issues with Act 250 also but that is for another day.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:32 AM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous said:

"Anon 7:32am, July 25,
While you are correct, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the results would have been any different if Bernie had been running against Douglas. In fact, Douglas, who would love a Washington gig, has refused to take on Bernie directly. I suspect that is because Douglas does know how to count."

My point was that disparate, unrelated statistics were being used to support one individual's speculation and did not in fact prove any point.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:01 AM, July 25, 2008

Governor, why are you giving your press secretary $10,000 in merit bonuses while at the same time laying off front-line state workers who provide vital services?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:04 AM, July 25, 2008

Why did you leave workers in the Bennington State Office Building for 9 months after learning that there was a cluster of sarcoidosis, a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease?

Why your administration deny them workers comp benefits?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:07 AM, July 25, 2008

For Pollina:
"Did you decide to run as an independent because you didn't collect the 500 needed signatures to get on the Progressive Party ballot?"

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:23 PM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous said...

"I would like to know if Gaye Symington has an opinion on the style of politicing that bloggers like JWCOOP10 bring forward in support of her."

"Does she accept his endorsment of her campaign? Does she condone the style of campaigning he brings to the political landscape? If not, will she deannounce this devisive rhetoric?"

Really? So, you want Symington to
"deannounce" this "devisive" rhetoric? I'm allegedly making, eh, little factually-challenged/nameless-nitwit fella?

Well, little fella, given the fact that, in addition to "politicing" and "endorsment", the only thing your ignorant anonymous ass has been able to establish here is that you not only can't substantiate your latest, ludicrous, lunatic-fringe allegations that my rhetoric is "devisive" and that Symington should "deannounce" it, but once again, your ignorant anonymous ass evidently feels compelled to demonstrate that you can't even spell what ya can't substantiate.

What have I done to deserve such generosity, little fella!!

Lord, I must be livin' right to have adversaries this farcockteh, meshuggah! Hallefookinlujah!

So, in light of these facts, just how does your ignorant anonymous ass justify your delusional demands that Symington "deannounce" my allegedly "devisive" rhetoric rhetoric?" and reject an endorsement I've yet to offer and she's yet to accept when the only thing you've managed to establish is that your ignorant anonymous ass can't even spell what it can't substantiate, little factually-challenged/nameless-nitwit fella?

What's for her to deannounce, little fella?

That's what I thought.

Gee, you coalition of the clueless loons are really on a roll today. No sooner does NEK demonstrate that he can't distinguish up from down, ass from elbow and ACT-250 from ACT-60 let alone link his ongoing ignorance to Symington, then your ignorant anonymous ass is chompin' at the bit to jump into the fray and make it abundantly clear that you can't even spell what ya can't substantiate.

It would be easy for me to say that I couldn't make you nameless nitwits up, but that wouldn't be true. I could. Fortunately, your ignorant anonymous ass makes it so I don't have to and saves me 30 seconds or so in the process and it's important to me to let you loons know just how much I appreciate your efforts to make my time here even easier for me than it already is.

Thanks, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:36 PM, July 25, 2008

Do you ever rub the top of Lil' Mike Smith's head and say "You're doin' a heckuva job Smithy"

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:48 PM, July 25, 2008

Jim Douglas -- You say property taxes in Vermont are too high. Are your property taxes higher on your house in Middlebury or your house on Martha's Vineyard?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:12 PM, July 25, 2008

NEK said...

"Your right, I did not mean Act 250, ACT 60 is the one to blame for the rising educational costs, not Act 250, because it was taken away from local control and sent to Montpelier. I did not say Symington had anything to do with Act 60 or Act 250, I was using the analogy of not having cost containment once it gets to the Legislature.
I have issues with Act 250 also but that is for another day."

Well, nekkie boy, now that you've established the fact that your ignorant anonymous ass can't distinguish your from you're even when it's the first word in your latest load of dimwitted delusional dreck and you've, yet again, been forced that ya don't have have command of the facts or know what the hell you're talkin' about, you're off to a hell of a start, little fella.

That said, if nothing else, your ignorant anonymous ass has certainly been able to establish one thing here and you're to be commended for it.

You have issues.

Clearly, we've had our differences from time to time, what with me being a stickler for the facts and all and your insistence on runnin' as far and as fast as ya can in the other direction and avoidin' 'em like a plague of clues, but ya get no argument from me on that score.

You may be terminally short on facts and evidence, little fella, but you're long on issues.

Feel free to use me as a reference, should anyone question ya on that point, little fella.

I'll vouch for ya anytime on that score, It's the least I can do for the laughs you've given me during our time spent together over the past few months.

Don't go changin', nekkie boy.
You are the wind beneath my wings.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 1:14 PM, July 25, 2008

coopy, gotta tell ya pal, you make solid hits once in a while, but your posts are just too long lately.

I flick right past them.

flick, flick, flick.

I miss your "minimalist" days. Your powers of persuasion were so much stronger during that period.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:24 PM, July 25, 2008

And just what are Jim Douglas' qualifications to be Governor?

Here's what happens behind closed doors on the 5th floor:

Jim Douglas says to Jason and Dennise, "They are blaming me again! Make them stop!"

He then looks at Jason and Dennise and says, "C'mon - you have to help me! The media is asking me tough questions - I want to avoid them at all costs!"

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:28 PM, July 25, 2008

Hey! Don't forget about me. I'm the guv's chief ego stroker. They pay me big bucks to do that. What a gig!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:47 PM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous...

"coopy, gotta tell ya pal, you make solid hits once in a while, but your posts are just too long lately.

I flick right past them.

flick, flick, flick.

I miss your "minimalist" days. Your powers of persuasion were so much stronger during that period."

Well, little nameless-nitwit fella, given the fact that the Sun's actually managed to come out and stay out for an hour or two for the first time in a few days and my lawn is almost dry enough for me to mow it properly, you make a good point.

As for the long run, if I ever decide to take a stab at the factually-challenged/nameless-nitwit market, target the ignorant anonymous trash with bupkis reader and go easy on the facts to accommodate their short attention span and aversion to reality, I'll take your observations under advisement, but in light of the fact that I'm more of a nonfiction fella and I like a little fact with my fiction, I don't see me delvin' into the fascist fantasy market any time soon, but thanks, all the same, for thinkin' of me, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 2:41 PM, July 25, 2008

Jim Douglas -- On July 25, you said to the BFP editorial board, " It's like "Homer Simpson is running the place [Vermont Yankee]." That being the case, why do you favor extending the life of the plant by 20 more years?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:14 PM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous...

Anonymous said:

"Anon 7:32am, July 25,
While you are correct, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the results would have been any different if Bernie had been running against Douglas. In fact, Douglas, who would love a Washington gig, has refused to take on Bernie directly. I suspect that is because Douglas does know how to count."

And while I suspect you're right on that point, in all fairness to doogie, there's also the fact that he doesn't have seven million bucks at his disposal to spend on a campaign to take another shot at
making a first impression, reintroducing himself to Vermont and helping us get to know him better only to make us like him less than before we got to know him and turn a 2-1 defeat into a 2-1 defeat, but you know how good gops are with money.

Of course, if possession of a survival instinct, knowing better than to stick your head in the oven when the light's on and a rudimentary ability to count qualified one to be Governor of Vermont, my 5 year-old nephew is more than qualified for the job.

Granted, he'll be tied up with Kindergarten in the morning, but his afternoons will be free and having a driver, staff and an office in the Pavilion at taxpayer will enable my brother and sister-in-law to save a bundle on child care, carpooling and soccer mom expenditures.

Granted, he doesn't currently reside in Vermont, but if that's an issue, he could always pull a Jack McMullen, Richie Tarrant or Randy Brock, pull up stakes, establish residence here and run as a republican. Clearly, silly little stuff like residency, competence and qualification for a job is never an issue with that crew.

I'd hate to see the kid go over to the darkside so early in life, but with the economy tankin' and energy prices goin' through the roof, the value of the dollar dropping, the cost of living rising wages and benefits feeling to keep pace, inflation in the present, possible stagflation on the horizon, yet another bush recession and more bank failures than at any time since the last round of gop-scum, bush white house bank failures and the last bush deficit and recessions as a result of gop-scum policies, it's a tough job market, good, qualified help's been hard to find at the Pavilion for the past few years and he's qualified.

Face it, after six years of incompetent gop-scum policies, like the US, Vermont's desperately in need of a Transformational Governor and Matthew's got his own transformers and he knows how to use them.

Toss in the fact that if anyone, anywhere tries to take those transformers away from him, they're gonna have to pry them from his cold, dead, hands, and he'll bag the NRA Vote without firing a shot.

Matthew Coop for Governor. he's cute, he can count, he's qualified.

Face it Vermont, we've done worse. Take now, for example.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 5:39 PM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous said...

"Jim Douglas -- On July 25, you said to the BFP editorial board, " It's like "Homer Simpson is running the place [Vermont Yankee]." That being the case, why do you favor extending the life of the plant by 20 more years?"

Because Montgomery Burns assured him that if he ever went off message and said anything like that again he'd not only stop bankrolling his campaign, he'd release the hounds.

That's why he's been back to his usual "What's the big deal about collapsing cooling towers or Entergy's efforts to welch on their decommissioning fund responsibilities and stick Vermonters with the tab or ridiculous uprate requests despite VT Yankee establishing their charter membership in the aging nuke plant leak of the week club, pay no attention to those Entergy corporate criminals behind the curtain!"

"It's cheap electricity!" Think how much VT taxpayers can save if the Southeastern part of the State becomes uninhabitable and the State no longer has to pave, plow or maintain their roads and bridges!"

"After all, look what Chernobyl did to ease sprawl and overcrowding and reduce costs to taxpayers for government and education expenses in Northwestern Ukraine!"

"It's not like Chernobyl had any adverse effects on the Soviet Economy or the Soviet Union's viability as a Country in the long run."

"Everybody knows it was Yoko Gorbachev who broke that band up!"

"What's a little rise in the rate of cancer and birth defects in the region. If you're gonna cut services, slash the cost of government and increase your infant mortality rate, those bratskis are gonna have to die from somethin' and it may as well be thyroid cancer and if anyone tells ya anything to the contrary, blame it on Yoko Symington."

"I do it all the time and t's always worked for me."

"I'm tellin' ya, no matter what the problem or what the facts say, blame it on Yoko Symington" It doesn't matter if you're makin' excuses for Entergy or cuttin' essential services to increase Jason's bonus, blame it on Yoko.
Nameless-nitwit nation falls for it every time."

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 8:20 PM, July 25, 2008

Ask Pollina and Symington why they do NOT challenge each other - are they working together to oust Douglas?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:39 PM, July 25, 2008

Anonymous said...

"Ask Pollina and Symington why they do NOT challenge each other - are they working together to oust Douglas?"

Well, little nameless-nitwit fella, given the fact that doogie's the incumbent and Pollina and Symington are challengers running to unseat him, by definition, they're working to unseat him.

As for your ludicrous, lunatic-fringe allegations of a Symington Pollina conspiracy to unseat doogie, if that were the case, Pollina would be running with Symington as a candidate for Lite Gov in an effort to unseat dubie. Clearly, he's not.

So much for your clueless-cretin conspiracy theories, little fella.

If anything, Pollina's the only thing that can keep Doogie in the Pavilion come November, and keep him from from needin' to look for new office space come January.

Doogie should light a candle and pray for the health and safety of Anthony Pollina, because if anything happens to Pollina and Doogie's forced to run on his record and and go head to head with Symington, the jimi hendrix experience will have left the Pavilion come January.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:45 AM, July 26, 2008

Hey Terri, find a question in this dribble and run with it and move on! These guys are all nuts!!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:57 AM, July 26, 2008

I second that!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:00 AM, July 26, 2008

Ask candidates why the legislature does not mandate solar power on government buildings?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:44 PM, July 26, 2008

"...find a question in this dribble and run with it and move on! These guys are all nuts!!"

You probably spend a lot of time looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking how above it all you are and how wonderful you are.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:39 AM, July 27, 2008

JD in 08

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:27 PM, July 28, 2008

Only if JD = Jack Daniels.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:09 PM, July 29, 2008

Symington is banking on the Legislature voting her in. Pollina will help her.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:07 PM, July 30, 2008

Oh, yeah!