For opinion pieces on any topic.
WASHINGTON, March 25 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today on reports that President Barack Obama intends to seek another 90-day extension of the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records before asking Congress to make private phone companies store the records:
“As someone who voted against the Patriot Act and opposed its reauthorization, I have long been concerned about out-of-control intelligence agencies.
BURLINGTON, Vt., March 24 – At a time of growing income and wealth inequality in the United States, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday will host free screenings of the Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All.”
Sanders has held hundreds of town meetings across Vermont. This Sunday’s events will mark the first time he has held four town meetings simultaneously.
The documentary, featuring former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, will be shown in Middlebury, Brattleboro, St. Johnsbury and Bennington. Afterward, the audiences will come together via video conference for a discussion led by Sanders from Middlebury Union High School.
Representative Town Meeting members repeatedly tried to “send a message” to the Brattleboro Selectboard at their most recent meeting. Throughout, representatives also stated that they didn’t think the Selectboard was getting that message.
As an outside observer, the message was simple: Taxes are too high. If you are going to cut something, cut additional Police Fire bonds and not the Library or Recreation and Parks departments. The bonds can wait.
“What shall we call “hard” non-fiat currencies?
I propose the following: Gold based currency and Oil based currency.
The Gold Based currency should be called the Trojan because its value is reckoned on a troy ounce of .999 fine gold
I eavesdropped on ibrattleboro’s excellent coverage of your town mtg, & was pleased to see the discussion about the ill-conceived proposal from the legislature to kill our local school boards. I believe the Vt legislature originally met for much shorter sessions, and like so many institutions has grown bigger just because there was time available for it to do so. This proposal suggests they have too much time on their hands and are inventing fixes for things that ain’t broke.
Sure, we can always use improvements to our public education system, but abolishing our citizen school boards seems misguided, especially since they cost almost nothing to maintain (in Guilford, for example, just over $2,000 a year in a school budget of some $2 million!)
While watching town meeting today many downtown merchants spoke about their opposition to the proposed 1% local options tax because it will send people to NH (as if those of us on the border towns don’t shop there already). I was very disappointed to hear little to no discussion about how NOT approving this tax continues to hammer those of us who pay property taxes in Brattleboro.
Downtown merchants shifted their focus to out-of-state visitors long ago. We have very few stores that provide necessities anymore: a drug store, a hardware store, an Elliot Street convenience store, the Co-op. The bike stores, specialty/gift stores, and even Sam’s non-clothing sections target specific hobbies or are for discretionary items.
Joan Bowman is excited to announce that she will be running for a seat in the Vermont State Senate, representing Windham County, as a Democrat.
“I am pleased to announce my candidacy and look forward to a spirited campaign that focuses on the issues that matter to residents of Windham County. Over the last six months I have had the pleasure of serving as a navigator for the Vermont Health Connect program. In this capacity I assisted hundreds of Vermonters in their efforts to finally get the affordable health care they deserve. As a Vermont State Senator I will work toward sensible solutions that pilot our region and state towards economic prosperity and social equity.”
Here is the Finance Committee Report for this year.
Following are most of the recommendations:
The Town finances are being handled competently.
The economy is very fragile.
Prime importance should be on making effective use of the $10 million development money that Entergy agreed to contribute to the region. Without good jobs and increased incomes we’ll be forced to make significant changes in the way we live.
THE POLICE AND FIRE FACILITIES PROJECT
It is not a mystery that the Selectboard placed the sales tax but not the Police/Fire Facilities project on the March 4th ballot as a straw or nonbonding vote. Were they on together both would have likely been voted down. Thus the Selectboard gave us only one choice. In the same way the P/F project itself was presented at Town Meeting as only one choice. Town Meeting Members were forced to accept it all even if only one piece, or none of it at all seemed necessary. It was as if the administration believed that citizen input had no place in the development of the project. Since the vote was taken any further questions have been dismissed with ‘it’s been voted on.’ Conversation over.
I’m turning 50 this year, which means I have 15-20 years to retirement age — if all goes well.
Let’s look at the news and see if things are going well. Lost airplane, Crimea, oh wait, what’s this? That might impact my retirement. You have my attention.
The article says collapses are a normal part of the cycle of civilization. Rome, for example. OK, we knew that. Nothing new there.
Isn’t it odd that the breasts, the amazingly life-sustaining part of the human body, are referred to as “boobs”, the definitions of which are 1. “a foolish or stupid person”, and 2. “an embarrassing mistake.”
To the Brattleboro Business Community,
The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) would like
to thank the businesses that participated in the Responsible Beverage Service Trainings held in March co-sponsored by the Department of Liquor Control.
BAPC recognizes the important role that local retailers and restaurants play in preventing underage drinking. Thank you to the following businesses for participating in the training:
Several years ago I advocated that courses in the humanities be offered and taught to those within Vermont who might have otherwise gone without the opportunities and benefits of these. For example: people living in poverty; people living homeless; persons incarcerated in jails, prisons or other institutions; people living in the throes of drug or alcohol addiction.
What I had been urging be established was for programs along the lines of the Clemente Course in the Humanities model (clementecourse.org).
I commend Chairman Feinstein for speaking so forcefully in defense of the indispensable role that Congress plays under our Constitution in overseeing the executive branch, and in particular the intelligence community. Chairman Feinstein described a troubling pattern of interference and intimidation by the CIA that raises serious questions about possible violations of the Constitution and our criminal laws. This only compounds the grave concerns I have had for years about the underlying conduct that the Senate Intelligence Committee has been investigating: the torture of detainees during the previous administration. I fully support Chairman Feinstein’s efforts to seek declassification of her committee’s report on the CIA detention and interrogation program.
WASHINGTON, March 11 – A Senate panel chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) heard today that other major countries offer better health care at less cost than the United States.
“What this hearing is really about is two fundamental issues. First, the U.S., the wealthiest country on the planet, is the only major industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee health care as a right to its citizens. Should we consider joining the rest of the world? I’d argue we should,” Sanders said. “Second, the U.S. spends twice as much as other countries that have much better health outcomes. What can we learn from these countries?” asked Sanders, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging.
WASHINGTON, March 10 – As part of an all-night Senate discussion on climate change, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement from remarks prepared for delivery later tonight:
“The scientific community has been extremely clear. Climate change is real. Climate change is man-made. And climate change is already causing severe damage in terms of draught, floods, forest fires, rising sea levels and extreme weather disturbances.
“Given that reality, I find it extremely disturbing that virtually all of my Republican colleagues continue to ignore the scientific evidence and refuse to support legislation which will address this planetary crisis.
BURLINGTON, Vt., March 9 – In a dramatic gesture to urge action on climate change, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other members of the Senate Climate Action Task Force will pull an all-nighter speaking on the Senate floor from Monday night through Tuesday morning.
“When I go home to Vermont, people ask me what world the United States Congress is living in,” said Sanders. “They understand that the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and it is causing devastating damage all over the world. They want us to act and take bold measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
For years I have been warning marijuana advocates not to take the easy way out by using medical marijuana as a wedge to “soften up” public sentiment. Regrettably, many marijuana patients had this “we need our medicine now” mentality. Too many medical marijuana people were self-interested only in their needs. Some even stated to me it was more important to legalize marijuana for medical needs than it was to legalize it for all adults. The fact that millions of Americans were and are trapped in the criminal justice gulag did not matter to them, just as long as they got their meds.
As I feared, medical marijuana only muddles marijuana legalization. In the long run, the advent of pundits pushing the medical angle did so at the expense of the larger marijuana consumer population.
Before releasing your pets via a “Free to good home” ad, please do some research on this problem and arrange a follow up plan so you can see that your beloved pets DO recieve the care and love they deserve. You can begin by typing “Free to good home” in Google and see the extent of risk of doing this. Pet-abuse.com has some great articles on this.
