IF YOU ARE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, VOTE FOR DEMS

Here are a few reasons to vote for your Democratic candidate. It helps if you are rich:

1) House Dems vote to raise the gas tax. Who gets better mileage, the rich or poor? Probably the rich, in their Prius, not their '88 Bonneville. Great, tax the poor.

2) Dems raise the cigarette tax. Who smokes more, the rich or the poor? Probably the poor. Great, tax the poor.

3) Dems raise the beer tax. Who drinks more beer, the rich or the poor? Probably the poor. Great, tax the poor.

4) Dems raise the motor vehicle fees, regressively. Who has the fancier cars? Probably the rich. Raise fees equally whether you have a Silver Cloud or that same old Bonneville. Great, tax the poor.

5) Dems' fellow travelers, in VT-NEA, get fourteen percent more teachers while student enrollment drops nine percent. Property taxes go up. Who owns more real estate? The rich can use the current use program to abate much of their taxes. The poor don't own much land. The poor's taxes go up. Great.

6) Property tax goes up. Who often takes their spending money from a trust by borrowing it? The rich who do therefore have no income and received a nice five figure rebate on their estate. The Governor tried to cap rebates but the Dems blocked that. The poor's share of taxes goes up. Great.

WORDS AND DEEDS ARE NOT ONE

Without further ado, you all must know that this snippet is about Bernie Sanders. We followed up on the Sanders' campaign charge that Rich Tarrant had violated the Communications Act of 1934 by failing to include his visage at the end of his ad. This violation, according to Sanders' counsel Marc Elias and Ezra Reese of Washington, DC, should require the Tarrant campaign to pay full retail for television advertisements, no longer allowed to receive the political candidate discount.

In checking with WCAX, we were told that "it just went away. The Sanders' folks never followed up." This is a good metaphor to explain why Sanders is ranked almost at the bottom for effectiveness as a Congressman: "Sound and fury, signifying nothing." But it seems that folks in Vermont like sound and fury over substance. Bernie is polling almost sixty percent in his race against Tarrant's forty.

In the taciturn and laconic days of the traditional Vermont, a Vermont which in part attracted Bernie Sanders to the world of Vermont, the wise old saw went, "Handsome is as handsome does." The emphasis was on substance over form. In the days gone by, the tables might have been turned, Tarrant's beating Bernie sixty/forty.

MUCH THAT IS SAID IS LEFT UNDONE

Back in April the Tarrant campaign made an issue of Bernie's wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, President of Burlington College, moonlighting as Bernie's media buyer, raking in a fifteen percent commission for herself for placing Bernie's media buys. In a campaign which will spend well over a million dollars on advertising, fifteen percent comes in handy.

She has done this for years to no complaint. It did, however, earn Bernie a ranking just below Tom Delay for nepotism. In the 2004 campaign, besides buying media for Bernie when he really had no dangerous or significant opposition, Jane bought media for Cheryl Rivers, Peter Clavelle and Elizabeth Ready. Insiders say that with their signing up Jane as their media buyer, the Sanders' mystique, campaign gurus, and endorsement would flow their way. Quite the entrepreneur.

After the Tarrant complaint in the spring, it was announced that Jane would step down as buyer. A search of the records of Chittenden County based WCAX, Fox, Channel 22, and cable confirmed that by May 1, Abar Hutton Media of Alexandria, VA had become the buyer for the Sanders for Senate committee, not Jane Sanders, who had been the buyer during April.

THE VOICE SAID, GO TO PLATTSBURG

But a search of the records at WPTZ in Plattsburg, NY suggests that Jane Sanders continues to this day to be the buyer for the Sanders' television ads on that station.

Conversations with WPTZ three personnel in Plattsburg confirm that it is their understanding that Jane is still buying the media for the Sanders campaign. It is her name and address on WPTZ's records of Sanders' campaign commercial schedules throughout the campaign, up to and including this week.

Maybe there is an error here. Maybe WPTZ erred. Maybe Jane is still the buyer. Maybe Abar Hutton is paying Jane the buyer's commission or part of it; maybe not. Abar Hutton is not required to disclose its business records as is the Sanders' campaign. Perhaps we will never know.

WORDS AND DEEDS ARE NOT ONE, PART INFINITY

It is always the most discouraging part of Bernie Sanders: he says one thing and does another. You listen to his rhetoric and you almost believe. In springtime, he speaks at one school after another urging young Vermonters to take up the principles of democracy, of our founders, and follow them. He urges them to participate, care, become active, and be lifetime democrats.

And then he does the opposite. His signing up as a Democrat to alter the natural democratic process, to manipulate an election to maximize his advantage while disenfranchising thousands of card carrying Democrats, was sickening. He won the primary, and then refused the nomination, leaving no candidate for regular democrats to choose. And he was given a free pass by those sitting in judgment in the media.

BLOW ME AWAY WITH A FEATHER

There we were, reading the morning Flea Press, Russian Herald, and the Valley Snooze, when we dropped the paper and spilled the coffee: the Free Press had endorsed Rich Tarrant, give him a chance they said. And this, after endorsing Peter Welch and Matt Dunne. The Dunne endorsement was a shocker too, but not like the Tarrant one. How could the same paper endorse Welch, Dunne, and Tarrant?

Insiders tell us that it was James Carey, long term publisher of the Burlington Free Press and long term member of its editorial board, who insisted. The conversation went something like this. "I have put up with endorsements with which I did not really agree, and many editorials that we have published that were not exactly to my liking. So give me this one. I don't care if it is an exercise in creative writing 101, come up with something that makes sense."

DAZZLE ME WITH YOUR FOOTSTEPS

It appears that Free Press editorial board was dazzled by Matt Dunne's footwork. Give Dunne his do. It was very difficult to lift his race to visibility. What with the dominant races for senate, the house, governor, and the national spin on the race for control of the house and senate, how do you motivate someone to cover you. Of course he had a left-leaning group of reporters, but nonetheless, he has elevated the lieutenant governor's race from unknown to interesting.

Dunne has world class political skills. He is not lacking in ambition. Unlike our wonderful Howard Dean, Dunne could actually make it to the White House. That said, fellow Democrat Senator Dick Mazza, D-Chittenden-Grand Isle, took him down a peg by putting in a good word for Brian Dubie. He said according to the AP, "If anything, he [Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie] worked as hard as any lieutenant governor I've worked with. I want to get the record straight." We guess Dunne has not been sweet to everyone on his quick sprint up the stairs.

Dubie on the other hand tried to mail it in, to keep the race well below the radar screen. He appeared ambivalent about the job. He campaigned to become the UN aviation guru in Montreal. When that fell through, he said that he was running for the United States Senate and forsaking the locals in each case. But money talks, in this case Rich Tarrant's millions, so Dubie opted for the status quo.

The status quo was not on Dunne's radar. First announcing for Congress, he stepped aside for Peter Welch. Then he beat John Tracy for the Democrat nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

Dunne's consciousness-raising issue is not really an issue at all: do we want/need a part time or full time Lieutenant governor? Clearly history and Vermont culture is on the side of a part time Lieutenant governor. The Lieutenant Governor's pay is less than half of that of the Governor, suggesting that he/she is expected to work half as much.

But make the issue Dunne did, attacking at every minute. Five out of the last six days, he has had coverage for his charges. When a Republican attacks, it is mean-spirited negative campaigning. When a Democrat attacks, it is interesting comparison campaigning. They give Dunne a lifetime get-out-of-jail pass; well at least until the Manchester Union Leader gets its chance to pin his ears back a bit.

MEASURING THE DRAPES

The Democrats have been measuring the drapes in the coveted offices of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill. Now as their lead in national polls jumps from single digits to close to twenty, they are ordering the material. None of this bodes well for Martha Rainville.

But wait a minute. The Welch message was that we need a Vermont democrat in the House to stop Bush. However, it is clear that the democrats will overwhelmingly win back the House. Now, our little old Vermont seat is not needed. Let's vote for Martha.

We thought that the Doug Wilder effect might reside in Vermont this election affecting polling results. An African American, Doug Wilder ran for governor of Virginia in 1989. Every poll just before Election Day showed Wilder with a 10- to 12-point lead. Yet he barely won, winning by less that one half of one percent, prompting a recount. Further research suggested that many a Virginian had told pollsters, "Of course I am voting for the nice black man," when in fact it was never their intention.

ORDERING THE DRAPES

In the Vermont and national press, George Bush and the national Republicans were so demonized that some Vermonters who were polled may have said that of course they supported the Democrats when in fact they did not. There may be some of that, but not twelve points worth.

Rainville also took the clean campaign pledge. And she has stuck to it. As the Welch message becomes nastier and nastier, assigning issues and values to Rainville, issues which are less hers and more those of national Republicans, and then attacking her through them, she has kept to her pledge. She is talking about herself, what she has done, and what she will do.

Perhaps this effort was doomed from the beginning. Welch in a sense is the incumbent. Both a current and past politician, a former statewide candidate, he is a semi-incumbent. He has a record. She does not. She could have taken his record and jammed him hard with it: he will raise your taxes as he did here; he will favor the unions over you; he will support trial lawyers as he is one; he will accede to the demands of the special interests as he has done here; he will talk moderate and legislate liberal as he has here.

COMMITMENT

But give her credit. She kept to her pledge. Though she received kudos from the media, she did not receive editorial endorsements. The Vermont editorialists are sweet talkers. We hate negative campaigns. We hate negative campaigns. We hate negative campaigns. One might assume therefore that if you have a positive campaign that they would support you. You believed us, they might ask incredulously? We only said that it would be nice to have a positive campaign and it was; it helped elect one of our own. You are so sweet, run again another time, maybe for state rep where you cannot hurt our agenda and we will support you. But not for something so important as Congress in this moment of crucial need for Democrats. What a bunch of hooey.

Remember that when the Republicans do not work with the Democrats, they are partisan; when the Democrats do not work with the Republicans, they are courageous. What else do you need to know?

YOU ARE NO RONALD REAGAN

Democrat candidate for governor, Scudder Parker, has taken a page out of Reagan's winning campaign against President Jimmy Carter in 1980: Before you vote, I encourage you to ask yourself, "Am I better off now than I was four years ago?"

Fair question -- no. Tricky Scudder -- yes. Why? Well gee, Jim Douglas had the most liberal legislature in the country to work with, one that raised taxes on gasoline, beer, cigarettes, business, sales, and more, and raised fees on everything.

They denied Douglas meaningful permit reform, insurance reform, health care reform, property tax reform, and workman's compensation reform among others. The property tax is through the roof. In Vermont schools, student head count is down nine percent, teacher head count is up fourteen percent. The Democrats cheer, their side is winning.

Speaking of workman's compensation reform, a minuscule package was passed which attempted to slow the twenty-percent annual advance in premiums. A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle probed whether their workman's compensation reform cutting premiums sixty-three percent might not have gone too far.

California, what a difference. We fool ourselves into thinking that we have done something meaningful when we have toyed with an issue.

So Scudder, could you be a bit less ambitious and a bit more genuine? It might wear better. But then with a salesman bag totally bereft of ideas, a little footwork might help. It has Matt Dunne.

DISINVESTING

Reports are reaching DPR that many wealthy people are disinvesting as they depart. They built their dream house in Vermont for let's say $10,000,000 and find that when it is time to sell, they can only fetch $5,000,000. That should help pluck the golden goose.

REDS

How many years went by before the young Soviet revolution required their borders to be shut in order to keep within the critical mass of citizens necessary to keep the country running? Four years; 1922. By 1928, even the in-crowd could no longer obtain permission to travel.

When the Vermont Democrats finally obtain the socialized health care they say we need so badly, how many years will pass before they have to shut the borders to keep a critical mass of doctors? It is only a small step from socialism to totalitarianism. Maybe there are enough doctors to service Vermont who are socialists and we will be saved. We have about two tenths of one percent of the population of the United States. There may be that many socialist doctors. But maybe we should not bet on it.

Like Act 60, the Democratic creation in which free money led, of course, to unlimited demand, so will free health care lead to an influx of people looking for free health care. Guess the borders will be closed to folks coming and going. That should help the tourist business.

THE POLITICIAN

Ed Flanagan is once again running for office. This is not news as Ed has run for office every two years since 1988 with one exception. He is running in part as an advocate for universal health care using his experience as an example.

Ed appears to have fallen asleep last fall driving home from Montpelier on I-89 just opposite the Richmond Elementary School, squeezing between the trees and the guard rail, plunging down a steep embankment out of sight, rolling over and falling unconscious. About eighteen hours later, a boy searching for deer in the passenger seat of a truck spotted Ed's car at the bottom of the embankment upside down. And soon help was on its way.

Ed cites his "long and ongoing recovery" as validation of his advocacy of universal health care. But he should be using his experience as validation our unique health care system which, market driven, has developed more useful therapies, drugs, and treatments for difficult conditions such as Ed's than any other country.

IN MEMORIAM

Greg Parke, we can only hope, is gone from the Vermont political scene for awhile. As we reported in June, he raised well over a million dollars while not campaigning, misrepresenting his race, and being an embarrassment. Reportedly, his campaign manager, Steve Castleton resigned because of Parke's refusal to mount a serious grassroots effort in support of his candidacy. It was strange that his campaign manager was a fund-raiser who lived on Long Island.

His Washington DC public relations person, Phil Kiver, also left the campaign. An incident, according to information received by DPR on August 1st, was in part the reason. "As a mom, a woman, and a citizen of Vermont, I'd like to believe in the integrity of candidates and their staff. This morning my daughter tells me that she was accosted last night, while working at Centennial Field, by Phil Kiver. He pushed her up against a wall, leaned in and said 'I really like redheads'. This occurred in a crowd of fans. Mr. Kiver was escorted from Centennial Field by employees of the Lake Monsters."

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

This from the New Yorker. "A young doctor made a sympathetic remark about Howard Dean; she said that he had been unfairly treated in the media. Christopher Hitchens, formerly with the nation and now with Vanity Fair, replied, 'Dean is a raving nut bag, a raving, sinister, demagogic nut bag.' He noted that Dean had given a speech in 2003 at an abortion-rights gathering in which he recalled being visited, as a doctor, by a twelve year old who was pregnant by her father.

"'You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea,' Dean said to applause."

DPR chided Dean often on this misdirection. The parental notification law passed by the Vermont House included a judicial bypass provision whereby if a girl was uncomfortable with her parents' knowing that she was pregnant, she could ask a judge to set aside the requirement. In the case Dean cited, then the father would have been found out and the girl could have been protected, unlike the girl in Dean's story.

LIAR, LIAR

But it gets worse; back to the New Yorker. "Dean appeared not to have referred the alleged rape to the police: he also, when pressed, admitted that he story was not, in all details, true. For Hitchens, this established that Dean was a 'pathological liar.'

"All politicians lie!' the woman said.

"'He's a doctor,' Hitchens said...

"'You think a doctor can lie in front of an audience of women on a major question, and claim to have suppressed evidence on rape and incest and then to have said that he made it up?"

IN THE LOOKING GLASS

Mark Foley is a creep; he emailed licentious notes to pages. Congressman Gary Studs had more success; he had an affair with a young male page. Foley resigned. Studs told the press it was none of their business, consenting folks having a little roll in the hay and all that. He was reelected four times. Even Steven, right?

Some wise old salt said that in Washington you do not have friends; you have interests. It was in Foley's interest to write creepy text messages; folks receiving them and replying said that it was in their interest to play along as they might need a good word from Foley to get ahead in Washington. A pox on all their houses.

SORRY

We erred. Last week we repeatedly used the phrase, "Told DPR," when recounting thoughts from legislative candidates in and about Randolph. This was wrong. Your editor at the time was a stringer for the Herald of Randolph working on a story for that paper on local legislative races. We should have used something like, "According to a story in the Herald, so and so said."

We apologize to M. Dickey Drysdale, owner of the Herald, his staff and readers. We are very sorry for the mischaracterization.

IT AIN'T THE ECONOMY STUPID

With the Republican leadership, the stock market in which more than half of America has a direct interest via investments or pensions is at an all time high. The price of gasoline and heating fuel is down. Wages and benefits during the last three months rose at the fastest pace in more than two years according to AP. Unemployment is down. All is pretty darn good.

The Democrats have done nothing and offer nothing. Their strategy, un-American, has been to stop any productive legislation from moving forward. Their message is that they are not them. The media has pounded the drum.

FAIR AND BALANCED

This from Rich Galen of the Mullings Report: "There was breathless coverage last week about Senator George Allen (R-VA) not having reported certain stock options which he had been granted when he was out of public office. The Washington Post ran six different stories in a two-day period on various aspects of Option-Gate.

"Turned out it was a technical violation. Options allow you to buy a stock at a set price. In the Allen case the company's stock is, in effect, selling for $3 per share. Executing an option and paying $10 for a stock anyone else can buy for $3 is not a fast path to personal wealth creation.

"At about the same time, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) did a land deal flip with a friend which earned him about $1.1 million. He neglected to list portions of the transaction on his financial disclosure forms back in 2001. The Post apparently felt that a single story about the financial dealings of the man who might be the Majority Leader of the US Senate was more than sufficient."

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RichGalen/2006/10/16/fair_andwhat

MEDIA TWIST GOOD ECONOMY INTO BAD NEWS

"On October 6, the Labor Department announced that a previously overlooked 810,000 new jobs had been created since March 2005, a huge positive revision. None of the network evening newscasts said a word about it. A week later (October 11), final numbers showed the much-bemoaned federal budget deficit had been cut nearly in half since 2004, thanks to surging tax revenues credited to strong economic growth. That night, ABC and CBS skipped it, while NBC Nightly News gave the story just 22 seconds."

http://www.mrc.org/realitycheck/2006/fax20061026.asp

"MEDIA: TREATS FOR LIBERALS, TRICKS FOR GOP"

"A new study released today [10/31/06] by the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) confirms the bias: more than three fourths (77%) of ABC, CBS and NBC evening news references to Democrats this fall have been favorable, while 88% of the coverage given GOP candidates has been negative, an unprecedented disparity." -- Media Research Center http://www.mrc.org

Read the study summary here: http://www.cmpa.com/documents/06.10.31.Study.pdf

KERRY'S KOMRADS

"Candidates are not the only major factors in this year's elections. The media have taken a big role -- and a biased role. The latest in a long list of examples is the way they have immediately circled the wagons around John Kerry to protect him and the Democrats from the reaction to an ill-advised remark that the Senator made at a college in California....

How is this story played in the media? The front-page headline on the San Francisco Chronicle read: "Bush, GOP seize on Kerry's Gibe to Turn Focus from War in Iraq." The Chronicle has learned well the New York Times' technique of imputing motives instead of reporting facts. --Thomas Sowell

LOST IN THE WILDERNESS?

»» Steve McLeod, Vermont Traditions Coalition: Ernie Bancroft set up a meeting for he and I with Times-Argus and Rutland Herald Publisher, John Mitchell, and both Editorial Boards yesterday.

They acknowledged in the meeting that letters for and against additional wilderness were about evenly split, and that they may have failed to print numerous letters that some of you or folks from your network have submitted to them. They also acknowledged that they had botched the coverage of the fight over the Wilderness Bill. And that they had printed way more pro-wilderness letters than wilderness opposition letters. They said they would correct the imbalance right away.

VERMONT TAX BURDEN

»» George Woodward, West Swanton: I'm a long-time reader of your report and appreciate all of your efforts.

I recently heard that Vermont had moved, as of 2005, to the number one slot for per capita State taxes in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Being concerned about this, I went to the Census Bureau’s website in order to see for myself. Sure enough, Vermont is in the number one slot with the total State tax per capita of $3600. The State tax per capita in the United States is $2190. While I was at the website I decided to look a little deeper. I looked to see where our neighbors in New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire stand in this 2005 ranking. New York is number eleven with a total State tax per capita of $2607, Massachusetts is number seven at $2815 and New Hampshire is number forty-eight at $1544.

I decided to see how Vermont fared with our neighbors and the Nation as far as State tax increases from 1996 to 2005. What I found was nothing short of shocking. From 1996 to 2005 the Nation’s State tax per capita rose from $1580 in 1996 to $2190 in 2005, a 38.5% increase. New York rose from $1882 to $2607, a 38.5% increase. Massachusetts rose from $2047 to $2815, a 37.5% increase. New Hampshire rose from $721 to $1544 or a 114% increase and I thought this increase was ridiculous until I looked at Vermont’s numbers. In 1996 Vermont ranked 33rd and the per capita State tax was $1435. By 2005 it had risen to $3600 which is a 150% (that’s one hundred and fifty percent) increase! That’s right, our State tax burden has increased 150% (again, that’s one hundred and fifty percent) in a mere nine years while Nationally they've increased 38.5%.

Clearly the Democrats wouldn't want us to know about this and I haven't heard of these statistics being mentioned anywhere. I've told quite a few people about it and my mention was the first they'd heard. I was considering sending these statistics as letters to the editors of the major newspapers in Vermont but I doubt that they'd actually print them. I know you're very busy, but would you be able to tell me the best way to get these statistics to the public and Vermont's Republican representatives? It seems to me that if the average person knew that they were being fleeced like this, they'd be less likely to vote for a Democrat.

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LYMES

»» Morgan Nields: Have you been sleeping with tics? I am in Asia and probably am getting something worse.....!

»» John Bauer: I can sympathize with the Lyme disease - I have just returned from taking my 9 year old to CT to see her pediatric specialist - Dr. Charles Ray Jones. My wife had one hell of a time with it, my 15 year old is still on meds and & think I have to go back on them. We all see Dr. Richard Horowitz in Hyde Park NY. Can't find many in these parts who can even spell it correctly, much less treat it aggressively. Yikes! It will be a fine day when Lyme is given the attention it deserves.

THEY LIKE US

»» Mike Gardner, Bennington: Your insight has been missed heading towards this election season. Will we hear from you again?

»» David Hoopes, Stratton: Fabulous stuff. Love your piece and agree with it wholeheartedly. "My check is in the mail."

»» Doug Richmond, Underhill: We did miss you. Welcome back with words of well researched wisdom, and welcome back home to hopefully a full heath recovery. You spoke well at Randolph for Freedomworks and Ethan Allen. A small supplemental check is on the way. Liberty Anyone?

»» Paul McGoldrick, Littleton, NH: Welcome back, from where ever the hell you have been.

EURO CHAT

Oscar van den Boogaard, a Dutch gay "humanist", was reflecting on the accelerating Islamification of the Continent and concluding that the jig was up for the Europe he loved. "I am not a warrior, but who is?" he shrugged. "I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/steyn/114966,CST-EDT-steyn29.article

VERMONT SHOULD BID ON THIS CONFERENCE

"You'd think that of all places that should have speedy and reliable Internet access, a United Nations summit on the Internet would be high on the list.

"Not quite. The organizers of the summit, held at a luxury resort hotel on the Athenian Riveria not far from the city center, couldn't even provide a working Internet connection." --Tim Blair

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/un_connected/

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