Five Before Chaos

UPDATE: Veto overridden, no numbers yet. Up your ass, Douglas.

You regulars here who also frequent Green Mountain Daily probably notice I’m not so present over there as of late. Between school and some personal stuff I’m dealing with, I don’t have as much time or motivation as I used to (that’s not to say I’m done – far from it).

Anyways, you Vermonters probably know about the veto override vote on the budget coming up tomorrow. It’s very important that it happens, not just because it’d be another political blow to Douglas, but because what Douglas wants is not good for the state in the least, especially for property owners. Odum at GMD has drawn a line in the sand, and I hope Republicans take notice. Have a read, it’s great: An Open Letter to House Republicans on the Eve of the Budget Veto Override Vote.

Among other things, Governor Douglas held the door open for me at the convenience store, today. But I didn’t throw a pie at him.

It’s really simple.

Integral Psychosis has the goods on the latest outrage.

I can’t believe any of my fellow bloggers didn’t come up with the above obvious headline. Cue the eye-rolling and the sound of the smacking forehead.

I unfortunately didn’t see this happen, as I was busy prostituting my musical services at the time for something I’d rather forget, but someone finally gave Governor Douglas a pie in the face at the Montpelier Independence Day parade.  It was Santa Claus, giving us all a nice early Christmas present. It was a whipped-cream pie. Only thing that sucks is it shoulda been a maple cream cowshit pie.

Those of you in Vermont who follow politics closely know about Instant Runoff Voting, a voting method that is much fairer, more closely reflects the will of the voters, and most importantly, due to its design it prevents third parties from becoming spoilers in the races, an all too common occurrence, especially in Vermont. To get yourself up to speed on it, check out this handy FAQ.

Anyways, VT activist Rama Schneider and others have been working their asses off trying to make IRV a reality in Vermont. And now, they’re closer than ever, because the IRV bill has now passed both chambers, and is on the way to Governor Jim Douglas, who is expected to veto it. With more people tending to vote for left-leaning parties in VT, having IRV wouldn’t work out as well for Republicans, so they are able to win statewide elections while getting a minority of voters. But that’s not the issue here – it’s about fairness and democracy.

I’m asking you Vermonters to all to take a moment on Monday and do something important. Call Governor Douglas on Monday and ask him to sign the Instant Runoff Voting bill. The phone number is 802-828-3333, or the toll-free in VT number is 800-649-6825. It will only take a minute of your time and if enough of us do it, it will have and impact. For the latest on the status of IRV in Vermont, please be sure to go to the Vermont IRV blog. A big tip o’ the hat to Rama Schneider for all the work and energy he’s put in to getting this moving.

It’s really no secret in VT that Gov. Jim Douglas keeps winning because of two reasons: (1) his robot-like 1950′s persona seems to fool many that he’s an okay moderate kind of guy, and (2) the Dems can’t seem to put a decent candidate up to run against him. The Clavelle campaign was a walking joke, and Scudder Parker didn’t seem to get the necessary traction, and at least to me and others I talk to, came across as a rather unassertive wuss.

Anyways, at this point there’s not much that I can personally do about getting a decent candidate in the race, but I do want to let you know about a groovy little contest over at GMD.

Time to get out the cameras and/or microphones and start following Republicans to public meetings and events. Ask the tough questions, get them on record and put it out on the intertubes as a permanent record. Ask them how they voted on the global warming bill, death with dignity, campaign finance. Ask how they feel about gay marriage, IRV, the RNC hiding from a subpoena behind “executive privilege.” Ask them in front of GOP crowds. Get a hold of a video editor and add your own music and effects, or just post it raw. Nobody’s gonna do this for us, folks, so lets start to kick it up a notch.

To that end, GMD will have a contest: make your own internet ad that tells voters why its time to stop voting for Jim Douglas.

You can probably remember the VA Senate race last year where racist GOP sleazebag and then-senator George Allen had his “macaca’ moment, putting his casual, callous racism out there for all the world to see, and it most definitely had a hand in his undoing. Now, I’m not expecting something that dramatic from the VT GOP, but nevertheless, you can count on them to say some pretty stupid and/or revealing things that might not sit so well with the electorate. Got a camera? Give it a try.

My VT readers are probably well aware of the energy bill, H.250, and that it was vetoed by Governor Douglas a few days ago. The legislature is reconvening this summer in an attempt to override the veto. One of the more controversial aspects of the bill (and the one that prompted the veto) is a tax adjustment on Vermont Yankee, our nuclear power plant, that will essentially tax the plant at the same rate as a wind farm. There’s a great summary of the bill and details of the override attempt from VPIRG that you should have a look at, and you can also write a letter to your representative from there. The bill will:

1. Invests in renewable energy by requiring Vermont utilities to supply 25% of our power from clean local sources by 2012;
2. Makes it easier for businesses and individuals to invest in small renewable energy projects;
3. Improves efficiency by tightening building codes and expanding the mandate and funding of Efficiency Vermont so they can help us use less heating oil as well as electricity.
4. All this is paid for by making Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms.

Also, at Green Mountain Daily, diarist Ed has given us a great analysis of the bill, as well as a guide to debunking the myths and half-truths about the bill that its opponents are saying. It’s a fact sheet, of sorts, so you can hopefully let others know about it as well.

Public pressure is mounting on this, and there’s a good chance that if it increases, the override would be a success, so be sure to contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the override and help VT take the lead in energy policy.