Monthly Archives: January 2025

All in All, Not a Bad Speech

Leave a reply

At the end of my previous post, I looked ahead to Gov. Phil Scott’s inaugural address (which I mistakenly dubbed “State of the State,” sorry) with these words: “We’ll see how much actual ‘coming to the table’ he does, and how much kicking the Legislature he indulges in.”

And now we know. The governor was sworn in and delivered his speech on Thursday afternoon. There was some definite kicking, to be sure. There was also a broad outline of an agenda that emphasized his usual talking points. But the final section of the speech was pure uplift. After ticking off the challenges we face, Scott listed some positive accomplishments not directly tied to anything partisan.

The first one, in fact, was a barely concealed slap at his fellow Republican, Donald Trump. “We’ve received over 1,000 refugees in the last three years and will continue,” Scott said, prompting one of two standing ovations that brought the entire chamber to its feet. (“Entire” as best I could tell watching the livestream, that is.)

His point was that Vermonters can tackle challenges and get hard things done. I may not completely share that optimism, but it was a positive, collaborative message.

At least for today it was. Scott’s budget address two weeks from now will contain the details of his 2025 agenda, and you know where the devil is.

Continue reading →

This One Had All the Drama of a North Carolina – East Nowhere Tech Basketball Game

6 Replies

It was over before the shouting. Or the talking, for that matter. In retrospect, it was probably over from square one. At its organizing session Wednesday morning, the House re-elected Democratic Rep. Jill Krowinski as House Speaker by a lopsided 111-to-35 margin over independent Rep. Laura Sibilia.

The image above is not the cover for the little known Sergeant Pepper Bureaucrats Club Band album, but a press conference held by House Democrats before the House convened. In a calculated show of solidarity, dozens of Dems squeezed tight behind incoming House Majority Leader Rep. Lori Houghton, who described the caucus’ agenda for the 2025 session. Houghton began the presser by asserting, pointedly, “I am the new House Majority Leader.”

From that moment, there was no doubt that Krowinski would prevail. Unless you beleve that a now permanently hypothetical Speaker Sibilia would have retained Krowinski’s leadership team.

Frankly, all but the tiniest hint of doubt had been removed Tuesday morning when the Dems distributed an email announcing the press conference. I mean, if leadership is unveiling its priorities at a presser immediately preceding the vote for Speaker, then they must have known it was in the bag. How embarrassing would it have been for leadership to unveil its agenda only to be tossed out within a couple of hours?

Continue reading →

Please, Bernie, No

7 Replies

Oh boy. According to The Hill, Sen. Bernie Sanders may be open to supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health & Human Services Secretary. Not that The Hill is the most reliable of outlets, but this is just alarming. If Bernie is, indeed, mulling a “yes” vote, he should stop it. Immediately.

As the story tells it, Sanders and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman could vote “yes” on RFK’s nomination because of “shared critiques on heavy corporate influence over food and a desire to promote a less chemical-laden country.”

The story relies heavily on anonymous sources, and not many of ’em at that. There’s a single unnamed “source close to [Sanders’] office,” whatever the hell that means. And that source didn’t go much beyond asserting that Sanders “will use the opportunity [of hte confirmation hearing] to point out the shortcomings of the industrial food system, supply chains, etc.” That’s a far cry from actually voting “yes” on Kennedy.

There is one quote from a named source. Progressive activist Nina Turner went on the record, offering “my sense” that Sanders and Fetterman would support Kennedy.

Please, God, no. Don’t do it, Bernie.

Continue reading →

Democrats Be Democrattin’

8 Replies

VTDigger’s post-Mearhoff political “team” has done itself proud in the early days of the new year, publishing not one, but two, articles outlining a fresh outbreak of an old familiar malady of the left — Democrats in Disarray.

Yeah, I’ve seen this movie before, over and over again. The Dems react to an electoral defeat by watering down their agenda and shifting (if not stampeding) to the center. When, in fact, the lesson to be learned from election victories on both sides is that voters reward authenticity — and are unconvinced by carefully titrated policy positions that have been focus-grouped to death. And by “authenticity” I mean everything from Jimmy Carter’s humble populism to Donald Trump’s extravagant disregard for political norms. (Trump may be a phony and a huckster but he’s consistent about it. He is, as he has told us repeatedly, that snake.)

Digger’s Emma Cotton brings us word of a panicky retreat from the Dems’ climate agenda, while the (at least for the moment) sole occupant of the political beat, Shaun Robinson, reports that quite a few House Democrats are prepared to defenestrate Speaker Jill Krowinski in favor of independent Rep. Laura Sibilia. Enough are against Krowinski or undecided that next week’s election for Speaker may be a close affair.

Both are clear and obvious overreactions to the results of the November elections, which saw many a Democrat go down to defeat — but which left the Democrats with a majority in the Senate and nearly a two-thirds majority in the House. To say that they “lost” the election is to avoid the fact that they still rule the Statehouse roost, and would be fully justified in pursuing an ambitious agenda in the new biennium. Even so, many Dems seem to be running scared. Some of their more influential member are, dare I say, sounding a lot like Phil Scott Republicans. And no, that’s not a compliment.

Continue reading →