Editorial Comment

Tea-ed off

2010-04-15T14:23:08Z

No matter what you think of the Tea Party movement, or of a fringe element of it, they have focused like a laser on a major long-term and long ignored problem - the federal debt. If nothing else, both parties might even have to deal with deficit spending in a grown up manner for the first time since the mid-1990s, and that is a good thing.
-- Jim Therrien

Hillary snubbed again?

2010-04-13T14:46:10Z

It seems that, once again, the Obama administration is making a mistake in not choosing Hillary Clinton for a high-profile post, the first time being as vice president. The Democrats could use an emotional boost right now, and her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court would do just that, and the lift might carry into the November elections. But the president gives the impression of doing it his way or no way whenever a Clinton is involved. Oh well....

Middling of the road

2009-06-19T16:01:46Z

The president's health care plan seems to be wimping out and the financial reform plan is too easy on stock and other speculators. This is a bad sign. His window of opportunity could be closing.

Green up blues

2009-04-15T13:55:30Z

Indian Massacre Road in Pownal is a beautiful Vermont country gravel road. Just a short distance from Route 346 in North Pownal, it seems a world away when there is no noise from the highway. It also happens to be a favorite dumping spot for people too lazy or too cheap to take their garbage and trash and old appliances and tires to the Pownal transfer station. In other words, they toss their refuse over the banks along the road so that volunteers on Green Up Day will have something to pick up. How thoughtful. If only their were still a few Indians around to scare these dufuses off before they dump.
-- Jim Therrien, Editor

Scenes out of a movie

2009-04-13T16:22:52Z

The daring rescue of ship captain Richard Phillips brings some comparisons to some of the greatest big box-office Hollywood thriller.
According to the news reports, over the five days between when Phillips, an Underhill, Vt., resident was captured by Somali pirates, he was captured, tried to jump off the lifeboat where he was being held and swim to shore, got shot at by automatic weapons in the water, re-captured, then saved by Navy seals when naval snipers killed three of the four pirates that held him hostage.

Holy cow! It has all the makings of a Bruce Willis or Kevin Costner flick. But it's all real. And there's a lot of heroes involved, no one leading man.

Easter Sunday, in the Christian term, is the day when Jesus was resurrected... it seems a very fitting day for the return (safely) of a hero on the high seas.

-Adam Samrov

Congratulations, Vermont

2009-04-08T15:03:16Z

Like the title says, congratulations to the legislature in Vermont for legalizing gay marriage. After a veto by Governor Jim Douglas on Monday, the Senate overrode it 23-5 and the House did by the slimmest of margins, 100-49. One member of the House, one who voted no in the first vote -- Albert "Sonny" Audette, D-South Burlington, didn't attend the override vote.

While the gay marriage debate is a very hot-potato type topic, allowing it in Vermont, one of the most liberal states in the country, will be a boon for the Green Mountain State financially.

Gay and lesbian couples will flock to Vermont to get married, and companies that deal with weddings will boom -- florists, DJs, bakers, etc. Every corner of Vermont, from Bennington, Burlington, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro and back will see a big boost in revenues.

Massachusetts and Connecticut also allow gay marriage, so now half the states in New England have taken that progressive step. Vermont has always been at the forefront in the gay rights arena, as the first state to approve civil unions back in 2000. This is just the next step.

On the local angle, Arlington representative Cynthia Browning and Bennington rep Tim Corcoran, both Democrats, both voted no on the first vote and to uphold Douglas' veto.

Unfortunately, an issue like this can be bad for a political career if you're on the wrong end of it, as Browning explains:

"I'm probably now in the doghouse. I'm going to be in the outhouse, and probably soon in the wilderness," Browning said in a Banner article from today (Wednesday). "I'm very proud of my vote, and I'm very proud that I stood up for what I believe in."

It takes guts to vote the way you believe and not just with the rest of the party or because there's pressure from other party members. Hopefully Browning's consitutents will understand her vote and why she chose what she did, and not have her political career based on two votes on one issue in the legislature.

Freedom and unity is the Vermont motto... this decision proves it.

Dalai Lama cancels his appearance in Albany

2009-04-06T23:22:08Z

As the Banner’s religion reporter/editor, I had been interested in seeing the Dalai Lama in Albany, N.Y., since a story in the Albany Times Union said that he would be appearing at the Times Union Center on April 19. Our staff photographer, Peter Crabtree, was interesting in going also. I tried a number of times to find out from the Times Union Center about press credentials, without success. Just as well. When I came into work on Monday, April 6, there was a fax on my desk saying that the visit had been cancelled.
The fax bears a Times Union Center letterhead, and reads in part: “All tickets purchased for the event will be refunded at the original point purchased. If ordered over the phone, patrons must call 1-800-30-EVENT to receive their refund. If purchased online, credit cards will be automatically refunded, and if purchased at the arena box office or an outlet, patrons must return to the original point of purchase to receive their refund.”
The Albany Times Union reports that there were some issues with the organization hoping to sponsor the visit that apparently led to the cancellation.
— Mark Rondeau

Hardest part, so far, is waiting

2009-04-06T04:41:57Z

Will President Obama's bailout efforts right the economic ship? Hmmm, that still is debatable at this point. Can anyone right it is a better questions, although scarier. Everyone is constantly looking for signs of a revitalized economy, but where should we look, exactly? The stock market? Maybe. The unemployment rate? The price of new cars? The vacancy rate on Main Street? Or maybe all of the above. The sad part is we might be half way to the next recession before we are sure we're out of this one.

Binghamton-area shooting

2009-04-03T20:42:18Z

Not really local to Bennington, but still extremely tragic. CNN and many other news reports are saying that an Asian male, possibly Vietnamese, held more than 40 people hostage in a building called the American Civic Association, killing as many as 12, including himself.

From someone who used to live about a half-hour away from Binghamton, N.Y., and who would travel up and down Front Street, it's pretty surreal to watch.

The Binghamton mayor is supposed to have a news conference at 5 p.m. N.Y. Governor David Paterson, President Barack Obama and Vice President all released statement of condolesence.

Kennedyesque

2008-08-26T21:02:37Z

Senator Kennedy, who grew up in a wealthy family, didn’t need to commit his life to such causes. He could have dabbled in stocks and lived the life many rich Americans live today without a trace of self-consciousness or guilt. His family, of course, would never have allowed him to get away with that, and he has raised his children in the same manner — as have almost all in the large Kennedy clan.
The Kennedys have always represented the best of progressive politics — what is politically possible in the United States. And in doing so, they have represented the best of what the Democratic Party can sometimes offer.
— Jim Therrien

Live from Denver

2008-08-25T02:03:12Z

Over the next several days, the Banner will be one of a number of MediaNews dailies to have a man on the ground, so to speak, in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Neal Goswami, Banner legislative and Bennington town reporter, was one of those selected to work with Denver Post editors, reporters and photographers in running down every story inside and outside the convention site. Street protests were big on the agenda for Neal's first day on the job today. The Banner will have a daily account from Neal, either as an article or as a blog entry. Also look for entries in the new Reporter's Notebook blog on this Web site.
Jim Therrien

Spread the wealth

2008-08-20T01:19:35Z

Independent Vermont Senator Bernard Sanders and others have pointed out how little time the presumed presidential candidates have spent talking about the dire economy — especially its effect on the poor, the working class, and even the middle class.
At times, the apparent Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, seems no more attuned to the plight of working people and the poor in George Bush-era America than his opponent. If he is concerned, he has been too careful not to offend any of the moguls or corporate entities helping to press down those at the bottom of the economic pile.
Republican John McCain, whose party is closely tied to the interests of the wealthy and big business, has said even less. Senator McCain promises to retain, even expand the Bush tax relief for the well-to-do, which shows where he is coming from.
But Senator Obama also has promised tax cuts, although for the middle class, which is to say he would — with slightly different emphasis — continue the bankrupt Bush administration policies. Bankrupt in that, in order to right our economic ship, the federal budget must be more in balance and the $9 trillion federal debt must come way down.
In other words, there is no alternative to raising taxes and calling for sacrifice from all Americans if we are to dig out of the huge hole we find ourselves in. Yet, no one wants to say that, and each would be ripped apart by the other if they proposed what is so obviously necessary — and in our best interests as a nation.
Only tax cuts sound good to the voting public, of course, never sacrifice, even for the good of the country. Which is why candidates — other than Senator Sanders and very few others, who are never seriously challenged — say they want to do what is clearly called for.
But at some point, doesn’t someone have to step up? Preferably before we have another Depression-like crash.
The sad part is that assisting the poor and working people, providing health care and quality education and good-paying jobs — and a secure retirement — is a much better investment in the United States than the perpetuation of an obscenely wealthy, hoarding elite.

— Jim Therrien

Just the sound of it

2008-07-14T15:47:35Z

With the idea of a four-day week sweeping the U.S., with the state of Utah and Connecticut municipalities considering four days as a way to save on energy use, many people are probably thinking how good that sounds for other reasons. Like extra days off, like long weekends every single week. Having once briefly worked such a shift, I can say you can get used to three days off in a hurry.
From another angle, is the four-day week about to become the norm for both those reasons, as a five-day week was in demand --- and finally institutued --- early in the 20th century. Before that, six, 12-hour days was not unusual. How does that sound?
As American productivity rises ever higher, it makes sense from a business owner's perspective too. Maybe. It would make even more sense if there were a national health insurance that eliminated businesses from the burden of providing that. In fact, if the next president would push through both a four-day week and national health insurance in his first 100 days, he'd be the next FDR overnight.

Enough already

2008-04-24T03:56:19Z

The back and forth Democratic primary between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton is one of the closest in the 200-year history of the process. At this rate, one day after Hillary won the Pennsylvania primary by a 10 percent margin, neither candidate can reach the 2,025-delegate platform with pledged delegates, so they'll be forced to use the superdelegates to decide the nominee. This can't happen. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean needs to figure out a way to end this seemingly never-ending battle before the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. Otherwise, the former Vermont governor will have a split party and then this country will have yet another Republican president, more tax breaks for the richest Americans, 5 dollar gasoline, 5 dollars for a gallon of milk and etc. etc. etc. It's ridiculous. After having one of the worst presidents ever (and yes, it's partly my fault, I voted for him twice), this country needs to move in a different direction, and the Democrats, with this extended brouhaha called primary season, are inching ever so closer to screwing it up. Message to Dems: Get your act together, enough of this primary nonsense, get some party unity so you can beat John McCain in November.

The Democratic Divide

2008-04-13T15:20:47Z

Barack Obama's comments about bitter working class voters are creating a typically overblown issue for the talking heads to rage about, even eclipsing whether Bill Clinton should zip his lip to avoid damaging his wife's campaign.
But the comments do point out the split that has damaged the Democrats in presidential elections since 1968. Obama was speaking to a group of wealthy, liberal supporters in San Fran, not to a working class crowd, and he apparently said something off the cuff that he never would have said in Pittsburgh or Gary, Ind. The real problem for the party this year, and every election year, is how to unite the working class Dems and the so-called latte Dems that Hillary and Bill have always been able to attract while apparently putting off the liberal wing of the party --- Ted Kennedy, etc.
My advice: They have to team up and win or McCain could grab those working class Dems and the party will be looking at 1972 or 1980 all over again. One of them might win on their own, given the economy, but as Dirty Harry said, "Do you want to take a chance? Well, do you?"