anyone from vt here? visited some friends in vt this past w/e and they are not happy with dean. i have a few questions even though i just made my very first dean contribution. thanks.
hi ariella,
it's my understanding that some vermonters are upset because howard's been spending a lot of time jockeying for position. they feel a bit neglected, and i guess i can't really blame them because in the past dean's been a very involved governor. of course i could be off my rocker, so feel free to fill us in on any info you've got... =)
Yep. One Vermonter here. Remember that Arkansans said the same thing about Clinton: "We're voting for him to get him out of the state!"
Dean is obviously well-known at home. I think naysayers at this point are either a) dismissing his chances, since he's from a small state; or b) pissed off that he's made it this far and is being taken seriously.
Bottom line is that he has balanced the state's books and expanded its health care rolls as he says. Easy to nitpick on lesser issues.
CJ, thanks for hitting us with ye olde clue-bat. =)
I'd love to hear more about your feelings on the Governor. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hi CJ and Anna. I'm from NY. Sounds like Dean is on the receiving end of what I dish out about Rudy. Contrary to what some people think, Il Duce doesn’t walk on water and he never did.
Do you remember the feds seizing the sheep up in Greensboro and Warren a couple of years ago? The farmers involved are my friends. When I visited one of the couples this w/e, I picked their brains. These are strictly their comments. I realize I wasn’t getting unbiased opinions so I appreciate your thoughts. Apparently, Dean stayed neutral and Leahy proved to be a disappointment to my friends.
I’m going with my gut on Dean from my research since I’ve only seen him on C-Span and MTP. I like his feisty attitude, he doesn’t back down from the wingnuts and he HAS balanced those budgets. My friends say I can’t be a blue dog since I’m progressive on social issues but I really hate debt. If I had my way, most defense contractors would be on the unemployment line. 
The terminology may be off since I’m trying to get up to speed on the issues. My friends say the newcomers pushed through civil unions and the old timers were against it therefore they are mad and won't support him. True/False? Not really understanding why the sex of two people matter with regards to marriage, civil unions seem the way to go until the morality police are no longer in power.
Reg. 250? I think this is the environmental issue regarding the bypass through Manchester. They said Dean was absolutely against it and shut down any debate. Again, comments about special interest groups popped up.
Having been stuck on Rte 7 when I first started going to VT, I know Rte 7 is hell like the road that leads to the ferry in Pt Jeff Sta. where I grew up. The natives knew never to take it during the spring and summer. Wouldn’t this bypass have ruined Manchester and the surrounding towns? I can’t get an answer why they didn’t support him on this.
The school issue, I think it’s Act 6 or 60. From what I understand, residents in towns like Greensboro and Dorset pay a special tax toward schools in poorer towns. Since my friends have moved out of Greensboro to a poorer area, I assume they are now benefiting. Apparently, there’s a cabal in Greensboro wherein the summer residents are coming in to vote down the school budget Again, since I don’t live there, I’m kind of confused as to why this is permitted. Seems to me, if you are only a part time resident in the summer, how can these loaded summer people have so much power over the full time residents? I assume you saw the Burlington Press on Sunday. The story about the farmers under Dean was depressing. Why is that? A letter writer asked why his farm was subject to a $35,000 tax since he could barely pay it. Can the state afford not to tax the farms?
Finally, the NRA thing… You knew that was coming, right? I know it’s a big hunting state but what exactly is his stand? My mother was murdered and having seen what a gun can do to a human being, I have some reservations about NRA people.
Sorry for all the questions but I’m trying to whip up some excitement down here. One friend is a district leader and I have asked him to get the county big wigs to bring Dean in.
Thanks.
ariella, thank you so much for filling us in. i've read about most of the the issues you've mentioned, and will try to provide answers to the best of my ability.
i know dean gets an a+ rating from the nra, and i believe that is due to his support of the "right" to own a gun. i don't think he's beholden to them, but i think he personally believes that it's a constitutional issue. hopefully he'll clarify that stance over the next few months.
the school issue sounds akin to something we have here in texas called "robin hood", which funnells property taxes from higher income districts to lower income districts. it was intended to give all school districts financial equality, but the revenues have not solved the serious budget crisis (THANKS, GWB!) we have in regards to our public schools. i honestly don't know how Act 6 specifically works, so I'll try to read up on it and post more information.
as for civil unions, i believe you are right when you state that newcomers pushed for a resolution to that issue. i also know that there was a lot of out-of-state money funnelled into the campaign against that bill (remember that extremist religious orgs across the land were up in arms over that one). i think we need to consider the fact that dean got re-elected after he signed the civil union bill. i believe his position that it is a civil rights issue ended up appealing to the old-timers - the vermonters who are fiercely independent and constitutionally-minded. and i agree with dean 100% on this: it's a civil rights issue. i'd be a liar if i did not admit that i have many friends who would benefit from this type of legislation, but i'm trying to be unbiased in laying this out.
i don't know about the Rt 7 issue, but i'll try to do some more research.
thanks again for giving us a grounds-eye view of the situation. =)
good morning anna. i'm with you on the civil unions 100%. thankfully, the moral police couldn’t post billboards up and down the state! thanks for the info on the nra. need to look into that.
via “the note from abc” some good news for dean: i’m very happy others feel as i do because i’m in the process of changing my party registration from “dem” to “no party” since the iraq resolution vote. i voted straight working family except for lowey and my state assembly in the last election.
http://www.theunionleader.com/gr...l?
article=17383
did you get the moveon.org email about the daisy ads running on tv today? it would be awesome if moveon hooked up with dean along the line to counter the money machinery from the other dems. i may have read it here or on mydd but word was dean is not well known in CA. if i recall correctly, moveon is based out of CA. i know some folks out there that are going to love his stand on israel.
wish me luck. i have to drum up an appeal letter for the county human resources dept regarding an exam they have disqualified me for because i lack civil service exp. having some knuckle head look at your resume and rule you can’t even take the open exam is quite discouraging. i did what the job entails in a private co longer than i care to admit. these folks need to broaden their horizons and realize an outsider shouldn’t be ruled out even before they are given a chance. i don’t have any baggage and new blood should always be welcome esp if one can pass the exam.
Hi All,
Interesting posts. Thanks for your comments. Ariella, I'm with you on the NRA issue. However, Dean has made a strong (and very politic decision) on this issue that basically indicates he's a "state's rights" candidate -- the better for him on both the gun and gay issue. His position is unequivical on both: the gun issue should be decided state by state - leaving current federal b/g checks in place and mandating the insta-check system where there are loopholes. Same on civil unions. He says its the right thing to do for civil rights, but won't mandate federally, would leave it to the states - hell some states could opt to go further and actually legalize same-sex marriage (which is a bit different).
Re: civil unions and Vermont's changing demographics. There is a general rural/urban divide in the state (as in many states: NY, MA, WA, OR, to name a few). However, civil unions was not pushed by an affluent, educated liberal elite. It was instituted because the Supreme Court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples the same legal rights as traditional couples was discriminatory. The legislature then had a directive from the court to act. The civil unions bill is what they came up with and what Dean signed into law. Interestingly, my Dad was co-counsel on that case...
Act 60 (not 6) is the school funding act. Also a function of a Supreme Court ruling declaring Vermont's previous school funding mechanism (also based on property taxes, but unequal in distribution) unconstitutional b/c it did not afford each Vermont child an "equal opportunity to public education" as is mandated by the Vermont constitution. They went to the property tax sharing plan - which of course the so-called "gold towns" (mostly ski towns with good tax bases like Stowe, Killington, etc., or Essex with IBM) hated. The robin hood analogy is apt. This won't come up in a presidential campaign b/c it's local shop talk, but I do think that Dean's essential strategy will be to underline (not undermine) the importance of public education and contrast it with Bush's unfunded mandates which are a burden to every school district in the country.
Finally, Act 250. The landmark Vermont land-use planning law. It's been sacrosanct, but the new GOP Gov. wants to dismantle it and make it more "business-friendly." Too bad, it is what has provided Vermont the most livable quality of life in the country (my bias). Still, I've been all over the country and not seen a state with as quality a system for health care, mostly a great public education system, beautiful environment, and an participatory ethic that supports democracy. We could do worse than to elect this guy.
Good luck to all of us in supporting his candidacy!
Best, Christopher
Howard Dean is a liar and a fraud. Bush is amazing and deserves to be re-elected. Dean said that all Bush did during the State of the Union Address was lie. Well, he is a huge hypocrite then and I ask him if he even listened to Bush's speech?
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