(Promoted, with adjustments around to fit around the fold… – promoted by odum)

The country is on the edge of falling into soft then into hard dictatorship.  Bush and the Republicans are a clear and present danger to democracy and constitutional government. 

Anyone who thinks that our (Vermont’s) Republicans are somehow different is either lying or delusional.  The day Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party was the day the line was drawn.  In fact, events since then have only shown how prescient Jeff was.

I am running as a democrat for a State Representative (Dorset, Danby, Mt. Tabor, Peru, Landgrove).  If elected I will introduce a resolution ending Vermont’s involvement in the phony Iraq war.  Phone in that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.  It is as bizarre as if Churchill had invaded Turkey in response to the Blitz or FDR had invaded Spain in response to Pearl Harbor.

Speaking of Pearl Harbor, Vermont actually declared war on Germany three months before Pearl Harbor.  So there is a real precedent for Vermont have its own foreign policy.  As well, Vermont is the only state where the legislature elects the head of the National Guard.  So the legislature (civilian control of the military) can order the A-G to withdraw all Vermonters from Iraq.

  I am also a strong supporter of a single payer system of universal health care.  The Canadian system was created by the great Tommy Douglas when he was Premier of a small agricultural province.  Vermont can once again, as it is often done, lead the nation.

I agree that the funding of education is broken.  Of course, Republicans just taxes.  The problem with the property tax is that, for many, it is a tax not on real resources but a tax on paper profits (the increased value of their homes).  It is not based on ability to pay.  That’s why we should fund education with the income tax.

Broadband access is the electrification issue of our time and it should be available everywhere in the state.  It is crucial for sustainable economic development.  We can keep young people in the state if good jobs are available wherever they live. 

Public support of transportation is needed in Vermont both in terms of bus service and rail.

I don’t have a final opinion on nuclear power, but I do know that Entergy (never trust a company with a made-up name) is a sleazy, dishonest corporation up from the southland of Enron and Worldcom. 

I’ve said enough.