GMD is exactly two years old today. Been a lot of changes since our very first post, way back when. And most recently we’ve not only got the new look, but now you can buy cool crap through the cafe press link to the right.

So – how about a birthday game? The Vermont Democratic Party will be having their annual “David W. Curtis Leadership Awards” before too long. The award is given to activists and political leaders, and is named in honor of the late former VDP Chair David Curtis. Here’s an excerpt from his obituary at Mountain Pride Media:

He was a tireless advocate for civil rights and human rights in Vermont. In 1969, he was lead counsel in the case that struck down Vermont’s law against abortion. He served on the Board of Trustees of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Dismas House, Lambda Legal Defense Education Fund in Washington, D.C., Vermont CARES, and the Vermont PWA Coalition. David served as a member of the Burlington Human Rights Council and was a member of the Vermont Advisory Committee to the United States Civil Rights Commission.

He received the Vermont ACLU Lifetime Achievement Award and Civil Liberties Award, and the NAACP Outstanding Service Award in 1990. The Vermont Coalition for Lesbian & Gay Rights recognized David with their Leadership Award. In 1996, he was the first recipient of the David W. Curtis Award, an award given by Vermont CARES for service to the AIDS community.

Among his many accomplishments were the co-founding of the Samara Foundation of Vermont, a charitable foundation created to support and strengthen the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities of Vermont. He remained vice-president at the time of his death. He was a founding member of the Vermont Women’s Health Center. David also served on the Board of Trustees of the American Civil Liberties of Vermont, Vermont National Abortion Rights Action League, and the AIDS Action Council in Washington D.C.

I started work at the VDP just a couple months or so after Curtis passed away, so I never knew him personally, but I was involved starting up this annual award that has become a tentpole for the state Dems.

So – who should get the awards this year? Nominations? Ideas?

Who’s been overlooked? Doug Racine? Ralph Wright? Francis Brooks?

Who are the long-time Democratic stalwarts who haven’t been honored? John Burgess? Judy Murphy? Barbara MacIntyre?

Who are the local people making a big difference who are always overlooked by the political insider crowd? Bill McKibben? Steve Benen?

What about Bernie Sanders? Hey – the Dem line was crossed with Jeffords, why not?

Who are we forgetting from the nonprofit community? C’mon – let’s hear some nominations (look after the flip for a list of previous winners)…

Previous winners: Scudder Parker, Tom and Linda Gray, Crea Lintilhac, Marcelle Leahy, Gaye Symington, Jeffry Taylor, Ned & Vi Coffin, Peter Welch, Margaret Lucenti, Peter Shumlin, Bill & Jane Stetson, Susan Bartlett, Jim Jeffords, Cindy Metcalf, Susan Murray, Beth Robinson, John Tracy, Jean Ankeney, Ralph Crippen, Howard Dean, Terry Ehrich, Pat Leahy, Bill Lippert, Carolyn Nissen, Holly Wilson, Phil Hoff, Madeleine Kunin, Leslie Williams, Billi Gosh

Per the Rutland Herald’s Consultant: Catamount needs more money to work:

When lawmakers created the Catamount Health program two years ago, they also included in the bill a goal of having 96 percent of Vermonters covered by insurance by 2010.

But the House Health Care Committee received some dour news about that prospect Wednesday.

“You’re going to have to come up with at some point, sometime, somehow, more money to do this,” said Ken Thorpe, a consultant to the Health Care Reform Commission. “To get to 96 percent, you’re going to need to use more state money. That’s the bottom line.”

Catamount’s a great idea in theory, but as implemented it’s got major flaws.  The waiting period is prohibitive to a great many people, and the costs are high.  It would save Vermont businesses a great deal of money in the long run, but it needs to be taken seriously and fully funded before it’s ready to be taken seriously.

I’d love to see us get to the point where we can actually implement a statewide health care plan that isn’t just a good plan, but actually works for Vermonters across the board.

UPDATE:

Today’s (2/15) Rutland Herald, in its article Democrats say Douglas budget has hidden costs, shows the Douglas administration to be interested in reducing health care funding, not increasing it:

Douglas’ budget reduces the money going to hospitals to offset the provider tax they pay…

[…]

Premiums for those on the state’s extended Medicaid program will be raised.