(Although Vermont doesn’t have the resources to compete with $150 million incentive packages, there’s an important conversation here – and it leads into a debate about what makes a “good” incentive package for businesses. Is it as simple and gimmicky as tax breaks or the circ highway, or do we need to be thinking more broadly and sustainably..? – promoted by odum)

Today, IBM announced a $1.5 billion dollar investment in NY state for a nano-tech plant.  The new plant will create roughly 1,000 really good jobs.  The state government kicked in $150 million in incentives to make the deal come together.  1,000 jobs will bring a lot of income tax and revenue into the state coffers.  My guess is the state government will recover that $150 million in less than 4 years.  Those 1,000 jobs will help keep RPI and other top grads in upstate NY.

In Vermont the most exciting thing our leaders can come up with is a VermontCard, credit card.  Just what Vermont needs to build its economy – a credit card!   Only this time instead of earning FF miles, you can put money towards ag projects.  

What I find astounding is that these people expect us (the voters) to take them seriously.    

If Pollina (or any other candidate) wants to be taken seriously, I think they need to do more than come up with gimmicks.  They need to show they’ve got some clue how to encourage investment (either local or out of state) and private sector jobs.  Right now, we’ve got Do-Less running around doing nothing, we’ve got Symington talking the same vague language that served Scudder Parker so well in ’06 and we’ve got Pollina who seems to think he can revive the state through a Mastercard bonus plan or something…  

We need to do better than this. We need leaders capable of something more than empty rhetoric or goof-ball gimmicks.  We need leaders who understand that to pay for social services you need good-paying private sector jobs to provide the tax revenue.  We need leaders who understand that, like it or not, Vermont must compete globally for investment and for the best people.  

Time to add another one to the list…

As the Douglas administration's escalated rhetoric regarding what to do about protecting Vermont's children reaches new, shameless heights in both pandering and finger pointing, with draconian legislative proposals that really don't solve the problem but throw red meat to the base, and even disingenuous push polling, there is yet another failure of the Douglas administration in that regard worth bringing attention to. Although Vermont hasn't led a military attack on New Hampshire yet under false pretenses, Douglas' damage to our fine state is reaching Bush-like levels of neglect and incompetency.

The state's Child Development Division is the agency responsible for ensuring that the state's child care providers are following the necessary procedures and safety standards, often dealing with simple matters such as numbers of fire extinguishers, property and facility inspection and such. The inspections are necessary to the initial licensing process, but unannounced inspections are also conducted to make sure regulations are being complied to.

That is all well and good, but there's a big problem here. Most of the child care providers are not being inspected, and the budget for the agency is getting cut. More below the jump.

It's certainly not for a lack of effort. The problem lies in that there are over 2,000 child care providers in the state, and only seven, yes, you heard right, seven licensors responsible for the above mentioned inspections. That's something like 286 sites per licensor, meaning they'd have to each inspect more than one a day in a typical work week. Although that may not seem like much, it doesn't leave any time to perform any of the other important duties involved with the job: follow-ups, weekly meetings, paperwork, court appearances, electronic transcription of the endless amount of notes taken, answering the phone, etc. The licensors also aren't allowed to conduct inspections in their own towns, which means they must cover each other's towns, which can add a substantial amount of travel time, especially if the inspectors live in a remote area to begin with. 

Yet somehow bringing back the death penalty will address the problem. Huh?

Let me be clear: this is no fault of the inspectors. It's just that the way the system is set up, it's impossible to do their jobs the way they are supposed to. To top it off, my source tells me that home providers (people working out of their homes as opposed to licensed centers) are getting little, if any visits, as the division prioritizes the licensed facilities. There was a situation in Tennessee, of all places, that was similar to Vermont's… until there were four deaths over a six year period,due to neglect. Due to the lack of funding to get a sufficient number of inspectors in place, one has to wonder how long before a similar occurrence happens in Vermont.

A leaked internal memo that I've obtained shows that in the 2009 budget, the Douglas administration is are cutting two positions in the the agency, and possibly one or two more in the near future, as well as targeting supplies, travel expenses, and just about everything else needed to have the agency function even somewhat effectively.

So the question for Douglas (which, sadly, can be applied to just about every problem he complains about and proposes the wrong solution) is why is the budget being cut for one of the primary agencies responsible for ensuring our children are being cared for in the safest, healthiest environment possible? Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer (and by “answer” I don't mean anything Douglas' spinmeister boy Jason Gibbs feeds us). It's not chemical castration, that's for sure.

and I mean “real politicians” in an extremely positive sense.

Not long, as noted elsewhere here on GMD, Lt Gov Dubie was prepared to dive head first into the case of the ever increasing fuel costs. Now he has found a new mission, and it isn’t the least bit surprising.

With Republicans and their supporters issues that deal with the general welfare tend to be dealt with reluctantly. When it comes to the literal basic necessities of life (food, water, air and shelter) the answer has always been in some vague personal responsibility land.

So it was no surprise that Dubie’s promise to read a long book about the state’s emergency response didn’t grab a whole lot of traction.

But when it comes to issues of punishment, Republican supporters are easy to rally. Thus the recent tragedy in Randolph regarding the (still alleged) kidnapping, rape and murder of a young girl is easy to for someone like Dubie to bounce off. Better yet, he’s now got THREE female victims  to go public with. Like a young pup in room full of toys, Dubie hops around from one newly discovered emergency to the next … attention span zero … looking for the most engaging activity.

And here is the test.

Will the state’s politicians be able to address multiple issues at one time? Or is their political agenda going to be dependent upon the success of one issue?

Look around you. People are going to lose their homes and go hungry and cold this winter. Everybody accepts this as a given due to today’s high and rising when compared to wages prices for fuel, food and housing. Because of lack of access to medical procedures due to sky high and rising medical insurance premiums people will die premature deaths. We have no idea how many illnesses are going to be caused due to environmental degradation and the resulting poisoning of our only source of food, water, air and shelter (aka the physical environment). We are waging wars against people who never attacked us, and in the case of Iran showed every willingness to assist us when we were attacked. Constitutional provisions are being discarded like unneeded post-it notes. We have a government that allows police to shoot and kill mentally disturbed people because, like Woody of Brattleboro, they threatened themselves with a knife. The list could go on and on.

The obvious tragedy of the Douglas administration releasing the violent predator Jacques into society unsupervised and the (still alleged) ensuing kidnap, rape and murder of 12 year old Brooke Bennett is no mere distraction from all the above. It is a symptom of problems in how we deal with violence in general in our United States of America and is certainly a part of the above paragraph.

(An aside: remember Douglas’ reaction when it came to a growing marijuana and State’s Attorney Sands?)

But what happened to Brooke cannot subsume the other, and in some cases much larger issues. It can only be a part of what is going on.

And a real politician (spoken in a most positive sense) will be able to put context on what happened to that young girl.

Per the Brattleboro Reformer:

On Sunday night, the NRC sent a team of four inspectors to try to figure out exactly what is happening with the cooling towers. That team includes a pair of structural engineers that will look at the upgrades that were made to the towers after the August collapse.

The special inspection team will be at the power plant for at least a week, said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“The full timeline for the inspection will be contingent on Entergy’s progress in making the necessary structural repairs and completing its root cause investigation,” he said.

Just something to note about this: Gaye Symington issued a press release on this on Friday night.

I wonder what Douglas has to say about it.

Okay… pulling up web site…

Checking all the July press releases…

Horrible political pandering about a dead girl… well, of course… he wouldn’t want to forget to do that.

Unemployment extension… because when the state economy’s in the tank we want to make sure we can still placate the people who are laid off as a result for an extra 13 weeks.

Request for increased LIHEAP funding… because since we’re not investing in any sort of alternative energy infrastructure, everything’s going to be insanely expensive…

Reminder of state tax holiday… because with all those layoffs at the state level, we really want to decrease our coffers…

Okay, but I’m sure his statement on VY is coming up any moment now…

Here we go… July 10… no, wait… that’s something about reintegration of troops.

Hmm.  I guess there’s nothing about this on the site.

Must be a clerical error.

It took a little longer than I expected, but the statewide campaigns are now all about child sexual predation – at least this week. It’s likely that challengers were moving cautiously to gauge the mood, but the first in, predictably, was Jim Douglas – whose call for a renewed Death Penalty and chemical castration laws shared the front page with reports that his Corrections Department supported alleged Brooke Bennett killer Michael Jacques’s release from probation only the year before last (no coincidence there). Since then, Douglas has essentially provided cover for others against any charges of politicizing the issue, given his ill-considered, naked exploitation of the matter through his anti-Symington push polling over the weekend.

So, we’re off, as the candidates fall over each other to get in front of the issue on this Monday…

Symington – who is gradually, finally into some control of the headlines, came out with an uncharacteristically strong statement:

The decision by the Douglas administration to release convicted kidnapper and sex offender Michael Jacques from probation seven years early and to leave him without supervision has raised serious questions about whether the Department of Corrections is adequately protecting the public. The Governor has acknowledged the decision was a mistake, but he has not called for a full investigation of the matter. All he has requested is that his commissioner of Corrections “look at the procedure” for making these decisions.  This is an unacceptably weak response in light of the tragic consequences of his department’s failure in this case.  

With the safety of our children at stake, it is clear that an outside body must to conduct a full investigation of every aspect of this case and our parole system to determine how this failure occurred.  Because I do not want my status as a candidate for Governor to be a distraction in this process, I’ve decided not to call the House Judiciary committee back to conduct this investigation.  I have spoken with Senate President Peter Shumlin, and understand that he is planning to head in this direction, and will provide details on his plans tomorrow.  

I urge my colleagues in the Senate to get to the bottom of this failure without delay. Vermont’s citizens and lawmakers must know exactly what went wrong in enforcing our current laws so the necessary steps can be taken to prevent another tragic failure like this from occurring.

Among the questions that must be answered are:

1)      Why did the Department of Corrections argue for setting a convicted sex offender and kidnapper free despite the opposition of prosecutors?

2)      Does the Douglas administration have tough enough standards in place for deciding who qualifies for early release from probation?

3)      How have the Douglas administration’s job cuts affected the ability of his Corrections department to protect Vermonters?

4)      What is the caseload of parole officers, and is that a factor in this case?  

5)      How many positions in the parole system are unfilled?

6)      What other key elements of our laws to prevent sexual violence are not being adequately managed?

7)      Have the Special Investigative Units that have been budgeted for been put into action, and if not, why not?

8)      What can be done through better management of the Department of Corrections to make sure our children and our communities are safe?

Regarding calls for a special session: if the Governor calls a special session, I will be there.  Legislative leaders set the agenda for special sessions, and I want to assure Vermonters that I will demand any special session addresses why our current laws are not being enforced by the Douglas administration before we talk about adding more laws.  We must do first things first.  It is much more important right now to find out why this convicted sex offender was set free and fix the problems that lead to his early release so that we don’t have a repeat of this failure. I also want to know why the Douglas administration is moving so slowly on appointing special investigators that could play a critical role in solving these cases.

Pow! That’s a change.

Brian Dubie was actually first up this morning, at a press conference on the Statehouse steps. From Barlow:

Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie endorsed a full slate of reforms to the state’s sex offender laws Monday morning and called on Gov. James Douglas to bring lawmakers back to Montpelier for a special session this summer.

Dubie, a Republican running for reelection this year, called for a comprehensive review of Vermont’s criminal justice system and said lawmakers should pass proposals such as Jessica’s Law and chemical or physical castration for habitual sex offenders.

I happened by the presser on the way to work and lingered for about two minutes to listen. Dubie is not the deepest thinker on policy, and his legislative recommendations in calling for a special session can basically be reduced to “this is terrible and somebody oughta do something” with a clear favoritism given to the reactive, easy-to-get-ones-brain around, big ticket punitive measures that the Governor suggests (and that would do nothing to actually solve any problems). Still, listening to the guy stammer and reach for vocabulary, he did strike me as fairly sincere.

Nate Freeman feels differently:

“Brian Dubie and Governor Douglas are reaching new lows in how they are manipulating Vermonters’ emotions on the subject of sexual molestation of children. The fact is, this phenomenon is far more widespread than we want to acknowledge, and that strong measures in primary prevention are the best way to educate families, community members, and Vermonters as a whole about the signs and signals of childhood sexual abuse. Not only do I find the current conversation dubious in it’s real intent, I also find it personally offending as literally tens of thousands of Vermonters have suffered, are suffering, and will suffer from the tragedy of sexual abuse in their pre-pubescent and pubescent years.”

Freeman points to the Governor’s press release dated April 17th as an example of Jim Douglas talking about the work he is doing without any follow-up. From that press release Jim Douglas says the following:

“Vermont is leading the nation in developing innovative, proactive approaches to ending the epidemic of sexual and domestic violence in our state,” Governor Douglas said. “These crimes exact an enormous toll on the health and well-being of survivors, not to mention the impact on health care, corrections, education, social services, and so many of our state resources. The more attention we focus on preventing these crimes ? on teaching our children about healthy, respectful relationships and nonviolent means to resolve conflict ? the better.”

“It is interesting to note that the Douglas Administration is not focusing on the efforts of primary prevention of sexual abuse against children at this critical time. Instead, both Brian Dubie and Jim Douglas are preying on Vermonters’ natural emotional impulse for vengeance. The tragedy in Randolph will never find restitution and the community will never find healing in Brian Dubie’s angry , dubious, political posturing,” Freeman said.

Nate Freeman is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor from the Democratic Party. He is the owner of Freeman’s Upholstery Shop and Green Mountain Kitty Litter in Northfield. He is also a male survivor of early childhood sexual abuse by a female perpetrator.

Expect that last bit of personal history to garner him some ink on the issue.

As I said above, I definitely was inclined to think Dubie was sincere – particularly in his insistence that we should all be working together constructively and not demagogue the issue – but I suppose there’s be one way to find out: somebody should ask him if he condemns the Governor’s abhorrent push polling program on the issue and rejects his attempts to tar Symington as soft on child predators.

Haven’t seen anything from Tom Costello… at all, really. He doesn’t seem to have a website yet.

Call it a hunch, but I’m not going to be shocked if we find out, come the deadline, that Mr. Costello hasn’t turned in signatures. That’s just a hunch, but… well, we’ll see…

UPDATE: Barlow caught up with Costello, who is supportive of the Douglas/Dubie policy approach:

“The prosecutor in the case knew that (Michael) Jacques should not be released from probation early,” Costello said. “It’s clear the prosecutors don’t have enough tools for this fight and should have mandatory minimums and civil confinement as options to use.”