First it was Spain…. now it’s Hugo Chavez?

An anonymous Democrat attended John McCain’s economic forum and sent Politico.com this clip. *** Now Americablog is reporting on it. *** Here is McCain’s take on Hugo Chavez and that certain region he comes from.

 This is sad news. I think I first met Dave before he was the Capitol Police Chief, maybe when he used to do court security. Always friendly, good at knowing who might be looking for you in the building, or where the person you're looking for might be. Many GMD posters and readers spend a lot of time at the State House, and I'm sure that we'll all miss him.

A guest book has been established at the Times Argus.

Thanks to fellow blogger and State House habitue Morgan Brown for this tip.

Gaye Symington surprises with an uncharacteristically hard hitting, anti-corporate statement in response to the bailout failure. While Peter Welch and many other US House liberals voted bravely (and I believe correctly) against the package (and are now likely understanding the true meaning of the expression “be careful what you wish for” as all hell breaks loose), Symington comes out with a powerful slam that ties the Republican corporations-over-all agenda that got us into this mess around Jim Douglas’s neck and staples Entergy to his forehead in the process.

From the PR:

This weekend I saw one estimate of the cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror at $790 billion. That puts in

perspective the cost of the bail-out being discussed in Washington and it’s no wonder that Americans are balking, and the initial vote

failed in the House this afternoon. Remarkably,  in only a couple of weeks we are being asked to take on another liability that approaches in scale the cost of the conflicts that have diverted resources from our national priorities – our roads, schools and energy future.

In the wake of this collapse and bailout, Vermonters are asking “how did things get to this point?” While there are undoubtedly many complex factors that led us here, there’s a basic philosophy in gear that puts too much trust in large private interests over the public good.

Unfortunately, this “corporate America knows best” worldview is not just on display in Washington. Our own Governor has in several important instances shown the same blindness to the dangers of this philosophy.

If Governor Douglas had had his way, our lottery system would have been placed in the hands of Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street firm that no longer exists. When Jim Douglas proposed this idea last year, I questioned the wisdom of it and called in experts for a second opinion. It was clear from their testimony that the Governor had placed far too much trust in the numbers and logic of Lehman Brothers, and we were able to set this scheme aside and get back to considering more sensible policy options.

We also see Jim Douglas placing far too much trust in the owners of Vermont Yankee. Entergy has proposed to spin off five aging nuclear power plants under a new owner that will be heavily in debt. A majority of Vermont legislators, and senior officials in Massachusetts and New York where Entergy’s plan would have an impact, agree that this is a strategy to enrich the executives and stockholders of Entergy and it could cost states and their taxpayers dearly if this smaller company fails.

The decommissioning fund is hundreds of millions of dollars short of what is likely going to be needed to fully clean up after Vermont Yankee when it closes. That shortfall had been estimated to be at least $400 million before recent turmoil on Wall Street.

The Vermont legislature passed a bill that would have required Entergy to live up to its original promise to fund that clean-up if it goes ahead with corporate re-structuring. Jim Douglas vetoed that bill, leaving Vermont taxpayers potentially on the hook for another large bill unless we can trust Entergy to do what’s right for Vermonters, over the interests of their bottom line.

Well, all across America today we can see the results of that kind of poor judgment and misplaced trust.

Jim Douglas has to explain to Vermonters why – after all we’ve seen in the past several months – is he is still taking the side of Entergy instead of protecting Vermont taxpayers? Jim Douglas is taking the same gamble in trusting Entergy to handle the decommissioning funds properly as he did in trusting Lehman Brothers to handle our lottery system.

When I’m Governor, I won’t take that kind of gamble. I do not share the Republican philosophy that corporations always know best. I will do everything in my power to stand up for Vermont taxpayers and ensure that Entergy pays to clean up after itself

I was encouraged by the vote to stop the bailout plan today. It’s interesting to see how the roll call panned out, with the more… umm passionate members of both sides voting against the bill and most leaders of both parties supporting the plan to send $700 Biliion to Wall Street.

Seems like a stand by the rank and file members against the political powers that be, a bit of an uprising maybe, or am I reading too much into things?

I was curious to see how contributions by the financial sector paid off in this vote, see the results below…

Securities & Investment: Top Recipients

Candidate Amount Voted

1 Emanuel, Rahm (D-IL) $600,500 Aye

2 Shays, Christopher (R-CT) $362,720 Aye

3 Rangel, Charles B (D-NY) $329,850 Aye

4 Paul, Ron (R-TX) $313,129 Nay

5 Allen, Tom (D-ME) $277,640 Aye

6 Gillibrand, Kirsten E (D-NY) $269,050 Nay

7 Udall, Mark (D-CO) $249,568 Nay

8 Kirk, Mark (R-IL) $243,850 Aye

9 Kanjorski, Paul E (D-PA) $241,849 Aye

10 Bean, Melissa (D-IL) $207,100 Aye

11 Bachus, Spencer (R-AL) $206,900 Aye

12 Hoyer, Steny H (D-MD) $184,499 Aye

13 Cantor, Eric (R-VA) $176,800 Aye

14 Frank, Barney (D-MA) $176,400 Aye

15 Crowley, Joseph (D-NY) $171,550 Aye

16 Klein, Ron (D-FL) $166,700 Aye

17 Mahoney, Tim (D-FL) $166,040 Aye

18 Murphy, Chris (D-CT) $164,290 Aye

19 Murphy, Patrick J (D-PA) $154,750 Aye

20 Maloney, Carolyn B (D-NY) $154,325 Aye