Even in a legislative session where he's been taking heavy fire, this was an unusual week for Governor Shumlin.

By this point he must be used to the challenges coming from his left. Honestly, I don't think I've talked to a single Democrat who supports his proposals to cut the Earned Income Tax Credit and cap Reach-Up benefits.

It's not surprising, is it? After all, we Democrats define ourselves, among other things, by how we can frame compassionate ideas that recognize the humanity and struggles of the most vulnerable in our society, and that provide an effective means to get out of poverty and to live a decent existence.

This is why Democrats have been fighting so hard to defend both Reach-Up and the EITC. We support the increased child care support that the Reach-Up cuts are supposed to be going for, but it just doesn't make sense to take that money out of the pockets of other working poor and middle-class Vermonters. 

This is why you get things like this. The Caledonia County Democratic Committee has just adopted resolutions opposing both of these cuts.

The Caledonia County Democratic Committee supports recommendations to increase the Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP) that assists low-income families' access to quality childcare. We reject the Shumlin Adminstration's proposal for the Earned Income Tax Credit to be the funding source.

And:

The Caledonia County Democratic Committee opposes the Shumlin Administration's proposal (and the House Human Services Committee endorsement) for terminating welfare benefits for families who have been on the Reach-Up program for five years or longer.

 Is this a big deal? In my opinion, yes. I've been involved in county and state Democratic politics for years, and I don't think I can ever remember a county committee adopting a resolution opposing the policies of a governor of our own party before. I don't doubt that it's happened, but it's rare.

What happened Thursday, though, is even a bit stranger, and it comes to you straight from the business section of the Burlington Free Press. 

By now we've gotten used to Vermont Democrats calling out the governor and his inner circle. I haven't personally heard any calls for a primary challenge yet, but if things keep going in this direction it is easy to imagine.

So the question I ask is whether the governor's challenges to solid Democratic positions are buying him support from the Right, and today's evidence seems to say no.

Today UVM economist Art Woolf published an opinion piece in the Free Press business section on guess what? The EITC! And surprisingly, since you will pretty much never see Woolf siding with the left wing of the Democratic Party on anything, he does just that here.

Here's what he says about the EITC:

The EITC is an extremely effective and efficient anti-poverty tool. It rewards work, adds to a family’s labor income and is inexpensive to administer.

  . . .

The major benefit of the EITC is that the person who receives the check decides what the family’s greatest needs are and can prioritize them, whether it’s food, housing, health care, child care, education, clothing or anything else. Nearly all other anti-poverty resources are specifically targeted, with someone, somewhere, deciding what the best uses of the funds are. The EITC makes the assumption that the best judge of anyone’s needs is that person.

That is, low-income workers are just like anyone else.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is basically a Republican idea. At the federal level it grew out of Richard Nixon's proposal for a negative income tax, and it really works well at what it's supposed to do: help guarantee that someone who works for a living will not be left in povery despite all their efforts. Like everyone who has studied it, Woolf agrees that it is an effective and efficient program.

Still, if the governor's proposals aren't getting support from the left, and they aren't getting support from the right, where is he going to get the votes to push his plans through? 

 Like I said, strange week for the governor.