Find out more information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kasich

UPDATE:

Man this guy is going all out with his ad blitz for GOP Gov Race… 

( – promoted by odum)

The Amazing Adventures of Political Jim; Fighting to preserve his political career and promote political amnesia.

You can see Chapter 1 here: http://tinyurl.com/cyuqk9

Join the Facebook group: http://tinyurl.com/dzo82y (There is a rumor I'll where my pants like Jim Douglas if the group gets big enough)

What is not a joke is Jim Douglas' double-speak, hypocrisy, and just plain old bad management of Vermont.

Want to help and have some fun? Get started:

Read the comic, invite some friends to the facebook group, add to the “unfunny” list, vote in the poll and don't let Douglas have an inch.

The UNFUNNY parts of Jim Douglas:

– Is a stooge for Vermont Yankee
– Thinks it is “not time” for Marriage Equality
– Proposes joke budgets with fake accounting example: leasing the lottery
– Loves Sarah Palin, John McCain, and GW Bush
– Think McDonald's jobs are the best Vermont can do
– Raises TONS of out-of-state corporate money
– Never stops campaigning but thinks it is “perverse” when other start planning

More UNFUNNY below the fold and if you have another UNFUNNY please add it to the list!

– Thinks stealing $40 million from teachers retirement is a good idea
– Puts politics before policy when it comes to most issues but especially sexual predators
– Thinks Jim=Jobs except Vermont has higher unemployment now than when he was elected
– Spends $1,000,000 a year of taxpayer money to help him deceive Vermonters
– Raises “fees” instead of taxes to keep his “no new taxes” pledge
– First thinks it is OK for state workers to work in buildings making them sick
– Then gives a contract to a mobile office company who just happens to be a huge campaign donor
– Would rather bailout companies in Louisiana than protect Vermonters
– Never said BOO about the Iraq war to GW Bush
– Thinks Vermont can’t do anything at all to help save polar bears
– Hates Wind for some yet still unexplained reason
– Loves cutting ribbons and taking credit for others good works
– Has politically appointed State Workers run his campaign
– Appoints his campaign workers as State Commissioners regardless of qualifications
– Loved staying in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House with GWB
– Has “undocumented workers” on his family farm which isn’t so bad if he wasn’t such a giant hypocrite about it
– Was “Nixon’s Man on Campus” while attending college
– Has questioned if segregation ever existed

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I am a fan of Vermont State Parks; I mean I became a facebook fan.

So there is nothing wrong with a “Vermont State Parks” Facebook page. I do wonder if this is “news”. I also wonder if this is the kind of “expertise” Gibbs is bringing as Commissioner.

Remember Gibbs is super qualified (sarcasm drip):

Gibbs is an Eagle Scout, avid outdoorsman, snowboarding coach and adventure racer who hikes, bikes, climbs, paddles and snowboards as often as his schedule permits.  

Anyway, like I said, there is probably nothing “wrong” with this. It is odd and we better not find out it cost money, or took some huge amount of staff time etc…

As matter of fact, I hope it was Gibbs doing it at home sitting watching TV or something. Lets hope Gibbs is actually doing some good and not just playing on Facebook on the tax payers dime…

WATERBURY, Vt.—Fans of the Vermont State Park system have a new place to share their enthusiasm: Facebook.

Officials set up the Facebook page where park users can share their favorite parks and their favorite locations and things to do in the parks.

Vermont Forest and Parks Commissioner Jason Gibbs says the Facebook friends are “Internet ambassadors” who help spread the word about the many opportunities that exist within Vermont's state parks and recruit new visitors.

Gibbs says the diversity of affordable recreational opportunities at the parks must be matched by a diversity of outreach activities.
 
Full story on the AP

"Frankly, I need a better partner in the general assembly…” Jim Douglas during the campaign and in numerous debates.

NO Gov. Douglas, the general assembly needs a better partner in the Governors office.

We know the “better partner” will not come from the result of tonight’s election. So it falls to the Democratic and Progressive legislators to MAKE Douglas a better partner.

A strong proactive agenda that does not compromise what they were elected to do! House and Senate leadership must not bow to Douglas, must not capitulate, and must not allow him to set the agenda. A quick, decisive set of bills must be passed that forces Douglas into tough choices.

Who leads the House Democrats is now as important a decision as anything for the Governors race in 2010. They will be counted on to keep Douglas accountable.

So folks can dissect the 2008 Governors race all they want. But the same advice I gave after the 2006 election I will give again. If ALL of our focus is not on Douglas, then we are not focused on what we need to be. As simple as that…

(I was about to write something up about it.  Thanks for saving me the trouble 🙂 – promoted by JulieWaters)

I hope you are reading this story in your morning paper and it is making you as mad as hell on a bunch of different levels.

Gaye Symington called out Jim Douglas yesterday on using taxpayer money to help his campaign. And did a pretty good job I think because the Douglas campaign still has NO answers to why they are flat out stealing from Vermonters:

“It's unfortunate that she's taken this low road in an attempt to distract the voters from the important issues,” Casey said.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/10/29/symington_says_douglas_spends_public__on_campaign/

Ironic considering the negative ads Douglas has been running against Symington are clearly “an attempt to distract the voters”

Casey argued that much of the expense of Douglas' travel is due to the state trooper who drives and provides security for the governor and the official vehicle in which they travel.

“… much of the expense…” OK, even if we take that for face value, how about the rest of the expense?

Dean reimbursed the state for his own travel costs, paid them himself to begin with or had organizations that supported him pay them. But he declined to pay for the trooper who traveled with him, saying it wasn't his decision that he should be accompanied.

Uhm… Douglas incurs NO personal expenses?

“According to Howard Dean's own finance reports, he traveled only 1,800 miles in 2000 for campaign stuff. That's about four trips to Bennington. That's ridiculous. That's not accurate,” Casey said.

And instead of answering the charges, they attack Dean? Funny if it wasn't so maddening…  

Still waiting for an answer from Douglas, Casey, Gibbs, or anyone who can answer how every other elected offical in the country repays their government. Oops, I know one. Sarah Palin (supported by Douglas) doesn’t think she needs to repay Alaska for personal expenses while being Governor.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_el_pr/palin_ethics_complaint;_ylt=AnObRONCeYyisFW6gkhuiMUEtbAF

(Ok, not exactly the same, but close, which just proves every other elected official repays the government while mixing business and campaigning)

Also a quick interlude, Casey is Douglas’ campaign manager and very surprising it is NOT Jason Gibbs responding to this scandal. The Douglas campaign uses Gibbs eight months a year as a spokesperson, which is another theft of taxpayer money. And another whole story.

Lastly, if you missed Shay’s original article, Casey is usually a state employee, paid for by you guessed it, your taxpayer money. She was busted misusing government resources for campaign purposes and will go back to getting paid by the taxpayer as soon as the election is over.  You don’t think Casey and Gibbs ever do any “campaign” work in their government jobs do you?

And don’t give me any bull about how everyone does it…

(Important diary, but you see in it the real problem with holding Douglas accountable… the blogs cant do the campaign’s, the legislature’s, the press’s and the AG’s job for them. – promoted by odum)

Jim Douglas has continued his polling expenditures and must know something the rest of us only suspect. This race is tight and Douglas is very worried about breaking 50%.

Could a scandal finally break Douglas’ calm demeanor? One involving taxpayer money and dirty campaigning, at a time when the unemployment is at a record high?

Every major elected official inlcuding Bush, Leahy, Welch, and every other US Senator, Congressperson and Governor knows that you can campaign on the public dime but you need to pay some, or at least PRETEND to pay, the taxpayer back.

But NOT Douglas:

After a week of dodging repeated questions about whether the Douglas campaign follows Dean’s lead, the governor’s campaign manager Dennise Casey told “Fair Game” on Monday: “No, we don’t.” (Seven Days, Shay Totten)

This is a CRAZY big scandal…

And you can even tell Douglas want to sweep it under the rug by “dodging repeated questions”. But it has been over a week since Shay reported this and nothing… silence.

The question is how can the story break to reach mainstream? Will it take Symington or Pollina to do a press conference and maybe even run TV ads based on it?

If you remember, the VT press corps ignored the Elizabeth Ready story on her resume discrepancies until Randy Brock threw a press conference and ran commercials.

What can a committed group of folks, like those who read GMD, do on something like this?

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I think this speaks for itself:

My quote from the press release:

“Jim Douglas equals failed leadership for Vermont. If he spent half as much time focusing on improving the lives of Vermonters as he does blaming others, Vermonters would be much better off,” said Adam Quinn, representative for Democracy for America. “When Vermonters vote for change on November 4th, Jim Douglas will join a record high number of unemployed looking for work.”

What would your quote for this ad be?

(Full disclosure, I work for Democracy for America. Adam Quinn)  

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( – promoted by JDRyan)

****Update: Terri Hallenbeck posted on vt.Buzz that the Douglas campaign is calling on the VDP and the Symington campign to ask the ad be pulled.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

Democracy for America will be up with a tough commercial this week against Gov. Douglas and Vermont Yankee. It will run on all the major networks and on cable.

We all know that Gov. Douglas’ failure of leadership on Vermont Yankee’s problems should concern us all. It is time for Vermonters to know that Douglas’ failure of leadership and lack of action could be a big problem for all of us.

His record on Vermont Yankee is clear. He was against an independent inspection created to address rising concerns about the age and condition of the plant. He vetoed “decommissioning fund” legislation designed to ensure that Vermont Yankee would be responsible for all future clean-up costs — instead of Vermont taxpayers. Governor Douglas’ administration even blocked members of the state’s special oversight panel from joining Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials on an inspection tour last July.

http://www.democracyforamerica…

(Full disclosure, I work for Democracy for America. Adam Quinn)  

( – promoted by gnome)

Shay’s article this week in Seven Day’s brings up a couple of new questions about Douglas’ PR team and his campaign but no one mentions Jason Gibbs “other role”.

Douglas could really save Vermont some money if he spoke for himself more often.  But if Vermonters are going to continue to foot the $1,000,000 (million) bill for his public relations team they should at least expect them to stick to official government business.

So my question is, after tax payers pay $1 million for “official” spin-doctors, should they also be paying Jason Gibbs for “political campaign” spin that should be paid for by Douglas’ campaign?

Jason Gibbs, Gov. Douglas’ official spokesman, is quoted in all kinds of articles in ways that are simply not appropriate. It is interesting to see the increase of Gibbs’ quotes on political matters since James Barnett left as head of the Vermont Republicans.

If you remember, Gibbs and Barnett were part of the campaign team that got Douglas elected to begin with. After Douglas’ election they both had roles; Gibbs spun everything legislative and Barnett attacked everything political.

Since Barnett left, however, the press continually asks Gibbs to comment on political matters and Gibbs is a very good political attack dog in his own right.

Gibbs in the past has taken vacation days near the ends of campaigns to work on Douglas’ campaign, which I suppose is OK, but what about the rest of the year? The campaign finance reports show Douglas has plenty of money to pay for a “campaign spokesman” from his huge out-of-state corporate donors.

As a matter of fact, most gubernatorial campaigns have dedicated spokespeople paid for by the campaign (separate from the campaign manger). Douglas has NOT since his first governor’s race. Wonder why… because the taxpayers are picking up the bill.

Recently, a Republican congressmen from Idaho got in trouble for something very similar: “The dual employ of Hoffman as an official spokesman for Sali’s congressional office and as his campaign spokesman is unusual and inappropriate.” Idaho Press-Tribune

Just because Gibbs doesn’t have the title of “campaign spokesman” doesn’t mean he isn’t…

How long, and how much money, will Gibbs and Douglas get away with this “double dipping” of taxpayer money for his campaign?

A VERY quick Google search shows these examples:

“There's a real possibility he may decide to support one of those individuals,” Gibbs said. (Reference to who Douglas may support for Republican President)

Douglas isn't committing to McCain, at least not yet, spokesman Jason Gibbs said today, but he has “great admiration and respect” for him.

Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs confirmed a report in the Valley News of Lebanon, N.H., that said Douglas would announce his support of McCain at an event on Monday in Hanover.

“We are seeing the Republican Party unite around McCain because he is the most prepared to lead the nation on day one,” Gibbs said.

“I honestly believe Senator Shumlin is going to have a race on his hands,” Gibbs said. (Reference to Rep. Pillsbury thinking about running for Senate)  

But Douglas' spokesman, Jason Gibbs, said Pollina's plan to eliminate the loophole and then spend the money saved in doing so was, in effect, a tax increase. (In response to a political attack from a political opponent)

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