TitanicCare! According to Brock’s response to the Supreme Court upholding the ACA (Obamacare):

Today’s Supreme Court decision only postpones the day of reckoning for Governor Shumlin’s TitanicCare health care law.  Federal dollars can now temporarily plug the huge holes the Governor’s plan will generate in Vermont’s budget.  Let’s be frank about this: TitanicCare is doomed to sink and take all of us with it.  It’s just going to sink a teeny bit slower with this subsidy and nobody, not even Governor Shumlin, believes the subsidy will last forever.

The Titanic analogy would be spot on if we applied it to the current health care payment system. My version goes like this, the ship hit an Iceberg and there are a lot of rich and relatively well off middle class folks in life boats. A lot of them took pity on the really poor and gave them MedicAid and the elderly are in the somewhat nicer MediCare boats. Unfortunately all of us healthy folks who make some money but not enough to buy our own full coverage are treading water praying we don’t drown or fall asleep before the rescue boats arrive. Meanwhile Randy Brock and his people are comfy in their lifeboats, using their radios to tell everyone “Hey, it’s going to be too expensive to make sure EVERYBODY gets a seat in a boat, then we’ll all drown!” He’s tossing me a life preserver labeled “high deductible plan” and I, like Jack, have my wife and my kid up on the thing (precariously, but safe for now) while I freeze in the water…  

(I attended this gathering and asked azvox to blog about it, as I knew his knowledge of the campaign was greater than my own.This commonsense approach asks our legislators, in this time of great poverty, to prioritize human needs, focusing on raising revenue to cover those needs rather than slashing budgets. Note May 1 Rally details in “Comments” section. – promoted by Sue Prent)

I joined Senator Sara Kittell and red-shirted members of the Vermont Workers’ Center’s “Put People First” campaign and some of their allies for a chat at Cosmic Bakery in St. Albans on Thursday. The group of about fifteen included advocates on issues like healthcare reform, early educators’ right to collectively bargain with the state, and poverty.

Building on the successful and on-going advocacy of the Workers’ Center on healthcare reform, VWC organizer Matt McGrath laid out the beginnings of a plan for a campaign around a “People’s Budget” for the state of Vermont. While some of the participants voiced concerns over the definition of terms like “equitable” and “just” in the draft documents that were presented, there seemed to be consensus that it would be interesting to talk about a state budget that started with concrete goals about the needs of Vermonters, then built programs and funding sources to fulfill those needs.

In Montpelier it often seems as though we look at last year’s budget every year and then make a small cut here or add a program there in a reactionary way. The idea of a People’s Budget hasn’t coalesced into an actionable set of priorities yet, but it is a shift in paradigm.

“We all know that Vermont spends billions of dollars a year on things like incarcerating people, and paying insurance companies to make big profits,” said one of the activists. “What if we start from the beginning and really look at what we need from the State and then build our budget around that?”

This is a conversation that I hope more of our legislators will join. Senator Kittell, a supporter of early educators right to organize and a long-time advocate for healthcare reform, was supportive of the idea of a People’s Budget. She pointed out that some of the frustration of making a budget in Montpelier has to do with the lack of clear priorities.

If the People’s Budget is to become a reality it will have to set priorities and articulate a set of principles that many people across Vermont can agree on. A budget that genuinely reflects the principles of universality, equality and justice and can win the support of Vermonters beyond activists with red shirts will be a healthy and encouraging example for other states to follow.

Crafting a People’s Budget is a lofty goal, but over a cup of coffee this week a much larger discussion has begun to brew.

( – promoted by Jack McCullough)

It was so exciting to attend the organizing meeting of the Young Democrats of Vermont the Sunday after Thanksgiving. About 35 Democrats under age 40 met at the State House in Montpelier, voting on by-laws and electing officers. How cool is it that Kate Lapp is our YDV President at 17? Having young Reps in the legislature like Sarah Buxton and Kesha Ram has been an inspiration!

At this first meeting it was clear that the YDV will be promoting legislation that helps young Vermonters with issues like debt, helping young candidates with campaigns, and acting as a voice for young Vermonters.

So what’s next for this organization? I have made it one of my missions as chair of the Franklin County Democrats to make sure our county has a YDV chapter up and running by Spring 2012. By working with Republicans and Progressives in the county I’m hoping to get in front of students to talk about service and civic involvement in an exciting way and hopefully help a core of new young leaders develop. I’d like to provide campaign training to young volunteers for the 2012 season and encourage young candidates to get their names out.

If you’re under 40 and a Democrat in Vermont, talk to your county chair about starting a YDV chapter. Check out this vt.buzz article about the convention

http://blogs.burlingtonfreepre…

Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/group…

( – promoted by odum)

After I wrapped up my race for the Franklin County State Senate seat almost a year ago I got more involved with the Saint Albans Community Justice Center. I have been a volunteer there since 2008, and serving on a Reparative Board has taught me a lot about my community, crime, and what Restorative Justice can offer victims and offenders alike.

As one of fourteen CJC’s in Vermont (visit www.cjnvt.org to learn more), the Saint Albans Community Justice Center is tackling issues of crime and recidivism with innovative programs that put community volunteers in the driver’s seat. Reparative Boards offer low-level offenders a chance to explain their actions, develop a list of those affected and construct a contract with items that seek to repair the harm cause to victims, offenders and the community when a crime occurs.

Offender Reentry programs like Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) help offenders transition from prison back to their communities. I am helping to form new CoSA’s in St. Albans as the CJC’s new Volunteer Coordinator. This program matches three volunteers with an offender and provides support and accountability for that offender for a year, increasing the likelihood that the transition will be successful.

Under the leadership of our Director, Marc Wennberg the St. Albans CJC has been growing. We are now planning to roll out a Parallel Justice program. This program will begin by helping to provide compensation to victims of vandalism like slashed tires and broken car windows. With the help of Burlington’s CJC and Crime Victim’s Services of Vermont we are making great strides toward providing restorative justice for victims, even when no offender can be found.

For more information about the St. Albans Community Justice Center or if you’d like to get involved, feel free to contact me at m.mccarthy@stalbansvt.org