Thursday, February 2, 2017
“This is a stolen seat,” said Merkley, the sole Democratic senator to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign. “We will use every lever in our power to stop this.”
Unlike Merkley, neither Sanders nor his senior Vermont colleague, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), was willing to utter the ‘F’ word on Wednesday.
In a statement issued shortly after Gorsuch’s nomination, Sanders said that while the Supreme Court “plays an enormously important role in American life,” that role has, in recent years, “been largely negative.”
“I look forward to questioning Judge Gorsuch about his positions on the most important issues that impact Vermonters and all Americans and his views on recent Supreme Court decisions,” he continued.
Tags: Senator , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , Neil Gorsuch , Michael Briggs , U.S. Supreme Court , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Rights and Democracy and the Burlington branch of the International Socialist Organization organized the rally after Trump signed an executive order closing the country to refugees and people from seven countries. Protesters filled a large swath of City Hall Park before they marched up Church Street.
Tags: Burlington , Donald Trump , protest , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 30, 2017
That’s the advice University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan is giving to members of the campus community who have visas from Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iran or Iraq.
President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration bars citizens of those seven countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days.
Sullivan is apparently worried the order could make it hard for UVM students and staff to get back into the U.S. should they leave. Sullivan emailed the campus community on Sunday.
Tags: Trump , immigration , UVM , Champlain , Vermont , Norwich University , Saint Michael's College , Image , Web Only
Gov. Phil Scott and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday called President Donald Trump’s executive order halting refugee resettlement and banning immigration from seven Muslim nations unconstitutional.
The bipartisan condemnations came during separate events in different parts of the state. Scott, a Republican, addressed the presidential action Monday afternoon while addressing business leaders at Rutland’s Southside Steakhouse.
“I think this infringes upon our constitutional rights,” Scott said in response to reporters’ questions. “So we’re looking for — seeking ways to push back.”
Trump’s executive order, issued last Friday, halted the resettlement of 25 Syrian families in Rutland. Two families relocated to the city in the week before the order was issued.
Speaking earlier that day at the Community Health Centers of Burlington, Welch said he also viewed Trump’s action as unconstitutional.
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Peter Welch , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , executive order , immigration , refugees , Image , Web Only
Sunday, January 29, 2017
They took to the streets two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended the refugee resettlement program and the entry into the U.S. of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, Libya and Somalia.
The crowd assembled at the First Unitarian Universalist Society, then marched along Church Street to City Hall Park. Marchers stepped off singing "This Land is Your Land," and then chanted: "No hate! No fear! Refugees are welcome here!"
Several speakers addressed the crowd at the park, including Mayor Miro Weinberger; Susan Sussman, a caseworker from Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-Vt.) office; Jay Diaz, a staff attorney with the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union; and Community College of Vermont student Zeinab Bulle.
Tags: Donald Trump , refugees , immigration , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Hazar Mansour, a French teacher, said on the program "Anderson Cooper 360°" that she, her husband and their two small children are happy to be in Vermont. They fled Damascus during a civil war in Syria that, according to the United Nations, has killed more than 400,000 people. They made it to Turkey and then went through two years of background checks before arriving in Rutland two days before Trump's inauguration, Mansour said.
"We were worried about ourselves, worried about our children," Mansour said. "We want to live in peace. It's better than living in the war situation we were in."
"I like Vermont and the people of Vermont," said her husband, Hassam Alhallak, an accountant.
Tags: Rutland , refugee , Chris Louras , refugee resettlement , Image , Web Only , Video
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Last week, two Syrian families arrived in Rutland from a Jordanian refugee camp, after months of heated debate in the city. They were to be the first of an expected 25 families.
But Louras, who has staked his mayoral legacy on his plan to make Rutland a refugee resettlement hub, said the plan appears to be dead after multiple media outlets reported that Trump plans to sign an executive order to stop accepting refugees from Syria. The Associated Press reported that he further intends to temporarily suspend immigration from several other predominantly-Muslim countries.
“I think that these first two families are the only two families,” Louras said. Barring some unexpected development, he continued, “I’d say it’s the end of refugee resettlement for Rutland. While not a shock, it certainly is just as much a kick in the gut as if it had been a surprise.”
Tags: Rutland , refugees , Chris Louras , Syrian , refugee resettlement , Trump , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 23, 2017
“It was a learning experience for everyone,” Batchelor says. “We had a wonderful, wonderful, eye-opening experience.”
The event was called the Convention of States, and it was meant to be a model of what’s called an Article V Convention. There are two ways to amend the Constitution: the first begins with Congress adopting an amendment. But under the Constitution’s Article V, the states may also initiate a convention. This has never happened in American history and legal scholars disagree over some key aspects of the process.
The COS took place in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was organized by a group called Citizens for Self-Governance — which, according to the left-leaning Center for Media and Democracy, has ties to the Tea Party movement, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch.
Tags: Convention of States , American Legislative Exchange Council , Koch brothers , Bob Helm , Lynn Batchelor , Vicki Strong , Citizens for Self-Governance , Fair Game Extra , Image , Web Only
Saturday, January 21, 2017
“The election result was so negative,” lamented Nina Brundage, an 18-year-old student from Waterbury. “But now there’s a positive movement coming out of it.”
Tags: Women's March , Donald Trump , Washington D.C. , senator , Patrick Leahy , Image , Slideshow , Web Only
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made an appearance and addressed the crowd to thunderous applause.
“Too many women have fought for too many years for equal pay for equal work; we are not going back,” he told those assembled.
Tags: Senator , Women's March , Montpelier , Bernie Sanders , Slideshow , Image , Video , Web Only