Monday, March 30, 2015
Teachout will discuss her book Corruption in America when she takes the stage Thursday at Vermont Law School. The free event is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Chase Community Center at the South Royalton school. (Her father, Peter, teaches constitutional law there; her mother, Mary, is a Vermont Superior Court judge.) She’ll also be signing her book at Barrister’s Book Shop from 3:30-4:30 p.m. that day.
The 43-year-old Teachout, who grew up down the road in Norwich and teaches law at Fordham University, went from relative obscurity to prominence as the bee in Cuomo’s political bonnet during last year’s New York gubernatorial primary.
Tags: Zephyr Teachout , Corruption in America , Andrew Cuomo , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
A bill pending in the Senate would have allowed them to, by enacting same-day voter registration in 2016. But faced with opposition from some town clerks, key senators decided Tuesday to push that date to 2017.
"Town clerks earn a fair amount of deference because they run the world at home," said Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison), a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee. Clerks have raised concerns about potential voter fraud and an increased election-day workload, particularly in a heavy-turnout, presidential-election year.
Though the committee previously approved the 2016 start date, one of its members, Sen. Brian Collamore (R-Rutland) said Tuesday he would introduce an amendment to delay its enactment by a year. Committee chair Jeanette White (D-Windham) said she would support the move.
"At least this amendment meets the needs of a ton of town clerks out there," White said.
Tags: Senator , Vermont elections , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Jim Condos , same-day voter registration , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 23, 2015
In 1980, Byrd was convicted of robbing and murdering Lucille Trim, a 55-year-old, white convenience store clerk. Trim's daughter, Martha Rainville, went on to serve as adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard and ran unsuccessfully for Vermont's lone seat in the U.S. House in 2006.
Rainville was a 21-year-old Air Force trainee when Byrd shot her mother while robbing the small, Port Gibson, Miss., grocery store her family owned. Byrd was paroled just before the 2006 election in which Rainville, a Republican, waged a hard-fought race against Democrat Peter Welch for the open seat.
Tags: Vermont National Guard , Martha Rainville , Peter Welch , lynching , Otis Byrd , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 16, 2015
On Sunday, he made A1 of the New York Times. A profile penned by national political reporter Amy Chozick characterizes the Norwich native as a level-headed data geek with a "goofy sense of humor" and a "killer impersonation of [former president Bill] Clinton."
Mook's toughest assignment, Chozick writes, will be to humor the candidate's vast stable of loyalists and advisers — the former president included — while keeping her campaign focused and disciplined:
Tags: Rooby Mook , Hillary Clinton , Vermont , Norwich , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 9, 2015
During an appearance at the Brookings Institution, Sanders joined a growing chorus of criticism over House Speaker John Boehner's decision to invite Netanyahu to the nation's capital without going through the customary diplomatic channels.
"The president of the United States heads up our foreign policy," Sanders told moderator E.J. Dionne, a Washington Post columnist and fellow at the Washington, D.C., think tank. "The idea that the president wasn't even consulted — that is wrong and not a good thing for our country."
Asked by Dionne whether he was "thinking of not going," Sanders replied, "I'm not thinking of not going. I am not going. I may watch it on TV."
Prior to Sanders' remarks, several House members had said they would boycott the speech. Advisers to Vice President Joe Biden said scheduling conflicts would keep him from attending. Later Monday, Sanders' district-mate, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), said he, too, would skip it.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Peter Welch , Benjamin Netanyahu , address to Congress , presidential campaign , Hillary Clinton , Elizabeth Warren , foreign policy , Image , Recommended Reading , Video , Web Only
Friday, January 30, 2015
Vermont's maybe-kinda-sorta presidential candidate is scheduled to hold a house party Saturday at a storied New Hampshire home in which a steady stream of would-be commanders-in-chief have spoken.
The Queen Anne Victorian, just a couple of streets away from the Statehouse in downtown Concord, was owned for years by Martin and Caroline Goss — the former Democratic mayor of Concord and the Republican House majority leader, respectively — who hosted presidential candidates of both parties. Five years ago, when they agreed to sell the house to liberal talk radio host Arnie Arnesen, the new owner says, she promised Martin Goss "this house would always be available to presidential candidates in waiting."
"Now that we're moving into the presidential campaign, it should be an open seat to both sides," she says.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Arnie Arnesen , campaign trail , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 26, 2015
You piss off Lieutenant Dan. And nobody wants to piss off Lieutenant Dan.
That's exactly what former governor Howard Dean did Friday night when the discussion on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" turned to American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood action flick that brought in more than $200 million in its first 10 days in theaters. After Maher referred to the film's hero, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, as a "psychopathic patriot," Dean said the host made "a very interesting point."
“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry. And this guy basically says ‘I’m going to fight on your side,'" Dean said, referring to Kyle. "I bet you if you looked at a cross-section of the Tea Party and people who go to see this movie, there’s a lot of intersection.”
Tags: Gary Sinise , Howard Dean , American Sniper , Video , Image , Web Only
Sunday, January 25, 2015
The Des Moines Register reported last week that the two-term senator will spend three days in the Hawkeye State, from February 19 through the 21st. He's scheduled to hold town hall meetings in Iowa City and Des Moines; keynote events in Johnston and Ames; and attend meetings in Cedar Rapids and Tipton.
Next month's trip will be Sanders' first to Iowa this year — and his fifth since he began publicly mulling a 2016 bid early last year.
Sanders told reporters last year that he'd decide whether to run for president after the 2014 midterm elections. In December, he put off the decision further, telling the Associated Press he'd make up his mind "by March."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Iowa , campaign trail , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 22, 2015
But he also used the occasion to build out his own email lists and lay the groundwork for a fundraising pitch, according to an email chain inadvertently sent to Seven Days. And in an exchange with campaign and Senate staff members planning the Citizens United anniversary, Sanders appeared focused on raising money from Washington, D.C., political action committees.
"YES. Let's do it," the senator wrote his advisers, referring to a Citizens United-focused fundraising pitch. "How are you doing on the DC PAC fundraiser? Thanks. B."
In the emails, campaign aide Nick Carter asked his boss to approve a collaboration between the Sanders campaign and Progressives United, a political action committee founded by former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold. Together, Carter explained, the two entities would send an email on the anniversary of Citizens United asking supporters to sign a petition saying "Democracy's Not for Sale."
Doing so, Carter wrote, would help "to grow our lists and send a message to legislative leadership to stand strong for progressive values." Later, Carter suggested, the Sanders campaign would return to those who signed the petition to ask for campaign cash.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Citizens United , fundraising , political action committees , presidential campaign , government reform , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) flew to Cuba Wednesday morning to accompany imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross back to the United States.
After five years in prison, the U.S. Agency for International Development contractor was released as part of a sweeping deal to restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba following more than half a century of tensions.
“Today President Obama and [Cuban] President Raul Castro made history,” Leahy said in a written statement. “After 64 years of animosity rooted in the Cold War, they have finally put our two countries on a new path. I congratulate them both.”
Leahy was joined on the trip to Cuba and back by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and by Gross’ wife, Judy. They landed at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews shortly after 11 a.m. The three congressmen are expected to hold a press conference on Capitol Hill at 1:30 p.m.
Tags: Senator , Alan Gross , Patrick Leahy , Cuba , Bernie Sanders , Image , Web Only