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Americans Dare Call it Terrorism
By Robert Maynard

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, sixty percent (60%) of likely voters nationwide say last week's shootings at Fort Hood should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act.  As usual the American public’s instinct has cut through the fog of official reporting.  We are told that investigators are still trying to determine whether Major Nidal Malik Hasan acted alone, or was part of an organized cell.  This is a distinction that completely misses the point.  One does not need to be part of an organized cell to engage in acts of Jihadi inspired terrorism.

State Spending: Totally Unsustainable
John McClaughry

Accentuated by the recession, the state's recent economic news and fiscal projections inescapably suggest that Vermonters simply cannot sustain their present level of government spending. ...

What's the way out - if declaring bankruptcy is not an option? That's hard to say, but any realistic analysis must begin with the stark realization that forty years of Vermont's liberal politics has created a government spending machine that is now far outstripping the capacity of already overburdened Vermont taxpayers to keep it running.

Rep. Martha Heath's Values are Not Sustainable
By David Usher

"Vermonters need to engage in a conversation with the governor and their legislators about what values they want the budget to reflect. Ultimately, the real questions will be what are our priorities and who will bear the pain of our decisions."

So opines Rep. Martha Heath, D-Westford, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee in her My Turn (BFP, Nov. 8, 2009). She expresses very well the liberal philosophy that has bred an unsustainable spending culture in the Legislature. Yet, nowhere in her writing does she include the fact that well before this recession Vermont's economy was in the tank with practically no private sector job growth since the turn of the century.

(Not) Seeking Productivity
By Martin Harris

The underlying economic paradox –the more primitive your level of technology, the more likely your achievement of full employment—has always meant that increases in productivity which are essential for long-term improvements in standard-of-living will usually bring what economist  Joseph Schumpeter called "creative destruction" in his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: short-term, temporary unemployment as, say, displaced buggy-whip makers become computer chip designers. One reason food is as historically cheap as it is in the urban Northeast is that there are no more coal-shoveling firemen feeding the fireboxes of steam locomotives.

"We need to increase domestic energy production, employ safe nuclear energy like France, but also develop new sources of energy efficiency."

-- President Obama at an October 15 New Orleans town-hall meeting

*  *  *

The Necessity of Vermont Yankee

Why is the re-licensing of a safe Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant necessary?  Just ask President Obama and his Energy Information Agency (EIA).

At an October 15 New Orleans town-hall meeting, President Obama said this:  "We need to increase domestic energy production, employ safe nuclear energy like France, but also develop new sources of energy efficiency."

With Vermont's renowned Efficiency Vermont programs and its recent passage of H446, which enacts into law the subsidization of renewable energy sources, Vermont's legislature is on board with the latter part of the President's statement but they sorely fall short on the Presidents call to "employ safe nuclear energy."  Heeding the President’s call for "safe nuclear energy" is the proposed U.S. Senate climate-change bill, sponsored by Senators Boxer and Kerry, which expands federal loan-guarantees to support the financing of new nuclear power plants.

The EIA estimates that some 80% of energy demand will still be derived from fossil fuels 20 years from now, regardless of the amount of subsidies given to the renewable energy sector.  The EIA also estimates that during these same 20 years, energy demand will grow by 21%.

Taking into account both the (necessary) replacement of aging power facilities that we’ll need to address in the coming years and the long-term economic and monetary crisis our nation faces, it becomes evident that it would be both irresponsible and reckless for Vermont’s legislature to unnecessarily and prematurely shut down a safe and relatively clean source of energy, such as Vermont Yankee; irresponsible and reckless not only for Vermont citizens, but for our nation’s overall energy and economic security needs.

Tom Licata, Burlington

Shumlin And Smith's Vermont Yankee Sham
Caledonia Record Editorial, November 10, 2009

Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Shap Smith are trying to keep the Vermont Yankee buzz going, hoping if they can throw enough mud on the wall, some of it may stick.

Since the Legislature adjourned in May, all we've really heard Shumlin and Smith talk about is Vermont Yankee. It's a useful distraction for the two Democratic leaders; it keeps Vermonters from asking real questions about serious financial matters facing the state.

Lawyers Warned of Telecom Violation
By John Briggs, Burlington Free Press, November 11 2009

Communication between Burlington and its attorneys during 2008 and early 2009 show the city worried for months about the reaction of the state Department of Public Service if it learned Burlington Telecom had violated a condition of its state license by failing to repay city money within 60 days.

State Issues School Funding Warning
By Louis Porter, Vermont Press Bureau, Rutland Herald, November 11, 2009

Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca and state Commissioner of Finance James Reardon fired the first warning shot in next year's battle over school spending Tuesday with a letter to school boards, principals and superintendents. 

The letter contains ideas on cutting school spending to meet a looming state budget deficit, many of which are likely to encounter stiff opposition from school boards, teachers and administrators.

Crunch Time
From Vermont Tiger, November 13, 2009

The winds are howling, the creek is rising and the roof just sprung a leak.  Normally this would be a call to action; fix the things you can and brace for those you can’t. If you hadn’t noticed pretty much everything is coming off the tracks and there is no sign of relief.

Unemployment just busted through quarter century old, double digit records; one of our own Army officers (a psychiatrist) just opened fire on his troops killing a dozen and wounding three dozen more to protest our latest war; debt piles up at a rate that, without any doubt, will bankrupt the nation; and the pandemic H1N1virus is taking down many of the very young, old or already weakened.

Good News From The Business Celebration
Caledonia Record Editorial, November 13, 2009

Since early last summer, we have been fed a steady diet of gloom, bad news, and doom about the country, the state, and the local economies. If we were to buy all of that and nothing else, we would be tempted to turn the lights off, lie down, and wait for the end. But, last week, we got a shot of optimism in the arm by speakers at the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce Business Celebration.

Vermont’s Exodus
From Vermont Times, November 14, 2009

An interesting column in Barron’s spotlighted a problem which should concern all Vermonters. States with high taxes are experiencing an exodus of citizens, a significant number of whom are "…productive and wealthy people who don’t believe the services associated with high taxes are substantial enough to offset their burdens." Sound like Vermont? Our state was one of a dozen states "to raise income taxes and, what’s more, to bump up gas, sales or estate taxes."

From Elsewhere

Government Health Care: Back to the Plantation
By Anthony B. Bradley Ph.D., Acton Institute for Religion and Liberty, November 11, 2009

Black leaders constantly remind Americans of our racism. Should not these same leaders protest the expansion of government control contained in the health-care reform bill currently working its way through Congress?

Here’s why. Notwithstanding their rhetoric of freedom and empowerment, many prominent black leaders appear content to send blacks back to the government plantation—where a small number of Washington elites make decisions for blacks who aren’t in the room. Why do minority leaders not favor alternatives that demonstrate faith in the intelligence and dignity of people to manage their own lives?

In a sermon at Howard University, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright reminded university students that, "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run." During the presidential campaign, Wright explained to his parishioners that America is "a country and culture controlled by rich white people." But if racists and "rich white people" control America, why do those sympathetic to Wright assume that those same people will look out for the health of blacks?

More on the post-election ballot question in NY 23
By Clarice Feldman, American Thinker, November 14, 2009

It appears, though it was not widely reported, that in an effort to prevent Hoffman from being seated should he win, Owens preemptively contested the results, and the ballots were impounded so the New York  Board of elections could not - and did not - certify the NY 23 election results. This the House knew when Pelosi ordered Owens sworn in to vote for the atrocious health care reform bill. ...

The ballot count won't be over until sometime in December with enough outstanding absentee ballots that it is mathematically possible that Hoffman could win.

Another Day, Another Liberal Jumps from the Obamacare Titanic
From The Freedom Post, November 10, 2009

Another member of the far left, "Obama approved" media member has jumped off the Obamacare Titanic. John Cassidy, a staff writer for The New Yorker, is a fervent supporter of socialized health care, and whose essay on Karl Marx was nominated for a National Magazine Award, gives a blunt, logical, and revealing breakdown of H.R. 3962. Below are some excerpts from a November 4th article written by Mr. Cassidy in The New Yorker, entitled, Some Vaguely Heretical Thoughts on Health-Care.

Exclusive: Audio From ACORN Claims Jerry Brown Will Whitewash Investigation
From Capitol Confidential, November 10, 2009

On October 15th, local ACORN spokesman David Lagstein was the special guest of the East County Democrat Club in El Cajon, CA. Lagstein is ACORN’s chief organizer in the San Diego area. The meeting was held at Coco’s Restaurant, a very public venue. Because of ACORN’s close ties to the Democrat party, Mr. Lagstein clearly felt he was among friends. These two clips suggest the investigation of ACORN announced by California Attorney General Jerry Brown already has a pre-determined outcome.

To Hell with the Constitution?
By Jon N. Hall, American Thinker, November 11, 2009

Much has been made recently of the unconstitutionality of federal health care reform, especially a government-run system (the "public option") that could devolve into a "single-payer" system. The main objection is that the federal government has no authority to operate a health care system. Indeed, the 9th and 10th Amendments forbid it, according to Larrey Anderson of American Thinker.

Hillary in 2012?
By Tony Blankley, Rasmussen Reports, November 11, 2009

The Republican primary field is obviously wide open, but it struck me that the Democratic Party's potential aspirants really are already down to two. Obviously, the president will be one of them, and if things aren't going so well for him by the spring of 2011, his only plausible challenger would be Hillary Clinton. ...

It isn't forgotten that foreign affairs were the major policy disputes between Clinton and Obama during the primary. She accused Obama of "being naive" about agreeing to unconditional meetings with leaders of Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria and Cuba. She was -- and is -- a strong supporter of Israel and, during the campaign, was opposed to forcing Israel to freeze West Bank settlements unconditionally. ...

In the 2012 Democratic Party primary, we may once again hear Hillary's advertisement that asked Americans whom we want answering the red phone at 3 a.m.