By Jon Margolis, VTDigger That was an impressive event starring Sen. Bernie Sanders last week, reflecting impressive political progress for him and his allies. Just a couple of years ago, Sanders couldn’t get a single cosponsor on a bill to create […]
Tag: op-ed
Nine presidents
By Lee Hamilton One reason I consider myself fortunate to have led a life in politics is that, over time, I’ve had a chance to work with nine presidents. From Lyndon Johnson through Barack Obama, I’ve talked policy, politics and, […]
Politicians must confront hate
By Mike Smith In the early 1960s we still had racist state laws defending the widespread practice of segregation. Slowly — too slowly for many black Americans — those laws began to change. However, racism and bigotry don’t end by […]
When our president disregards what it means to serve the public
By Angelo Lynn There he goes again President Ronald Reagan coined the refrain, “There you go again,” to disarm President Jimmy Carter’s repeated attacks during the 1980 presidential campaign. The refrain has made a comeback, in a completely different context, with […]
A carbon pollution solution
By Tom Hughes Last week Governor Phil Scott took another step towards real climate action. He signed an executive order creating a Vermont Climate Action Commission and reaffirmed the climate and clean energy goals set forth in the 2016 Comprehensive […]
Act 60: Twenty years after Brigham
By William J. Mathis Editor’s note: William J. Mathis is managing director of the National Education Policy Center and vice-chair of the Vermont State Board of Education, and a Goshen resident. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views […]
Encourage good media
By Lee Hamilton I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to journalism, I’m a traditionalist. Old-fashioned, even. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that even while confidence in the media drops to new lows and Time […]
Condos is right to defy Trump on voter info
By Jon Margolis Praising elected officials ought not to be a common practice. They tend to do an adequate job of that themselves, rarely missing an opportunity to tell the world how wonderful they are. There are times, though, when […]
Climate resolution is a farce upon a farce
By Rob Roper The last thing the Vermont House of Representatives did before leaving town was pass H.R. 15, a resolution “strongly opposing the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement … and recognizing Governor Phil Scott’s enrolling Vermont in […]
Why we need to scrap the debt ceiling
By Lee Hamilton Back when I was in Congress, I got a call from a constituent one day. I’d recently voted to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and the man was more than irate. “Don’t you understand that we’ve got […]