Archive - Apr 2010 - Editorial
April 29th
Trust in government is at a recent low. The Pew Research Center made national news recently with its annual survey revealing that four in five Americans said they had little faith that government could solve the nation’s problems and that they had little trust that government would do the right thing on any major issue. The impact of those findings, the report said, could have implications in mid-term elections this fall.
Funny how age kind of creeps up on you. And in my house, people are starting to think my age is getting kind of funny. My brother will turn 50 this year, and I am very close on his heels.
Hadn’t given much thought to my internal odometer until earlier this month when our son, Mark, celebrated what he considered to be a pretty noteworthy birthday.
Seventeen.
“I can legally get into R-rated movies now,” Mark said with a grin soon before blowing out (without having to use a lot of lung capacity) the paltry 17 candles on his birthday cake.
The five-way race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination will be the most interesting contest in Vermont’s Aug. 24 primary election. Nearly as interesting will be the race between Phil Scott and Mark Snelling for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.
The plan was to get out of Dodge for a few days, escape the Vermont bubble — where all is beautiful and quiet and friendly — and see how the rest of the world lives.
He was headed to Washington, D.C., to visit friends and escape Mud Season.
He always found it fun to see who’s on the plane during flights between Washington and Burlington.
Again this time, he wasn’t disappointed. Waiting for his US Airways flight to board, he saw Sen. Patrick Leahy disembarking from the jetway.
April 26th
It’s news of the “soft” sort when a company is recognized for its excellence. The story has a life span measured in nanoseconds and the distinction is normally formalized with a plaque that quickly begins to gather dust. The award and a buck will still buy a cup of coffee.
April 22nd
Political cartoonist Jeff Danziger nailed public sentiment recently when he captured the outrage Uncle Sam, and the nation’s taxpayers, feel after bailing out the largest national banks and financial firms only to now see them wallowing in obscene profits. The cartoon shows a fat-cat banker sporting a sinister grin with his arm around Uncle Sam’s shoulder and a coin poised on thumb and forefingers ready to flip the coin. The caption says: “C’mon… You’re a sophisticated investor. Heads I win, tails you lose…”
The state’s unemployment fund is facing a $184 million deficit by the end of 2011. That’s huge, and can’t be solved by a single proposal. Rather, a multi-pronged approach that will require the unemployed to do with less and employers to pay more is the only way a deficit of this size will be resolved quickly. Unfortunately, the state Legislature may again postpone action until the following session because the answers are too politically hot to tackle.
The word “yikes,” especially when followed by an exclamation point, can have a pleasantly exhilarating meaning. But when spoken by the father of a tweenage girl, especially when followed by a wide-eyed expression of bewilderment and terror, “yikes” can take on a whole other meaning.
