Obama: All Straw Men, All the Time

The Best of Coulter (This Week)
Successful countries must allow themselves to be overrun by backward cultures so that no country thinks it's better than another....While liberals' idea of retaliation is to post the French flag on their Twitter profiles, Republicans think the way to get tough is to go to war in Syria. ...The West's importation of Stone Age people is a completely self-inflicted wound. (Ann Coulter.com, 11/18/2015)


Plowed Under
Asked whether Mr. Obama had underestimated the Islamic State when he referred to the group as the “J.V. team,” Mrs. Clinton said, “I don’t think it’s useful to go back and replow old ground.” (New York Times, 11/20/2015)

She then said "Mission Accomplished" fourteen times.


Not Good with Numbers
University of Vermont economist Art Woolf has suggested that Vermont could accept as many as 5,000 Syrian refugees. When asked if he thinks the state can support that number, Shumlin said, “I’m not an expert on the numbers, I know that Vermont can take more than seven.” (VTDigger.org, 11/17/2015)

Shumlin - self-proclaimed non-expert on number (see his budget) - waves in Syrian refugees including embedded ISIS terrorists. We're guessing they are not going to be housed next door to him in Montpelier.


Checkmate
...the president repeated his promise to “provide refuge to at least 10,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria” after passing “the highest” security checks. (New York Times, 11/20/2015)

Of course, Obama didn't give a d**n about the Syrians when Assad was gassing them. Now he is Mr. Compassion and Republicans concerned about terrorists leaking in are the evil ones. There has NEVER been a president as duplicitous as Obama. 

Elbows and Backs

Let the Liberal media feeding frenzy on Ted Cruz begin now that he has announced for president. Here are some facts you should know first:

- He graduated cum laude from Princeton.

- He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law.

- Harvard's Alan Dershowitz (no great friend of conservatives) said about him: "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant." (Wikipedia)

Liberals are enamored of people who are smart. Or in the case of Barack Obama, people who they think are smart, even though those same people never released their academic transcripts. What will they say about Cruz?


Suspended
The police here said Monday that they had found no evidence that a woman was gang raped at a University of Virginia fraternity house in 2012, and they were suspending their investigation, after a lengthy inquiry in which the alleged victim refused to cooperate. (New York Times, 3/23/2015)

Prediction: This will have absolutely no effect. Feminists will continue to scream ad nauseum about the "culture of rape" on American college campuses.


Avoidance
To avoid a future built on the unsustainable ground of permanent Israeli military subjugation of the Palestinians, the question now is what Palestinians, Americans and the rest of the world should do next to keep the hope of peace alive. (New York Times editorial, 3/24/2015)

What can Palestinians do to "keep the hope of peace alive?" That's a tough one. We do not have any good ideas there. Oh wait! How about this idea: stop building tunnels into Israeli territory in order to launch terror attacks on Israeli civilians. Maybe, just maybe if Palestinians stopped doing that they could keep the hope of peace alive.


Extra Extra
Vermont had a very small uninsured population and paid out extra subsidies that made its program extremely attractive... (New York Times, 3/24/2015)

Wait, not only is Vermont subsidizing eighty percent of its insured population, but it also paid "extra subsidies?"

How did we not know about this before now? Get Shumlin on the line!

Don't Forget to Pay Your Obamacare Tax Penalties

Failure to Improve
Gov. Peter Shumlin says the state will consider abandoning the Vermont Health Connect insurance exchange and moving to a federally supported system if the state-based marketplace fails to improve.

"We now have a vendor with a proven delivery record to finish the job," Shumlin said in a statement. "Ideally, Vermonters will continue to benefit from the Vermont-focused health insurance marketplace that we all envisioned, a system that builds upon our history of health reform and advances our goal of health coverage for all Vermonters.

"But if our system can't deliver for Vermonters by next fall," Shumlin continued, "we'll need to take action to move permanently to a system that can." Vermont Health Connect has suffered back-end technological problems and cost overruns since launching in October 2013. (Burlington Free Press, 3/20/2015)

So everything is going swimmingly as far as health care reform in Vermont goes...except for that pesky website. Which is where people go to buy health care. (As a user of VHC we can confirm: it is a nightmare). 

And how about that tough accountability from Gov. Shumlin? 'If we can't fix the website - two years after its launch, mind you - we are going to abandon it!'


The Logic of Obama's Foreign Policy
The sharpened tone indicates that the Obama administration may be re-evaluating its relationship with its closest ally in the Middle East, having lost patience with Mr. Netanyahu in the closing days of an election campaign in which he spotlighted deep disagreements with President Obama over a Palestinian state and a nuclear deal with Iran.....The moves confirmed that instead of acting quickly to smooth over tensions with Mr. Netanyahu that burst to the fore in the weeks running up to the Israeli elections, the White House is stoking the acrimony. (New York Times, 3/21/2015)

Country Obama Improves Relations With: Cuba
Country Obama Wants to Isolate: Israel

The Riven Heart

Fact-based
The fact that Netanyahu felt compelled to speak directly to Congress in order to oppose the administration’s position speaks poorly, not of Netanyahu, but of Obama. If the leader of one of our closest allies is so worried about the deal Obama is going to cut with Iran that he is willing to risk a diplomatic rift with the administration to speak out, perhaps the problem is not with Israel, but with the Obama administration. And it is not just Israel that opposes Obama’s deal with Iran; Arab leaders have made clear that they share Israel’s view. (Marc Thiessen, Washington Post, 1/27/2015)

How, we wonder, is President Hillary Clinton going to handle Israel?  While she has always publicly supported Israel, the moonbat wing of the Democrat party has become increasingly anti-Israeli, favoring the peace-loving Palestinians (who lob missiles into Israel from schoolyards in Gaza). It is the same dilemma she faces as she attempts to reconcile her service on the Wal Mart Board of Directors with Speaking Bull Liz Warren's chants against corporate America. 
   

Dopes
Shumlin said he believes Vermont should legalize marijuana but has approached the topic carefully, waiting to take lessons from Colorado and Washington, which have authorized a retail marijuana market.

If Vermont lawmakers pursue legal marijuana, the regulatory system might not look like the set-up in Colorado or Washington. A lengthy report on the options was released Jan. 16.

The report, written by the Rand Corporation based in California, found that Vermont could reap millions of dollars of tax revenue by allowing a legal marijuana industry, but the highest tax revenues depend on becoming the first state in the Northeast to do so. (Burlington Free Press, 1/27/2015)

Well, the lessons from Colorado and Washington would lead any rational person to conclude that legalizing marijuana was a bad idea. Admitted ex-pothead Shumlin, however, cannot get beyond that additional tax revenue. Why it could even bring back single payer! Shummy would call that a win-win!


A Prayer
Oh, dear Lord above, I try not to ask for much, but if You could find it appropriate, please let the Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders to run for President. (Jazz Shaw, Hotair.com, 1/27/2015)

The conservative groundswell for Bernie Sanders to run for president (initiated by RedStateVT) continues to grow. Run Bernie, Run!

It would be great fun. 


Relent-less
President Obama, facing angry reprisals from parents and from lawmakers of both parties, will drop his proposal to end popular college savings accounts known as 529s....The decision came just hours after House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio demanded the proposal be withdrawn from the president’s budget, due out Monday, “for the sake of middle-class families.” But the call for the White House to relent also came from top Democrats, including Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking member of the Budget Committee. (New York Times, 1/27/2015)

When you have lost Nancy Pelosi, it is pretty much game over....

Did Obama the Mastermind really think this idea was going to fly?

Whosoever Dwells in Heaven

Up and Away
The odds that Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber may face charges for padding invoices are going up.

Vermont State Auditor Douglas Hoffer’s methodical investigation of Gruber’s undocumented billing practices shifted to a higher gear on Friday, when Hoffer called Gruber’s response to his inquiries to date “unsatisfactory.” (Breitbart.com, 1/23/2015)

Thankfully we have Breitbart to tell us what is happening in Vermont.


Consequential
Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana was a bad idea, the state’s governor said Friday.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the 2012 decision by voters to make pot legal, said the state still doesn’t fully know what the unintended consequences of the move will be.

“If I could've waved a wand the day after the election, I would've reversed the election and said, 'This was a bad idea,’ ” Hickenlooper said Friday on CNBC's “Squawk Box.” (thehill.com, 1/23/2015)

So let's review. California's decision to legalize dope was an abject failure. Even the hippie politicians realized that things were out of control and forced a crackdown on the "medicinal" dope stores that had opened on every corner. (Patient to Doctor: I'm in pain! Doctor to Patient: Here is a prescription for weed. Smoke it twice a day and you will feel better.)

Then we had the stories of Colorado's dope-loving politicians being caught by surprise on the issue of how to regulate dope-infused cuisine. The old hash brownies thing...

And then - also in Colorado - we had the recent story of hash-extraction procedures going bad and blowing up the neighborhood. 

Not to worry, Vermont's Governor Peter Shumlin is still "all in" for legal dope. No doubt he is jealously looking at Colorado's marijuana tourism dollars and thinking: 'Hey, I can close the budget deficit I created if we can get some of that money.' 


Detachment
The president’s habit of detaching from what is actually happening—of declaring in fact that the opposite is happening—is a marvel to behold. History will speak of it. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 1/24/2015)

Of course, Noonan is exactly correct. In Obama's world, Obamacare is a raging success, terrorism has been defeated, Russia did not invade the Ukraine, the economy is roaring, and Liberalism is triumphant. 

"Stupid" Americans Face Large Health Insurance Price Hikes

Substantially
The Obama administration on Friday unveiled data showing that many Americans with health insurance bought under the Affordable Care Act could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans. 
....

“Consumers should shop around,” said Marilyn B. Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the federal insurance exchange serving three dozen states. “With new options available this year, they’re likely to find a better deal.” She asserted that the data showed that “the Affordable Care Act is working.” (New York Times, 11/14/2014)

So apparently, a "better deal" and "working" describe a situation wherein Americans pay substantially more for health insurance. Got it.


Checked Out
 “We’re really making sure the website works super well before the next open enrollment period. We’re double- and triple-checking it.” President Obama
...

The health insurance marketplace opened for business on Saturday and performed much better than last year, but some consumers reported long, frustrating delays in trying to buy insurance and gain access to their own accounts at HealthCare.gov. (New York Times, 11/15/2014)

Quadruple-check?


Dysfunctional
Vermont is the only state that requires purchase of any individual health care insurance policies through the state exchange. Yes, that’s the same exchange that isn’t functioning. Shumlin has turned health care in Vermont into a Kafka-like cartoon: you must buy through the exchange and the exchange doesn’t work. (Stuart Stevens, thedailybeast.com, 11/13/2014)

Wonderful article which describes how corrupt and arrogant Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is and how he nearly blew the recent election to an almost unknown Republican, Scott Milne. Speaking of Vermont Health Connect, here is a recent e-mail: 

"You are receiving this email because you have chosen email as your communication preference.  Usually this email would include a link to your account, but at this time account log-ins and online payments are unavailable due to a period of extended maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Got it.


Identity Crisis
The Democrats’ widespread losses last week have revived a debate inside the party about its fundamental identity, a long-running feud between center and left that has taken on new urgency in the aftermath of a disastrous election and in a time of deeply felt economic anxiety. (New York Times, 11/14/2014)

So after fifty-two thousand articles on how the Republican party is being torn apart by the Tea Party the Times concedes that Democrats face their own rifts. Got it.


Wonderful
Sometimes we wonder if President Obama has even the vaguest idea how a private economy works. (Wall Street Journal, 11/14/2014)

We just liked this line.


Get Closer
Obama Moves Close to Calling Russian Action in Ukraine an Invasion (New York Times headline, 11/16/2014)

Months after Putin invades Ukraine, Obama threatens to accuse Putin of......invading Ukraine. Vlad must wake up every day and pinch himself thinking about how lucky he is to have Obama.

Mocking Breeze

Blood Feud
"I'm not sure what Bill and I expected from the Obamas, but there was bad blood between us from the start."  
Hillary Clinton

"Obama has turned into a joke."  
Hillary Clinton

"The thing with Obama is that he can't be bothered, and there is no hand on the tiller half the time. That's the story of the Obama presidency. No hand on the f***ing tiller."  
Hillary Clinton

"And you can't trust the m***f***.... His word isn't worth s**t."  
Hillary Clinton

"No matter how obstructive the Republicans may be, Obama has the responsibility of leadership." Vernon Jordan

"I'm not going to enjoy this."  
Bill Clinton on playing golf with Barack Obama

"I hate that man Obama more than any man I've ever met, more than any man who ever lived."  
Bill Clinton

"He (Obama) put a hit job on me. He played the race card on me."  
Bill Clinton 

"I have no relationship with the president - none whatsoever."  
Bill Clinton 

"He (Obama) hates me. He tolerates you."  
Bill Clinton to Hillary Clinton

We recently read Edward Klein's delightful new book: Blood Feud - The Clintons vs. the Obamas. Highly recommended! The quotes above are some of our favorites from the book. 


Negotiation 101
The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.
...
As part of the agreement, Mr. Obama announced that the United States would emit 26 percent to 28 percent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005. That is double the pace of reduction it targeted for the period from 2005 to 2020. (New York Times, 11/12/2014)

One can almost imagine Vlad Putin telling Xi Jinping: "This guy Obama is a shmuck. He is so desperate that he'll agree to anything." 

Including a deal in which he commits the U.S. to a 26% decrease in carbon emissions by 2025 while allowing China increases until 2030. 


Discouraged in Vermont
Managers of Vermont’s troubled exchange, which has been offline for repairs since September, are asking customers who have coverage to avoid using the website during open enrollment to keep volume down. Asked last week whether the exchange would be working by Saturday, Gov. Peter Shumlin said, “I’ve been discouraged so many times by this website that I’ll believe it when I see it.” (New York Times, 11/12/2014)

Shumlin added: "All these issues will go away once we implement single payer in Vermont."

Just kidding!

By the way, a quick tally shows Vermont health insurance premiums up by almost 14% for 2015.

Eric Holder Resigns, Nation of Cowards Rejoices!

Allowances
President Obama has put America at the center of a widening war by expanding into Syria airstrikes against the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group known as ISIS and ISIL. He has done this without allowing the public debate that needs to take place before this nation enters another costly and potentially lengthy conflict in the Middle East. (New York Times editorial, 9/24/2014)

New York Times editors lambaste President Obama over the decision to bomb terrorist groups in Syria. Which is definitive proof that it is the right thing to do.


Demonized
Also in keeping with past practice, he acknowledged that the United States is wrestling its own demons. “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe,” he said, “I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Mo., where a young man was killed, and a community was divided.” (New York Times, 9/25/2014)

Why does he constantly do this? In a vastly under-reported story Obama goes to the U.N. and delivers a tough talk on terrorism. Good job. And then he cannot leave it there. He has to pander to the world audience by criticizing America. What is the moral equivalency between ISIS beheadings and Putin's military takeover in the Ukraine and a contested police shooting in the U.S.? Obama has always been and continues to be a classic Blame America Liberal.


Pause Button
During the 1980s and 1990s, new all-time record-high anomalies were occurring about every 3-4 years. But then, we hit the “hiatus.” The rise in the Earth’s average surface temperature basically stopped, “global warming” morphed into “climate change,” and it has been 16.5 years since the last all-time all-month record monthly temperature anomaly was set.

Just-published research from University of Guelph’s Ross McKitrick pegs the length of the hiatus, or “pause”—the period of no statistically significant rise in the earth’s average temperature—at about 19 years. Looking back even further, the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that since the mid-20th century, observed global warming has been less than expected....Global warming is not proceeding as planned.  The climate appears less sensitive to our emissions of greenhouse gases than expected. The urgency to grant the government the authority to limit energy choice is not justified. (Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger, Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, Foxnews.com, 9/23/2014)

To which climate change liars responded.... 

Just kidding! They did not respond because they refuse to take their fingers out of their ears.

Speaking of climate change liars, we noticed that Peter "Burger Boy" Shumlin is bowing to pressure from head Vermont scare-monger Bill McKibben and threatening to divest state funds of oil and gas companies. (There is apparently no place in the portfolio for companies engaged in the legal business of fossil fuels. Which will lead to lower investment returns, by the way.) 

All of which validates RedStateVT's contention that Bill McKibben runs the state.

Easy Prey

Back Court
The court ruled that the president’s action violated the Constitution and said that the Senate and House have the ultimate power to block such recess appointments by scheduling the mini-sessions when they want to. (New York Times, 6/27/2014)

Former constitutional law professor Barack H. Obama is rebuked by SCOTUS. We do not know how the individual Supreme Court justices opined because in twenty-three paragraphs the New York Times does not say. 

Oh, the decision was unanimous. Ouch!

Apparently the story was not really big news, because the Times puts it fourth....after a story on a Ukrainian trade deal.


Dopes
New York moved last week to join 22 states in legalizing medical marijuana for patients with a diverse array of debilitating ailments, encompassing epilepsy and cancer, Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s. Yet there is no rigorous scientific evidence that marijuana effectively treats the symptoms of many of the illnesses for which states have authorized its use. (New York Times, 6/27/2014)

The same Liberals who argue that climate change is settled science agitate for medical marijuana......in the absence of scientific studies. If we can't trust them on the latter, why should we trust them on the former?


Shumlin Wants Your Stuff
Overheard at a local marina: Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin sits in the back seat of his hulking black solar-powered SUV. Admiring a particular boat he jokes with its owner saying that the state may have to commandeer the vessel for the day. Funny stuff.... Until one remembers the last time that Shumlin coveted private property. Namely the land of his beleaguered neighbor. Only the light of day was able to expose Shumlin's attempt to swindle his fellow Vermonter. Our advice to the intrepid mariner: Head out of port and don't look back!

Fight Voter Intimidation: Show Your Government-Issued ID!

Ignorance
Well, the Shumlin administration has established a precedent for ignoring deadlines set in state law to detail funding plans. He has declined to produce a plan for funding universal health care despite having signed a law that said he would by last year. (Burlington Free Press, 3/31/2014)

Shummy no doubt has learned from the Obama administration that flouting the law is perfectly acceptable. 


GM Celebrity Pitchman
“That program (Cash for Clunkers) was good for automakers, consumers, and our environment and the Chevy Cobalt that you build here was one of GM’s most sought-after cars under that program. Dealers across the country started running out of it and needed you to build more.” (President Barack Obama)

Thanks to Jim Geraghty (Nationalreview.com, 4/1/2014) for reminding us of this as hearings open on Capitol Hill on deaths attributable to Barack Obama's favorite GM model.


Spattered
The public spats between outside groups are nothing compared with the private finger-pointing over who could be responsible if Republicans ride a political wave this year. The moderate wing is prepared to blame the party for avoiding centrist initiatives like free-trade deals and entitlement reform, while the Left will argue party leaders didn't do enough to protect benefits. (Nationaljournal.com, 3/30/2014)

Let the Democrat party finger-pointing begin. You are forgiven if you were not aware of schisms among Democrats. The Legitimate Media has been too busy reporting on the Tea Party. 


Kill Zone
The “imperial presidency” message has also been good for fund-raising. A recent email by the National Republican Congressional Committee warned, “Barack Obama thinks he’s above the law and can do anything he wants with the help of his friends, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.”

Then the email moved in for the kill: “Contribute $100, $50, $25 or what you can so that we can continue to defend Americans from Obama’s power grabs and massive government overreach.” (New York Times, 4/1/2014)

Imagine if you will the Wall Street Journal writing about Democrat party fundraising and using the expression: "moved in for the kill." The hysteria would go on for weeks. Republicans would have to issue rebukes; Congressional hearings would be held; and the reporter would be fired. 


The Fix
Administration officials realized when the fiasco was unfolding last fall that nothing mattered in the first year except getting people on the program — and so they did whatever was necessary to HealthCare.gov to make signing up easy. Those fixes are likely to lead to a large percentage of erroneous subsidy payments, as controls and other checks were turned off. That’s clearly a price the administration will gladly pay to get more people onto the program. (James C. Capretta, Nationalreview.com, 4/1/2014)

Here is the next Obamacare horror story that we will hear about: the bribery that was used to get people to sign up.  Today there will be endless rounds of high fives among Democrats about the number of sign-ups. But the Obamacare methodology has not fundamentally changed. Any and all problems are simply pushed down the road.  There will be a day of reckoning.

Spirits to Enforce

Heavy Metal
Kennametal plant officials announced Tuesday they would close the Lyndonville plant, which employs a total of about 80 people. The last day of production will be June 30. (VTDigger.org, 3/27/2014)

Reached for comment about the latest hit to employment in Vermont while vacationing in the Caribbean, Gov. Peter Shumlin vowed to focus on job creation in the state when he returns. As soon as illegal aliens in the state are granted drivers licenses. 

Actually Crummy Shummy vowed to send a "Rapid Response Team" up to Lyndonville. Not to save the jobs of Kennametal workers, it is too late for that. The RRT will help the newly unemployed to apply for unemployment benefits. So Shyster Shumster apparently has no problem helping hard-working folks like the Kennametal employees, he would just rather wait until they lose their jobs first. 


Close Encounters
Self-employed people in her area — truck drivers and cosmetologists, for instance — seem eager to sign up, Ms. Walls said, but “negative press” and problems with the federal website have discouraged many consumers. At the small town educational sessions she runs, she often encounters people whose conservative political philosophy makes them uncomfortable about accepting federal subsidies to buy private coverage. (New York Times, 3/28/2014)

Ah yes, self-reliance. That is something that we conservatives are just going to have to get over if we are going to survive in Obamaworld. 


Praised
In some states that have expanded Medicaid, like Kentucky — which has drawn national praise as a model for other states to follow — the biggest chunk of the newly insured are Medicaid patients. More than 300,000 Kentuckians are enrolled in new health coverage, the state says, 80 percent of them through Medicaid. (New York Times, 3/28/2014)

Eighty percent on the public dole. That is something that Liberals can truly be proud of!


Headlines in Today's New York Times
A Whitewash for Chris Christie
Motive Still Unclear in Christie-Backed Lane Closing Report
Report Details a Claim That Christie Knew of Closings
About New York: Report’s Silence Is Deafening
Sexism Is Seen in Report on Former Christie Aide
About New York: Silence Is Deafening in Bridge Report
Report Details Claim by Ally: Christie Knew of Bridge Lane Closings

What is the most important story of the day according to the New York Times? 

Meanwhile, MSNBC (during our short daily watching period) did another ten minutes on Christie and Bridgegate. With a host and two analysts! After there was a brief mention of something happening in the Ukraine. 

All the Fighting Hand-to-Hand

Break a Leg
The closest the president came to getting a leg up on mounting a defense was on Friday when he told Ryan Seacrest in a radio interview that he had been unfairly maligned for his mom jeans: “Generally, I look very sharp in jeans.” (Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 3/16/2014)

Even Liberals feel free to mock Obama. 


Anonymous
One Democratic lawmaker, who asked not to be identified, said Mr. Obama was becoming “poisonous” to the party’s candidates. (New York Times, 3/16/2014)

Even Democrats feel free to mock Obama.


Gaseous
“We’re seeing the ‘light footprint’ run out of gas,” said one of Mr. Obama’s former senior national security aides, who would not speak on the record about his ex-boss.
...
Ms. Rice was enthusiastic about Mr. Obama’s election in 2008, and talked to him frequently during the transition. But she argues now that many of his decisions — such as abandoning a plan to strike Syria for its use of chemical weapons and proposing a defense budget that shrinks the Army to its lowest levels since World War II just as the Chinese announced a 12 percent increase in their military spending — send clear signals.
...
Still, some senior officials who left the White House after the first term concede — when assured of anonymity — that Mr. Obama erred in failing to have a plan to back up his declaration that President Bashar al-Assad had to leave office. (New York Times, 3/17/2014)

Even former supporters and aides feel free to criticize Obama's foreign policy.


Beneficiary
Republicans also seem to be benefiting from the argument — reinforced by advertising and by their media surrogates — that Mr. Obama has presided over an activist government that has overreached and proved incompetent. (New York Times, 3/16/2014)

The New York Times, Democrat party's leading media surrogate, calls out Republican party media surrogates. That is precious.


The Plague
Well-known Republican politician Randy Brock has requested dozens of public records associated with Vermont’s problem-plagued online health insurance marketplace. (Burlington Free Press, 3/16/2014)

The BFP's headline sees partisanship in Brock's request. Perhaps if Brock were a Democrat investigating a Republican administration he would be seen as a crusader for the truth. In reality, Brock represents the biggest fear of Liberals: an African-American who is a Republican. Hence, like Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain, Tim Scott, JT Watts, Dr. Ben Carson and others, he must be destroyed. 


Appearances
Vermont police organizations said Friday they oppose increasing the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the state or legalizing the drug and that Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration appears tolerant of marijuana. (Burlington Free Press, 3/15/2014)

Chose your favorite response:

Shummy responds: "We must recognize and address the scourge of opiate addiction in our state."
Shummy responds: "What is a 'gateway drug?'"
Shummy responds: "Legalize it!"
Vacationing at his Caribbean retreat, Shumlin could not be reached for comment.

Helpful Hints for Increasing Your Carbon Footprint

Challenging
(Obama) also challenged black men to do better themselves, and said they must not make excuses for their failures or blame society for the poor decisions they have already made. (New York Times, 2/28/2014)

Good comment from Obama, but it is not the message that he has been sending for the first five years of his presidency. His message has been that America is inherently unjust, that any group or individual who can claim minority status is not to blame for their situation, and that government through its "tender mercies" will administer relief.


Anticipation
Parsing Governor Peter Shumlin's comments on the latest round of job losses in Vermont (IBM - 100 or so jobs), as reported in the Burlington Free Press, 2/28/2014:

Later in the day Thursday, Shumlin said he had anticipated even worse news.

Shumlin: Great news! It could have been worse. (Only in Vermont is success defined as not going backwards as fast...)

He said he heard from IBM last night and early this morning. “I made clear that when they shared what they were doing with me that I had a responsibility to communicate what I know with Vermonters.”

Shumlin: See how transparent my administration is. I could not - in good conscience - keep this bad news from the public.

The IBM layoffs came up Thursday morning as Shumlin addressed a gathering of Vermont grocers and retailers in the Statehouse....Shumlin told the group that Vermont’s economy is on the rebound. Several in the audience said they didn’t share his optimism, noting the IBM layoffs as well as the announced closing last week of Plasan Carbon Composite in Bennington and pending job losses when Vermont Yankee closes at the end of the year. Several said they were worried about the accumulative impact of legislation in the works to raise the minimum wage, require paid sick leave and adopt a government-funded health care system.

Shumlin: I don't care what anyone says, things are going just swimmingly here in the People's Republic of Vermont. And once we begin collecting taxes on legalized marijuana, just watch out. We may even be able to fund single-payer. 


Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare from the New York Times (3/1/2014)
The Obama administration said Friday that it would allow some people to receive federal subsidies for health insurance purchased in the private market outside of health insurance exchanges. The sudden shift was the latest in a series of policy changes, extensions and clarifications by federal officials trying to help beneficiaries and minimize political damage to Democrats in this election year.

Even one of Obamacare's biggest cheerleaders admits that the whole thing has now been politicized.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that four-fifths of people buying insurance through exchanges will qualify for subsidies, with the government spending an average of $4,700 for each “subsidized enrollee” this year.

Obamacare is Obamacaid. Eighty percent of buyers will receive government aid.

The health law fix this week comes after the administration delayed the requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to employees; extended the deadline for people to sign up for coverage starting on Jan. 1; delayed the opening of online marketplaces for small businesses; and asked insurers to extend individual health care policies that had been canceled for not complying with the new federal law. 

Harry Reid may think that there are no individual health care horror stories, but he is not looking hard enough. The whole law is a horror story. 


The Deep
In unscheduled remarks at the White House Friday afternoon, President Obama said the United States is "deeply concerned" about military movements by the Russian federation inside Ukraine, and warned that "there will be costs for any military intervention." (Washington Post, 2/28/2014)

We'll know that Obama is really really serious if he says "red line." Of course Krauthammer gets it right again:

Putin fully occupies vacuums. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 2/27/2014)

...Obama being the empty space. 


Behind Every Fortune a Crime
After nearly 20 months of celebrity theater and an incalculable amount of effort and courtroom expense, the misdemeanor trial of Kerry Kennedy ended on Friday in breakneck fashion, as jurors took one hour to find her not guilty of driving under the influence of a drug: a sleeping pill that she said she took by accident. (New York Times, 3/1/2014)

As they have for decades, the Kennedy clan runs roughshod over the American judicial system.

Forward in the Queue

It's Back
“Republicans have turned the floor of the House into the battleground for their relentless war on women’s health care and freedoms,” said Representative Steve Israel of New York, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Every time they launch another extreme attack against women’s rights, they lose more ground with women voters.” (New York Times, 1/21/2014)

Loyal readers know that RedStateVT has been wondering what happened to the Republican War on Women. Well this being an election year, Democrats have dusted off this gem just in time. Just a reminder of the horrible things that Republicans want to do to punish women:

- They want to deny a woman's right to an abortion after 5 months. (Just doing the math, that is 55% into a normal term of pregnancy.)

- They want to insist that a doctor performing abortions have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

- They want to abolish partial birth abortion wherein the baby's life is terminated as it is being delivered. 

Instead of running scared on the issue of abortion, Republicans should force Democrats to defend it.


Own It
In fact, three out of four Americans killed in Afghanistan have died under Barack Obama’s command. That’s ownership enough. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 1/16/2014)

A fact unknown by Americans because a directive issued by the Democrat party forbade the non-Fox media from reporting casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan when Obama became president. 


The Peril
America's most worrisome problem may not be the failed takeover of our healthcare system. It may not be our languishing economy or even the massive federal debt hanging over future generations. As dangerous as these problems are, perhaps more perilous is just how far our nation has fallen in the eyes of our allies and the lack of caution our feckless foreign policy inspires in our adversaries. (Pete du Pont, Wall Street Journal, 1/21/2014)

Exactly the point, that RedStateVT has long made. Many of Obama's domestic blunders can eventually be undone or mitigated. The havoc he wreaks in foreign policy, however, has long-lasting consequences. Anti-democratic forces are emboldened, people die, and the world is a more dangerous place. 

Witness:

Mr. Obama boxed himself in with his vow to stop Iran from achieving nuclear breakout on his watch. He doesn't want his promise tested. And in return for a generous payment, Ayatollah Khamenei might well find it worthwhile not to flaunt any nuclear progress during Mr. Obama's remaining 36 months. Iran would likely be getting paid for a time-out it would have taken anyway. After all, in the past three decades, when have the mullahs felt more confident and secure in the face of external threats than they do right now? (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 1/21/2014)


High Times
Mr. Obama is now the President, not a stoned teenager riffing with his Choom Gang, and he might have set a better example. Parents trying to teach their kids to make better choices than getting high are at a disadvantage when the person in charge of upholding the law says breaking the law is no big deal. (Wall Street Journal, 1/21/2014)

Why Obama would risk talking about legalizing marijuana given his own inglorious, smoke-filled high school years is certainly a subject that demands deeper scrutiny. He is either feeling very confident or very reckless. His message to America's teenagers is apparently as follows: dope should be legal, but don't smoke dope. Makes perfect sense....

Meanwhile, Vermont Progressive Senator David Zuckerman introduces a bill to legalize marijuana. He takes his cue from Governor Peter Shumlin who is already on record in support, at the same time that he decries opiate addiction in the state. Makes perfect sense....

The Utter Hypocrisy of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin

“It is a crisis bubbling beneath the surface that may be invisible to many, but is already highly visible to law enforcement, medical personnel, social service and addiction treatment providers and too many Vermont families. It requires all of us to take action before the quality of life that we cherish so much is compromised.” (Peter Shumlin)


So Vermont's governor is concerned about opiate abuse in the state. In fact, he made it the centerpiece of his recent State of the State address. Congratulations, governor, for shining a light on a critical problem. 

Also, you are a hypocrite.

We are referring, of course, to your comments indicating that you are now "open" to legalizing marijuana. Already with your support, possession of marijuana has been decriminalized and "medical" marijuana is now legal in Vermont. Before you decided to go down this path, perhaps you studied California's experience in mainstreaming marijuana. If you did, you would have learned that things did not go well there, prompting even some who had been in favor to call for a re-evaluation. Apparently dope dispensaries opened on every other corner and getting a note from your doctor to buy cannabis was as easy as getting a library card. Meanwhile, have you seen what is going on in Colorado?  In that state, legislators apparently just said: what the heck, let's skip the whole medicinal ruse and just legalize it for everyone! There is even talk there of "marijuana tourism." Let's hope that is not what you have in mind as the next logical step for growing Vermont tourism. 

By the way, did you really call up the folks at The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (ironically known as NORML) and volunteer to be a spokesperson as was widely reported? Do you see any disconnect between your concern about opiates and your chill attitude toward weed?

Young people are masterly at rationalization. Just talk to them. If adults send signals that possession of marijuana is not such a big deal, teenagers will not focus on the nuances. The message that kids hear is that smoking marijuana is OK. And they will do it before school, during school, after school. It is disappointing that you do not get that.

Here is the thing, governor. Experts tell us that the percentage of people who are now abusing opiates and who first started out smoking dope rounds to ... 100%. Did anyone on your staff ever discuss with you the concept of a "gateway" drug? Marijuana is THE gateway drug for all illegal drug abuse. To draw an analogy, yes, there IS a difference between petty shoplifting and burglary. But failing to punish the shoplifter creates later consequences for society. So while your focus on opiates is admirable, reasonable people may question how that squares with your relaxed attitude about marijuana.

A final thought: before you take the next step and legalize marijuana please check in with the dedicated folks who work at the various organizations in the state who deal with drug abuse. No doubt they have sad stories to tell of the carnage that illicit drugs have had on individuals, families and society. These stories all have a common starting point.

Torn Apart and Rent

Dopes
A new federal report shows that the percentage of American high school students who smoke marijuana is slowly rising, while the use of alcohol and almost every other drug is falling.

The report raises concerns that the relaxation of restrictions on marijuana, which can now be sold legally in 20 states and the District of Columbia, has been influencing use of the drug among teenagers. Health officials are concerned by the steady increase and point to what they say is a growing body of evidence that adolescent brains, which are still developing, are susceptible to subtle changes caused by marijuana. (New York Times, 12/18/2013)

And in the news today, Brattleboro becomes the fourth Vermont city to have a "medical" marijuana store. Governor Peter Shumlin must be so proud! Did he attend the opening? Was there a ribbon-cutting ceremony?


Cold
After being introduced, the president just about bounced onto the stage. A few days earlier I had heard a commentator say he seemed in the dumps these days. That afternoon he was fresh, unruffled — in other words, cool. (Maybe it was because our state’s health-insurance exchange, Covered California, demonstrates how well the Affordable Care Act works when implemented correctly: My youngest daughter got a silver plan that drastically reduces her monthly premiums within an hour of applying.) (Ishmael Reed, New York Times, 12/19/2013)

This is the kind of utter nonsense that the New York Times sees fit to print. An entire puff piece on how President Obama is President Cool. Yes, not only Cool, he is Be Bop Jazz Cool! 

And Reed is just thrilled that his daughter got a cheap new health plan. Why we wonder would a young person opt for a silver plan when cheaper options are available? Oh, that's right. You have to choose a silver plan in order to get federal subsidies. So President Cool did the Reed family a solid by giving them some freebies...courtesy of taxpayers. Got it. 


Roughly
Americans who lack medical coverage disapprove of President Obama’s health care law at roughly the same rate as the insured, even though most say they struggle to pay for basic care, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Fifty-three percent of the uninsured disapprove of the law, the poll found, compared with 51 percent of those who have health coverage. (New York Times, 12/19/2013)

Actually, the uninsured disapprove of Obamacare by a greater percentage than the insured. But that is something that the New York Times cannot bring itself to write.


Conflict Avoidance
Senator Max Baucus of Montana, soon to be nominated as President Obama’s next ambassador to China, is the powerful — and, to many fellow Democrats, infuriating — chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He is also the conflicted architect of Mr. Obama’s health care law.

Now, if he is confirmed, Mr. Baucus, who had already announced that he would not run for re-election in 2014, will join the administration whose bureaucratic ineptitude he foresaw in April when he warned of a “huge train wreck” if officials did not do a better job explaining the Affordable Care Act. (New York Times, 12/19/2013)

Obama's objective? To get Baucus out of town. As far away as possible. It's China only because the position of Ambassador to the Moon has already been filled.

Render unto Caesar

Breaking News! Obama Permits Americans to Keep Junk Policies Issued by Bad Apple Insurers!

More Obama Health Care Lies
President Obama - who likely never read an insurance policy in his life - continues to lie about how insurance works. He said today that the policies that he would prefer to see cancelled contain fine print about high deductibles that insureds would not see until they tried to file a claim. This is pure and unadulterated nonsense. Pick up any insurance policy and the first thing you will notice is a Schedule of Benefits/Declarations Page which summarizes your coverage including benefits and deductibles. Even a former community organizer could understand what the coverage is. You just have to read it. If you cannot understand it, an insurance agent would be more than happy to explain it to you.

The next lie from our fearless leader is that people in the individual market have their insurance cancelled because they file claims. More hogwash. Insurers cannot cancel a policy because a legitimate claim is filed. The only time a policy can be cancelled (besides non-payment of premium) is for fraud or if the insurer decides to no longer offers that policy in the state, in which case it is cancelled for all covered under that class. Insurers cannot selectively cancel policies for insureds covered by the same policy form. 

Finally, President Misspoke talked again about people going bankrupt because their coverage was exhausted, referring to the Lifetime Benefit Maximum, often around $1 million. We wonder how many people in the U.S. have gone bankrupt because they have exhausted their policy's $1 million cap. None? OK, four, maybe five? The sweet irony of this complaint, however, is that the president wants this cap lifted, but at the same time wants to rein in the amount of money spent on health care for seniors. Hence, the Obamacaid directive that doctors should discuss "end of life" decisions with the elderly. Obama is fretfully concerned about the infinitesimal number of people who go or might go bankrupt due to a medical catastrophe, but views as rounding error the 5 million people with high deductible health policies that his legislation outlaws.


Lead story in the New York Times: JPMorgan's Fruitful Ties to a Member of China's Elite

(Second place goes to : Democrats Threaten to Abandon Obama on Health Provision)

In fact, hundreds of thousands of Americans have received cancellation notices from their insurers because their health care coverage does not meet the minimum standards dictated by the new law. (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Fox News reported last night a figure of 5 million people who have lost their health care coverage because of Obamacaid. 

So it is somewhere between "hundreds of thousands" and 5 million...

White House officials said they recognized the need for Democrats to vent their frustration about the health care problems. Mr. Carney said that the dissatisfaction felt by Democrats on Capitol Hill “is similar to the frustration that the president feels.” (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Really, the president is frustrated? What exactly is he frustrated about? Is he frustrated that he lied when he told the American people that they could keep their health insurance? Is that what has got him so doggone frustrated?

"No one is more frustrated then me that I told you that you could keep your health insurance."

“This has been a complete embarrassment,” Representative Patrick Murphy, Democrat of Florida, said. “It doesn’t matter what party you are. The focus needs to be how do we get this right.” (NYT, 11/14/2013)

Well actually, it matters a whole lot what party you are when you pass legislation that does not garner a single opposition vote. Not one. 


Lunch Bell
“There’s no free lunch. The healthier have to pay more to make the law work,” said MIT economics professor Jon Gruber, who advised the White House on ObamaCare.  “If you keep the promise for younger and healthier people to keep their current plans, you break the promise to provide affordable coverage to many more millions of people.” (NYPost.com, 11/14/2013)

At last, an honest Democrat.


Penalty Flag
Once an NFL wide receiver and local hero with a $5 million contract, Sam Hurd was reduced to being a convicted felon in orange jail scrubs pleading with a judge to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.
...
His biggest regret was starting to smoke marijuana, an addiction he said he picked up in college at Northern Illinois and that grew once he got to the pros. (NYPost.com, 11/14/2013)

Governor Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont who decriminalized marijuana?

What say you?

Beast at Bay

Run Away
If Sen. Bernie Sanders runs for president he could have support from former Gov. Howard Dean.

Dean says right now he is backing Hillary Clinton if she decides to run in 2016. But he said if Sanders got in the race, he'd have to consider supporting the home state candidate.

Sanders says he is 99 percent sure he would not run, but has left the door open, saying there needs to be more focus on the disappearing middle class. (WCAX.com, 11/12/2013)

Oh come on now, Bernie, run! Do not deny the American people the circus that would be a Sanders presidential bid. 

Of course, Dean's motivation is suspect. No doubt he wants to lose the label he now has of "that moonbat candidate from Vermont."


Miami Heat
President Obama appears to have remained overnight in Miami – incurring extra costs for taxpayers – just to play golf in the Florida sunshine.
...
There are no official events on his schedule today, golf seemingly his primary duty. He’ll depart Miami for Washington at 3:25 pm.

This marks the 150th time Obama has played golf as president, and the 39th time this year. (Whitehousedossier.com, 11/9/2013)

Not to worry, Obama has ordered a "tech surge" to fix Healthcare.gov. Thereby freeing himself up to hit the links!

(Great website, by the way.)


Due and Unpaid
All told, about 210,000 people have signed up, about 155,000 for Medicaid and 55,000 others for private insurance plans. Those numbers include people who have picked a plan but have not necessarily paid their first premium, which is not due for another month.

In addition, Oregon has signed up more than 70,000 people for the Medicaid expansion through a “fast-track” program that does not rely on the exchange. And Maryland will automatically enroll more than 80,000 newly eligible people in Medicaid in January. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

It's really Obamacaid, not Obamacare, isn't it?


Side Split
The split between lawmakers and the White House reflects the dilemma the president finds himself in as he seeks to follow through on last week’s acknowledgment about his incorrect promise on health care coverage. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

New York Times Style Book: Republicans flip-flop, Democrats evolve; Republicans lie, Democrats make incorrect promises.


Personal Beliefs
“I personally believe even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,” Mr. Clinton said in the interview, published by Ozy, a web magazine. (NYT, 11/13/2013)

RedStateVT told you - just a week or so ago - that Bill Clinton would get his payback for Obama's slights. We had no idea, however, that it would happen so quickly!


Derivations
Many of the rigged rules derive directly from the Wall Street wing of the (Democrat) party, personified by Robert Rubin, former head of Goldman Sachs who served as Clinton’s economic guru and Treasury secretary. Rubin peddled the bankers’ creed: financial deregulation, fiscal austerity, capital gain tax cuts, corporate globalization, flexible (read anti-union) labor markets, combined with public solicitude for the poor, trumped always by limited budgets. Celebrated during the Clinton years, the combination proved a toxic brew that led directly to the financial wilding that blew up the economy. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 11/12/2013)

Liberals have been telling us for years - years! - that it was George Bush (and maybe Mitt Romney) who were responsible for blowing up the U.S. economy. Now one of their own 'fesses up: it was Bill Clinton. This is earth-shattering news. 


Dog Days
Call of Duty: Ghosts, developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC, is rated M (Mature, for players 17 and older) for throat knifings, profanity and a dog that feasts on human necks. (NYT, 11/6/2013)

Just keeping readers up-to-date on the latest in video games. 

Repeat after us: video games do not lead to violence, video games do not lead to violence....


Possibilities
Lady Gaga said she was addicted to marijuana in an interview with Elvis Duran on the Z100 Morning Show on Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, and that she decided to speak about it so young people are aware that addiction to the drug is possible. (WSJ, 11/13/2013)

Uh, Governor Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont? Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont whose signature legislative accomplishment is the decriminalization of dope?

Spin the Dial

Seeing Red
Why should the mullahs in Tehran worry about crossing Obama’s red line on WMDs when they see the Syrians cross Obama’s red line on WMDs — and the president’s reaction is to do as little as he can without getting mocked? (Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, 9/2/2013)

In the Illinois legislature, he voted “present” 129 times to avoid difficulties; now he stoops from his executive grandeur to tutor Congress on accountability. In Washington, where he condescends as a swan slumming among starlings, he insists that, given the urgency of everything he desires, he “can’t wait” for Congress to vote on his programs or to confirm persons he nominates to implement them. The virtues of his policies and personnel are supposedly patent and sufficient to justify imposing both by executive decrees.
....
Now, concerning Syria, he lectures Congress, seeking an accomplice while talking about accountability. (George Will, Washington Post, 9/2/2013)

But overall the Obama foreign policy team seems to suffer from a Pollyannaish approach to the world. They do not seem to understand that those who hate America will hate us, and will try to harm us, whether our president is Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama. (WSJ, 8/27/2013)

Having leaked to the world, and thus to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a detailed briefing of the coming U.S. air attack on Syria — (1) the source (offshore warships and perhaps a bomber or two), (2) the weapon (cruise missiles), (3) the duration (two or three days), (4) the purpose (punishment, not “regime change”) — perhaps we should be publishing the exact time the bombs will fall, lest we disrupt dinner in Damascus.

So much for the element of surprise. Into his third year of dithering, two years after declaring Assad had to go, one year after drawing — then erasing — his own red line on chemical weapons, Barack Obama has been stirred to action.  Or more accurately, shamed into action. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 8/29/2013)

Among the best of the commentary on Obama's Syrian problem. In a nutshell:

• By projecting weakness and vacillation, Obama emboldens America's real enemies. Not Syria, but North Korea and Iran.
• Obama flaunts executive privilege to get his way, but seeks Congressional consensus when he is looking for a skirt to hide behind.
• The Obama foreign policy charm offensive is an abject failure. 

Telling Tales
"First of all, I didn't set a red line," said Obama. "The world set a red line. The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world's population said the use of chemical weapons are [inaudible] and passed a treaty forbidding their use, even when countries are engaged in war. Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty. Congress set a red line when it indicated that in a piece of legislation entitled the Syria Accountability Act that some of the horrendous things happening on the ground there need to be answered for. So, when I said in a press conference that my calculus about what's happening in Syria would be altered by the use of chemical weapons, which the overwhelming consensus of humanity says is wrong, that wasn't something I just kind of made up. I didn't pluck it out of thin air. There's a reason for it." (Weeklystandard.com, 9/4/2013)

So this is what it has come to: painted into a corner with his own brush, Obama resorts to lying. He didn't set a "red line?" Once again the video evidence and the transcripts will expose the lie, but once again it will pass because the Legitimate Media will not report it. (Don't expect Rachel Maddow to devote a show to red lines. There are more important topics to cover; like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz.)

"I did not have sex with that woman."
"I didn't set a red line."

What is it with Democrat presidents and the truth?


Dog Days
Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier, chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Klein has doggedly pursued closing Yankee from the start of his political career. But like the governor, he also emphasized what he calls an important point.

"This plant is not closing because of anything the state of Vermont has done. This is clearly the economics and the sign of the times of big baseload generators, the price of natural gas," Klein said. (WCAX.com, 8/27/2013)

We got a snicker out of this one. So Tony Klein and Peter Shumlin hounded Vermont Yankee for years, making it all but impossible for it to do business in Vermont. Then in what should be their triumphant moment they don't want to take credit for what they have caused to happen. What's up with that?

Allow RedStateVT to explain. 

Make no mistake, within Progressive Party circles Klein and Shumlin are giving and getting high fives all around. Unfortunately there is the issue of the 650 jobs that will be lost. Klein/Shumlin won't man-up on that little problem (the unemployment, the lost tax revenue) and so the VY closure is really all about the low cost of natural gas. Hypocrisy has a name.