US Senate

State Auditor Tom SalmonVermont Republican Party Chairman Rob Roper's remarks regarding the military deployment of State Auditor Tom Salmon to the Middle East have sparked wide controversy among politicians across the state.

An Associated Press article cited the state GOP leader as saying that "the voters in Vermont should have the option of having someone in the office who will be on the job on day one. Salmon won't even be here when the Legislature gets back."

Gubernatorial candidates Gaye Symington (D-Jericho) and Anthony Pollina (Prog-Middlesex) both released statements this afternoon blaming Gov. Jim Douglas' (R-Middlebury) policies for IBM laying off 180 jobs today at its Essex Junction plant.

Symington's statement accused the governor of being unaware of the state's economic problems. The House speaker made note of the state's current economic situation, having lost 2,800 jobs during the governor’s term, at a 14-year high in unemployment and possessing the slowest rate of job creation in New England.

“Despite the facts, Jim Douglas says we’re ‘heading in the right direction’ and he spoke last week of Vermont’s ‘growing prosperity,’” Symington wrote. “It shows a lack of awareness and sensitivity to say things are going well when Vermonters are losing their jobs, and those still employed are very worried about the weak economy.”

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy: Getty Images PhotoU.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex) seems to be everywhere these days, from fighting to ban cluster bombs in Dublin to challenging big oil company executives on the Senate floor. He'll even make an appearance in this summer's eagerly awaited Batman flick, "The Dark Knight."

Although Leahy himself, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is no superhero, his political prowess is matched by few. Congress.org, a non-partisan website that ranks politicians' influence in Washington, named Leahy the fourth most-powerful U.S. senator in the nation and the fourth most-powerful man in the Democratic Party.

But few could have predicted Leahy's rise to power, his longevity or his success. First elected in 1974, he became the first and only Democrat to represent Vermont in the U.S. Senate; at the age of 34, he was the youngest as well.

Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina held a rally on Thursday, yet led most observers to believe that he was going to announce his challenge to Brian Dubie for lieutenant governor. Speculation on the morning news was that Pollina would bow out of the race for governor, giving former House Speaker Gaye Symington, a Democrat, a clear shot to unseat Republican Gov. Jim Douglas this fall. And the Progressives and Democrats would be again lining up their interests for the greater good.

But it was not to be ... Pollina announced to Vermont he was staying put and going to act the spoiler.

Democrats are likely watching their chances to take the governorship slip away.

As U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's stock rises, state Republican Party chief Rob Roper is facing an ugly fall. Here are Vermont's Winners & Losers for May 23, 2008.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy: Getty Images PhotoWCAX-TV/Channel 3 out of Burlington is reporting a conversation with Vermont's senior U.S. senator, Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex). Several weeks ago, we reported on the possibility that Leahy, who currently chairs the Judiciary Committee, could rise to the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee, currently chaired by U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, the aging West Virginia Democrat.

Don't expect Vermont's U.S. senators to be a presidential runningmate. In a survey of the U.S. Senate's membership not already running for president on whether they'd accept an offer to be vice president, The Hill newspaper found a variety of responses to the veepstakes question. Some were accompanied by laughs, others took the question seriously.

So, how did Independent Bernie Sanders and Democrat Patrick Leahy respond?

See U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy?Look to the right of the Joker and it looks as though Patrick Leahy is being stopped by some armed man? Did Vermont's senior U.S. senator get a part in the new "Batman" movie?

Yes he did.

That shows some real power.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders: Photo by Getty ImagesAs we suffer with rising gas prices and no relief insight, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is running ads in Indiana proposing suspension of the gas tax, a proposal Republican John McCain floated a week earlier. Yet, Clinton has a way to pay for it.

"The Windfall Profits Tax," often pushed by Vermont's very own Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, is Clinton's remedy to make up the revenue short-fall from the federal government giving us some relief. And with ExxonMobil this week releasing record profits -- again -- this proposal may pick up steam in the Rust Belt.

While economists consistently highlight that this new tax will make our problems worse by drive more crude to the developing markets of China and India, Democratic primary voters will surely rejoice "in sticking it to the man." And right now, there's no bigger "man" than Big Oil.