Boy, don't you wish you lived in Vermont? If only my state (and maybe yours) didn't have another dirtbag Republican corporatist extremist at the helm. Maybe we could actually look at the numbers and admit it's the only system that makes financial sense:

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The Vermont Senate is expected to discuss and vote on an historic health care bill that would effectively create the path towards a single-payer system.

All Vermonters would be eligible under the tax-payer funded plan. Supporters also say it will be cheaper than the current system because it is more efficient.

"We estimate we can save $500 million, and that's a conservative estimate," said Sen. Claire Ayer.

Their goal would be to have the bill on the Governor's desk by early May, but opponents want to take it much slower. They are worried that this whole process is going too fast for a bill that is too important.

"We are hoping we can spread it out over a day or two," said Republican Sen. Joe Benning. "This is probably the biggest piece of legislation to come out since the Civil War. We are talking about, not millions, but billions of dollars that are being discussed."

The total cost of the bill is still unclear since financing decisions won't be made until 2012. That has some small businesses and corporations like IBM concerned.

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Given that, I want to shine a light on the other guy in the room: Vermont Governor Shumlin, who was just rock-solid from beginning to end, regardless of whether he was sparring over pension funding with Republicans or simply offering a contrast to the arrogant and feckless Mr. Walker. Truly, it's people like Governor Shumlin who restore my faith in our system.

Long story short: He's dealing with the same kinds of issues that Scott Walker is (as are most states), and cites the costs of incarceration and health care as the two biggest challenges. But unlike Governor Walker, his solutions include single payer health care statewide, and negotiations with public employees using "maple syrup" instead of vinegar.

This is what good government looks like. More like him, please.

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Vermont is the first state who may actually have single payer health insurance become a reality. The Vermont House has passed a single payer bill which might actually get through the Vermont Senate, too.

Boston.com:

"This bill takes our state one step closer to a system that ensures that all Vermonters have access to the care they deserve and contains costs," House Speaker Shap Smith said shortly after the House passed the bill 92-49.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass, but with some possible changes.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, who made single-payer health care a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign last year, also praised the legislation. He said it would make Vermont "the first state in the country to make the first substantive step to deliver a health care system where health care will be a right and not a privilege, where health care will follow the individual, not be a requirement of the employer, and where we'll have an affordable system that contains costs."

Under the proposed plan, Vermont would create a state-run insurance exchange which would then be converted to the single-payer model in 2013. Despite Republican efforts to exempt some businesses who self-insure their health benefits, the Democrats remained united and passed it without those exemptions.

This is how it will happen. One state at a time. Watch Vermont to see how it's done.

Apparently gay people are now considered full-fledged human beings in certain select states!

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

I wonder if they're doing this to avoid the scrutiny of Henry Waxman. They do have a long track record ripping off American taxpayers at the expense of the troops.

MSNBC:

U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co. is moving its headquarters and chief executive to Dubai in a move that immediately sparked criticism from some U.S. politicians.

Texas-based Halliburton, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995-2000, did not specify what, if any, tax implications the move might entail. It plans to list on a stock exchange in the Middle East once it moves to Dubai — a booming commercial center in the Gulf. The company said it was making the moves to position itself better to gain contracts in the oil-rich Middle East.

“This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years,” said judiciary committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

(guest blogged by Logan Murphy)

It's a sign of the times.

Reuters -

More than 30 Vermont towns passed resolutions on Tuesday seeking to impeach President Bush, while at least 16 towns in the tiny New England state called on Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

"We're putting impeachment on the table," said James Leas, a Vermont lawyer who helped to draft the resolutions and is tracking the votes. "The people in all these towns are voting to get this process started and bring the troops home now."

After casting votes on budgets and other routine items, citizens of 32 towns in Vermont backed a measure calling on the U.S. Congress to file articles of impeachment against Bush for misleading the nation on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and for engaging in illegal wiretapping, among other charges.

Read the rest of this article

Something you won't see on US news:

Check out this video: "Guto Harri reports from a marble factory in Vermont where staff produce a dozen headstones every week for the fallen."

(h/t Paul)

"This is going to be an issue in 2006, and it's going to be an issue in 2008," [DNC chairman Howard] Dean told about 200 people at a gay rights group's breakfast in West Hollywood, "because we're going to have an ad with a picture of Tom DeLay saying, 'Do you want this guy to decide whether you die or not? Or is that going to be up to your loved ones?' "

Dean, a practicing physician until he became governor of Vermont in 1991, added: "The issue is: Are we going to live in a theocracy where the highest powers tell us what to do? Or are we going to be allowed to consult our own high powers when we make very difficult decisions?"

"This is going to be an issue in 2006, and it's going to be an issue in 2008," [DNC chairman Howard] Dean told about 200 people at a gay rights group's breakfast in West Hollywood, "because we're going to have an ad with a picture of Tom DeLay saying, 'Do you want this guy to decide whether you die or not? Or is that going to be up to your loved ones?' "

Dean, a practicing physician until he became governor of Vermont in 1991, added: "The issue is: Are we going to live in a theocracy where the highest powers tell us what to do? Or are we going to be allowed to consult our own high powers when we make very difficult decisions?"

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Vermont voters went to the polls Tuesday to overwhelmingly support a referendum to bring US troops home from Iraq according to preliminary returns.

he resolution urges President George W. Bush to bring US troops home from Iraq and also asks local lawmakers to review the Vermont National Guard's involvement in the war.

The state has the second-highest proportion of reservists involved in the war, after Hawaii

Vermont radio station dumps Rush for Air America.