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So it seems James O'Keefe has gone to Vermont and made a stupid video. It's stupid because it does what James O'Keefe always tries to do -- exaggerates a problem in order to shame public officials into accepting his point of view. Only the only one who should be shamed is O'Keefe.

Just as he did in New Hampshire, he sent in "undercover" people with video cameras to ask for ballots in the name of voters, living and dead. In each case on the video, O'Keefe's minions ask whether they need to show ID, and in each case, poll workers tell them they don't.

One of the more interesting anomalies on the video are the dates. The first subject, "Mohamud" is dated March 9, 2009. The "John Adams" video is dated February 27, 2012, as is "Adam Berger." "Travis Houle" is dated March 8, 2009. "Evan Bean" is March 8, 2009. The date of the Vermont primary was March 7, 2012. None of these videos have that date. The 2009-2010 Vermont elections calendar does not have any elections scheduled for March 8-9, 2009, nor was anything scheduled for February 27, 2012. There was a very close mayoral election in Burlington, VT on March 3, 2009, which went to an instant runoff where a progressive was elected over the Republican candidate, knocking the Democrat out of the race altogether. But why would video referring to a city race be dated March 9th when the election was March 3rd? The ballots cast on March 3rd were used in the instant runoff voting, so there wasn't a new vote on the 8th or 9th.

Vermont does, however, permit voter registration until five days before the election. In the case of "John Adams" and "Adam Berger", it's possible they were requesting voter registration forms, which they would not need ID to request, but would need ID to submit.

In Vermont, a valid photo ID is required when one registers to vote. Applicants are also required to take the "Voter's Oath", which must be certified by an appropriate official before the registration is valid. Once those requirements are met, the voter's name is entered on the rolls.

All of this begs the question: Where were these videos filmed and for what elections? It would appear they weren't even filmed in Vermont! And if they were filmed in Vermont on those days and actual ballots were requested, then O'Keefe forgot about this:

While one can indeed register to vote (in most places) without showing an ID via third party, what O'Keefe fails to mention in his video, is that the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 already requires those who do not register in person to provide ID when voting for the first time at the polling place. In other words, if "Thomas Brady" registers to vote via the registration forms received via O'Keefe's video, he would be required, by federal law, to show an ID the first time he votes in person at the polling place.

He also evidently ignored this as he continues to push Voter ID laws with his highly suspect videos:

The only type of voter fraud which could possibly be deterred by such measures would be in-person, polling place impersonation, which is so rare that even George W. Bush's own Dept. of Justice was unable to find even a single instance of it, out of hundreds of millions of votes cast across the nation during the years from 2002 to 2005, when they placed unprecedented resources into ferreting out such instances of voter fraud.

The bulk of this video is O'Keefe trying to make false equivalences between showing ID to drink, get a hotel room, and complete a civil union, while completely ignoring the fact that yes, ID is required to vote, at the time of registration to vote rather than on Election Day. He also ignores the fact that voting is a Constitutional right rather than an optional act such as drinking, renting a hotel room, or entering into a contractual civil union with another person. What's truly laughable is that this particular line of thinking is one that's already been pushed on by conservatives, including J. Christian Adams. Via Media Matters:

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State: Ohio

Type of election: Primary

How it works: 63 delegates are at stake. 48 delegates are awarded in winner-take-all congressional districts. Santorum submitted only a partial slate of delegates by the deadline. If he wins in those districts, he can only be awarded only the number of delegates he submitted. The remaining delegates will be designated unbound until a three-member panel from the Republican party's central committee decides who the delegates will be appointed by. The remaining 15 delegates will be allocated to any candidate who gets a majority of the statewide vote or distributed proportionately among any candidates who get at least 20 percent of the vote.

Official election results: Ohio Secretary of State

Republican candidates: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (all others have dropped out or are polling at less than 1 percent)

Democratic candidates: There is no Democratic presidential primary.

Previous performance: In 2008, Romney dropped out prior to the primary, but still received 5 percent of the vote and finished fourth. Paul finished third with slightly fewer votes. Obama finished second with 45 percent of the vote.

Newspapers: Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch, Toledo Blade, full list

Television stations: Full list

Progressive blogs: Buckeye State Blog, Ohio Daily Blog, Plunderbund

Latest polling: New York Times:

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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.

Transcript follows.

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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.

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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?"