Free Republic

Former Vermont governor and Democratic National Comittee chairman Howard Dean called out conservative pundit Ann Coulter on Twitter. Dean said, "Hate speech is not protected by the first amendment."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., were set to introduce the College for All Act on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon, in an effort to make higher education a realistic and affordable opportunity for the entirety of U.S. citizens, regardless of income or demographic. The legislation includes a joint-bill in the House which would be introduced Wednesday by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., according to a statement provided to International Business Times.

The Senate’s most senior Democrat says he probably won’t join his party’s effort to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch, in the first major indication that Republicans may not have to resort to the so-called “nuclear option” to fill the empty Supreme Court seat. Senator Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, said he’ll vote against Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, but doesn’t think a filibuster is the right path. “I am not inclined to filibuster, even though I’m not inclined to vote for him,” Leahy told the Vermont Digger on Sunday.

A resolution that would have severely limited certain speakers from lecturing at Middlebury College has been defeated by conservative student senators standing up for free speech. The bill, which was initially titled “Community Standards in Public Events,” was introduced shortly after controversial political activist Charles Murray spoke on campus, where he was shouted down and eventually assaulted along with a liberal professor who was leaving the venue with him.

The Socialist senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, set off a Twitterstorm yesterday with a tweet that was hard to believe. We are living in a nation which worships wealth rather than caring for the poor. I don't think that is the nation we should be living in.— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 18, 2017 Needless to say, this towering hypocrisy did not go unnoticed in the Twitterverse: @BernieSanders Says the man who owns 3 homes one which cost over $600,000. I'm guessing you have homeless people you're housing? Do as I say, not as I do?— lc65265 (@lc65265) March 18,...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) could not say on Wednesday where he got the information that "thousands will die" if Obamacare is repealed. Sanders made the claim while speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper but could not provide any specific sources that backed his assertion, instead referring to "studies that have been done.

Academia today abounds in ironies, although, more often than not, the irony is lost on the denizens of academe itself. By now, the mobbing of conservative scholar Charles Murray at Middlebury College in Vermont has received widespread attention. I have covered Dr. Murray multiple times: Although he arrives at conclusions that go against prevailing wisdom, he does so painstakingly, always holding out the possibility that missed data may force him to revise his work, something he has always been willing to do. Moreover, he is unfailingly gentlemanly and has never meted out the treatment to those who disagree with him...

Obama IRS Scandal Continues – JW Forces IRS to Disclose New Documents JW Files Lawsuit on Obama’s Illegal Russia Leaks Rutland, Vermont Citizens Oust Mayor Caught in Refugee Dishonesty Obama IRS Scandal Continues – JW Forces IRS to Disclose New Documents We have no intention to allow the extra-legal activities of President Obama’s administration to fade into the sunset now that he is out of office. Particularly egregious was his using the might of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target groups that disagreed with his political views. And heel dragging at the IRS continues. This week Judicial Watch...

Rutland Mayor Chris Louras, who endured months of withering criticism for his plan to bring Syrian refugees to the city, lost his reelection bid on Tuesday. In unofficial voting results, David Allaire, a city alderman and leading critic of the resettlement, trounced Louras, a 10-year mayoral incumbent, by a 776-vote margin, according to results cited by the Rutland Herald and WCAX-TV. "I'm simply wishing him luck and I'm moving on," Louras told Seven Days Tuesday night. He declined further comment, saying he would "not hazard a guess" as to what the election results say about Rutland's support for refugees.

Rutland (Vermont) Mayor Chris Louras, who endured months of withering criticism for his plan to bring Syrian refugees to the city, lost his reelection bid on Tuesday. In unofficial voting results, David Allaire, a city alderman and leading critic of the resettlement, trounced Louras, a 10-year mayoral incumbent, by a 776-vote margin, according to results cited by the Rutland Herald and WCAX-TV.

Live results from the Rutland City mayoral race show that David Allaire has won the Rutland Mayoral race with 51.9% of the vote, unseating incumbent Chris Louras.

At Middlebury College last week, Charles Murray needed a safe space — literally. In a significant escalation of the campus speech wars, protesters hooted down the conservative scholar in a lecture hall and then roughed up a Middlebury faculty member who was escorting him to a car. The Middlebury administration commendably tried to do the right thing and stand by Murray’s right to be heard, but was overwhelmed by a yowling mob with all the manners and intellectual openness of a gang of British soccer hooligans. Sometime soon, we may yearn for the days when college students were merely childish...

Households in New England paid electricity prices last month that were 47 percent higher than the national average.. Consumer energy information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for its Boston region showed the area's households paid an average of 19.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, compared to the national average of 13.3 cents. The region includes Hampden and Worcester counties as well as Greater Boston and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine. The figures came out one day after energy utility Eversource proposed a 10 percent increase in its electricity distribution rates beginning early next year. The...

Bernie Sanders says he was willing to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt when it came to taking on Wall Street — one issue both populist candidates were in agreement on during the 2016 campaign. But the Vermont senator says Trump hasn’t lived up to his part of the bargain. “I have to say this,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful. This guy is a fraud.”

Bernie Sanders called Donald Trump a “fraud” on CNN’s Sunday broadcast of “State of the Union.” The Vermont Senator, when prompted by host Jake Tapper, said it’s “hard not to laugh to see President Trump along with these Wall Street guys.” I have to say this, Jake,” Sanders continued. “And I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but this guy is a fraud.” “This guy ran for president of the United States saying ‘I, Donald Trump, am going to take on Wall Street. These guys are getting away with murder,'” he added, really picking up steam at this point. “Then suddenly...

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A man has been shot dead outside an apartment complex in what police say is the first murder in the nation's smallest capital city in almost a century. An arrest warrant was issued for Jayveon Caballero on a murder charge following the Sunday morning shooting in Montpelier, police said. Police were seeking Caballero in the killing of Markus Austin, whose body was found in the apartment complex's parking lot.

New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan appeared to be unaware during a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday that a Washington Post story about Russian hacking into the Vermont power grid has been completely debunked and retracted. “Two weeks ago The Washington Post reported that a hacking group connected with the Russian government managed to infiltrate the Burlington Electric power company in Vermont,” Hassan said to retired Marine Gen. John Kelley during his confirmation hearing to head the Department of Homeland Security. Hassan, who took office this month after serving as governor of New Hampshire, showed no indication during the questioning that...

Assuming that the story was true — that Russian hackers had gained access to a Vermont utility’s software — members of the mainstream media piped its echoes across the Internet:ABC News: Russian Hacking Malware Found on Vermont Utility Computer International Business Times: Vermont Electric Grid Targeted by Russian Hackers Chicago Tribune: Russian hack of Vermont utility shows risk to power grid Each of these stories is now between one and two days old, with no follow-up once the Washington Post edited its original article:An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid. Authorities...

Some small-town residents of Rutland, Vt. are upset at their mayor’s decision to resettle 100 Syrian refugees throughout 2017 in the area. Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras defended his decision, saying the town’s demographics are declining, and they are having trouble recruiting younger workers. He also thinks refugees will bring cultural diversity. . . . Louras’s decision sparked outrage among some residents who say they had little say in the mayor’s decision, which would effect them all.

… John Zaccaro Jr. was a Middlebury College student when he was arrested in 1986 and accused of selling $25 worth of cocaine to an undercover state police officer. He was convicted in 1988 and served four months under house arrest. At the time, Ferraro accused prosecutors of unfairly targeting her son because of her high profile after becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984. Outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, pardoned Zaccaro and nine others Saturday. …