What's been bugging me lately? The thought of getting bedbugs. This month, the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a joint statement on bedbug control. It was an acknowledgment that the problem is big, so we know the problem is real and the bedbugs have become resistant to common pesticides. So, to top it off, the blood-sucking bugs are freaking some people out so much that they are resorting to very strong "outdoor" pesticides to use inside. These outdoor pesticides can cause a slew of different health related issues.

We are not immune to bedbugs here in Vermont. Over the past year, we've read of or heard the various reports on our local news channels that the pesky biters have been found in various parts of Vermont. They have shown up in different housing situations ranging from apartment buildings, senior apartment complexes, condos, hotels and inns and single homes as well. So, yes folks, just like our of state skiers and foliage visitors, bedbugs too like Vermont!

I just got a copy of "USW@WORK" and read about the first ever AFL-CIO Young Workers Summit that was held this summer in Washington DC, where more than 400 participated developing a plan for the future of young workers. At the Summit, young workers focused on making sure young union leaders and activists are taken seriously and their ideas are heard at all levels of the union movement. Student activists, young workers and others generated ideas on the best ways to reach younger workers and build the movement. Sessions like this help to remind us that the labor movement is alive.

Federal data shows that "one of every 6 workers aged 45 to 64 is a union member. Only one of every 20 young people is in a union. Yet a survey last year conducted by the AFL-CIO found that only 31 percent of 18-35 year-olds earn enough money to cover their bills and put some aside. Almost a third is uninsured and one in three still lives at home with their parents". The Economic Policy Institute released a study this past spring showing the "challenges facing jobless young workers who lack a safety net and often don't qualify for unemployment benefits".

Jim Douglas seems like a nice guy. He remembers everyone's name and often something about our individual story. But his economic policies have driven Vermont into a ditch. I'm sure he believes that if you give Entergy and IBM and other multinational companies what they want, it will benefit all of us in the long run. But, it hasn't. The vast majority of new "jobs, jobs, jobs" come from small startups, not from big business.

I'm sure he believed that laying off 800 state employees and cutting programs was the right choice. But it wasn't. Those 800 additional families on unemployment means the economy gets worse, those paychecks don't go to pay bills in local communities any more, and 800 new families need unemployment and other benefits. We just keep digging the hole bigger and bigger.

So we need a new approach. And unfortunately, Brian Dubie, who is also a nice guy, is a pale copy of Jim Douglas, likely to continue 95 percent of the Douglas policies with 95 percent of the Douglas administration and advisors.

From my August 27 press release: Martha Abbott, the Progressive Party nominee for Governor, has declined the nomination, explaining that Progressives have decided not to run in the Governor’s race this year.

Dubie is a pale copy of Jim Douglas, likely to continue 95% of the Douglas policies with 95% of the Douglas advisors.

We need a new approach. The Douglas/Dubie administration had a pitiful record on job creation, much as they liked to give the impression that they were strong on that issue. We need some economic stimulus: building housing, building roads, building solar farms and windmill farms and biomass generating facilities. Our farmers can grow the biomass crops; we can bring back some manufacturing jobs to build the renewable energy facilities, and we can emerge with a whole new economy based on producing renewable energy components for the rest of the country once they wake up and realize the folly and the impossible costs of coal and oil and nuclear.

Despite the lack of cooperation by Democrats in 2008, when Gaye Symington entered the Governor’s race months after Anthony Pollina was already running, we feel it is important to do everything we can to ensure that Dubie is not elected. I am looking forward instead to spending the next four months working for Progressives running across the state for House and Senate seats.

One year ago, Progressives challenged Democrats that to keep a Progressive out of the Governor’s race, they needed to pick a candidate who fights for the following three positions:

1) Closing Vermont Yankee
2) A Single-payer health care plan
3) Balancing the retirement and unemployment funds in a manner that is fair to workers

The top two vote-getters support all three of these positions.

In other news, our races went the way we hoped. Anthony Pollina came in just behind Incumbent Ann Cummings in the three-seat Washington County Senate race. Rep. Sandy Haas mounted a write-in campaign and to defeat an opponent in a second primary by a 2-1 margin, securing a two-way race. Tim Ashe came in second in the Chittenden County (six seat) Senate District.

And Doug Hoffer, who wants to run as a Democrat/Progressive won 60% of the vote and could well become the next Auditor.

And in the only contest on the Progressive ballot, our own Marj Power easily beat Liberty Union-ite Boots Wardinski.

As a candidate in the Democratic primary for Washington County State Senate, I am running with support of Democrats and Progressives working together to win because they know the debates over health care reform and Entergy are far from over. And, because they want to change they way we think about our state budget.

I believe our family budgets are just as important as the state's.

So, I want a state budget that works for us; no tax increases for the middle class, no pushing state expenses onto local towns and property taxpayers and no closed-door meetings when making decisions about how to raise and spend our money. Just cutting services when the need is great and laying people off when so many are unemployed makes no sense. Unemployed people don't generate taxes or help the economy. I want the state budget balanced, but not at the expense of our family budgets.

We need to put more money — not less — in people's pockets, to pay our bills, care for our families and support local businesses. We need to save where we waste the most; health care and corrections; reform our tax system, close loopholes for the wealthy and bond for investments that bring good jobs. It's investing in Main Street not Wall Street. Here are some specifics:

On Thursday, two economic reports were at best grim for a recovering economy and jobs. The US Labor Department says unemployment benefits rose to to half-million for the first time since last November, showing signs that employers are cutting jobs again. Other countries are hiring and growing; what is wrong in the US? Is this a sign of another dip in our economy?

Over the past few years security at the state capitol has increased. Across the country heightened security at state capitols has meant a fresh look at ethics in government and the regulations in the different states regarding badges for lobbyists. Some states require lobbyists to wear badges that identify themselves as lobbyists; some encourage, but do not require lobbyists to wear an identification badge; and other states have no provisions but offer guidelines or states such as Vermont have no provisions.

Fourteen state require lobbyists to wear badges, in four states badges are available but not required. Badge makeup varies from state to state, with some badges containing a photo of the lobbyist with badges provided by a designated vendor. In at least one state, wearing a badge allow lobbyists to bypass capitol security screening. Cost of the badges in some states are born by the lobbyist even when they must produce their own. In one state the official badge is issued by the secretary of state but lobbyists may make a "reasonable reproduction" of the badge.

Vermont has no requirement. What do you think, should Vermont require lobbyists to wear a badge that identifies themselves as lobbyists?

The Burlington City Council this past Monday voted 11-2 (Sharon Bushor and Emma Mulvaney-Stanak dissenting) to approve a purchase-power agreement between BED and a subsidiary of HydroQuebec (HQ) for as much as 9 Megawatts of power per year over the next 26 years. I advocated against approval of this contract, which will ultimately require the approval of Burlington voters. Some may recall that 20 years ago Burlington had a vigorous debate over whether BED should purchase power from HQ, and voters at that time rejected a proposed deal. Much of the concern centered around the impact of large-scale flooding on native communities such as the Cree Indians as well as environmental impacts on the habitat of flooded land. Until this year, Vermont did not classify large-scale (more than 200 MW) hydro production as renewable. A change in the law in 2010, opposed by environmental groups such as the Vermont Natural Resources Council, now categorizes Hyrdo-Quebec energy as renewable under Vermont law.

We should continue to be skeptical about large-scale hydro power production. Concerns about its impacts on the environment and native communities have not lessened. Dependence on large-scale hydro-power will divert our attention from developing truly renewable and sustainable energy options. What has changed is the realization of an urgent need to end dependence on fossil-fuel energy because of global climate change. However, we should not be short-sighted in the pursuit of new energy sources. Just as nuclear power is not a sustainable solution to our power needs, large-scale hydro should be closely scrutinized. Let’s look forward, not back, as we develop renewable energy options for now and the future.