Matthew Cunningham-Cook

Time for our senators to vote against everything

BRATTLEBORO-I have a great deal of respect for our U.S. senators. That said, it would be fantastic if they could stop voting to confirm Donald Trump's nominees. To wit:

Both Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Peter Welch voted to confirm extreme anti-choice politician Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs, the country's largest health care provider, as well as Trump toady Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Sen. Welch voted to confirm anti-environment billionaire Doug Burgum as secretary of the interior, as well as anti-union pundit Sean Duffy as secretary of transportation and war hawk John Ratcliffe to run the CIA.

Finally, Sen. Welch, while voting against the dangerous anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act ultimately, did vote to advance the bill in some key procedural votes earlier in January.

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Candidate has financial interest in opposing short-term rental tax

BRATTLEBORO-I read Joyce Marcel's profile of the race between Emilie Kornheiser and Amanda Ellis-Thurber with great interest. I've had my disagreements with Kornheiser in the past, but I will say that she has a profound interest and real knowledge of public policy and the issues facing working-class Vermonters. It's...

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We need to be caring for one another via public policy

‘Antoine’s story is far too common in Brattleboro and Vermont more broadly, with more than 100 additional opioid deaths in the state in 2020 alone. His death was not an individual failure but an outgrowth of a 45-year class war of the 1 percent, including Vermont’s 1 percent, against everyone else.’

Vermont has elected socialist Bernie Sanders statewide 11 times, and twice voted for him in the Democratic presidential primary. But there's not too much socialism here. Like the other 49 states, Vermont has socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for the poor. The opioid epidemic ravages our communities,

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