Note: Check in with me tomorrow when the actual hearing takes place. If I can I will provide updates in a subsequent diary.

The credit card associations and the banks that support them have gotten away for too long without answering serious questions about their practices, and at long last, tomorrow there will be a hearing on Capitol Hill to consider the Credit Card Fair Fee Act - HR 5546. It hasn’t had the same press as the Credit Card Bill of Rights but it is no less important, and I say that not just because I work with the merchant group that has done tons of work over the last couple years to bring the issue to this point.

One co-sponsor of the bill who speaking up on the issue is Vermont's Peter Welch, one of the best progressives we have in the House. Comments from Welch and more details via the Rutland Herald below:

The Secretary of Defense runoff poll between Chuck Hagel and Jim Webb was a real nailbiter. Results below the fold.

With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:

Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?

Thus far, Joe Biden won the Sec. of State poll and Michael Bloomberg won the Sec. of the Treasury poll (results below the fold). Today you can vote on the next Attorney General:

I read very closely about what's happening with the credit card industry, and I know when they're trying to put one past a reporter. Especially a small-town reporter that they probably don't expect to do all the research on a story that a member of the SCLM would. So imagine my (mock) suprise to find a MasterCard spokesperson trying to sneak one past a reporter for the Valley News of White River Junction, Vermont.

What do they know in Vermont anyway? Enough to make  MasterCard look not just deceptive, but inept at doing it. Details after the jump.

Yesterday, the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection (really?  That's it's name?  I testified before it and didn't even realize that that was it's name) released its final report yesterday.  As was known all along, the commission was never intended to provide a recommendation of any sort.

The basic summary of the  report doesn't provide any information that isn't obvious to anyone who's not an idiot or blinded by bigotry, but I'll summarize just in case.  Per The Rutland Herald:

Although it didn't make a specific recommendation on same-sex marriage, the report suggests that lawmakers look closely at some other relating issues, including Massachusetts' experience since legalizing same-sex marriage, easing the state income tax system for gay and lesbian couples, the impact of raising children by same-sex couples, and what to do with those who have civil unions if the state moved toward full marriage rights.

Crossposted to Vermont's Green Mountain Daily

I just uploaded a file to Vermont's Green Mountain Daily that you can find here.

Its original was downloaded from the state legislature's web site, and at the time it was downloaded (Thursday, 4/17, around 6:20pm), you could find it via this link.  I made a copy because I want to preserve the original draft budget changes, even if they are revised in the future.

So here's the deal: although, as reported at GMD, our oh-so-wonderful Governor is planning a $100M stimulus package, we need to make up a budget shortfall of $24.5M.  

Back in October 2006, Keith Olbermann did a segment on his Countdown show that highlighted the loss of Habeas Corpus and many of our rights included in the Bill of Rights through the use of executive orders, presidential directives and signing statements written by George W. Bush.

KO nailed it; as usual, in his own unique [poignant] but humorous way. I’ll never forget how he talked about each individual right and how if you take even one of those rights away the others seem to fall by the wayside as well. It was heartbreaking to watch him crossing off each right on a chart until only one right was left. (at the moment, I forget which one it was) He then scribbled out the ‘s’ in "Rights."

Well, this time it’s [the cadaverous one] DHS Sec. Michael Chertoff who’s working hard to decimate our cherished Fourth Amendment.

Sometimes, when you don't read the news for a couple days and try to catch up, you catch something interesting.  Every one of these is from Vermont's Rutland Herald, all within the period from April 1 - April 4, and together they make a kind of a pattern that I think may possibly cause me aneurysm.:

article 1 (April 1):

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is operating at less than half power while a leak in a condenser is repaired.
[...]
Officials say staff will install a plug to keep water from the Connecticut River from entering the plant’s condenser.

A few days ago, I posted this to Birding New England:

In today's Rutland Herald there's a very good piece with a very bad title: "VINS: Owl population on rise in Vermont."

The article itself is good.  It talks about the details behind the barred owl population and how its in trouble due to poor food sources this year, and how people are spotting them a lot more due to this malnutrition, etc.  The problem is entirely with the headline, which suggests that just because more people are spotting a nocturnal bird means that the bird's population is on the rise.

Crossposted to Vermont's Green Mountain Daily

ISLAND POND, VT-- In an unprecedented move, conservative leaders took their boldest move yet this week in opposing same-sex marriage by threatening to divest themselves altogether from the institution of marriage should civil union laws be replaced with same-sex unions.

To our valued inmates:                                           Tired of that boring old nutraloaf? You know, the meat substitute made from cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, potato flakes, powdered milk and -- rumor has it -- just a light sprinkling of potassium nitrate, aka saltpetre.  I mean what’s not to like?                        Nutria.   photo: Wikimedia.org                                                                                        

(A crosspost from GMD, beefed-up for those who haven't followed the story)

This letter has been making the rounds. I think it speaks for itself:

Dear Vermont Hillary Clinton Supporter:

I was shocked to hear Senator Leahy say that Hillary Clinton should step out of the race.  He amended his original statement to Vermont Public Radio later, only to say, "Senator Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to.  As far as the delegate count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there is not a very good reason for drawing this out."

Short diary...Updated 9am

On Vermont Public Radio this morning, Senator Leahy called for Senator Clinton to withdraw from the Presidential race.

Senator Leahy, who endorsed Obama in January, said "There is no way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough delegates to get the nomination. She ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing Senator Obama".  

He also pointed out that "John McCain, who has been making one gaffe after another, is getting a free ride on it because Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have to fight with each other. I think that her criticism is hurting him more than anything John McCain has said. I think that's unfortunate."

I am starting an electoral college projection, based on State polls. There are 10 designations that States can be given, as you can see by the key. The designations are determined by State polls, with a bit of judgment thrown in. The State polls ultimately dictate what a State’s designation will be, however instead of using a formula, designations will simply be changed whenever there seems to be sufficient reason to do so. This way, hopefully one outlier will not determine a designation, but at the same time we can be responsive to shifts confirmed in more than one poll.

Currently, the preponderance of State polls has John McCain at a slight advantage in the electoral college, mainly because Obama is having difficulty in the Industrial midwest. According to recent polls, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are all leaning slightly towards McCain. In Michigan and Florida, the mismanaged Democratic primaries also seem to be helping McCain. If Michigan alone flips to Obama, the race becomes a 269-269 tie.

EI Electoral College Projection: 3/24/2008

Xposted to Birding New England and Green Mountain Daily

The first time I ever saw a Pileated woodpecker, it was a breathtaking sight.  The pair of them were feeding in the large maple in our yard and when they flew off, they were nearly silent.

It took me years before I managed to actually capture them in photo, but I'm glad I was able to pull it off.  Since then, I've managed to get photos of them with limited success.

These are not your usual woodpeckers.  Most are somewhere between the size of a cardinal and a rock pigeon, that is to say 6-12" from crest to tail.  The Pileateds can grow as tall as 19", with a wingspan of 2.5'.

Below the fold, you'll see more photos with links to larger versions.

The first round of the Obama Veepstakes is over. Including the wildcard round, there are now only 16 out of 45 candidates left to vote on. The results of round I are below the fold.

Round II starts today and you can vote below the fold. Prior to that I'd like to address a few suggestions made in previous comment sections.

Peter Freyne announced he's retiring his "Inside Track" column as of this week. You may remember Freyne from the days of the Howard Dean campaign -- he's been writing his column on and off since 1981, and has been at Seven Days, Vermont's alt. weekly, since 1995. Freyne has a reputation for asking tough questions and holding politicians' feet to the fire.

This may not be major-market media gossip, but it's big news in Vermont.

Dan Barlow of the Vermont Press Bureau interviewed Senator Patrick Leahy about Freyne's departure for a lengthy article today.

On Monday, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law released its 2007 Congressional Poverty Scorecard. The President of the Center, John Bouman, noted that in states with the highest poverty rates, their congressional delegations tended to score the worst.

"Poverty is everywhere in America, but it is interesting that in states with the highest concentrations of poverty, the Congressional delegations seem least interested in supporting initiatives that fight poverty," said John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, which released the study. "This appears deeper than simply opposing spending. A member could have opposed any of the measures we analyzed that called for new spending and still could have voted to support half of the poverty-fighting measures on our list."

This is the 11th matchup in the first round of the Obama Veepstakes poll with another four matchups and a wildcard round still to come. Today's matchup, previous results and an explanation on the why and how below the fold.

Yeah, I know it may still be a little premature but talk of a possible Obama running mate is already running high - in the blogosphere and in the traditional media.

Like me, you probably have already yelled at the TV/computer screen numerous times: no! not her/him or nodded your head in agreement with other choices mentioned. Well, I figured I'd devote all my diaries in March to veepstakes and giving everyone a voice. There are gonna be 15 initial rounds with 30 candidates in randomly drawn match ups plus a wildcard round for less likely candidates and suggestions by you, followed by another 8 rounds, the quarter and semi finals and the final match up.

Now, the initial 30 candidates are my choice and I've tried to include most names mentioned thus far, even those you probably will not like. They include Senators, Governors, Representatives, Generals and even non-Democrats. They will not include former nominees (Gore, Kerry) and those not eligible (Granholm, Albright).