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Vermont Tag

For crying out loud. More fake news by the media. First outlets claim that Russia hacked the election and now they say that Russian hackers penetrated a Vermont power grid. Look at this Washington Post headline:
Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility, showing risk to U.S. electrical grid security, officials say.
NO. That is NOT what happened. The fact that the Post did not even bother contacting Burlington Electric makes this even worse.

A major pillar of the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign is free college. In perhaps the most tragically ironic political metaphor of this election, Burlington College, a small privately owned school in Vermont is now going out of business, largely due to decisions made by Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane, who served as the college's president for seven years. When Jane Sanders was hired by Burlington College in 2004, the school was already facing financial problems but was able to maintain day to day operations for several years. Things began to change in 2010, when Jane Sanders led the school to a financial decision which would forever alter the school's destiny.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. The Affordable Care Act was going to bring about the golden age of single payer healthcare in the Green Mountain State. Instead, it went there to die. Activists protested during the new governor's inauguration, but it made no difference. Now, things are getting worse. Abby Goodnough of the New York Times:
In Vermont, Frustrations Mount Over Affordable Care Act BURLINGTON, Vt. — Just a few years ago, lawmakers in this left-leaning state viewed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act as little more than a pit stop on the road to a far more ambitious goal: single-payer, universal health care for all residents. Then things unraveled. The online insurance marketplace that Vermont built to enroll people in private coverage under the law had extensive technical failures. The problems soured public and legislative enthusiasm for sweeping health care changes just as Gov. Peter Shumlin needed to build support for his complex single-payer plan. Finally, Mr. Shumlin, a Democrat, shelved the plan in December, citing the high cost to taxpayers. He called the decision “the greatest disappointment of my political life.”...

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will officially toss his hat into the presidential ring Thursday. The self-described 'democratic socialist' is currently 73-years-old, making Sanders just a few years older than Hillary Clinton who is now 67. Former Rhode Island Governor, Lincoln Chafee, who seems to have dropped off the map after kind of sort of announcing candidacy, is 62-years-old. Though he's registered as an independent, all accounts suggest Sanders will run on the Democratic ticket. According to Vermont's NPR News Source, the first to report Sanders' forthcoming candidacy:
VPR News has learned from several sources that Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. Sanders will release a short statement on that day and then hold a major campaign kickoff in Vermont in several weeks. Sanders' entry into the Democratic race ensures that Hillary Clinton will face a challenge to win the support of the liberal wing of the party. Sanders' basic message will be that the middle class in America has been decimated in the past two decades while wealthy people and corporations have flourished.