James Jeffords News

Rutland City is on track to soon reclaim a rare artifact from its storied rail past.

In the mid-1980s, a young Republican lawmaker named Bob Stannard spent a weekend in the woods to look for deer and do some serious thinking about his political career.

He made it official. State Auditor Tom Salmon became a Republican Tuesday, arguing that Democrats have moved to the left "in a reunion with the Progressive Party" that he did not want to be part of.

As this column is being written, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont has announced he is leaving the Republican Party to become an independent.

As a member of the Vermont Rail Advisory Council and chairman of the rail infrastructure subcommittee, I am concerned that available rail funds are not being used expeditiously during a time of critical need for economic stimulus in the state.

As a member of the Vermont Rail Advisory Council and chairman of the rail infrastructure subcommittee, I am concerned that available rail funds are not being used expeditiously during a time of critical need for economic stimulus in the state.

Community colleges got a boost Tuesday from President Obama, who announced a $12 billion aid plan that he called the 'most historic step' on behalf of community colleges 'since the original GI Bill.' The money would be used for grants to support job training, boost completion rates, create free online instructional materials, and provide loans to ...

Need some examples? Rep. Michael Forbes left the GOP to become a Democrat, and then lost a Democratic primary for his U.S. House seat in 2000, seemingly surprised that Democrats on eastern Long Island had no use for him.

With the demise of the Singing Senators quartet [Sen. John Ashcroft , Sen. Larry Craig , Sen.

Police say a drug overdose in a Bennington hotel room helped them seize marijuana, prescription drugs and other items in Vermont and adjacent areas of New York.

Several Rutland County rail advocates were upset last week by the governor's Rail Advisory Council's endorsement of a proposal from Essex Junction Village to repurpose federal earmark dollars already dedicated to a Pittsford bridge project to their own rail upgrades.

Arlen Specter is not the first Senator to switch political parties and he will not be the last.

From time to time, we read or hear about political officeholders, and others of notoriety, changing their political affiliation from one party to another or to non-affiliated . There have been several notable cases right here in Oklahoma in recent years.

S en. Arlen Specter's defection to the ranks of the Democrats does not bode well for either the Republican Party or the nation.

You can't have a successful political party without centrists. Happily for Republicans still smarting from last week's defection, you can have a successful political party without centrists like Arlen Specter.

Courage, and the absence of courage By Jeff Jacoby Arlen Specter would never have made it into Profiles in Courage .

For the second time in eight years, Republican insistence on ideological purity has cost in a big way.

In May 2001, I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in the wake of Vermont Sen.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy was not surprised. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, met Pennsylvania Sen.

From WSJ's John Fund , who unearthed some great information [emphasis mine]: Specter Dancing on the Head of a Pin In 2001, Arlen Specter took a dim view of senators who switched parties.