B e r n i e ' s G o t A D r e a m

U
S. Congressman Bernie Sanders plays his cards closer to
the vest than any politician in Vermont. After all, he has as
much faith in the press as he has in the CIA. Bernie mea-
sures his words very carefully, especially when he's the subjeet
matter and politics is the topic on the table.
~nMond~y h~gave another of his "Blame BigMoney For The
Evils Of SOCiety press conferences. More on that in amoment.
But first, it was what 01' Bernardo said at the very end of the
press conference that sounded like a rare breech in The Bern's
wall of secrecy.
As has been the case over the past six weeks, some reporter
asksMr. Sanders at his weekly media show when he'll announce
which office he'll seek election to this year - hold on to what he's
got or take the big step up to challenge RepublicanJ lm J effords
for aseat in the U.S. Senate. This week the task fell to yours truly
and just to make it more interesting, 01' Bernardo was asked if
the job of governor of Vermont was under consideration, too.
There are a few dozen Democrats in the Statehouse who'd love
to see Bernie give Howard Dean a scare.
"Is running for governor a possibility?"
"No, " Sanders answered as hegatbered up his papers and rose
from the table. But as he headed out of the room, he stopped
abruptly and said, "Let me amend that and say 'not at this
time ...this session ...this year'."
What our fearl.ess champion of poor people, working people
and the elderly did was make an unusual revelation. First, we
now know, on the record, that in his heart of hearts he harbors
the '!"eam to be go-:ernor of Vermont. And second, by not
running for the J ob thIS year, Bernie appears to have ruled out a
run for the U.S. Senate against J eezum J im. A senator serves for
six years. Who's going to give upa seat in the U.S. Senate to run
for governor? After another two-year stint in the House of
Representatives Bernie would have the federal pension locked in
and the governor's seat may well beopen in 1996. (I'm donating
my crystal ball to Recycle North.)
Anyway, back to the press conference. For about the ten
thousandth time 01' Bernardo railed against "big money" for
controlling the legislative process and he even went so far as to
blame Governor Howard Dean for caving in to the "big money"
pressure of Monsanto, the company portrayed as doing the work
of the devil.
For weeks, Ho-Ho of the Hamptons has been delaying the
signing of the BST labeling bill passed by the Legislature. Prior
to its passage, Dr. Dean publicly said he'd sigo it, so he found
himself in a bit of a jam when the Republican-led Senate
approved it, too. Maybe Ho-Ho never expected it to pass because
as soon as it did he started looking for away to duck putting his
J ohn Hancock on it. Our sources tell us the good doctor even
suggested to the bill's opponents that they commission a poll
that would come up with numbers supporting their side of the
BSTdebate.
Since BST already exists io cows' milk and further, since
there's no way of testing to see ifthe BST comes from a cow
treated with the synthetic version of the hormone, the issue is
pretty much a symbolic debate pitting the proletariat against
the ruling class. Since writing the "Milking Fear" column a few
weeks back, Inside Track has learned firsthand that many
people have strong feeliogs about BST. One gentleman in-
formed me he did not appreciate yours truly referrlngto cows as
"milking machines." Rather they should be respected as indi-
vidual animals with souls.
Pass the ketchup, pleaSe.
In not signing the BST labeliog bill, Ho-Ho hides behind the
attorneygeneral'sskirta.ItisthelegsiopinionofJ effreyAme&toy
that Monsanto would have agood chance ofprevsiliogio alawsuit
against the state for imposingthe legislation thegovernoris shyiog
away from. Besides, notedAmestoy, Vermont would have to shell
outahalf_millionbuckafurexpertwitlll!S88SandpayforMonsanto's
lawyers ifthe state lost.
BST opponents chant in unison "consumers have a right to
know what's in their mIlkl" Therefore, labels are fine. But io all
honesty folks, the real effect of labels is to promote the sale of
BST-free dairy products to the point where Monsanto has a
financially losing proposition on its hands. That was the tactic
tried by dairy farmers across the Connecticut River around the
turn of the century. They got the New Hampshire Legislature to
pass a law to save family farms from the onslaught of oleomar-
garine, that shameful, cheap imitation of butter that opened the
door for the BigMoney vegetable oil crowd. The New Hampshire
LegIslature came up with asimple, fair and iogenious way to let
consumers know they were not buying butter - they required
that all margarine be dyed pink!
Hey, they didn't ban the sale of margarioe. They just wanted
consumers to know what was real butter and whst wasn't, right?
The U.S. Supreme Court didn't buy it, saw it for the ban it
really was and struck down the pink dye scheme. "The permis-
sion to sell," said the High Court, "when accompanied by the
imposition ofa condition which, if complied with, will effectively
prevent any sale, amounts to a prohibition."
The great minds of the day that are thinking up more pink dye
schemes would be well advised to face reality. Look carefully
around the GreenMountain lsndscape. Take heed of the nation's
perennial milk surplus. Vermont agriculture in the 21stcentury
will not rest on the cornerstone of dairy farming.
Got any ideas, gang?