Why not, Gaye?

Over the weekend, the Vermont Democratic State Committee voted to support efforts to petition the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

But Vermont House Speaker Gaye Symington has said that she is not interested in moving forward with impeachment. She believes there are too many other important things to be done in the limited amount of time left in this legislative session.

We think she's wrong.

The list of crimes committed by the Bush administration is long, and cannot be ignored if we still wish to call ourselves a nation of laws, not men.

But it's more than holding Bush and Cheney accountable for their wrong-doing. It's about changing the course of our nation away from war and corruption and toward policies that are sustainable and benefit the general welfare.

On Tuesday in this space, we discussed the growing gap between rich and poor in New England and how the combination of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and massive tax cuts for the wealthy is taking away money that could be used to address the growing economic inequalities in the United States.

This is the crucial piece of the puzzle that is often overlooked. The Vermont Legislature and Gov. James Douglas are faced with the reality of a lean budget with very little extra money for priorities such as transportation, education, health care and alternative energy.

The same fighting over scarce resources that we're seeing in Montpelier was duplicated at the local level during town meeting season.

The aid that states used to get from federal government has mostly disappeared. That means the state has less money available to help out our increasingly strapped cities and towns.

The money that could be used to fix our roads, build new schools or provide universal health care has gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly $2 billion a week is going toward waging the so-called global war on terror.

And this figure doesn't include the cost of caring for the physically and mentally damaged veterans of this war.

Total military spending for the current fiscal year, including the extra $100 billion that the Bush administration seeks for Iraq and Afghanistan, is $620 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than was spent on the military during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

And this has happened because the Bush administration wanted a war with Iraq. Key members of the administration had planned this war for years and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks provided a perfect excuse to carry out those plans.

They lied about their intentions and lied about the extent of Iraq's threat to the United States. They lied about what the war would cost and lied about what would happen after the invasion. They lied about every aspect of the war, and for the most part, have gotten away with it.

The impeachment process is one way we can hold the administration accountable. Even if it is ultimately unsuccessful, it will document the many offenses of the administration and put them into the public record.

Unfortunately, too many Democrats are behaving like Symington and are too timid to take on the president. They think impeachment would be a waste of time and would damage their party's chances of taking the White House in 2008.

Wrong again.

Accountability and truth are more important than short-term political gain. Too many Democrats in Montpelier and Washington think it would be safer to just let the clock run out and have Bush and Cheney leave office on Jan. 20, 2009.

It's safer, but it's not right. Doing nothing allows the most corrupt, dishonest administration in our nation's history to get away with the ultimate crime -- committing the nation to an unnecessary and immoral war based upon lies.

Under Jefferson's Manual, a guide to U.S. House procedures written by Thomas Jefferson, the Vermont Legislature has the right to call for Bush's and Cheney's impeachment. Congress has the right to ignore Vermont's effort, but that doesn't mean Vermont shouldn't give Congress the nudge it needs to do what is right and necessary for the nation.