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Editor’s note: earlier this week, Susie Stulz of Woodstock wrote on the Hartford (White River Junction) public page that “As the Bible definitely says: Blessed are the billionaires*; *the poor can go screw themselves. (Trump 3:16). Angry? Yeah, we are too. But staying silent makes things worse, but active protest changes things. So come on out to Tribou Park and make your opposition to the Big Awful Transfer-Of-Wealth Bill heard. We’ll be protesting that ugly bill every day from 12:00 to 1:00.” This morning VDC received this reply from longtime WRJ resident and recent commentary contributor Gaylord Livingston.
Dear Susie – Thank you for the passionate rally cry, but before we all grab our signs and pitchforks, let’s pause for a little moral inventory—and maybe a glance in the mirror.
You say the bill is a “massive transfer of wealth to the rich.” That’s rich. Weren’t we already transferring untold billions through a bloated Medicaid system with little oversight, funded by ever-growing federal debt dumped on the working public? It’s curious how “progress” always seems to involve expanding bureaucracies, locking in dependency, and somehow—miraculously—raising healthcare costs while calling it affordable.
Let’s also be honest: “losing coverage” doesn’t mean dying in the streets. It often means being asked to work part-time or fill out a form. And yes, we all know that paperwork is the modern equivalent of a public flogging—cruel, unusual, and wildly oppressive. If Medicaid eligibility checks are your tipping point, the bar for injustice might be set a bit low.
Now onto the trillion-dollar debt claim. Ah yes, the very crowd that cheered trillions in printing during lockdowns is suddenly clutching pearls over budget math. Where was the fiscal concern when the middle class was gutted by inflation, small businesses crushed by mandates, and tech oligarchs made billions while regular people were locked out of their lives?
As for the Bible quote you’ve conjured—Trump 3:16? Cute. But turning a serious national dilemma into a snarky Bible parody might not be the moral high ground you think it is. Especially when many of us are just trying to figure out why we pay so much into a system that gives so little in return—unless you’re part of the permanent activist class.
Here’s a thought: instead of marching on Tribou Park with hashtag placards, maybe ask why a supposedly “public” healthcare system fails unless subsidized to the hilt. Ask who profits off that failure. And ask who really benefits when more Vermonters get pushed onto government programs—because it isn’t the taxpayers, and it sure isn’t the patients.
Your anger is valid, but it’s misdirected. This isn’t a war between billionaires and the poor. It’s a reckoning with a state that’s too big headed to succeed and too entrenched to change—until we stop rewarding failure with more funding and start demanding accountability instead of performative outrage.
With all due respect (and just a pinch of sarcasm),
A Vermonter who prefers results over slogans,
Gaylord Livingston
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Categories: Commentary
Very good-great-admirable response to a person that means well but falls short of knowledge and wrote from the hip, not the head containing reality. Your writing is far above what I could conceive in a short time but I have the same thoughts based on what’s happening. Many thanks
Nice try, Mr. Livingston, but your retort to Susie misses the mark on all counts:
Medical care: Your solution to fixing the health care system is to deny and make it more difficult for those in need to get the medical treatment they need. You are correct in that the present system needs help. The solution is a universal health care system similar to what every other civilized country has. As rural hospitals begin to close around the country, perhaps you will agree that the system needs to be redesigned.
Deficits: The Democrats ran up a deficit at a time when the world was suffering from a worldwide pandemic called Covid thereby by causing WORLD inflation. This is what a government is supposed to do. Trump is once again instituting record deficits when things are going well.
The Bible: Can anyone list one Christian trait which our Bible-selling convicted felon president exhibits?
The solution is personal responsibility and accountability, not universal sick care. I support policies that equip and empower people to esteem their worth and purpose according to God’s design and will, which is a hands-off, free will approach. No one is guaranteed good health and long life: to a great degree, you get out of it what you put into it. I support a system that reduces fraud. If that requires filling out the appropriate paperwork, so be it. How is Trump exhibiting a Christian trait? I’ll bite: he’s enduring a tremendous amount of libel, slander, and persecution – not nearly as much as Jesus suffered for us. Are you a bible believer or a scoffer? If you are a scoffer, this comment is for others who might be open. Obviously, you believe all the lies, including the need to go into lock down due to covid. Read the book The Real Anthony Fauci. RFK Jr. is the original classical liberal environmentalist that has been calling out the establishment for decades. Consider a shot/dose of reality. Truth tellers are always subjected to persecution: it’s biblical. TGBTG!!!
honesty. he does what he says. peace. he refuses endless war and truly hates death by war. perseverance.
Churchill called himself a pillar of the church – holding it up but never seen inside. Trump is like that – not a person of obvious orthodox faith, an someone of some questionable behavior, but supportive of many Christian values and priorities in the public square.
It amazes me how much money people want to pump into weapons to kill people and prisons to house people, but when it comes to love and kindness they want to close USAID, rather than restructure it and make it better, and they don’t want to help people with their healthcare coverage. Logic that I can’t quite figure out. I wish we could use our collective tax dollars to build a healthcare system rather than bombs. When trump is out of offie it will be a joy to see his followers search for meaning.
A point missed. There seems to be concern about millionaires and billionaires and some are deserved. The past had these people that built America as TV documentaries shown. JP Morgan, Ford, Carnage, Edson, Rockefeller, etc. I can name some people in this class that are real bad people. However take Sanders and his wealth and property holdings, He rants against M & B but is one thanks to the tax payer and never produced anything and he’s quite devious. Refer to his standing on people and Social Security. I don’t see any protest His reward is constant re-election. His social standing is harmful. The point being hen there’s money to be had there is may greedy people claiming the bucks. Their mental capacity is greed, not producers.
There will be rants about this comment.
We could all climb our way to the top if only Ned Flanders would loan us his ladder.
The Covid lockdowns resulted in the largest ever upward transfer of wealth, as main street businesses closed and people lost jobs while online retailers like Amazon made money hand over fist. I forget who signed the bill in 2020 that made that happen.
Meanwhile, all that DOGE savings got plowed into our country’s first $1 trillion military budget, while we continue to fund the wars Trump said he would stop when he landed back in office. America First?
Ah yes, nothing effects change quite like a Woodstock AWFUL strolling down to the park, iced latte in hand, to yap with other AWFULs, for a whole hour, about their delicate sensitivities being offended. Activisming is hard work!!
Our Vermont Health Care system??? Was just over at friends house and the doctor called to schedule an annual checkup/physical, what ever they are calling. They said they are no doing it over the phone and will ask some questions.
No Blood test
No Blood pressure test.
No physical inspection
A phone call. We’ll ask you some questions.
Vermont has gone insane.
We don’t involve any science in caring for our people.
We put the homeless on Vermont’s most expensive property Burlington Waterfront,
We foster crime
We foster drug use.
We make affordable housing at $550/sq ft
We sport anti-crime kiosks
We make it so difficult for business, it takes 10 years for gas pumps at Costco
We changed our constitution to say we can do medical experiments on your children.
I hope we wake up soon.
To: “No one is guaranteed good health and long life: to a great degree, you get out of it what you put into it.” l will l bet you have good health insurance, and you don’t know anyone who has been denied health care because they can’t afford it.
To: “The point being when there’s money to be had there is may greedy people claiming the bucks. Their mental capacity is greed, not producers.” I agree. That is why it was billionaire’s row sitting behind Trump on inauguration day.
You switch the subject, miss the point, and make a false assumption. It’s a typical move for someone with a bad argument and lack of knowledge to make a false claim. My best health insurance is my own lifestyle choices, not luck, not genetics. Meanwhile patients who do not have health insurance cannot be denied hospital treatment, people who are not paying into the system by choice get better SICK care, especially illegal immigrants.
too bad Rush Limbaugh is not around to celebrate the enactment of the big beautiful bill
Maybe he’s aware anyway…..giving commentary with one hand tied behind his back just to make it fair
The most troubling aspect of Trump 47 is his relationship with Technocrats. Setting Elon aside, the most alarming is Palantir Techonologies – Alex Karp, a twitchy sketchy weirdo who stated this: (The Times March 14, 2025) “Karp does not take kindly to critics suggesting his company is overvalued. “I love the idea of getting a drone and having light fentanyl-laced urine spraying on analysts that tried to screw us,” he said during a talk in New York to promote his book last month.” Peter Thiel is a real life version of the Slender Man urban legend – the things he says are right in line with Yuval Harari – the WEF, globalist, eugenist freak of misery extradinaire. The tight relationship he has with JD (too much eyeliner) Vance is also highly suspect. Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos – the gang of serpents are all inside the Oval Office, tickling the itchy ears of the President.
Even more spine shuddering: (Military.com June 27, 2025) “Four big tech executives the Army directly commissioned to be lieutenant colonels, with no military background, will not recuse themselves from business dealings with the Department of Defense — as the Pentagon, particularly the Army, cozies up to Silicon Valley.
Earlier this month, the Army announced Detachment 201, the name being a reference to HTTP code, for the newly commissioned executives of Palantir, Meta and OpenAI.
…”OpenAI also announced a $200 million defense contract within days of Bosworth being sworn in to develop an artificial intelligence tool. Palantir has been involved in numerous enormous federal deals, particularly during the second Trump administration, including a $759 million Army contract for AI development and another massive project to compile data on Americans.’
Makes one think George Orwell’s 1984 is not far off or all ready here. We best be holding all leaders accountable and watching them carefully – particularly who they are associating with and who they are installing into places they don’t belong. A strong whiff of sulfur coming from all directions and from all sides.