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By Wendy Bucchieri
Do you remember the days if a politician even mentioned raising taxes they were duly excluded from getting your vote?
Well it’s time for Vermonters to wake up and pay attention.
On top of Vermonters dealing with 30-100% inflation and lingering hardships from Covid lockdowns, the Democrat Supermajority in our Vermont legislature have over-ridden our Governor’s vetoes and raised our taxes more than 5 times! You would think they would not want to increase tax burdens on their Vermont constituents at this time.
Nope. They will go down as creating the most legislation and the highest raisers of taxes in Vermont history. The Vermont annual budget has increased 38% since 2020. They increased DMV fees, (A.62), even though the DMV never requested it. They placed a new payroll tax. (A.76). They raised property taxes anywhere from 8-28% depending on your town. (A.127, A.64, A.183))
It is clear, the state is now dictating local property taxes due to Act 60 and its add-ons. Vermont pays the 2nd highest per pupil cost in the nation while delivering a meager 50% range proficiency in those same students. At the same time, parental rights are being eroded.
They unsuccessfully voted to double their salaries and have healthcare, (S.39) – They didn’t over-ride the veto-perhaps some thought this was not a good look for them before an election.
But the biggest Bugaboo all stems from the “Global Warming Solutions Act”.
They passed the “Renewable Energy Standard”, again over-riding the Governor’s veto, raising electric rates- costing Vermonters millions. But to me the Piece de Resistance of this act-besides not counting the cost prior to diving in, is that they set in law mandated goals to be met by 2025, 2035 and 2050, and that Vermont can be sued by ANYONE for not meeting those standards! The Conservation Law Foundation already has its lawsuit ready in the que when we miss our 2025 mandate. How convenient.
Instead of setting goals we hope to achieve, the legislature made them mandates-we MUST achieve or else. Could you imagine hiring a lawyer because you were at fault in an accident and the lawyer said good news, I’ve made a settlement. They will accept $$ upfront and you can make payments for $$ monthly, and if you miss one of those payments ANYONE can sue you.
What? You would fire that lawyer in a heart-beat for not representing your best interests. Yet, that is exactly what the dems did! Maybe they did not get the memo that they are to represent the ordinary people of Vermont, (Who’s pockets the settlements will come out of), not special interests pushing agendas. Maybe they actually think money grows on trees. They have a fiduciary responsibility to “We the People of Vermont” and THEY HAVE FAILED!
Public Service Commissioner, June Tierney, presented the results of the potential study done by consultants at the September 12, 2024 Governor Scott’s weekly briefing. The cost’s for what the legislature proposed and has passed In the Clean Heat Standard, (A.18), is projected to be 10 Billion over the next 5 years. I know Vermonters have real problems to deal with, we don’t need our legislators crushing us under the weight of the Global Warming Solutions Act. This needs to be repealed.
In a profile overview from the US Energy atlas analysis of Vermont, Quick Facts: “In 2021, we consumed 3.4 times more energy than we produced, but our total energy consumption is lower than any other state, which contributed to Vermont having the lowest energy related carbon dioxide emissions among the states.”
And “In 2022 Vermont generated almost 100% of its electricity from renewable resources.” Does this sound like Vermonters need to pay as much as another $4/gal home heating fuel, to be the solution to the globe’s warming? I’m more worried about Vermonters staying warm!
Fire Democrats and Progressives with your votes! Give Republicans and some Independents a chance to represent you and ‘Common Sense’ in Montpelier. Pay attention to voting records! Republicans voted against these measures.
Spike Whitmire -Independent and Joe Gervais-Republican–running for Bennington County Senate seats will vote NO on Act 18 and hopefully if enough new blood goes to Montpelier, they will be able to uphold the Governor’s vetoes, scrap things that are not working and actually solve some of Vermont’s real problems. Not create them.
Sincerely,
Wendy Bucchieri, Arlington, Vermont
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Categories: Commentary
Thirty to one hundred percent inflation. Has anyone interviewed PICKPOCKETPOWELL on what is causing this inflation???? You can not hide in the cave called Vermont.
The nation’s inflation is due to the FEDS just printing money we don’t have, with Vermont it’s just the progressive’s ” Stupid Majority ” passing frivolous spending bills, on your dime even when you don’t support the nonsense, and the only way to fund the nonsense is to raise your ” TAXES ” …….. It will be here before you know it !!
If you want to stop the spending nonsense, ” Vote ” them out, it’s time to take the state back
Glad to see this article appearing in Vermont Daily Chronicle. You raise many important reasons people should be questioning who they vote for in this election. Some may like the left agenda, but do they really like the left price tags to sustain those agendas?
Do our Constitutional roots that allow rights to free speech, ability to gather, protest, and own guns… matter to Vermonters? The left’s agenda will eventually remove those rights and imprint SEL (Social Emotional Learning) on steroids to us all so we are happy little Disney minions running around without real mental engagements. Maybe that is why they don’t care about academic performance test scores.
Jay Hooper’s comments with Paul Bean recent Friday at 4 interview said that the Supermajority really amounted to about 10 people making all the decisions and everyone else was left to comply with their decisions, twiddle their fingers, and look busy under the golden dome. Is that the Vermont that you want to continue to see in Montpelier?
How do the democrats manage to convince so many people this is a gateway to a better prosperous future?? I will not post what I think.