Letters to the Editor, 11/4/2024

Vote Berry. I have always been passionate about health, but after being a Chiropractor for 35 years, I have sadly observed the health of those suffering from many conditions decline, especially children, young people and elderly. This has caused me to get more involved into activism around awareness and causes of this decline and it is clear to me that our government has a stronghold on the minds and bodies of it’s citizens and they are making us sicker and more fearful at the benefit of their pocketbooks and their ego. If you want to see the population continue to decline in health, life expectancy and disability, vote for people who don’t care about the  health of our population, as many officials are either scared or funded by the agencies and corporations that are poisoning  us. Do you know that most of the candidates in that are running in Vermont are not even addressing the health of Vermonters? Well this is a disgrace and as we are the sickest nation that spends the most on “healthcare” which is really sick care. We can not ignore this problem any longer as our economy is being destroyed by these corporate corrupt lawmakers and our children are suffering.  Well I have great news, there is one candidate that I know personally, who is running for US Senate and Bennington County Senate, and he is dedicated to help our great state of Vermont get back it’s health and stop the corruption of the healthcare system by fighting against laws that take away parental consent, take power away from the corrupt corporate food system and help families and farmers bring health back to our people. Steve Berry is running as an Independent candidate for US Senate in Vermont and here is why we need him to have that seat in the Senate: He was a Captain for Kennedy, helping to get him on the ballot in  Vermont, He has been eliminated from debates on major media outlets as Kennedy has, and doesn’t have the funding of the DNC or the RNC but he stands for the people and deserves to represent us in the Senate. He has an active congregation as a pastor and has been serving people like you and me for years. He served as a Representative in Vermont in his district and knows what is happening on the state level and wants to bring his passion and support back to the white house to help Make America Healthy Again and specifically help  Vermont be the amazing state it deserves to be, with lush environment,  lucrative sustainable farms, healthy people and strong local communities. He is an honest man who isn’t in it for the money or the power but truly for the people and the future generations.  Steve Berry is against all mandates, censorship, endless wars, and corruption of government. He believes in making Vermont a state that stands for Health Freedom, Regenerative Agriculture, supporting small farms, and healing the chronic disease epidemic by making Vermont Healthy again. He wants our economy to support the people, not the elite, by lowering the cost of homes, good food, and  taxes. The elite government officials are chasing the population out and making it impossible for young people to live and thrive in Vermont as the population is aging and young people are becoming obsolete. We need Steve Berry to take over Bernie’s place as US Senator. He is in this for the people, the citizens, not himself. He is determined and fearless and I urge you to vote for Steve Berry for US Senate and Bennington County Senate on Tuesday and check out his website for more info at https://www.votesberry.com/ —Dr Victoria Dubin-Master

Trump is not Hitler. The Dems biggest bomb so far this late in the campaign is associating Trump with Hitler. Kamala will focus on that and abortion as her two main closing issues. Polling shows Trump ahead in all policy issues except abortion and he’s leading or tied in all key swing states. Historically, that is good news for Republicans. Not sure of his coattails and respective Senate candidates have to custom their campaigns more to independents. One major revelation from polls is that men have come to life and are soured on the Democrat party and aligning themselves with the Republican agenda. There is also a very strong male conservative movement with young voters and it’s growing.  Females remain liberal probably driven by the abortion issue. Kamala has raised $1B for this campaign. She spent $270M last month in andvertising and probably the same this month. Trump spent $70M in Sept yet his trans message and Kamala’s comment she agreed with everything Biden has done during his term is resonating with voters. All pollsters are saying this is a very close race. Maybe it is. The hate is so deep on both sides. Given these choices I’d rather have a blunt leader in the White House than an Obama /Biden clone.–Frank Mazur

Electricity is more affordable? Data shows using electricity just isn’t more economical. The rhetoric surrounding Act 18 purports to “move Vermonters to a stable, affordable sources of heat, and the supermajority will fight for programs that lower costs for Vermonters so that folks can afford to heat their homes”. Last week, the Department of Energy released the “Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy” in the Federal Register. Robert Bryce wrote about it in his article Electrifying Everything Means Higher Energy Costs For Consumers. This data for 2024 was the national average costs of energy. Electricity was the highest cost per million BTU, at $47.36 (16.16 cents/kwh). Natural gas was the least expensive at $13.38 per million BTU, with fuel oil at $27.22 ($3.74/gal) and propane at $33.59 ($3.07/gal). Kerosene, the most expensive heating fuel was still 25% ($12.99) cheaper than electricity, at $34.37($4.64/gal). These are national numbers. My current electric bill has me at roughly 20 cents per kilowatt hour. My most recent propane bill was $1.8054/gal and fuel oil was $3.48/gal. This makes electricity in Southern Vermont 23.7% higher, fuel oil 7% lower, and propane 41% lower than the national average. When we roll this all up, electricity is 2.3 times more expensive than what I’m paying for fuel oil per million BTUs and 3 times more expensive than what I’m paying for propane. While electricity is more expensive today, with the demands being added from electrification of vehicles and heating, the price will only go up. Currently Vermont electricity is significantly less expensive than our New England neighbors. As we push more non-nuclear renewables on the grid, batteries are required to overcome the intermittent nature of solar and wind. This renewable push and significantly increased demand will likely cause our electric prices to follow California, which has seen pricing jump from Vermont levels to 35 cents a kilowatt hour off peak. When the progressives say they are moving us to something more economical, ignoring the $10 Billion price tag per the NV5 study to make the transition, the fact is that it just isn’t true that using electricity is more economical. Joe Gervais, candidate for State Senate Bennington County.