by Seth Manley
Earlier today, I received the message (forwarded below) from “Rep.” Becca Balint. I read through it, hoping to see some glimmer of hope. I deleted it in disgust right afterward and went about the rest of my day.
Now that I’ve had a chance to get my dinner and sit back a bit, I’d like to tell you why I was disgusted.
She brags, in each paragraph, “I presented $X” to such and such. On one hand, I’m sure the recipients were glad to get some cash to solve their immediate problem. On the surface, it seems like heartfelt generosity. Surely designed to make you feel good.
However, it’s imperative to note that the money she ‘presented’ is not her own. It’s ours. Every dollar she hands out, making herself look good, is borrowed against our future. This is not just incompetence, it’s a misuse of public funds.
What strings are attached to that money? Can the communities she “presented” those fake checks to put it in the bank and take a vote on how to spend it next year? Or are there conditions attached? Like “Oh, by the way, you must hire the contractor(s) I approve of in order to get the money, or you get nothing.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am glad most of these communities are getting help for needed infrastructure repairs that should have been done years ago during the ‘Build Back Better’ campaign. But it didn’t get done then, and nobody really knows where all that money went. It is a sorry state of affairs we are in when those communities can not help themselves to get what the townspeople need to begin with. We were a prosperous state at one time. This means we have fallen very far down into the abyss of [whatever name describes this mess].
This sort of elitist snake oil salesmanship is what is driving a stake through the heart of Vermont. How many useful idiots are falling for it? That’s what breaks my heart.