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by Neil Johnson
Montpelier professes to be for the downtrodden to help a fellow Vermonter when they are down. In times past we all worked together in small communities, all living close to the bone, knowing full well that we should be grateful for our blessings and welcome to our neighbors. We build a very modest home if our lifestyle was modest, there were no issues. Life had and still does have many simple pleasures for us all to embrace but we’ve strayed.
Times have changed. Our priorities have changed.
Reading Vermont Digger recently, to catch up on what is going on in our state. VTDigger an online newspaper, to which nobody can comment on, a completely censored and curated organization, receiving millions of free dollars to operate, desperately in search of truth, but only producing propaganda; to which we gleefully eat up like a Hostess Twinkie followed by a Diet Coke, the later cancelling out any of caloric transgressions and we call ourselves righteous, good neighbors, good stewards of our state, but are we? Look how concerned we are about the housing situation! What are the actions of Montpelier? How do they spend our time and money?
Having been to the Golden Dome on several occasions I got to witness some things, interesting things. On one occasion there were many people clamoring for more money for the blind. The place was filled with people struggling from physical issues that many will never experience, one could not but have a heart for their fellow man and their plight.
They shouted the Blind Association (forget which one) hasn’t had a budget increase for over 10 years, we need more money! Who would want to keep money from a needy blind person? Yet in another breath they spoke about needing raises. Of course, this is where the money was going. This is the new breath in Vermont Government, money for them but not for you.
There is a super majority Montpelier that claims to be for the underdog, they are more for their own pocketbooks. Listen to this story from the “brave little state”, here is another article from VT Digger about the housing,
Is Vermont’s motel program a ‘magnet’ for out-of-staters experiencing homelessness?
Motel Program Restrictions Mean 100 People in Washington County To Be Ousted
Highly crafted, well written but do they speak the whole truth? Do they even cover the truth?
In one article they talk about how our housing problem is like a marching game around the room and saying everybody sit down when the music stops. 10 chairs for 10 people, everybody has a seat, no problem. Then they speak about how our problem today is like we play the same game and when it starts, we take away one chair and now when the music stops there is somebody chair-less, homeless, but it’s not from immigrants out of country, that we know for sure. Yet we housed how many refugee families? So who took the chairs????? We seem to be missing at least 10 million chairs, huh.
Vermont has had a housing issue my entire real estate career, we have been unaffordable for 40 years! Vermont citizens are always last!
In recent times we have spent massive money on many pet projects:
$10,000 to get people to move to Vermont, literally a GLOBAL advertising campaign
We bring people from foreign countries and when they have transportation troubles we offer to buy them entire busing system for 100 people, insanity.
We spend millions of dollars for bike paths
We spend millions of dollars for grant projects that no sane person would spend their own money on.
We give massive amounts of tax dollars to non-profits of all sorts
We give 3-year double digit wage increases in Government health care
We raise massive tax bills across the state
We raise massive school budgets across the state
We find it necessary to replace all Vermont schools because for some reason these are the only buildings not fit for our students to use, all the others are ok, but not our schools.
We find massive money for all sorts of solar panels, free money.
We fund all sorts of people to buy Tesla’s
We fund all sorts of controversial municipal projects
We fund all sorts of TIF projects, pet real estate projects, for those connected in Government
We build what is supposed to be reasonable housing at a higher price than luxury ski slope condominiums.
We make it impossible for private sector to build, own and manage rental properties with our regulations
We raise the transfer tax on properties across the state, to an amount reaching and exceeding real estate commissions.
We’ve had a massive influx of out-of-state transplants, not taking one house, but thousands of homes. Why so many? Why now?
And if you need a special walking or biking bridge over interstate i-89, we can find money for that surely…..we wouldn’t want to inconvenience your casual bike ride in South Burlington with an already existing road and sidewalk, that is just too inconvenient!
Yet somehow, there is never any money left over for Vermonters that are truly in need of some assistance. Nope, no money for you. Are you feeling their neighborly love? In times past, we could build a house like our fore fathers, but that is no longer allowed! Montpelier now has complete control.
Where is the VTGOP? The amount of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money is so staggering in Montpelier, nobody could truly comprehend. The average person could not fathom how cruel, unjust and wasteful our Vermont government truly is. They have no idea what is going on in Montpelier because the four sources of “news”, VTDigger, Front Porch Forum, 7 Days and of course VPR all run cover for Montpelier. They all have very close ties and funding from all those under the golden dome or national “friends and family” of controlled media.
This is a Marxist reality, in the book Animal Farm, some pigs are more “equal” than others. This is why socialism always fails. Karl Marx flitted around the world, living high of the hog, dining with the rich while his family starved to death at home. This is how the founder of Marxism lead, this is how Marxism works, this is how Montpelier works, it’s not a coincidence. This is why Vermont is failing. We are failing our neighbors and family. We need to change our ways. We need a massive change in Montpelier.
First step – we need to love our neighbors, not spend all their tax money on wasteful self-serving projects.
In the same article they say we have 1100 homeless, but we need 25,000 new homes in the next few years. So why do we need 20x more homes, just asking for a friend. Montpelier math doesn’t add up, the homeless and the taxpayers know this very well. Time to look under the hood in Montpelier.
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Categories: Commentary
Bonding, Bonding, Bonding more debt to keep this phony economy afloat. Without federal funds and grants coming into this state this place is broke.
The problem is that eventually the Federal funds and grants stop but the programs they funded remain mandatory. Cast into stone (statutes).
As stated above, In times past we all worked together in small communities, all living close to the bone, knowing full well that we should be grateful for our blessings and welcome to our neighbors………………
Well that all changed in the eighties when a socialist ” grifter” Bernie Sanders became Mayor of Burlington, and this festering sore that we still have, has now propagated into the Progressives running the show under the ” Golden Doom “……..yes doom !!
If you don’t like the above-listed concerns in this article, now is the time to make a change for the state and your well-being, as you can see your current legislators don’t
care, it’s all about an agenda, look how they have held Gov. Scott, hostage.
Wake up, people Vermont is not Vermont.
Oh CHenry, I know that in the past when we were kids everything was just swell. But life is change and you need to embrace it – mean old Bernie notwithstanding. Otherwise, you risk sounding like a cranky, sour old man – and no one wants that!
Great article seems to summarize facts in a concise document. What the Montpelier 180 jerks don’t seem to understand, people are moving out and they can’t stop them.
In CA the people that moved to AZ, TX, CO and made a living there, CA was and perhaps did tax them on their Income. So many people. VT has the lowest teacher to student ratio 4.4 to 1 in the nation and they want more money. Trump is see3king to revamp the DOE and make it better. Needs to be done in VT.
When people start exercising the Mellon they have on top of their shoulders and elect people who truly will serve Vermont, we might see turnaround. It is also about the NGO that we don’t elect, that are appointed by our elected servants. If we can fix that, Vermont might have a chance. But it comes down to Vermonter’s stopping voting personality or just party lines, and vote character, integrity, and job ability.
It is too late to change reprobate minds. As much as I hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Those with eyes to see and ears to hear best be getting their houses in order now if not all ready. We are witnessing Matthew 24 and the warnings are ringing out across the globe. The acceleration is not imagination, this is not a dress rehearsal, the days of Haman are unfolding, and spiritual warfare has hit the ground.
When the SHTF storm hits with vengence shortly – the remnant will rise and be ready. Babylon is falling – take heed, take shelter, and pray like your life depends on it – because it does. We are not going back and we can’t go much farther – so get ready for anything best one can. We will witness things never imagined on this timeline. God wins, but many will be lost – prepare for that as well.
A large contributor to aiding this tax and spend group is the Public Private entities. They are not required to tell Vermonter about how the tax money (grants) given to them is being spent.
Public Private leeches such as; Lets Grow Kids, VPIRG, Efficiency Vermont and more, (the list grows each year.) What are these “companies” really doing? If you look at Efficiency Vermont, we find that they are a brand under the umbrella of https://www.veic.org/company/brands . Our State of Vermont gives them a lot of money each year which Efficiency Vermont claims will “grow” Vermont’s economy. To me they seem like they are more of a leech. There needs to be better oversight and if there is none – then get ’em out of here.
Neil, great, insightful, and powerful article that exposes Montpelier’s hypocrisy and wastefulness. Thank you.
One item that could perhaps be added to the list of cognitively dissonant pet projects might be the $1.5 million being allocated for the tunnel through which wildlife can cross under I-89 in Bolton, while nothing has been done to mitigate the automobile traffic which all but comes to a standstill from Waterbury to Morrisville and in Stowe during fall foliage.
I’m all for wildlife traversing our roadways safely, but don’t we already have enough “Deer Crossing” and “Moose Crossing” signs posted on I-89 to inform these animals exactly at what points they are supposed to cross?
Neil, you need an editor. That wide ranging diatribe is barely readable.
On your last point though, the need for 25,000 new homes is not simply to house the homeless. Let your friend know that new homes are needed because Vermont needs to grow its population. I think next to Maine, we’re the oldest state in the US. Since the birth rate is so low, we’ll need lots and lots of immigrants to keep our economy running.
According to 2020 Vermont Department of Health statistics, the death rate was higher than the birth rate. There were 1,334 more deaths than births recorded. In that same year, 1,227 abortions were recorded, putting the abortion rate at 24%.
It is interesting, but shocking, that the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths was almost exactly the number of preborn babies intentionally killed through abortion.
For every four children born, a fifth child is missing.
We are aborting our future.
Every year, the number of babies aborted in Vermont is roughly the equivalent of annually wiping out the entire student population of Champlain Valley Union High School, Vermont’s largest high school.
And now with the preferred popularity and prevalence of the chemical abortion pill, these numbers may actually be much higher, as they don’t have to be reported.
If each of these lives are merely analogous to acorns, then we have nothing to be concerned about.
However, applying reductio ad absurdum, if we were to destroy all acorns, we will eventually have no oak trees. If we were to destroy all zygotes, we will have no more humans.
Perhaps if the State wasn’t promoting abortion and sterilizing the youth, we’d have better birth rates? Perhaps if the State was actually serious about livable wages and affordable housing, the majority of our youth would stick around instead of move out in droves. Keep drinking the MSM kool-aide – your obedience and compliance to lies and deception is greatly appreciated by the despots.
Well written article, Neil.
The fish rots from the head as they say. There was a time when fire stations were manned by volunteers, communities rallied to rebuild after a storm and Vermont schools were among the top performers in the nation.
All of that is disappearing because “rules”. These “”rules” are designed to weaken direct community ties. Leave it to your betters to decide what is appropriate for your community, pay your ever increasing taxes and be quiet.
Ms Carey – Though our family has posed this issue before, where exactly are all these homes you speak of more affordable? Down in NY and the suburbs? No. In N.J.? No. How about affluent CT.? Nope. Out west in California? Or how about Washington? The Capital district? Definitely not.
Mortgage interest rates are the same everywhere thanks to Biden & Harris. Home prices are high everywhere, in many places much, much higher than VT. The AVERAGE cost of a home on NY’s Long Island is approximately $700,000. Rent of a ONE bedroom apartment in a SAFE neighborhood (there are a myriad of crime-ridden towns & cities dotting the place) is $4,000 per month.
How is VT so “unaffordable” when there are houses on Realtor.com listing homes between $175,000 and $450,000 between Bennington thru Manchester on a regular basis?
It’s NOT 1977 anymore. Houses no longer cost $65,000 to build or to buy. And all these hysterics about home prices being “unaffordable” in VT is a damn ruse – an excuse to build more & more & more apartments, and freebies, and low-income homes for those Montpelier can best control: the homeless, the addicted, the unemployed, the migrants they order up, & the illegals pouring in.
Want to actually see the ENTIRE VT housing market collapse & the whole economy with it??? Wait until this state builds $25,000 more “affordable” housing units —- your home will become as worthless as gum on ‘yer bootheel.
Who’s Neil Johnson? Doesn’t a published “commentary” usually come with a short bio highlighting the author’s relevance to the topic at hand?
Forgive me if it’s here somewhere and I’ve looked past it.
He needs no introduction, he’s the guy in the comment section of literally every article that sounds like Trump’s id.
What’s more important, if you see over the years Neil’s comments are right on and intelligent, more so than the one liner Libs comments. Neil’s status can be searched on, the internet has a lot of info on people, without having to pay. So before questioning in a comment section, search first and your questions should be answered. He has his full name unlike many others as Chris herein. Neil often says who he is.
Hey Tom, thanks for telling us how the internet works. By the way, I’m not a lib, I’m a Republican that’s not in moron cult where people believe immigrants eat pets.
No worries, after election if we don’t have sweeping change, they’ll vote themselves more undeserved, unaffordable raises and pat themselves on the backs. They’ll continue to ignore much needed oversight on issues that truly matter to the real honest hard-working Vermonters. They’ll bury the state in un-fundable debt we’ll not recover from, and only the middle class and poor will suffer and many perish for their selfish policies. Totally unforgivable actions by elite Marxist policy makers under the tainted golden dome.