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Shocked to learn Democrats’ policies are driving Vermonters out of their homes
by Rob Roper
I happened to catch a few minutes of WDEV’s Vermont Viewpoint last Friday, one of the days Left-wing propagandist Kevin Ellis is given the microphone. His guest was Alex McLean, former campaign manager and chief of staff for Governor Peter Shumlin, who Ellis has on fairly regularly to uncritically trumpet Democrat party talking points, and this interview was following the typical “Isn’t Kamala all things wonderful, and isn’t Trump evil incarnate, yes, of course, I totally agree” pablum — until Ellis decided to briefly change the subject to Vermont politics.
Ellis’ teed up the softball about how stupid and out of touch Vermont Republicans must be to think voters care about such insignificant issues as exploding property taxes, and massive taxes/fees on heating fuels and electricity, citing the failure of well-funded moderates like Stewart Ledbetter to prevail in primary elections. But he didn’t get the answer he was expecting. Here’s the (mostly; a few cuts for brevity and clarity) complete exchange between the two.
ELLIS: There was a lot of talk between political junkies and insiders about backlash against Democratic Supermajority fueled by Phil Scott who told a lot of people that he was getting involved in these races. There was a group of pro-business, Chittenden County business leaders who were funding moderate campaigns and giving money to the likes of former Channel 5 anchor Stewart Ledbetter and other candidates. And they all lost. And there is absolutely, unless I’m missing something, no evidence that the property tax increase and Clean Heat Standard and other climate change legislation that could drive up electric rates had any impact on this election vis a vis the Supermajority. Do I have that right?
McLEAN: You do, but I think the reason for it… is that IT’S A PRIMARY. Who votes in these primary elections? It’s the die-hards…. Those who deeply, deeply care and are party people. And I think that’s a bad thing. I think that’s why you see Vermont can go pretty far left on these things because these primaries result in a more left or right view than the majority of the middle. So, I think that’s what you saw. Do I think that most Vermonters are still apoplectic about property taxes? Absolutely. I just don’t think you’re going to see that in a Democratic primary vote.
ELLIS: Do you think we see it in the general election?
“My husband owns a residential real estate company in St. Johnsbury, and over the last two weeks he has listed more homes than he has in the last two months. And just this morning I asked him, what’s going on? Normally you’ll see people listing their homes like crazy in the spring, right. Snow melts. Things are looking nicer. Let’s list! You don’t typically see that in late August. What’s going on? His response: people got their property tax bills.” – Alex McLean
McLEAN: I do! I mean, this is so anecdotal, but my husband owns a residential real estate company in St. Johnsbury, and over the last two weeks he has listed more homes than he has in the last two months. And just this morning I asked him, what’s going on? Normally you’ll see people listing their homes like crazy in the spring, right. Snow melts. Things are looking nicer. Let’s list! You don’t typically see that in late August. What’s going on? His response: people got their property tax bills.
ELLIS: And they’re moving? (Chuckles)
McLEAN: Yeah. I said what! That’s going to make them move? And he said, well, these are people who are probably on the fence. Things are getting too expensive. They don’t know are they moving, are they staying? What are they going to do? Then they get their property tax bill and it’s up twenty percent. They can’t. That’s the tipping point. They can’t do it anymore…. People are upset and they’re stretched, and this property tax hike is very significant for people. So, do I think it will matter in a general election? Yes. Absolutely.
Ellis’ incredulous reaction to the idea that working people simply can’t afford the radical Supermajority’s agenda – particularly his contemptuous little chuckle at the idea that unaffordable taxes could possibly force people out of their homes – illustrates exactly how isolated from true impact of these policies the left-wing glitterati really are.
They choose to believe – or maybe are just so out of touch as to really think — that anybody who works in the private sector, like Scrooge McDuck, has an attic filled with overflowing treasure chests of gold coins and jewels that we can dive into any time they demand more taxes, fees and regulatory expenses and somehow not be affected. It’s the mentality of a party determined to turn Vermont into a 9200 square mile country club where the “members” can afford to fork over five figure property tax bills for dues, the “staff” is one way or another on the state payroll, and the hoi polloi can just bugger off.
Is McLean correct that this will matter in a general election? Only if people vote at the ballot box and not just with their feet.
Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics including three years service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free market think tank.
Share Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics
Media Notes: Rob Roper will be speaking at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium on Wednesday, September 4th, at 5:00 pm as part of the Strong Vermont Voices series.
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Categories: Commentary, Uncategorized
Please address the violation of the 1st article of our constitution, all forms of indenture shall be prohibited, this could be addressed in a public notice, not unlike the one on this site regarding the illegitimacy of emergency powers http://www.wethepeople2.us
Kevin Ellis sounding the trumpets for Kamala? And have a snide little chuckle to himself when asking whether property tax bills pushed some homeowners into deciding to sell and relocate? I’m shocked, I tell you. Simply shocked.
Interesting. Maybe there is hope that at least some of the moderate Dems help us in the General election. I am very sorry that Stu didn’t win in the Primary.
All the state Republican candidates that I know, whether “conservative” or “moderate,” are motivated to run because of the lack of affordability and overregulation created by our legislature. It is my hope that Republicans and moderate Democrats recognize that all Republicans will defend and support their constitutional right to prosper and afford to live in Vermont, regardless of the divisiveness over DJT and fear-mongering from the left on reproductive rights. We have a lot more in common than we do differences on affordability and the environment.
That is one good looking radio host at the top of this website. I can’t get through all the gratuitous name-calling to the actual point Rob makes. For me the point is that the questions elicited an interesting response that maybe YOU didn’t expect. And that is the point of good radio or any questions – to have an informed discussion in a democracy. And for the record, I think she is right. So there you have it – we agree.
Now now, Kevin; let’s not be getting all cis-normative.
“It is usually futile to try to talk fact and analysis to people (you) who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority, in their ignorance.” Thomas Sowell
Kevin Ellis wrote the article below, in 2021. Read its entirety (link provided below along with my rebuttal), but here are some excerpts.
Read its condescending and arrogant tone… and ask Kevin Ellis how all his “government spending” – roughly DOUBLED over these last four Biden and Democrat controlled years – has brought Utopia to Vermont and the nation.
Come on Kevin, TELL US how we just haven’t spent enough…
An Open Letter from Kevin Ellis-‘Dear Republicans…’
May 9, 2021
“I know you are nervous. You see it slipping away. That Reagan revolution you rode for 40 years is almost gone. Your kids and mine don’t even know it happened. My kids just look at your tax cuts and efforts to strangle government as strange….
“Joe Biden is proposing to pay that bill. We are up to $4 trillion to $6 trillion, depending on how you count. There was the American Rescue Plan. Now the infrastructure bill. And now the American Families Plan to pay for time off for caregivers, subsidized child care, and universal preschool….
“You are struggling now. You don’t know how to deal with the Trump people. You don’t know how to deal with all this government spending by Biden and the Democrats to upgrade the wiring of the country, other than to say it’s wasteful or socialist….”
Ellis’s full article:
https://vtdigger.org/2021/05/09/an-open-letter-from-kevin-ellis-dear-republicans/
And here was my rebuttal to the CONDESCENDING ONE:
https://vtdigger.org/2021/05/24/an-open-letter-from-tom-licata-dear-democrats-and-progressives/
Empty barrels make the most unpleasant noises…just listen to Ellis’ hollow and smug remarks and decide for oneself.
All the gratuitous name calling? I applied one descriptor to you in the entire article, “Left-wing propagandist.” I stand by it.
I need to give credit to the poster on Rob Roper’s site who nailed it when reacting to Ellis’ retorts: “It reminds me of something Upton Sinclair said ‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. ‘ “
I can’t remember the last informed decision that ever came out of your mouth. You are an elitist in your mind and, us little people who were born and raised here are really sick and tired of people like you. I’m in my 70’s and I’ve watched the destruction of Vermont by snobs like you who came here to help us and to control every aspect of our lives. I wish I could say what I really want to say to you and all your invasive friends and supporters. Vermont was a much better place before you all came to save us. I lived it and I’m disgusted by what your failed ideology has done to my birth state. Your home should be on VPR not WDEV.
The problem is – all the normal people with brains are leaving – and that means votes for people who UNDERSTAND what unsustainable and unaffordable means have less of a chance of getting voted in. The dems vote for dems – no matter how bad it gets.
Well Karen, you can’t run away from, legislate or fix stupid. Ignorance can be fixed with education, but the Vermont media censors everything conservative, and you are right the democrats will vote for democrats no matter how much it hurts them. These people will vote for Harris and Walz even after the last 4 years of lies, hyperinflation, destruction of the country through open borders and more. Walz own family won’t vote for him.
So good to see “Wibs” McLean, former chief of Shumlin’s staff (that’s right!) is still in circulation. When I moved here into a rough “fixer upper” all I cared about was the proximity to Jay Peak for skiing, I’d cut up log loads to keep warm, even cut & split was fairly cheap, but no more. Village water & sewer were about $50/qtr. and combined Village/Town taxes low also. A bad foot/ankle cancelled the skiing, wood costs have jumped 30% to 50%, same with propane, water/sewer is now $200/qtr. and thanks to stubborn “re-appraisers” taxes climbed too. But the biggest concern is heating, which will only get worse due to Vt.’s Soviet-Style make work taxes & fees and credits to force a tiny state of 600,000 pay THEM to ostensibly change the weather, voted into state Gov.’t by Socialists who dwell in apartments w/heat included in their rent. I won’t EVEN mention the Fed-Dem’s whose insane inflation has eaten the rest of our SS checks, thanks Bernie, Pee Wee, & Becca!. Florida’s looking better & better!
Please accept the following correction: ‘Wibs’ (Elizabeth) Mclain was the first secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources for Governor Jim Douglas. Alex McLean was Gov. Shumlin’s campaign manager and chief of staff. These are two VERY different people.
Kevin Ellis seems to like that fact that people have had enough and are moving out. Hey, Kevin. My response was purchasing some land in Tennessee. Once I retire from the military, I will have a tax free haven! Sorry to ruin your “study.”
Defund VPR/NPR….It’s at root in this insanity. Why should my tax dollars go to the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, a partisan, left wing propaganda organization that demonizes me, my family and my lifestyle? Can’t tell you how many people i know that live in the DNC/NPR thought bubble all day, every day and have neither depth nor diversity to their viewpoints, just pure emotion, no logic. They have the right to speech, i just don’t think it’s right people like me have to aid in funding it.
The problem with Dem/Progs, who are party-line-or-die, can’t see the forrest through the trees. They have allowed the love of money and power to corrupt their minds to the point of self-destruction. They rather step on and over any other human being, at any cost, to get what they desire (sins of the flesh.) No matter if it is unethical, immoral or criminal. As long as they win – the spoils are worth the collateral damage piling up around them. The Republicans are no better allowing such reprehensible frauds take over our State and our Nation. Woe onto all of them. Given over to reprobate minds – they shall reap what they have sown.
Go ahead evil ones…carry on and keep doing the works of the demonic, intrusive possessive spirits. Keep mocking and subverting anything good, prosperous or ethical. When our Creator has seen and heard enough – the universe will swing the
cosmic 2×4 and it will strike with a force never experienced before on this timeline. Let it be so. The spiritual war is on the ground. The veil is lifting.
Cosmic 2×4…..I’m getting some pop-corn ready for that. Lol….awesome.
They never see it coming, because they are so filled with pride.
Yes, the absolute lack of true and reflective morality and looking at the big picture (forest, not trees) is at the core of the rot of our governmental and corporate leaders in this country. In my view, the Democratic Party has become such a huge disappointment because they have embraced moral relativism in since Bill Clinton and then Citizens United, and most of those who remain in the party are not coming back to reality anytime soon. As one former Republican legislator turned Democrat lobbyist many years ago told me recently: “All that matters is winning.” They don’t care who gets hurt in the process.
The property tax bill in Vermont is going to make people very angry.
Where will they go? What will they do? What can they do?
What could the Jews do under Roman occupation.
Rome enslaved what, 30% of the world? What was the fall of Rome, why? Many debate this question, surely there are multiple reasons for Rome falling, lead poisoning, too much taxation and subjection of the serfs, too many entitlements. What “organization” did the Romans co-opt and why? I might argue they co-opted the followers of Jesus Christ, they incorporated their Gods with the true God, creating the Roman Catholic Church to be used as a Theocracy. This is why we have a separation of church and government; we don’t want a theocracy.
The Holy Spirit is a powerful force, to which the Roman Empire or any empire cannot control. When you have a nation guided by the principles laid out in a book that even in Roman times was 3,000 years old, the people are protected and guided through the worst of any imaginable ordeal.
Tyrants abhor and fear Jesus Christ, and for good reason. They will not allow the Good News to be spread in their nations, because then people know they truth, they can’t be swayed by lies, greed, sex, drugs, money, power or fame.
Love, Joy and Peace come to a person, a family, a neighborhood, a nation when you invite Jesus Christ into your life, when you listen and follow the Holy Spirit. There are no laws against this, no matter what. People’s hearts are changed, nations are changed.
This is what is so needed in our state. Love, Joy and Peace. Truth….
TGBTG
Waiting for that cosmic 2×4 to come and minister some needed justice.
I’ve read this publication for three weeks. Now I remember why I stopped reading it previously. Is there anything about this state you actually approve of? You live in a great state, an independent state and a place millions would love to live in. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes we are finally seeing the social effects of drugs and economic issues. Vermont runs about 10 years behind the rest of the country. Welcome to the real world. Stop complaining! Cancel my subscription. I need to read articles about my state written by people who actually appreciate it here.
Joan,
Begin with The Road to Serfdom, by Hayek. You are part of the problem.
Re: “Yes, it’s expensive (living in Vermont). Yes, we are finally seeing the social effects of drugs and economic issues…. Welcome to the real world. Stop complaining!… I need to read articles about my state written by people who actually appreciate it here.”
Joan: Then please, write an article telling us what’s good about Vermont (aside from its God-given physical beauty). For example, what’s good about our public schools? …and about the high taxes we pay to support the schools? And, if millions of people want to live here, please explain why our younger folks continue to leave.
Postscript: Yes, these questions are rhetorical. I don’t expect to hear from Joan again.
Joan is part of the idiot apocalypse that has befallen Vermont. Three quarters of the state voter population are useful idiots of the progressive, woke cult. Goodbye Joan.
The countdown is on for me, 846 days to retirement and moving shortly thereafter. $2K property tax increase for 2025 and you know more are coming. People don’t vote here. I should say normal people don’t vote and I keep wracking my brain trying to figure out why – or maybe the TDS Leftist Commies just have more people who will vote. My vote counts for nothing. I can’t leave soon enough.
It will be interesting to watch from afar as normal thinking people move out of Vermont and we watch the implosion of the state left only with welfare layabouts, Drug addicts, criminal felon drug dealers from border states and the rich elite trust funders left to defend themselves. That would make a great dystopian movie for Netflix and teaching a lesson to all the snobs that look down their nose at the people who actually get things done. In years to come as their monolith windmills rot, solar panel stop working due to age, their EV batteries either die or burst into flames, as all the police quit and the stores run out of food, who are they going to call. The spiritual 2×4 has arrived.