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by Lt. Gov. John Rodgers
I was raised on a dairy farm in Glover, where we learned early that you don’t spend money you don’t have, and you don’t pick fights you can’t afford to finish. That common-sense approach, of humility and hard work, has served Vermonters well for generations.
But lately, I’m concerned that Montpelier is losing sight of these humble principles.
In recent years, our state has poured millions of taxpayer dollars into lawsuits—often to defend laws that, while perhaps well-intentioned, push the envelope beyond settled federal precedent. The latest example: Vermont now faces a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice and 32 other states over our new climate superfund law.
Of course, addressing climate change is crucial. But launching legal battles without broad coordination or clear legal footing puts our already-strained budget at risk. Legal fees aren’t cheap, and when we lose or settle, it’s us, taxpaying-Vermonters, who foot the bill. I can assure you the taxpayer bill due will be nonpartisan.
Meanwhile, pressing issues like our broken education finance system and skyrocketing property taxes demand our attention. Yet, some committees are revisiting bills—like digital privacy mandates and the so-called “kids code” law—that are already tied up in courts elsewhere. Can’t we let those cases play out in other states before we commit our limited resources? I support elements of these efforts, but just like on the farm, timing is everything. And when the time is right I will work with proponents, left and right, to do the right thing. Now is not the time to expose our fellow Vermonters to more financial risk.
Our constituents, Republican and Democrat, sent us here to tackle the challenges that impact their daily lives: affordable housing, quality education, and reasonable taxes. They expect us to be prudent stewards of their hard-earned money.
It’s time we refocus our efforts on the issues that matter most to Vermonters. Let’s prioritize practical solutions over costly legal battles. Humility and hard work, not hubris and fantasy. The farmer’s way. The Vermont way.
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Categories: Commentary
The old Vermont spoken of and ruminated over doesn’t exist anymore. The old United States we were so proud of doesn’t exist anymore either. The Truth is neither will return or be restored to their former glory – because a great deal of it was and is an illusion. At this juncture, if people keep looking back they risk turning into pillars of salt.
To relate our future and any prosperity rests upon court proceedings and rulings is a conjured fallacy. Particularly among all the lawlessness, fraud, and corruption exposed to date, we are to believe justice will be served by a fake authority figure sitting behind a bench, the Resolute desk, or under the Golden Thunder Domes across the nation. Nay! Another illusion of fairness, liberty, and equal justice for all.
The golden rule of “if you don’t like something, don’t you do it too” is lost on many – given over to reprobate minds. There is far too much talk (babble/Babel), no meaningful, coherent debates to be had, and the actions are not working for the greater good at all. The divisiveness, pettiness and willful ignorance has led us to the brink of wide-spread disaster – not only here – across the entire planet. It’s not the Earth’s climate we should fear – it is the mulitude of fools and their foolish follies.
Our leadership embraces the chaos and are enveloped into it so deep they cannot see the forest through the trees anymore. The choice is to snap out of it, rebuke it, and fall upon thy knees, plead for mercy, correction and guidance. Until that happens, there is no change for the better coming. It will only get worse and even more unhinged. Best be prepared and brace for impact. All the lies and deceptions will be dealt with in ways no one will see coming or comprehend. Peak spiritual warfare is what we are dealing with and watching unfold. Free will to believe it or not.
Quoting “It’s time we refocus our efforts on the issues that matter most to Vermonters. Let’s prioritize practical solutions over costly legal battles. Humility and hard work, not hubris and fantasy. The farmer’s way. The Vermont way.”
Close government and let the legislature idiots stay at home and VT will be better off. Government that is best is Government that controls least”
Phrase is credited to Henry David Thoreau, in his 1849 “Civil Disobedience,” or “Resistance to Civil Government.” This mentality is totally lost today. Go home Mr. Rodgers.
I am deeply disappointed in John Rodgers’ record when it comes to tackling Vermont’s most urgent challenges-especially his repeated promises to cut taxes and spending without ever presenting a real plan or strategy. In his recent commentary, Rodgers rightly calls for “practical solutions over costly legal battles,” urging us to focus on what matters most to Vermonters. Yet, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of affordability-lowering the tax burden and reducing government costs-Rodgers offers little more than rhetoric.
Vermont is facing a demographic crisis, a shrinking workforce, and skyrocketing costs that threaten our future. These are not problems that can be solved by slogans or by “tilting at windmills.” They demand leadership with the courage and competence to put forward real solutions. Despite running on a platform of cutting taxes and spending, Rodgers has never produced a comprehensive plan to analyze, prioritize, or reduce existing taxes and government expenditures. When pressed, he has dismissed the need for such a plan, suggesting “anybody can do that”-but Vermonters deserve more than empty assurances.
Being in the minority party is no excuse for a lack of vision or strategy. If you want to win over independents and skeptics, you must show not just that you care, but that you are capable and courageous enough to act. Compelling candidates are not always competent, capable, or courageous. Voters need to remember that talk is cheap-results require a plan.
At a minimum, John Rodgers owes Vermonters a transparent, detailed tax and cost-cutting strategy. Without it, his calls for “practical solutions” ring hollow. We can’t afford more windmill-tilting. We need leaders who will actually get the hay in the barn.
If you want to get sense of Vermont’s situation, feel free to review my External Strategic Assessment of Vermont. This is similar to the initial assessments I do for my clients. Keep in mind, it’s only the external assessment and several tools and frameworks are used that the vast majority of people have used.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15nwkVc0eF28AhbqBNG4sxyxhq2ElEKjA/view?usp=sharing
Dan you are being kind and generous with your description. There is no plan other than follow what we are told to do and spend more money, continue the grift.
Your skill set is so needed in this state, you’d be the Vermont Doge team.
The truth is, they want to lose, because then there is no change, which is the ultimate goal, by their actions you will know them.
If you can’t cut 5% across the board, you have to be blind and fiscally ignorant. But, the propaganda in Vermont is so strong, if you cut a program, people will be homeless!!! See how they work. They blow through 8 BILLION dollars on their little pet projects and then say “We don’t have any money for homeless”….
And then they pay for a hotel room. What Vermonter, helping out a brother or sister in need would pay for a hotel room for more than a week before finding a better solution for everyone. No person walking the streets would do this for more than a week. Yet this is our first and best solution???
Dan, we need people like you in government, that is why you had such a hard time getting any traction, “you weren’t part of the club, you weren’t picked from the inside”…..
We have to be wiser than snakes and more innocent than doves. These people have complete control of the Vermont Narrative and they are con artists, some of them are truly promoting what they think is true, but assuredly they have not thought through the problem with any depth.
Much is hollow in our state.
With all due respect, Mr. Feliciano, your 100 page plus PESTLE analysis outline shows us precisely why free enterprise and free markets are best at managing our affairs, and why government management of anything should be a limited, last resort.
If I’m not mistaken, Dan has his roots in the Libertarian Party. Didn’t review or look at his link, a quick scan it’s reviewing Vermont, the state’s weaknesses and strengths in a variety of methods. This is also sane governance, I think you’ll have no push back on open markets from him, perhaps more than you like.
If we were to become a marxist training ground, we’d be swimming downstream, in major white water. Is this perhaps being done unknowingly by many and manipulated by a few, I suspect so. We are generally speaking, trusting the people are doing a good job and in our best interests.
Surely an open market would do wonders, education, healthcare are but two that need an influx of competition and competitive solutions. Media and its censorship is perhaps the glue that keeps the lies together and people ignorant.
Open market on politics would do wonders too. lol…not an easy nut to crack.
There are areas where both ideologies rep/dem cross paths in Vermont and are in serious need of attention. These are the common issues of all and would be a great avenue to play.
Despite what the press says we have three very pressing problems for everyone.
Drugs and Crime
School system/funding
Affordability
Whoever gets a team together with a vision, skills, incentives, resources and an action plan could make some headway. Managing complex change is not an easy thing in any organization. It’s taken 40+, really 60 years to get us where we currently are, it’s not going to happen in a day. Even nationally its’ taken 8 years and they had a bit more balance to start.
Pride is a major issue in Vermont; we think we are God’s gift to the republic and that perhaps is a bit misguided. Hell, we promote pride! Our concept of love could use a bit of freshening up too.
Thank you VDC for allowing open conversation!!!! YEah!!!
Three take-aways from the Lt. Governor’s purported “common-sense approach”.
First: “Of course, addressing climate change is crucial.”
How so? Which is surely why Mr. Rodgers doesn’t elaborate on the ‘how’ or the ‘why’ of it all.
Second: “… pressing issues like our broken education finance system and skyrocketing property taxes demand our attention.”
Are you kidding, Mr. Rodgers? As if the most dystopian, dysfunctional and expensive education system, arguably in the whole world, doesn’t already have our attention??? So, what do you propose we do about it?
Third: “It’s time we refocus our efforts on the issues that matter most to Vermonters. Let’s prioritize practical solutions over costly legal battles. Humility and hard work, not hubris and fantasy. The farmer’s way. The Vermont way.”
Refocus? I should say so.
Consider this Vermont Public headline from back in 2023.
“Keeping the farm in farming: A 200-year-old dairy farm becomes a cannabis operation”.
“John Rodgers runs a construction business in West Glover. He plows driveways, he runs properties, he’s a stonemason and, for 16 years, he served in the Vermont Legislature [as a democrat – BTW]. Now, he grows cannabis on his farm, which used to be a dairy farm and which has been in his family for 200 years.”
Oh, so that’s the ‘farmer’s way’, is it?
Guy and Paul said it best on their latest Friday podcast.
“You’re an oligarch. You’ve got a product. And you want it to be number one.”
Apparently, Mr. Rodgers has been enjoying the Vermont country air on his farm for a while now.
Dan, nails it, “rings hollow” because it is hollow. It is all back slapping say some nice things like you really care and people find you pleasant to be around, like our governor, he’s popular.
People are smoking way too much dope in Vermont, drinking way too much propaganda and in fiscal fantasy land of government is my god, my caretaker, I’m Vermont Strong…….we’ll build back better…it’s all marxist code.
Our education system is/has been such a failure for 2 decades now that even our representatives don’t know the difference between a democracy and a republic. This is the first and most important part of subversion, a military tactic all Vermonters should be educated on.
And we’ve been invaded by “new Leaders” moving into the states from literally marxist training grounds, there is nothing grass roots in Vermont. Rights and Democracy…..right from the south side of chicago….who else???? From the New School in NY……
Marxism collapses, because it’s inherent mistake is that people are flawed and not gods…..see in marxism, everybody wants to be on the government grift, on the payroll because they pay themselves well and can’t get fired and have no competition. In retail it’s called over staffing. It’s called the pay roll is too high we can’t make a profit. In government, they call to raise the taxes.
Montpelier is worse than a hollow log, it’s corrupt too.
Make no mistake, John Rodgers and the rest of the crew like Montpelier exactly the way it is, they will write a nice letter like the above but do nothing to change things. Nice letters ensure the status quo…which is what they want.
As long as we have an Attorney General that attaches herself, her office, and the people of the state of Vermont to every hair brained, socialist idea that emanates from the State of Califailure, we will be fleeced like lambs to the slaughter. Vote Charity Clark out !
A MEN! She is the absolute WORST!
Looking at the photo i have to assume John Rogers is a dogs best friend. Now, why would you run down this poor farmer trying to make a living selling dope????? Excuse me, i have to put another stick of wood in my wood stove and hope i do not have to do this all summer. John Rogers can really attract a lot of comments. Have you driven on Rogers road that he said belongs to him with his comments on TEL. LIE. VISION?????