Vermont Tiger

Ms. Symington Regrets

When Gaye Symington holds her press conference Monday (the topic of which has not yet been disclosed and the suspense is fairly killing us) someone from the media might ask her about the tax privacy issue.  Last August, Ms. Symington, in her capacity as Speaker of the House, issued a press release in which she stated:

I agree with the Secretary of State that there is a basis for concluding that the property tax adjustment information is private and should not be disclosed ...
In January, if questions remain about whether the information should remain private, we will take action to insure that property tax adjustment information will remain private.

Well, January has come and gone. The desultory session over which she presided has come to an end.  And the matter of taxpayer privacy?  Well, add it to the "Unfinished Business" list.  Something to fix once she has been elected to a higher office.

 

Sources Tell Us ...

That Gaye Symington is going to hold a press conference on Monday.  While she won't reveal what she intends to say on this occasion, informed sources, have leaked the news that she will be announcing her intention to run for governor.

Oh, my.  You don't say.  We apologize if this "breaking news" has laid you out in a dead faint.  We were sort of struck ourselves, though not by the fact of Ms. Symington's candidacy.  Everyone in the state suspects she is going to run.  What got to us was the way those "informed sources" insisted on "anonymity."

This in not Watergate or the Pentagon Papers, folks.  It is a routine, run-of-the mill, yawner of a political story.  Low grade chicken feed.  Spare us, please, the breathlessness.  Life is stressful enough.

If It Wasn't For Bad News ...

Another plant closing in Vermont.

Eat Local. Or Else.

Dude could make it in Vermont.  Easy.

(ed. note: Sorry for the bewildering link.  This is not a story about bad golf, which is not a Vermont specialty.  Rather is about excessiveness on the buy and eat local theme.  Which is.)

Making Do: Part II

Persuading people to come here from Florida.  For vacation, only, of course.  Vermonters go to Florida ... for the agreeable weather and those lovely tax advantages.

Befuddled Editorial Writers

The editorial writers at the Rutland Herald know nothing about how schools are run today.  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch.  They should stay out of it completely.  They are incapable of an informed opinion on education.

Today's editorial is an outstanding example.  It rails about multiple choice tests and how they're the reason kids can't write.  And, of course, No Child Left Behind is to blame. 

The problem with the editorial is that standardized tests don't just have multiple choice questions anymore.  The SATs have writing samples.  AP tests have writing samples.  And more to the point of NCLB, the NECAPs that we use for NCLB compliance have what the test preparers describe as "extended writing samples in each genre each year."  Don't believe me?  Check out this link to a sample of the test.

I implore the Herald editors.  On a slow news (or opinion) day, please write about something else.  Things are a little different than they were when you went to school a hundred years ago.

Coping With Comp ... Workman's Comp, That Is

(Ed. note:  We were among those who received a copy of the letter below.  Workman's comp is one more burden on the person trying to do business in Vermont.  It is an especially heavy load on the small business person doing, say, tree work and hiring three or four people on a seasonal basis.  The legislature has been disinclined to reform workman's comp despite  pleas such as this.  We consider this a masterpiece of constituent mail, despite the fact that Warren Kitzmiller is a representative, not a senator.  Otherwise, the letter is spot on.)

Dear Sen. Kitzmiller,

I am in receipt of your following statement:

WORKERS COMP:
One of the major subjects I dealt with this session (only one, there were many) was the always thorny issue of workers comp. This program is a compact between workers and employers that seeks to protect both sides from excessive costs. When an employee gets injured and is out of work, business suffers. If the injury is caused by negligence, without workers comep, the worker could sue for damages and the employer could be held liable. However, this is a lengthy process that can leave the employee without income to pay medical bills and put food on the table. Our system has avoided that pain by creating a no-fault system that protects the employer from lawsuits and gives the injured employee medical coverage and a replacement of his/her wages while he/she recovers. Many in the business community were disappointed that I refused to slash benefits (really, they are not benefits, they are only partial indemnification for the loss a worker suffers), but I think the program needs to be recognized as a balance, not a "cost" to business.

Their Worst Fears Are Vermont's Realities

There are a lot of reasons why people don't like one Presidential candidate or the other. Most of the reasons are based on policy preferences. However, there are a few people out there, (could some have lived in Vermont?) who correctly understand the bigger threat. Charlie Foxtrot writes:

"So if you think that Hillary as a tough talking, uncompromising wartime president is acceptable, than you had better be ready to accept all the liberal and leftist activists who are going to take over leadership positions in Justice, Education, Immigration and Customs Enforcement , HHS, EPA, OMB, DHS, Defense, CIA, etc...."

Indeed. Liberal and leftist activists taking over leadership positions is our reality. James Dwinell writes:

"In Vermont it is not just that the Democrats believe that the government is the answer, it further has created and promoted institutions for the people who are the un-enablers."

Exactly, and these institutions are managed and staffed by professional un-enablers who "stop needed community projects just because they can." Our policies aren't so much of our problem... it's the way the policies are implemented. This is no conjecture, just ask Vermont business people themselves. The Dean administration did and they said:

“There is a sense among business people that Vermonters view business growth as a threat to their quality of life.This mindset underlies the obstructionism and capriciousness associated with the permitting process and regulatory establishment.”

Emerson Lynn On Politics

Debate over Vt. Yankee needs to be based on truth

    Truth is often the first casualty along the political trail and it is helped by the practice of ignoring the facts, believing instead that repeating something often enough and loudly enough makes it true.  That defines the debate over Vermont Yankee and the governor’s decision Wednesday to veto the bill that would have forced Entergy, the owners of Vermont Yankee, to ante up as much as $400 million into a decommissioning fund.
    Predictably, the opponents, led by House Speaker Gaye Symington and Senate Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, responded to the veto by suggesting that the governor “…chose to stand in the way of protecting Vermonters from the potential financial risk if the Entergy Corporation sells Vermont Yankee to a highly leveraged company. With this veto Governor Douglas showed clearly that his allegiance is to a multi-billion out of state corporation instead of to Vermonters.”
    And that will be the theme played throughout the gubernatorial campaign. Ms. Symington, who has been continually tossed under the political bus by Mr. Shumlin, is expected to follow his lead again when, as expected, she announces her intentions. She would be better advised to dump him as the political baggage he is.

What Ails Our Schools?

Is it NCLB?  Or the impulse behind the law?  Namely unrealistic -- indeed, Romantic -- expectations about education.