There is Ireland; Then There Is Vermont

    Martha Abbott, Chairwoman of the Progressive Party, insists that when it comes to economic growth, Vermont wouldn't have any real problems if people (she singles out the Governor) would just stop saying that it does. 

Abbott even cites a Vermont success story, writing that:

People like Rich Tarrant made their fortunes here.

  Of course, Tarrant recently said that -- given the signal sent by the proposed tax on Entergy -- if he were doing it again, he wouldn't do it in Vermont.
    On jobs, Ms. Abbott writes:

Studies show that most of the job loss in the past five years has been the result of business contraction and closures, not relocation. Studies also show that businesses relocate based primarily on where their owners would like to live and how good the schools are. But it is more convenient to perpetuate the myth because it discourages us from asking wealthy business owners to pay their fair share.

  One wonders if this means we can stop worrying and wringing our hands over all those jobs that have left for China.  If so, someone should tell Senator Sanders.
  Vermont is a nice place to live -- hard to disagree with that -- and a tough place to do business.  Last we checked, business owners were not exactly asked to pay their fair share.  And in the case of Entergy, the definition of "fair share" seemed to change abruptly and capriciously. 
    And it isn't only the "big out-of-state" corporations that are feeling the bite.  The little guy is getting the message, too.  And doing, however reluctantly, the rational thing.  Nothing Ms. Abbott -- or even the Governor -- says will change this.  That will take action.   

Comments

[David McGown]

Jesus said,"It is through giving that we receive." Buddha pointed out that "Desire is the cause of all suffering." And, according to a recent study, Denmark is the HAPPIEST country on the planet,
with its cold, damp climate and
60% tax rate. Their secret? Low expectations. What does that have to do with Vermont? I left prosperous Ft Meyers, Florida,
in '79 to work for HALF the money
here in Vermont because SMALL IS
BEAUTIFUL. QUALITY is not commensurate with QUANTITY. More business & more money does not mean a better Vermont. It's not
a dichotomy...wealthy/poor. It's a
balancing act. And, for some of us, the balance in Vermont is preferable to that found elsewhere. Ask older Vermonters
about the 1930's and they're apt to say, "What Depression?" They
were always poor...and none the worse for it. And the reason Vermont is attractive to wealthy
flatlanders is because it was
abandoned by businesses for a century and had the opportunity to
recover through benign neglect.

"...pave paradise, and put up a
parking lot."