Break Up Vermont

In its 2004 town meeting, Killington voted to secede from Vermont. That vote was confirmed in 2005 by a two-thirds majority. Of course, the decision must be approved by both Montpelier and Washington, D.C. , so don't hold your breath, Killington.

We all know why Killington wants to leave. The town sends vastly more revenue to Montpelier than it receives from the state. Additionally, its efforts to further develop its economy have been hamstrung by Act 250.

Killington's voters want to join New Hampshire. The town is about as close to New York as it is to New Hampshire, but the Empire State has never entered into the secessionists' calculations. Wisely, the people of  Killington don't want to assume responsibility for any part of the vast, unfunded social welfare and state pension obligations that threaten eventually to bankrupt New York.

Becoming a part of New Hampshire would not be without drawbacks. Following Vermont's dismal lead, New Hampshire imposed its own judicially-directed method for funding public education. The New Hampshire law is perhaps even more convoluted and regressive than our own, hard as that may be to believe. Still, New Hampshire has no state income tax or sales tax. And its economy, at least in comparison to Vermont's, is relatively modern and prosperous.

If current trends continue, by 2030 Vermont will be spending 100% of revenues on education and social services, leaving no money for anything else. Under such conditions, the state would in effect cease to exist. Its economy would collapse, and Vermonters would be streaming across the border to other states, rather like the Cuban and Vietnamese boat people.

We are barely two decades away from 2030, and there is zero evidence that Vermont's political-bureaucratic-media elite understands how this looming disaster can be averted. Many average citizens don't seem particularly exercised about the crisis, either. Instead, we have grandstanding at town meetings - voting to arrest the President and Vice President for war crimes, for example. Truly, we are a ship of fools.

About 35 years ago an interesting book,"The Nine Nations of North America," looked beyond the political divisions of the continent, revealing the deeper boundaries of economics and ethnicity that may eventually redraw the North American map. In Vermont's case, ethnicity plays a relatively small role. But economics are critical. The prevailing concept of political economy in this state is slowly strangling our people and institutions. The cause of reform appears hopeless. Of course, eventually change will have to come. But waiting around until economic reality forces Vermont to change won't guarantee a soft landing - rather the opposite, in fact. We would be repeating the experience of Eastern Europe in the 1990s, and nobody wants that.

Given this, I propose that we all consider following Killington's lead, and simply go our separate ways. Break up Vermont, I say.

What are the natural parts to which Vermont can be reduced? Rutland County, where Killington is located, is probably the most conservative part of the state. We would go to New Hampshire, taking Windsor and Orange counties with us. The northern part of Bennington County, particularly Dorset and Manchester, would want to come too, I'm sure.

Portions of the Northeast Kingdom might want to join New Hampshire, but most of it would probably prefer to become a part of Canada. Ethnic ties already exist, and the Canadian social model would no doubt appeal to many in the Kingdom. A Canadian connection would probably be favored by many in Franklin County, as well.

Chittendon County, togther with parts of Addison County and the western part of Washington County including Montpelier, would become an independent People's Republic - the People's Republic of Burlington-Montpelier, or Burmont, for short (has a nice ring, don't you think?). Perhaps Bernie Sanders could be persuaded to become its President-for-Life.

Southern Bennington County, together with Windham County, would constitute a second People's Republic - the People's Republic of Bennington-Brattleboro, or Benbrat.

The Republics of Burmont  and Benbrat, after establishing diplomatic relations, would (naturally) open embassies in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Castro's Cuba. With energy supplies guaranteed by the generous Venezuelan strongman, the social experiments could begin in earnest. The opportunity to create a Socialist Paradise would, at last, be open to the peoples of Burmont and Benbrat.

Not too different from the situation that prevails today, in fact. Except the rest of us would no longer be forced to participate.

 

Comments

[Dennis Lukas]

Vermont will not last to 2030 economically,the high cost of food, heating fuel,property taxes,and sales tax, have most Vermonters financially pinned to the wall. The state has to increase taxes on businesses, which will drive more companies out of Vermont.Sad but true.
Our political leaders will not change as there is always a new tax to impose.

[Gordon Smith]

Very entertaining, Jon. Would IBM be run out of Burmont?

[Jon Harrison]

Well Gordon, you pose an interesting question. Let's try to imagine what The People's Republic of Burmont would do with IBM.

Of course, it's unlikely that Burmont will ever take shape. Perhaps it exists in a parallel universe "out there" somewhere. No, wait a sec - the Burlington-Montpelier area IS a parallel universe. But I digress.

Undoubtedly, Burmont would impose an "excess profits" tax on the IBM facility, allowing it to keep perhaps 1 or 2 percent of its profit. In addition, no doubt, Burmont would send a government "commission" over to IBM's Burlington office to ask the executives, "What's your social mission?"

If the government of Burmont found IBM's answer to that question to be satisfactory, it might perhaps allow the company to keep as much as 10 percent of its profit - provided, of course, that most of it was devoted to the social mission, as opposed to being re-invested in the company or distributed to the shareholders.

I daresay at this point IBM would seek to close the Burlington facility and pull back across the lake to New York. Faced with this prospect, Burmont would no doubt nationalize IBM Burlington, "expropriating the expropriators," as Marx put it. Burmont's leaders would inform the (state-controlled?) media that "the means of production belong to the people."

No doubt something like this would be IBM's fate under Burmont rule.

[Cairn Cross]

Jon: Our friends at Scrapwood had a humorous post last year http://vtscrapwood.blogspot.com/2007/03/first-worldthird-world-slippery-slope.html
detailing what might happen to the Vermont economy if Vermont seceded from the Union. Somewhat similar sentiments.

[Jon Harrison]

Cairn, thanks for the heads-up re the '07 Vermont Scrapwood piece. I just read it in between bouts of shoveling snow off my roof.

I certainly don't favor all or part of Vermont becoming independent of the United States. That would work for about five seconds. Given the proud history of this state, I would much prefer to see us remain united.
But I don't reject the idea of my part of the state joining New Hampshire if things got bad enough. That'd be preferable to impoverishment at the hands of the Burlington-Montpelier Axis. Of course, Montpelier and D.C. wouldn't let it happen. So I guess I'll just keep carping away.

[SPS]

But would NH want them?

As a son of NH, I have watched southern NH transform itself into a suburb of Boston and it has not all been pretty. A drive along 101a between nashua and Milford should caution anyone about the dangers of cash-strapped communities and big-box developers.

The former Pease AFB offers a more hopeful perspective on development, but that was guided and financed by a lot of DoD base closure money and took more than a decade to reach fruition.

Also, many assume that taxes in NH are less because there is no state income or sales tax. The answer to that question depends on where you live and the schools. My folks live in Amherst and their property taxes are 40-50% higher than mine even though their annual income is less than half of mine.

So the good folks in Killington may want to review their options a bit before deciding which direction they want to head....

[Jon Harrison]

Well, I came up here from Boston's North Shore, and I grew up 5 miles from the NH border, so I know what southern NH looks like. But I doubt Rutland-Windsor-Orange counties are close enough to be infected by Boston metro's sprawl.

No question, NH's property tax scheme is even stupider than Vermont's. But at least they don't have income or sales taxes. And maybe one day they'll fix the property tax problem.

I moved to a rural part of Vermont for the rural life style. Unlike many newcomers, I don't want my village to turn into suburbia. But I don't like the Subaru liberals in Monteplier and Burlington telling me how I should live. The problem with Vermont is the airy-fairy, left-wing ideology of its insular political class. We don't need to become more like NH. We do need to be more like the old Vermont.

[GreggB]

One town- one vote. That might help, doubt they would ever let it go back to that. Jon where on the North Shore of Boston? Just ask because we are likely headed back that way. Looking at Arlington/Winchester or there abouts. As I understand it some of the N. Shore has a lousy commute into Boston.

[Jon Harrison]

Gregg, I lived in Ipswich, a beautiful town until it was overrun by yuppies and SUVs. Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham and Newburyport are great places with good schools - but expensive, and Ipswich at least has gotten overbuilt, in my opinion.

The commute from the true North Shore is fine if you take the train. If you drive, it's Rte 95 only. Arlington-Winchester is not the North Shore. That commute as far as I know is not too bad. However, Mass. IS very crowded and has lots of lousy drivers.

You'll find houses much more expensive than in Vermont, although if you're in Chittendon County now the price shock will be less. On the other hand, electricity, food and gasoline are cheaper in Mass. And taxes are lower, with more return for your tax dollar than Vermonters get.

[GreggB]

Thanks Jon. We've lived in Cambridge, E. Boston and briefly for me in Arlington. Anyway I know how bad it is there/here. I was wondering about the N. Shore in particular. Thanks again for input.
Gregg