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Inconvenient truths



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Published: July 2, 2009

In her letter complaining about citizens spreading the word about her voting record in Montpelier, Rep. Megan Smith of Mendon has the audacity to write, "I apologize if the calls have been an inconvenience."

In a democracy, knowing how your representative votes on key issues is not an inconvenience, it is a necessity. If convenience is the standard, then the one who should apologize here is Megan Smith because her votes will make our lives decidedly more inconvenient than taking any 30-second survey will.

For example, thanks to Megan Smith our lives will be more inconvenient every time we fill up at the gas pump because she voted to raise the gas tax on us. It will be more inconvenient to download music and watch satellite television, because she voted to tax that, too. It will be more inconvenient to pay our electric bills because Megan Smith voted to raise the rates and kill jobs in energy-dependent businesses. Income taxes will be more inconvenient to pay, thanks to Megan Smith, as will capital gains taxes.

The future is looking really inconvenient because Megan Smith decided to put partisanship above common sense in voting to override the governor's veto and pass a budget that actually increases government spending by over 3 percent, raises $26 million in taxes during a recession, and still leaves us with at least a $200 million deficit by 2012. No, fixing that mess will not be convenient at all, Rep. Smith. So, I'd like to hear Megan Smith is sorry for all of these inconveniences, but I don't think she is. She's "proud" of her voting record.

BRADFORD BROYLES

Mendon








READER COMMENTS


Juliet, how long have the democrats been in power in Vermont? Don't blame Rutlands unemployment on just the federal government, Vermonts own anti-business laws, high taxes and high cost of doing business from trash to energy have more to do with the states economic problems than anything Reagan did. Vermont never even got to enjoy the last economic boom because it was driven by construction, something you Vermont liberals abhor. Do you really think the wasteful spending of trillions of dollars is the answer?
-- Posted by ex-vermonter None on Sat, Jul 4, 2009, 7:13 am EST

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There is a connection Juliet. The fact that you are looking at the federal politics instead of the state in all of your instances. The democrats have been in charge in VT for a very long time and most all of them are not Vermonters. Why does a state have to rely on the feds? Why can't they be responsible for themselves and stop spending what they don't have? Why can't we fix the welfare system in VT? The Montpeculier employee rate vs taxpayer? Not sure how long you have been in VT. but for the last 20 years I have seen it do nothing but swirl down the pipe.
-- Posted by Don D on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 10:50 pm EST

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Isn't this rich! Thirty years of the Reagan revolution in fiscal policy and eight years of that moron GWB and unnecessary spending on a war in Iraq, with no tax to pay for it, and the dems cleaning up the mess are all the problem? Will somebody please take an economics course or two instead of parroting Hannity and Limbaugh! Rutland County has the highest unemployment rate in the state...is there a connection to be made here?
-- Posted by Juliet Chien on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 5:31 pm EST

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Go to the southern end of Springfield and take a look at the bridge the state is spending 2 million dollars to repair. It hasn't been open for something like 12 years and there's another bridge a quater mile away which has been used as this bridge was deemed unnecessary. Suddenly the bridge is being reopened at a huge cost when there are so many other bridges in disrepair that are used every day. It seems even in a small state like Vermont money is king and special interests rule. All the money isn't wasted on welfare, Vermont has half the population of NH but the same amount of state employees and one of the lowest student to teacher ratios in the country. It's more important to spend money in Vermont than to spend it wisely.
-- Posted by ex-vermonter None on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 11:32 am EST

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better we should have no gas tax at all? that would eventually but certainly cut down on fuel use in the state. no roads, no bridges - no need to buy gas.

People with foreign accents buying candy with their food stamp cards from born and bred Vermonters? Isn't it actually the other way around?
.
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-- Posted by David Searles on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 8:56 am EST

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It's plain from Notta's statements that he's one of the suckers off the system, living in his state subsidized apartment, waiting for his next batch of food stamps and the next welfare check. He states we should all be happy to cut back on our lifestyles to support the ridiculous democratic programs of tax and spend. Shut off your cable TV, park your gas guzzling pickup and walk and don't even think about eating out, no, open your pockets to the democrats and support those too lazy to work. No, there is another option, get to h*** out of Vermont. It's hard for people with roots to move but Vermont offers nothing except high taxes and low paying jobs and continual stress and misery worrying about paying your bills and whether your job will be the next one cut. Businesses are not going to move to Vermont with it's ridiculously high costs and anti-growth laws. The middle class is going to be milked to support the lazy and single mothers who see their children as a meal ticket. Get out, there are many other states just as safe and just as beautiful which offer much more both socially and economically. Vermonts middle class is nothing more than the serfs of old, supporting their masters in their mansions and the Notta's in their subsidized homes. But take heart, Obama stated just this week that the stimulus program is working, at the cost of several trillion dollars we have kept unemployment to a measly 9.5%. Our grandchildren will be happy to know where their money went!!
-- Posted by ex-vermonter None on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 8:56 am EST

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I agree that the standards for receiving state assistance need to re-evaluated. On the rare occasion that I am at the state assistance office related to my own health issues, most of the people I encounter at that office seeking public assistance barely even speak English. Many get off the train and go directly to the welfare office and ask for "emergency housing" money.
The question that comes to my mind is why are these folks arriving here in our state to suck up our money? It seams obvious to me that when confronted with the higher standards of qualification to receive public assistance in their home states, these folks come here because our state rules for receiving assistance are so lax.
The next step is watching these folks with foreign accents (or in need of an interpreter) go into my local neighborhood store and buy a whole bag of candy and soda with their food stamp card.
Ask yourself, "Why are they coming here?" It's not for the growing job market.
It has been communicated to these folks by some of their drug dealing "scouts" that the welfare system here is so lax that virtually anyone can come here and get assistance.
There was a time when it was an honorable state attitude to take care of our own less fortunate when they needed it but times have changed, other states have changed their welfare requirements and if we are to stay afloat financially, our state needs to also re-evaluate our welfare standards to prevent people who have burnt out "the system" in their own state from coming here and bankrupting our state's as well.
-- Posted by steve Nunya on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 8:18 am EST

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My concern is about some of those folks collecting state assistance from the Vermont tax payers. If the cost of tobacco, alcohol, junk food, satalite TV etc goes up how will they be able to make it? What will they do all day?

If the legislature decides to raise the taxes on tattoos and body piercings these folks will have to go to Montpelier to protest for an increase in their handouts.

I would really like to meet some of the legislaters who are advocating for the tax payers instead of the tax takers.
-- Posted by northstar62 on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 6:48 am EST

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Hey. if you guys are so thin-skinned that you don't like your GOP boyfriends being picked on maybe you don't deserve to play the part of whiny liberals defending whiny conservatives. Who do you think you are? Congressional Democrats?

BTW, thanks Brad, for not getting all upset. You moved up a notch in my book.

Listen, boys, all my life I've heard GOPs and their evil big brothers, the Ultra-conservative, usually Southern wack-jobs and now their ludicrous successors, the neocons, poking away at "them terr'ble lib-ruls." They spent all the Bush years throwing stones at "Them blue-state, un-American, flag-burnin', draft-dodgin' Yankee boys. Well, pardon my cornpone. boys, but I didn't lay down and take that crap during the darkest days of the Bush years and I'm certainly not going to take it now that the sun is beginning to shine through those dark clouds.

Once Govna Jimbo (Veto) Douglas gets kicked back to fancy-pants Middlebury maybe we can get something done in Montpelier beside having to call special sessions to do what should have been done during the regular session.

The loud vocal majority who represent the sate-wide minority here on the RH forum will do their darndest to send more GOPs back to the legislature and resend Govna Middlebury back to his veto stamp but I'm guessing those guys are going to be whining louder than ever after the next election because most of us are really, REALLY proud that the Legislators stood up to the stamp man and shot down his GOP-inspired, answer to everything: "NO!"

So, you say you're on the same political side as me? Then stop pandering to these arch-conservative, pinch-penny, do-nothing, complainers and speak up for the people WE (the Dems, the Progs and the indies like me) sent to Montpelier to do just as we asked them to do. They passed marriage equality for all and a very bare-bones budget that had some additional revenue-raising taxes that are easily avoided by spending less on LUXURIES if people can't afford them.

Can't afford the pennies for the gas tax increase? Park your RV, SUV, snow-mobile, ATV, and wait for better days. You won't die and you might actually find yourself saving personal money in the process. Those toys are LUXURIES, people. You won't die without them.

Can't afford the tax on satellite TV? Decrease your level of service from the all-channel option to something less (like I did, but not because of the pennies for taxes).

BTW, Back Nine, of course your pal who installs satellite TV for $35K isn't in a luxury position but what he's installing certainly is a luxury. None of us NEED 250 channels. None of us NEED HD either. They are LUXURIES! We're spoiled! Just listen to yourself. You talk like one of the all-high and mighty GOPs, wanting the little people to just be quiet and do their bidding while they live the life of LUXURY they "deserve." Ha! There are people on this planet who don't have enough to eat and you guys are worried about your satellite TV? Spoiled brats!

Well, you may want to sit there and bust your butt workin' for the man, but I'm not going to sit here and just be quiet while those guys fly off to nice vacation spots or drive to their out-of-state jobs in their fancy cars while you and I stay right here in little old Vermont doing their bidding and sending our young people off to their worthless wars. I believe in the common good. I believe in sharing the wealth with those less fortunate than me. That's why I could never be a GOP (again. My old man is still spinning in his grave now that he knows I actually became a GOP once, many years ago).

I also believe in fiscal restraint. Who should I use as my guide for the political well-being of the state and federal governments? The GOPs? Are your serious? The GOPs are the exact opposite of fiscal responsibility. Look at what they've done to this country and every state in it!

C.A.R., if you're really a liberal Democrat, stop sounding like what the GOPs paint us to be: namby-pamby cowards in the mold of the Congressional Democrats. Stand up to these GOP punks and tell 'em what you believe in. Then go to the polls and vote for what you believe in! I won't be running so you won't have to vote for me. Just get out there and do the next right thing. And for god's sake, stop worrying about the GOPs! They've nearly destroyed this country and this state along with it. You want me to be nice to them? I don't think so!

I don't claimed to be as smooth and refined as President Obama (can't say that often enough) or as funny as John Stewart but I've said my piece and you can take it to the bank that it's what I believe and if I come across as being a little rough around the edges, well, too damned bad.

And stop being so whiny! (Merriam-Webster says that the the preferred spelling of the adjective has no "e." "Whiney" is also acceptable.
-- Posted by Notta Bushman on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, 12:15 am EST

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Did anyone notice the vermont state revenue figures for the first quarter dropped off 33%???? yes one third less than anticipated.This was predicted but the democratic leaders lead all the blind people in the house and senate to vote a non sustainable budget..You have not seen how large the deficet will be after another poor quarter let alone the third and fourth quarters are history.
-- Posted by bruce meyer on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 6:07 pm EST

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Notta - You never add anything productive to the conversation. If you are modeling the liberal side, keep it up! As for the gas tax and our need to repair the roads. Please look at the facts. Vermont DOES NOT spend all of the gas tax on roads and bridges. A good percentage of this revenue goes to various social programs. Every time we raise taxes in Vermont with the tag line to "save something", it ends up going elsewhere. By the way, I am not rich, so do not write back with any shots about my not wanting to spend my tax money on GOOD causes. It is time for smaller government and a return to the government our founding fathers envisioned. Some of us, regardless of income want our country back.
-- Posted by Allen Seiple on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 5:36 pm EST

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Angel, Yes it is true that someone loaded a virus on the www.wethepeoplevt.com website. We found it this morning after a complaint and it has been wiped out. Security has been increased to prevent that from happening again. So it is safe to answer the survey once again. Google takes some time to take away the virus warning so if you feel more comfortable taking it after the warning is lifted by Google then just keep checking back.
-- Posted by Jim Eckhardt on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 3:59 pm EST

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I clicked on wethepeoplevt.com and my antivirus immediately picked up a Trojan being installed. If you've been there run your virus and spyware programs.
-- Posted by Angel None on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 3:14 pm EST

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Cherrio Concerned about Notta not helping the cause.
No need to launch personal attacks on those with whom you disagree. If you'd like to be taken seriously stick to the facts.

The far left wing agenda comes out clearly when Notta talks about "Luxuries deserved to be taxed". Think about that statement for a minute (please refer to your Carl Marx manuel for a complete explanation)..So my friend who works his arse off installing satellite TV all over Southern Vermont for $35,000 a year is probably getting laid off next week due to the loss of business primarially due to the increased cost of doing business in this State..Is it a luxury for this guy? The anti-business sediment is real and it affects your neighbor, friends and relatives.

It seems the private sector exists solely to be sucked dry by Vermont's leadership. I and thousands of others live in rural areas where we can't receive cable tv..I was already paying 5% of my satellite bill to the State, now I get to pay 11% for the "luxury". Last time I checked Vermonters of every economic level get to pay more money at the pump..So I don't understand the argument about it not hurting working class folks..Bottom line is our legislature has acted irresponsibly with the peoples money. You don't have to work at NASA to know you don't spend more money when revenues are down and survive..Vermont is on a catastropic course with all these loons in love with taxing the worker bee into hibernation. Next years local elections are gonna be a gas..
-- Posted by Back Nine on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 3:00 pm EST

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Bruce Meyer,

I have called the Vt. State Chamber as well as NFIB and they plan on releasing the voting records soon. I am sure they will be combined and posted to the www.rcpbc.com website once they are released.

Brad, you hit the nail right squarely on the head. Lets see what everyone else thinks, if you have not already taken the survey please do so by going to www.wethepeoplevt.com. It takes 2 minutes and is only 10 check off questions.
-- Posted by Jim Eckhardt on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 2:44 pm EST

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I too supported the gas tax as originally presented for a particular purpose (roads and bridges) with a sunset in 3 years and was quickly brought to my senses by a former rep who informed me there is no such thing as a "dedicated" fund in Montpeculiar. As for my local reps. not a one can be said to vote for the best interests of their community, and I mean not one, except for the local Castleton rep. It's a delimna in this area to not have a strong voice at the legislative level and we see the effects in higher than normal job loss above the national average. We have been living the nightmare that nonrepresenation produces. Hopefully, 2010 will present us with some optimistic choices in people dedicated to helping the county/city, not lapdogs too ignorate to see the damage their votes on bad legislation cause.
-- Posted by Curious gt on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 2:35 pm EST

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Notta:

As a reasonably liberal Democrat I must take issue with your ad hominem attack on Mr. Broyles and the snarky, insulting, petulant and whiney(whiny) language you use to make whatever point you are attempting to make.

Your vitriole serves only to discredit those of us who are in accord and agree with your political beliefs.

Bill Maher and/or John Stewart you are not.

One can disagree without being disagreeable. This is a simple tenent that all who wish to bloviate here should observe.
-- Posted by Concerned About Rutland on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 2:30 pm EST

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As the author of the letter above, my intention was to bring to light the constant tax and spend philosphy so popular with the majority of Representatives in Montpelier. It is by no means a personal attack on Megan Smith for I find Megan to be very personable and I know she cares about the community we share. My complaint against Rep. Smith is she ran for office as a business friendly candidate touting her resume as a former Chamber of Commerce President and local business owner. You can't have it both ways when you continually vote a party line which is not supportive of the small business owner and taxpayer and claim your in their camp. Her votes have real consequences and my children will have the pleasure of paying for her and her colleagues steady attack on the cost of living in this great state.

One angry agricultural blogger here runs on about the gas tax..Candidly, I supported the original proposal of the gas tax which was a flat $0.05 a gallon, instead of a percentage as passed. I also felt the tax should of had a sunset provision in it so it would have an end date and can be revisited by our legislators down the road. What we have now is a tax that will never go away and as I mentioned above, my kids will be paying it long after Megan Smith and the rest are retired.
-- Posted by Bradford Broyles on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 1:21 pm EST

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It would be interesting to see a study of how much of each dollar we earn/spend is tax.Taxes accumulate all the way from creation to end of an item.Sales and use taxes are all most people see.
-- Posted by bruce meyer on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 1:07 pm EST

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Brad, I must tell you that I feel somewhat let down by Megan. I like Megan as a person. I really thought she would go to Montpelier and vote for her constituents or at least listen to them. The way I feel at this point is that you might just as well put the ballots out there with a check mark for Democrat or Republican. Let the voters choose a party. Instead of having all these Representatives going to Montpelier we just have one Speaker for each Party and that person would cast the vote. I seriously doubt our founding fathers had this in mind when they said "for the people by the people". I don't remember them saying for the "party by the people". Think of the money we could save no more Legislators. Oh I live in the country and can only get Satelite as well.
-- Posted by Jim Eckhardt on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 10:58 am EST

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Notta, you remain as clueless as ever. You simply do not get it and you never will.

While to you, it is "a few more cents" for this tax, and that tax and every other tax, and a few new taxes altogether, THAT IS NOT THE POINT! The point is that Vermonters are already the NUMBER ONE most heavily taxed state in the entire country, and our citizens... at least the tax paying ones... are hurting more than ever before. We have no jobs, we have no business tax base, we have high unemployment. Many of the jobs we do have are low-paying service industry jobs. We simply cannot afford it, and while you happily throw in your few cents a tankful as well as your vitriolic two cents here, those "few cents" DO hurt many Vermont taxpayers. They simply do not have them, and that goes for Republicans and Democrats alike for your enlightenment. Get a clue!
-- Posted by Allen Kuusela on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 10:27 am EST

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Wow! Hey, Bradford, you ol' GOP you. I can see how different our lives are based on your LTE. I guess being a GOP still brings with it the burdens of high station, eh? Still looking down from the manse on the hill to the poor valley-dwellers down below, eh? Thanks for looking out for us, Brad. Darn decent of you ...

So, you find it inconvenient to pay a few more cents per tankful of gas? How inconvenient would it be to have the roads and bridges deteriorate even further? I suppose if we lost enough bridges and had to close enough roads we could save a lot of money but then ... maybe that tax-supported fire engine couldn't get to your mansion when you find yourself in need. Then again, a guy like you may have his own private fire brigade. I forget that the other half lives differently from those of us in the worker-bee classes.

Awe, those necessities of life, downloaded music and satellite TV are going to get whacked with a higher tax? Well, believe it or not those things are known to many of us as "luxuries" and deserve to be taxed. I know you can't imagine this in your self-absorbed life of easy-living but most people do not download music (except for spoiled high school brats who have never done a day's work in their selfish little lives) or even have a satellite TV setup. Go to your taxpayer supported library for entertainment, Bradford. And walk over there since the roads will be getting worse and worse if we don't pay fix them.

I doubt that Rep. Smith has any sympathy for you, Bradford, and neither do I. I find you to be a bit whiny, in fact. I don't care for whiny people. Do all your friends whine like you, Brad?
-- Posted by Notta Bushman on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 10:15 am EST

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Bradford, I also noticed how proud of themselves these legislatures were. I for one will not forget either. We have a slew of representatives here in Rutland county that simply must go!
-- Posted by Frank Westcott on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 9:17 am EST

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We all need to review our elected representatives voting records this year..All the democrats voted for all the above mentioned enhancements that will cost us all dearly.The answer will be how Vermonters feel once they get to vote next election day.
-- Posted by bruce meyer on Thu, Jul 2, 2009, 5:40 am EST

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