dusher's blog
Spend & Tax - The Legislature Cannot Make Hard choices
Governor Douglas has recently written to Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin stronglly urging him to deal with the tough decisions necessary to establish a sustainable Vermont budget and set Vermont on a better economic course. The Legislature seems unable to make the admittedly difficult decisions to cut spending and not raise taxes.The recent announcements by dealer.com and IBM that will add jobs in Chittenden County is good news. We wish the Legislature would control spending and taxes so that more businesses would create jobs in the state. Perhaps they will do so before adjournment, but their record in supporting economic growth is poor. We encourage them to do better before adjounment.The Governor's letter is attached.
Spend and Tax! This Legislature's Not Business-Friendly
This from Associated Industries of Vermont once more demonstrates that Vermont's business-unfriendly reputation is reinforced by the House Ways and Means Committee.
We understand this committee is not responsible for appropriations, but Chair Obuchowski should demand further spending cuts from his colleague, Appropriations Chair Martha Heath to avoid more taxes.
"We Can't Afford It!" Forum in Burlington, April 12 at Fletcher Free Library
Smaller Government Sponsoring Policies for Private Sector Success & Jobs = Good Government
Entrepreneurial Government:
Better results with fewer resources
by Jason Gibbs
The engine of prosperity in this country is the private sector. What will ultimately ensure our economy emerges from the Great Recession stronger and more resilient than ever before is the energy and imagination of America's entrepreneurs.
For government to be an effective partner in growing the economy and creating that prosperity it must recognize that it is the junior partner (hence the term "public servant") and embrace the nimble and creative mindset that successful enterprise thrives upon.
We have Too Much Government...and the Workers are Doing Quite Well
"Government Workers Feel No Economic Pain," David M. Dickson reports in The Washington Times:
The recession and the ongoing jobless recovery devastated much of the private-sector work force last year, sending unemployment soaring, but government workers emerged essentially unscathed, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, the compensation for state and local government employees continued to easily outdistance the wages and benefits for workers in private business, a separate Labor Department report showed.
Understanding Vermont's Education Spending and Funding Morass
Anyone interested in understanding Vermont's K-12 education spending and funding maze should hustle on over to Vermont Tiger and spend the time
to follow Hugh Kemper's five excellent tutorials on how the system works and what can be done about the escalating spending amid continually declining student enrollment.
The power to fix this rests with the Legislature. Pay no attention to the political rhetoric from Legislators who ramble on about local control. The fix for the excessive spending and constant tax increases is theirs. Local control is a myth.
Ask your legislator if s/he supports the present K-12 funding/spending/governance system. If they say no, that's a good sign.