I don’t have time to do a full write-up on this, but I thought y’all should be aware of the e-mail I just got from the Douglas campaign:

Dear Friends,

Governor Douglas has announced a multi-part strategy that builds upon his earlier initiatives to boost Vermont’s economy, while also helping to prepare Vermonters and Vermont companies to succeed in the global economy.

The problems on Wall Street – coupled with the partisan impasse in Washington – are having real consequences for the families of our state.  Vermont cannot just sit by and wait for Washington to intervene or the market to correct itself.  There are things we can and must do here to lessen the effects of this national recession, keep costs down, inspire innovation and grow good jobs that Vermonters are proud to have.

The rest of the “plan” is after the jump.

Governor Douglas is determined to keep our state on a path to prosperity by encouraging innovative businesses and entrepreneurs, making commonsense reforms to our permitting process, using existing infrastructure to help businesses expand or relocate in Vermont and encourage more affordable housing options, promote greater energy efficiency, and create more jobs in emerging green industries – all while not adding to the already high tax burden Vermonters face.

Please help us spread Governor Douglas’ pro-growth, pro-jobs vision by making a contribution today!

The elements of the Governor’s strategy are:

• The Vermont Innovation Challenge: The first company, small business or entrepreneur to cross the line and achieve a goal that both solves an engineering challenge and benefits the public good secures the right to operate new or expanded manufacturing operations free from state taxes, specifically state corporate taxes and education property taxes.




• Research & Development Tax Credits: As the knowledge based sector of the global economy expands, Vermont must continue to adapt by welcoming software development and other high tech industries.  Research and development tax credits will mirror the federal R&D tax credits at the state level for entrepreneurs on the cutting edge of their industries so that Vermont companies to better compete with companies in other states that offer similar credits.




• Permit Reform: Although we have made commonsense changes in recent years, we can do more to streamline the process and welcome families and business to our state.  Governor Douglas will direct the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, the Natural Resources Board, the Agency of Natural Resources, as well as the business and environmental community to come together to once again reform our permitting system so that we can better protect our natural environment and help employers compete.




• Urban Homesteads: By encouraging first-time homeowners to invest in underutilized space on upper floors of thriving commercial buildings, we can significantly increase economic activity in our downtowns and village centers and creating more affordable housing option for Vermonters.




• Opportunity Zones: By encouraging first-time homeowners to invest in these spaces we can significantly increase economic activity in our downtowns and village centers and creating more affordable housing option for Vermonters. Industrial facilities that have been vacant for five years or more would be afforded certain benefits to create incentives for renovation and renewal of use.  




• Green Growth Zones: Ensuring the economic and environmental well-being of current and future generations requires a wide ranging commitment to responsible pro-growth policies. In Green Growth Zones, a renewable energy source (wind towers, solar arrays, a biomass facility, a hydroelectric facility) will serve as the hub around which businesses can locate and create jobs with special incentives such as financing, expedited permitting and lower electric rates.




• Smart Grid for Vermont: A Smart Grid will empower Vermonters by giving them the tools they need to lower electricity consumption and costs; improve system reliability; and give all Vermonters an opportunity to help shape our shared energy future. A Smart Grid is an enhanced electric transmission and distribution network that uses an internet-like communications network technology, distributed computing and associated sensors and software to provide consumers with the decision-making information they need to better manage their family or business’ consumption and energy costs.

We need your help to make sure that Governor Douglas can put these commonsense proposals in action and keep Vermont on a path to prosperity.

Let’s get going in these last 35 days to make sure Governor Douglas can get back to work fighting to make Vermont an even better place to raise a family and start a business.  We need your continued help to get the Governor’s pro-Vermont, pro-jobs message out to Vermonters.  Please contribute what you can today!

Sincerely,

Team Douglas

Discuss.

Over the next two years Vermonters will slog through a deep recession despite the $700 billion Wall Street rescue. Unemployment will continue to rise in 2009. Notable restaurants and retailers throughout the state will teeter on the brink of closure. Demands on non-profit services and government assistance will increase while charitable giving and tax revenues decline.

For candidate Jim Douglas, ribbon-cutting opportunities will grind to a halt. His skim-coat solutions won't help middle-class Vermonters. His clever jokes and “aw-shucks” demeanor won't guide Vermont through the tough times ahead.

It's time for Vermonters to tell Jim Douglas, “No more Mr. Nice Guy.” As we face the certainty of a deep recession, Vermont taxpayers can't afford propping up a governor who has no record of accomplishment over the last six years.

Ask yourself: Besides shaking your hand and remembering your name, what has Jim Douglas done for you? How will his “affordability” agenda help Vermonters who lose their jobs? What are three accomplishments Jim Douglas can claim as his own?

Last year Jim Douglas' grand plan was to sell the Vermont Lottery to Wall Street's Lehman Brothers for a one-time payment. Today, Lehman Brothers is bankrupt. Last year Jim Douglas vetoed a bill protecting Vermont taxpayers from getting stuck with the bill when it's time to close Vermont Yankee. Today, Yankee's decommissioning fund is $400 million short and Vermonters are still on the hook.

We have tough times coming ahead and hard work that needs to get done. The future for ribbon-cutting looks pretty slim. Vermonters should ask, “Do we really need Jim?”

An un-hatched chicken headline ?

The Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee has reported that Vermont can borrow more than expected .

A little surprising that given the financial earthquakes and uncertain atmosphere within the big money world to read this article.After the last week of money news it amazes me that there aren’t more reservations around this

announcement.  

A new member of the panel was very enthused ……“It will go a long way to help with a lot of projects,” said Neale Lunderville, secretary of administration and a new member of the debt affordability panel.

MONTPELIER – Vermont can afford to borrow $64.65 million for capital projects this fall, $10 million more than originally recommended, a special financial advisory committee concluded Tuesday.

…..The unanswered question Tuesday was when the credit market might thaw. If the state tried to sell bonds today, it’s likely no one would buy – despite the state’s solid financial rating. Spaulding said some states have had to shelve bond sales.

…The debt affordability panel didn’t automatically conclude the state had extra borrowing capacity, despite a desire by the Douglas administration and the Legislature to borrow more to reduce the backlog of deteriorating roads and bridges and stimulate the economy. The group began its discussions in July, meeting twice before Tuesday’s 20-minute session to take a vote on its report.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

I understand the legislative process, and I understand why things are added to bills, and I understand this is used quite successfully to garner votes for a larger bill that would not be there for a smaller, more targeted one.

And in general I’m uncomfortably okay with that.

In the case of the Wall Street bailout, however, I think it is nothing more than offering bribes to help bankrupt the United States so wealthy investors won’t feel a financial loss.

President Bush’s plan to rescue U.S. financial markets is headed for a Senate vote Wednesday night after leaders there agreed to add tax breaks for businesses and the middle class and increase deposit insurance in an attempt to revive the legislation rejected by the House.

(Senate to Vote on Financial Rescue Plan, ABC News, 10/01/08)

I’ve read, heard and thought about the argument that we’re not talking Wall Street vs. Main Street … it’s Wall Street and Main Street.

I say bullshit to that!

First off there is no sign Wall Street is willing to accept any extra fees on their part to pay their way out of the mess they’re the primary cause of. Second off there has been no public contrition, payback or even apology from Wall Street … the wealthy investor class doesn’t believe they’ve done anything wrong. Thirdly (and most importantly) this pyramid scheme is not going to work for the benefit of Main Street.

While the wealthy investor class will see their investments made whole by the taxpayers (and the taxpayers’ children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc), people with “under performing” mortgages will lose their homes. While the banks get to re-capitalize so they can run out and make more loans, the working class will continue to see wages decline and jobs move to cheaper labor markets. While the wealthy investor class sees the value of their investment portfolios increase, the disappearing middle class will continue the recession it’s been in for the last thirty years (as reflected in stagnant or falling wages).

Nonetheless our wonderful Democratic “leadership” in Washington D.C. will push ahead … with full approval of Obama (it’s his vote that counts .. not what he says on the stump).

It’s a very simple process. Try by fear mongering and “but of course” arguments first, and when that fails (as it should) turn to bribery.

Some smart fellas figured out that they could stick a bunch of home mortgages in a box and sell unregulated securities based on them. Big financial institutions backed them so investors, including other big institutions, bought them. The institutions who created the securities got to say how much they were worth and no one checked.

No one cared. It was cash now for future returns on the interest generated by the mortgages. The securities went up and down in value like stocks. It was another fat apple pie and everyone wanted a piece.

They got so popular that investors wanted more, so mortgages became easier to get. Hell, a fellow could get a mortgage on a third house without even proving he had the income to pay for it. Lower income people could buy a piece of the American Dream. Low down payment, low interest, no documentation. Even drug gangs in the inner city could buy burned out shells to launder money. More houses were built, some folks got bigger houses, we scurried like ants building and consuming without regard for fiscal responsibility.

Wasn’t it great?

Everybody was happy, especially the Masters of the Universe. Many of the loans had adjustable interest rates. There was no risk that the owners of the mortgages could lose. If the interest rate went up, so would the interest on the mortgage.

Money was everywhere. Want an SUV? No problem. Need a short-term loan to make payroll? Done. Pay CEOs millions of dollars a year? It’s not fair, but who cares?

Wasn’t it great?

Everything worked great until the gas went out of the balloon. Wages did not keep up with inflation. The limit was reached on people who could trade up. The increased costs of surviving in America buried the dream in a mountain of IOUs. Bankruptcy laws were tightened, real estate values fell and people started losing their homes. The companies heavily invested in Mortgage-based Derivatives could not pay the massive debt they borrowed.

The economic pyramid scheme began to fall in like a house of cards. No one knew what the Derivatives were worth. Companies fell. Other firms consumed bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. AIG was too big to fail and was rescued by taxpayers. Smaller firms were handed over by the Treasury to other firms with the backing of taxpayer money.

Wasn’t it great?

The remaining financial firms are bigger than AIG. They are all afraid to lend money to each other, so the trickle down has dried up. Be afraid, America, the money you are accustomed to using is not available. No new car, no bridge loan to meet payroll, no money to invest in your ideas and plans for a better life.

You are now asked to mortgage the financial future of your children so the banks will have so much money to use that they will trust each other again. That’s called building confidence in the financial system. Don’t worry; you’ll get some or all of it back. Heck, you might even make money. Sometime.

Isn’t that great?

You must do this or all will be lost. Our President, who we all trust for his good judgment from his faultless reasons for invading a sovereign nation, says it will be a catastrophe if we don’t pony up $700 billion dollars right now. Don’t worry; we have a three-page plan that gives the Secretary of the Treasury unfettered control to do what’s right. Quick, before the market crashes and we have another Great Depression.

Our leaders in Congress fixed that all right, brokering a deal over the weekend to create a 100-page bill that became available to review Sunday night and a vote was held Monday morning. Damn that Pelosi for blaming the Administration for allowing this mess to happen. The bill failed and the market crashed 777 points. It came back almost 500 points the next day.

Wasn’t that great?

I’m no economist, but I can see that there is blood on the floor that needs to be cleaned up and that money moving around the world, market speculation and debt are necessary for our modern world to function.

I can also see that there are no morals in the financial system. Companies are legally bound to bring the maximum return for their shareholders. It used to be that ethics and basic human decency prevailed, but now we have to legislate common sense. I still wonder where the Security ands Exchange Commission has been all these years.

I listen incessantly to reporting on the aptly named Wall Street Bailout discussion and can’t get past wondering if there isn’t a better, cheaper way.

There are 51 million mortgages in America and some 3 percent are in danger of foreclosure or already there. What if we used the might of the taxpayer to guarantee those troubled mortgages? Wouldn’t that insure that the mortgages the derivatives are based on are sound? Wouldn’t that help keep families in their homes? Wouldn’t that help stimulate the economy?

Wouldn’t that be great?

If we are going to use government to invade the holy sanctity of the capitalist system, we should bail out the taxpayer.