Will the State of Vermont suffer a population decline if Phil Scott loses his race for Lt. Governor? Writing in the Free Press, a fellow from Lamoille County applauds State Senator Phil Scott. He also declares his intention to leave Vermont if any Democrat becomes governor.
The writer praises Scott’s “measured” and “old fashioned common sense approach” on trying to stall the vote on Vermont Yankee. I want to congratulate Sen. Phil Scott for separating his campaign for Vermont's lieutenant governor from the issues at hand. Oddly though, the writer takes a less measured approach than the one he claims Scott might possess. The writer declares his intention to leave Vermont if any of the five Democratic gubernatorial candidates win office. [emphasis added]
I have lived in Lamoille County all my life and have always loved Vermont. However, I have made a promise to myself and my wife that come November, if any of the five announced Democratic candidates for governor wins the election, I cannot stay in this state.
You know maybe old-fashioned-measured-common-sense isn’t what you think it is. My guess is this urge to flee may be inspired by the example set by Scott’s campaign manager Glenn Wright of Ocala, Florida.
Wright very publicly moved from Vermont to Florida last year based on financial considerations. At the time,waggish rumors circulated that some top Vermont Republicans helped him pack-up his portfolios. He wrote movingly of his financially fueled anguish at the time
we can’t take it any more and are taking the only possible alternative: leaving Vermont.
Could one man’s actions have set in motion a broadly based, formerly latent, Republican flight instinct? Have the persistent yet unproven folk tales of upper bracket flight fueled a generalized Republican exodus threat? Vote down this school budget or we all leave the town. Vote down this highway bill or we leave. My way or I pack it up and leave.
Old fashioned measured common sense or tough going.
Wow. A distorted repeat of white flight from inner cities, but from Vermont.
It is generally recognized on a national level that the regulatory policies adopted by our Democratic majority in Vermont were responsible for cooling the unsustainable fever of development that consumed much of other states’ economies in the crash. We are told that our regulatory policies actually preserved value in Vermont.
Of course, most of Florida wouldn’t even exist if Americans had begun long ago to observe some fundamental environmental rules. Sometimes I’m irresistibly drawn to the idea that the endless cycle of natural “disasters” that batter Florida residents might be a planetary “immune response” to combat persistent and expanding infestation.
is a great choice (all rankings based on #1 being best)
Violent crime (FBI)
VT 3rd
FL 47th
% under 18 in poverty (Census)
VT 11th
FL 29th
Teen birth rate (Kaiser Family Foundation)
VT 2nd
FL 34th
HS graduation rate (US Dept. of Education)
VT 8th
FL 45th
Diabetes (HHS)
VT 5th
FL 38th
(figures from the Job Gap Study 10.1)
I hope the gentleman from Lamoille County has the time of his life in Florida. So many of the supposedly financially beleaguered right seem to forget that “you get what you pay for.” Most Vermonters, I think, know this. That’s why, even during these tough times, were willing for the most part to pay for town and school budgets. If folks want to pay less to enjoy Florida’s “quality” of life, then by all means please move there.