Maybe its just me, but discussion of the Governor’s travels while in office make me distinctly uncomfortable. Apparently, compared to some other states, Vermont taxpayers are not nearly so much on the hook for his ramblings as they might be; and I suppose that’s all well and good. Nevertheless, one has to wonder what exactly he is saying when he wanders about the globe, presumably to carry a message about Vermont. What is he saying to China, to France and to Canada?
Set aside, for a moment, the ethical question of whether or not, as governor, he should ever be traveling at the expense of a foreign power. Is Governor Douglas truly the person we want representing the Vermont brand? The message he has consistently broadcast is that Vermont is a poor place to do business; that our taxes are burdensome; and that our young people are fleeing from the lack of opportunity here.
He seems to favor low-grade investments from out-of-state entities like box stores, but has paid little more than lip-service to the agricultural heritage of the state, to fostering green technology, and to achieving statewide broadband access; all of which offer our greatest opportunities for home-grown prosperity in Vermont. His nearsighted focus on the corporate interests of unreliable entities like Entergy and IBM betrays a deficit of imagination and a lack of confidence in Vermont’s own potential for innovation.
As we approach the end of the Governor’s final term of office, perhaps someone should give us an accounting of how productive his travels have been for Vermont. How much have our exports to specific countries increased, and how many more tourists are we receiving from Quebec? With this information, we might be better able to evaluate the prospect of a continuation of Governor Douglas’ agenda of Vermont-bashing under a Dubie administration. After all, Dubie’s opening salvo in his campaign was that infamous web-banner essentially proclaiming Vermont to be a failing state.
I think we’ve all heard that you catch more flies with honey. Perhaps it would be worth a try.
Thanks for posting this Sue. I read the same article this morning and was angry about it. The headline was amusing ‘Douglas a cheapskate’ or something close.
Has he been a cheapskate with growing our economy? Enforcing environmental regs? Putting meat (or tofu) onto the bones of the ‘Vermont’ brand? I know he’s an expert ribbon cutter… but come on. What could he (personally) learn from France that he could relay to specialty food makers here?
For a guy who pisses and moans about how bad a place VT is, I really don’t want him globetrotting around selling his version of VT. (Unless this is some sort of reverse psychology strategy)
And, for being a ‘cheapskate’ – you’d think he’d make PB&J sandwiches on WonderBread and carry it to work in a reusable lunch box. Wonder what kind of cheap food we buy for him with that meals allowance he gets…
I hope there is a program in place so the Guvs meals come from VT sources… local meat, cheese, milk, bread, fruit, veggies – so much food to be had out there – with 16k he can afford to pay premium for the best VT has to offer.
I had a reaction to this little love letter to the lame duck DoesLess, too. Okay, he’s not doing the first-class bit at taxpayer expense – the question being whether that means he’s getting perks from the corporate and international entities that are paying for the trips. So is he in the pocket of the corporate sponsors? Let’s see where there might be another corporate interest that has paid off handsomely — for the corporation: Is he continuing to refuse to make Entergy guarantee funds for the closure of its aging, rusted, corroded, leaking nuclear plant on the shores of the Connecticut River?
Then there’s the fact that the Gov. gets a per diem for meals, whether or not he uses it. If I remember correctly it’s something like $52 per day. That has never been cut or returned.
And, don’t forget, he’s receiving more in salary alone than 33 other governors to run a state with a population smaller than that of most of those states’ capitol cities.
So, was he a “good buy” because of his “cheap” ways? Not really. In government, he’s been penny wise, pound foolish. He’s been cheap when it comes to state government. He’s been downright pre-ghost Scroogey in suggesting that the decline in income tax revenue can be addressed by putting more and more Vermonters on unemployment.
Bottom line: if taxpayers are not paying the governor’s tab, then who’s calling the tune?
NanuqFC
I am against government by crony. ~ Harold Ickes (Secretary of the Interior 1933-1946)
You make a fair enough (and even logical) point/observation. BUT, everyone knows that the VT-bashing that we’ve all grown accustomed to/cynical of is mere campaigning and driving his political message to his constituents in order to get his agenda crammed down our throats. When he’s talking to government and business leaders of Quebec, France, and China we can all rest assured that he’s saying “Act 250? pollution controls? regulations? level playing field? corporate taxes? there’s an exemption for that!”
PS- it just occurred to me that between the Gov’s trips to Quebec, France and China and his well-publicized cow-sales to Cuba, the VT GOP, led by Douglas, seems to do an awful lot of trade with “communists” and socialists; I mean, where are the trade summits to “good capitalists” like Japan or England or the cows for good free traders like Columbia? Seems like a funny kinda scene: “we must slash government largess/handouts/safety nets for the most vulnerable in VT- hey! these socialist countries throughout the world seem to have some cash on hand, lets sell ’em whatever we got!”. I dunno, just an interesting footnote I guess.
It’s not only the cash that they have, but the cheap labor — well, in certain places anyway. But he’s also looking out for his corporate friends with lavish contracts and since Vermont is full of commies and socialists might as well go out and turn the state and the nation into debtor nation to communist and socialist countries with universal health care. Ya gotta love it.
from Vermont are down 24% since 2005 (and that’s before adjusting for inflation)
of course that’s probably true for many (if not all) U.S. states; and that is the point; the economy does not respond to foreign trips by small state governors; neither the governor or the legislature have any means to seriously impact the national or international economies
it’s PR plain and simple
BTW – exports to Canada are way down because most of it is IBM and the market has been down during the recession
as for China, the numbers got funky a few years back when IBM sold a division; prior to that, it was supplying an in-house division based in the U.S.; no exports; after the sale, the old division / new company moved to China; IBM now reports exports but the amount of product didn’t change
Here’s a dated link to gov. pay:
http://www.stateline.org/live/…
ME: $ 70,000
NH: $108,990
MA: $140,535
VT: $143,957
NY: $179,000
I spent an enlightening three days with the Slow Money Alliance in Shelburne VT. There I was introduced not only to Woody Tasch and the Slow Money Movement but as well to the concept and issue of “Peak Soil”. We have allowed the topsoil of our planet to erode to the point that more than half of it is gone. Much of the rest is being poisoned. We have no time to wait for politics and big money to catch up. VT, bless our soils, is far ahead of the rest, and we have our work cut out . It is my joy to offer a solution to the problem of not enough money to do the things we need to do- through the two wheel plan of the Common Good Bank and a Bank of Vermont. In addition we could expand on a program in place right now that currently gives double credit to the foodstamp recipients when they shop at a local farmer’s market. By Vermont Units of exchange (VU’s) we can augment the value of our commerce, and nurture a robustness amongst Vermonters, as well as make the transition to an internal method of commerce that will allow us to weather the oncoming collapse of the debt-based monetary system in far easier style. The VU’s will allow us to augment the value of minimum wage to a liveable wage with units of exchange that will be usable for exchanges with the State of Vermont and any other commercial establichment that may accept them. To make this leap think of the following truth: The reason that FRNs work ( dollar bills) is because we all trust in their value and agree upon that value, in and of themselves they are pieces of paper. Were it to be agreed upon by all we could throw all our FRNs away and use instead Monopoly money. In otherwords, a State government that introduces the mechanism (VU’s) & methodology of enabling more exchanges will free up commerce and nurture an economic sustainability beyond the foreseeable future. We are looking to enable abundance and change course away from the get rich quick, survival of the richest paradigm that still threatens our very survival.