( – promoted by JDRyan)
Are you a tax and spend liberal?
I have never met a tax and spend liberal in my life. I have never met one person who thinks that the way to fix a problem is to just throw money at it. Throwing things is generally not a great strategy for solving problems. Money throwing not withstanding, there is no doubt that many of our societal problems are insoluble without financial resources.
The charge of “tax and spend liberal” is a canard used to discredit the idea that the welfare of our neighbors and community is directly connected to our own well-being. The question is how can we invest in the future when we can’t pay today’s bills? Vermont’s answer must be that even with our belts cinched tight we must not fail to make investments that will produce a more prosperous future.
There is an old joke: a man is praying, “Please God, please let me win the lottery!” The hand of God reaches down and taps him on the shoulder and says, “ Schmuck! Buy a ticket.” Investing in Vermont’s future is no lottery ticket. On the contrary, we know these investments are a sure thing. Simply stated, if we do not invest in a prosperous future how can we expect to have one?
Here are a few ideas that seem a basis upon which to build consensus.
• High speed Internet down every dirt road in the state…Now.
• Major increases in energy efficiency. Efficiency Vermont has led the way as a model for electric energy efficiency. In the literal wake of the Gulf oil calamity let us agree that Vermont can lead the way to comprehensive energy efficiency.
• Our educational system must succeed at every level from early childhood education through higher education and technical training.
• Vermont needs a single payer health care system with an emphasis on healthy living and prevention.
• We must conserve and protect our rural way of life and support our agricultural base.
• Let’s agree it is time to stop bad mouthing Vermont about our business environment. Vermont is one of the best places on the planet to live and do business. The message that Vermont is not good for business is for fertilizer on your garden. Vermont is known for making premium products and Vermont itself is a premium place to live. We can attract the businesses of the future by sending the message about our high quality of life. Much of the nation envies that Vermont families live with the natural beauty that surrounds us.
I have not tried to make this a comprehensive list. I want to know what issues you in the GMD community think need to be brought to the table in the State House. Do you agree that “Challenges for Change” has been a disrespectful process to the state workforce? Tell me more. Do you think that with the Gulf disaster on our doorstep that the legislature may come to grips our energy supply problems? How can we communicate that an investment in early childhood education saves people and taxpayer dollars from going into the prison system. How can we convince Vermont and the nation that we must reject short- term solutions and get to work on our long-term problems? What are you fired up about?
My experience in the State House proved my value as an effective Democratic progressive voice. My nature, humor, my ability to be civil to everyone allowed for a liberal viewpoint to be truly heard during my six years of service as State Representative. My passion for human rights and respect for others allowed me to speak and act in the milieu of the legislature that advanced a broadminded agenda. It's an agenda that I believe I share with a majority of voters in Washington County. I fight for causes and people with all my heart and if at times it shows on my sleeves, it’s okay.
Thank you,
Donny Osman
That bullshit rhetorical trope is the most meaningless accusation in politics.
Nobody says to a carpenter, “Oh, you’re one of those ‘build a house and get paid’ carpenters.” Nevertheless, some people seem to expect our government services to get paid for with magic pixie dust. These same people adhere to the myth that private industry will somehow provide these services for less money, while extracting a profit margin.
You have already laid out some good directions. Double down on the energy efficiency. That will become a limiting factor in our economy over the next decade. Right now VT is blowing over $1 billion a year on energy, and 90% of that goes straight out of state. A 10% reduction in energy use is $90 million that can stay in-state. Transportation will be the hard subject.
An economist named Steve Kopits noted that the U.S. economy goes into recession when oil costs exceed 4% of GDP. Right now that’s $80 a barrel. Let’s get VT to the point where it would take $150 a barrel to hit 4% of our GDP. Meanwhile, let’s develop the businesses that can take advantage of expensive oil. It’s like betting on the sun coming up in the morning.
I actually think of it the opposite way. I actually am a “tax and spend” liberal. That’s because I know that because the government can’t act directly the only way the government is able to do anything is by spending money. And unlike the Republicans, as demonstrated by their recent track record in Washington and Montpelier, I believe that there are things that we need to tax ourselves to pay for, and that it’s a shared obligation to do so.
So no, we don’t “throw money at problems”. Still, as Jonathan Kozol has pointed out in discussing impoverished schools, if you have a school building with waterfalls running down the stairwells, spending money to fix the roof will stop that problem.
The Douglas-Dubie administration was always interested in cutting or limiting funds for Efficiency Vermont. Getting a more progressive administration on the Fifth Floor will be a step toward changing that and supporting wise economic development.
how its OK to shell out $$$ and hand it over to large, out of state or out of country corporations for stuff (iPods, plastic crap for the house, another car, a bigger than big television, sports tickets, airfare, etc.) – but when we talk taxes for streets, parks, schools, homeless shelters, cops, firemen, programs for the disabled, unemployment benefits, etc. etc. that eventually profit me and my local environment, community, etc. – its a bad bad thing.
Just so we know the score:
Paying for something that generates profit (often to a faceless, far away, abstract entity) = GOOD!
Paying for something that is for the public good (and my own personal gain, eventually) that may be very local = BAD!
Backwards, isn’t it?
Oh, and having lived here under Douglas, I’m going to keep that tax part out of all this, and start going by ‘raise (user) fees and spend’ liberal. Or something. Wouldn’t want folks to think that we were raising taxes. Everyone just hates taxes now…
The FEA Party just doesn’t have the same ring to it now, does it?
I agree that the Republican manta since Reagan has been to borrow and spend. The problem is what they borrowed and spent the money for? It was spent on war and other sundries of empire. It’s fine to borrow money to buy a house and build equity. Not so fine to borrow money for a vacation in Las Vegas. Then again, I would rater have a blow out in Vegas than blow up Iraq.