by Jim Fitzgerald, Candidate for St. Albans State Representative Franklin 3-1
As a proud Democrat, I was elected to represent St. Albans in the Vermont state legislature for six years, and after that I served as mayor of St. Albans for four years. This year I am running for the legislature again… but as a Republican.
Yes, a Vermont Republican.
Why?
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Because Vermont Democrats, at least the ones serving in Montpelier, aren’t Democrats anymore. They’re Progressives who have taken over our proud party and replaced our values with a high tax, anti-jobs, anti-Vermonter agenda that is making it impossible for the people who live here to live here.
The Democratic Party I was a part of looked out for the working Vermonter and respected the working Vermonter. We respected traditional Vermont values, such as frugality and local control. So, tell me how does trying to pass a punishing, regressive carbon tax on gasoline and heating fuel on people struggling to make ends meet in a cold, rural state where people are dependent on their vehicles to work and their furnaces to survive translate into looking out for the little guy? It doesn’t.
The Vermont I know and love is special because of the hard working people who made it this way: small business owners, the people who run the general stores, the inns and hotels, the gas stations and restaurants, and family farms. So, tell me how does trying to pass new payroll taxes, higher rooms and meals taxes, and higher and higher property taxes help these people succeed? It doesn’t.
But, this is the agenda of the Progressives, and they have hijacked the Vermont Democratic Party as part of their plan to these policies into effect. Sadly, they have been very successful, but not to the benefit of our state or its people.
You don’t believe me? Just look at who the elected leaders of today’s “Democratic” Party are. The Lieutenant Governor runs as a Democrat, but he’s really a Progressive. The leader of the Senate runs as a Democrat, but he’s really a Progressive. The same goes for the State Auditor, and a growing number of representatives and senators. The Vermont Democratic Party is no longer run by Democrats, ergo, it has ceased to be the Democratic Party. I’m not leaving it, it has left me.
I have too many friends and family who have had to leave Vermont because our state policies, under this Progressive agenda masquerading under the Democratic banner, have simply become too hostile for working class people to survive.
I do not want this trend to continue, and, as Einstein said, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. So, I’m giving the Vermont Republican Party a try because Vermont is my home and I want to be able to stay here. If you want to stay, #WalkAway!
Editors Note: Republished from a version shared at #WalkAway Vermont on Facebook
