Surveys and polls are great, not because they’re low-hanging fruit, but because (despite the punditry class, blogosphere, and podcastistan leaning on them to make a point), they tend to be wrong. Not just wrong as in results – political polls are close enough for government work- I mean wrong as in the questions themselves.
That’s not actually possible in real terms. By definition, the results are what they are based on your ability to get someone to answer what you ask of them. And like government policy, they are often a solution looking for a problem, with the answer always being someone else’s money. Ask this question this way, and you get the result you wanted.
Some polls are lazy, and most polls are deployed as marketing bait to grow an email list. Then there’s this poll: “Vermont Public asked Vermonters one question about second homes: “Should Vermont impose a new yearly tax on second homes?”
Vermont already did. It also wrote rules for the homes they get to tax twice, and the linked article explains that, but I have a different rabbit hole to explore. The Vermont Public poll asked Vermonters if there should be a new yearly tax on second homes – 57% said yes. Not a lot of detail; just do it. A UNH Green Mountain poll (same article) explained that these properties already pay property tax, and 78% said, “Hit ’em again.”
Nearly eight out of the ten Vermonters polled think it’s a great idea to tax whatever a second home is AGAIN! For what? Well, legislatively speaking, to fund education spending.
Eight out of ten Vermonters didn’t care about the fiscal waste that is public education or how, despite throwing money at it and getting worse outcomes, more money (this time) would produce something other than nicer cars and homes for administrators and teachers (maybe even second homes for some of them – in New Hampshire) and dumber kids.
The food and service here are terrible; make sure you give the server a big fat tip.
Vermont is broken. It’s not alone, but I’m Vermont-adjacent, and what they broke leaks across the Connecticut River to poison the wells in my Live Free or Die State. If Democrats won any sort of majority here, they’d make a legislative dash to break New Hampshire as fast and as hard as they could. [Related: GrokTALK!: If You Love New Hampshire – Stop the Dems in Nov.]
I don’t want to have to move south just yet, and not just because I make part of my living running an NH-based political blog. The Granite State is special, and I don’t want polls asking if we want to waste more money on a failed project (like public schools).
Who should we screw to pay for that?
That’s the question Vermonters need to be asked and answer.
Polling suggests people see those perceived as having the money to steal as the ones who should pay more, even as everyone’s taxes keep going up for the same failed purpose.
What might the answer be if they asked whether job creators and investors in the local economy should pay more for a failed public school system?
Or how about: should the system consistently demonstrate minimum benchmarked academic achievements before it gets any more money from anyone?
If we could reduce education costs (30-50% or more) by allowing towns/cities to sell their school system to a more accountable, accredited, third-party vendor that would need to meet minimum academic standards to keep the contract, would you vote yes?
No one asks these questions or any number of others. What should taxpayer-funded schools actually accomplish?
Should student literacy, numeracy, and logic skills be the primary goal of a publicly funded education?
Ian Underwood has asked many of these types and more, and everyone involved in this pyramid scheme should check them out, including pollsters.
Finally, while I don’t know who was polled, I have to say I’m a bit embarrassed for my Vermont friends. If 7.8 out of 10 people asked think the answer to anything involving the government is to tax someone else twice, taking your state back may require an act of God.
