News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Rob Roper 
Back in the end of March, I took part in a panel discussion on election integrity that included Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas. At that event, she said unequivocally, and I quote: “Most definitively, no. We do not have people who are registered to vote in this state who are non-citizens.” Most definitively, no. … Read more
The November election results are still over two months away, but VPR (I refused to use the ridiculous name Vermont Public, which sounds like a restroom, so maybe it fits after all) is reporting Democrats have already settled on who will be Speaker of the House come January.: Lori Houghton (D-Essex Junction). Well, isn’t that … Read more
Vermont Democrats nominated Amanda Janoo as their horse to take on Phil Scott in November’s gubernatorial election, rejecting by a slim margin the putatively more moderate alternative, Aly Richards, and in doing so decided to go – as many in their party have – full-on communist. Though Janoo doesn’t formally claim the Democratic Socialist party … Read more
First, let me say that open primaries are dumb. Parties should be free to pick their own candidates without outside shenanigans taking place, and if folks don’t want to be affiliated with a political party, good for you, that’s your choice, enjoy your summer, you get your say in the general election. That said, thems … Read more
When Vermonters vote this November (or, more accurately, when Vermonters vote at some point between September 24th and November 3rd during our ludicrous election-month-and-a-half), we will have to decide whether or not to pass yet another constitutional amendment, this one called Proposition 3, or “The Right to Collectively Bargain.” Just going to say up front, … Read more
This week, the famed pollster and certainly no conservative, Nate Silver, founder (but since departed) of FiveThirtyEight and now author of the Silver Bulletin, published an article breaking down the financial and racial demographics of who makes up the Democratic Socialists of America. What he discovered is that the party’s “sweet spot,” to use the term from … Read more
Does CNBC’s “Best States” ranking make any sense? Yogi Berra famously said of a once favorite Yankees hangout, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” I feel like there’s a way to tweak that phrase regarding Vermont’s just winning CNBC’s “Best States to Live” for the sixth straight year: “Nobody wants to live there anymore. … Read more
Young people (18 to 34) apparently really don’t like Vermont. According to the recent University of New Hampshire Green Mountain State Poll, a whopping 64 percent of that demographic wants to very much or somewhat leave the Green Mountains for greener pastures. Less than half, just 45 percent, think Vermont is a “good place to … Read more
I’ve got to say it’s more than a bit distressing to head into the celebration of our great nation’s 250th birthday on the heels of Democratic Socialists winning a bunch of elections in New York and Colorado. So, this semiquincentennial (yes, I had to look it up, and even my spellcheck still doesn’t believe that’s … Read more
The Vermont Futures Project made something of a splash when it released a statistic showing that Vermont ranks 51st among 50 states (D.C. thrown in for giggles) for something they call “economic momentum.” This sounds really bad and, spoiler alert, it is. But, full confession, it’s not a statistic I was familiar with. Other organizations … Read more
Rural Vermont Rising clearly has the Left spooked. Rightly so. Any organization that goes from zero to nearly 16,000 followers in a matter of a few months and is organizing itself with town-based chapters aimed at rolling back big chunks of the Democratic Socialist (or progressive, or “woke,” or whatever you want to call it) … Read more
In the midst of unprecedented national division, Republicans and Democrats have apparently found something upon which they agree: that US moral values are “poor.” A May 1-17 Gallup survey offered a sobering assessment of Americans’ negative views of their country’s moral trajectory. For Better or Worse Gallup reported a 12-percentage-point increase (to 56%) from last … Read more
In the wake of Act 73/H.955 education “reform” and the emphasis on consolidation, there has been considerable worry in rural Vermont about what this means for their small, local schools. For many, it will mean closure. A recent op-ed by Nina Antin notes, “When Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, presented H.955 on the Vermont Senate floor, … Read more
Both Vermont’s Senate President Pro-Tem Philip Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) and Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington), the top leaders in the state legislature, announced that they will be retiring after sixteen and fourteen years, respectively. And, not to put too fine a point on it, they, and more importantly the entire clown car they’ve been … Read more
I just read, I think, the most important op-ed to appear anywhere in Vermont this year. It is by Shawn Tester, CEO of Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, and it is about school choice. Why is a healthcare guy writing about the importance of school choice? Because access to school choice and a variety of independent … Read more
A pathetic attempt to look like you’re doing something when actually doing nothing. So, the Vermont House and Senate both approved H.727 – An act relating to sustainable data center deployment, sending it off to the Governor’s desk for a signature or a veto. What this bill does is create a number of logistical hurdles … Read more
Thirteen of seventeen Senate Democrats joined every Republican in repealing Act 18, the Clean Heat Standard, in a significant moral victory for the GOP. (For those wondering, the four colossally out of touch “no” votes came from Andrew Perchlik (D/P- Washington), Ann Cummings (D-Washington), Becca White (D-Windsor), and Tanya Vyhovsky (D/P -Chittenden C.) But it … Read more
There is a political spat brewing under the Golden Dome regarding a $700,000 appropriation – or lack thereof – for a childhood literacy program called Read Vermont. In a nutshell, the program funds “literary coaches” who train teachers how to use phonics, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension to teach kids how to read. This … Read more
This is supposed to be an election integrity measure, protecting voters from “…bribery, intimidation, threats, coercion, or other means…” by those attempting to influence how — or preventing them entirely — from voting at a polling place. Sounds good. But here’s the problem: two-thirds of Vermonters no longer vote at a polling place. Since the … Read more
Next week, Proposition 4, a proposed amendment to our state constitution, will come before the full House of Representatives – the final hurdle in a four-year process before it goes to the voters this November in a popular referendum. What is Proposition 4? It is the so-called “Equality of Rights” amendment. Don’t be fooled. That … Read more