Vermont Archives - Page 26 of 42

Who’s Banning Books Now?

June 20, 2024 Rob Roper

The legislature passed just this year S.220 – An act relating to Vermont’s public libraries. The ostensible need for the law was summed up by the WCAX headline, “Vermont Senate advances bill to discourage book banning.” This was, in great part, a reaction by our legislators to parents around the country objecting to highly sexualized materials … Read more

Is EV Manufacturing Exceeding Demand?

June 20, 2024 John Klar

Car manufacturers make little, if any, money on EV sales. A dearth of charging stations discourages new buyers, who are also put off by high sticker prices. Sales of new electric vehicles have dropped off, as have used resale values.

Who Made Vermont Use Fossil Fuels in the First Place?

July 16, 2024June 18, 2024 Steve MacDonald

Last week, I took Vermont Democrats to the rhetorical woodshed over a new law to charge fossil fuel companies for the cost of climate change. It was a fun ride but long-winded, so I published it on Substack.

Night Cap: Expert Gives Masterclass In Why The Thing They Came To Advocate Won’t Work

June 13, 2024 Rob Roper

When you’re getting big bucks to hold a public meeting and nobody from the public shows up, what do you do? Get one of your employees to play the role of “good citizen.” This is what happened at the first legally mandated public outreach forum that was supposed to inform the public about the Clean … Read more

The Furor Over Fake Meat

June 12, 2024 John Klar

Iowa has become the latest state to signal hostility toward fake meat food products, imposing fines of up to $10,000 on manufacturers who mislabel protein-based products as meat.

Child in bed reading the bible - christian -

Night Cap: Black Christian Nationalism

June 8, 2024 John Klar

The politicization of Americans’ faith traditions has recently devolved into the newfound leftist phrase “Christian nationalist,” often combined with race as “white Christian nationalism” and then touted as a threat to the nation. But in seemingly racist arrogance, these Christ-haters ignore the history of black Christian nationalism.

Who Wins “Biggest Dunce” Award for the Biennium?

June 7, 2024 Rob Roper

This is the 150^th Behind the Lines post since I started this page eighteen months ago at the beginning of the 2023-2024 legislative biennium. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, shared, and grown the audience over the past year and a half, and welcome to many new subscribers who have joined in the last few weeks!

Of Course, Vermont Has an Unconstitutional Religious Test

July 16, 2024June 7, 2024 Steve MacDonald

Have you ever seen someone you used to know whom you thought was put together well? Then you run into them years later, and they look like they just gave up. That’s Vermont.

Biden’s “Social Justice” Undermines Food Supplies

June 6, 2024 John Klar

A recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) concludes that Tyson Foods is responsible for dumping billions of gallons of contaminated water into American waterways. Though efforts to curtail water pollution are surely important, aspects of the so-called “scientific” report are cause for pause.

How Does New Hampshire Spend Half the Money for Better Results?

June 6, 2024 Rob Roper

This question was posed to me the other day by a friend (I will paraphrase and omit the profanities): “How is it that New Hampshire, a state roughly the same geographic size of Vermont with about twice the population spends half the amount of taxpayer money that we do?”

Fossil Fuel Companies, the Ball Is in Your Court

June 3, 2024 Ian Underwood

Apparently, Vermont is the first state to start forcing companies that sell fossil fuels to contribute to a climate clean-up fund.

Social Justice Ideology Compromises “Real” Science

May 30, 2024 John Klar

Once upon a time, scientific inquiry was premised on ideas of objectivity, factual analysis, and avoiding bias. The advent of social justice theory, post-modernist thought, and climate alarmism have polluted the waters of many once-prestigious science journals. This political transformation of what was once called science has given rise to pseudo-scientific partisanship on both sides … Read more

When Gasoline is $100 per Gallon

May 23, 2024 John Klar

It is a mathematical fact that gasoline in the U.S. will eventually rise to $100 for a gallon (perhaps $130 for those interested in higher octane). This is not fear-mongering but basic arithmetic and economics. Here’s why.

Proposed Statute Perverts History

May 21, 2024 John Klar

The “social justice” movement that’s taken the nation by storm since last summer has descended as leftists employ absurd lies to impose glaring injustices. Perhaps the biggest of these lies being spread by leftist lawmakers is that Vermonters killed off all the Native Americans and must now pay economic penance.

Striving to Preserve Your Culture against False Charges of Racism

May 20, 2024 John Klar

In an ongoing cultural controversy in Vermont, a former House member named Kiah Morris has launched a video attacking Vermonters and their culture as racist. Ms. Morris has employed the empty trope that Vermonters who wish to preserve their traditional culture employ “political tactics [that] are historically consistent in the acceleration of increased discrimination, bias, and hate crimes … Read more

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed – American-Arab Antidiscrimination Committee photo

Palestinian ‘Student’ Compares Being Shot in Burlington, Vermont to Being Shot at in Gaza

July 16, 2024May 20, 2024 Steve MacDonald

The New York Times (NYT) has a breathless piece by a Palestinian “shooting victim.” Hisham Awartani survived a gunshot wound he received in Burlington, Vermont, so why not compare that to getting shot at in Gaza?

A Truckload of Manure

May 20, 2024 Rob Roper

The rhetoric surrounding the passage of the Clean Heat Carbon Tax (Act 18) was full of talk about “social justice,” a “just transition,” “engaging traditionally marginalized communities,” and “moving at the speed of trust.” Yeah, well, shocker, that was a truckload of manure!

Howard Dean vs. Phil Scott? Yes, Please!

May 19, 2024 Rob Roper

Howard Dean made news the other day when he reminded Vermonters he was still alive. The dude is bumping up against the actuarial tables at 76, after all, and anyone born the last year Dean held public office is now of legal age to drink, which would come in handy if the increasingly radicalized Leftist activist returned to power.

Government Overcriminalization Catches Unwary Americans

May 18, 2024 John Klar

A strange trend has emerged in the law – strange and dangerous. While some crimes like robbery, shoplifting, and drug dealing – things that require criminal intent – have been decriminalized in many areas, the already quite large body of federal regulation has grown under President Joe Biden, putting unsuspecting citizens who don’t intentionally or knowingly break the law increasingly at risk for prosecution.

In Biden’s America Foreign Squatters Have More Rights Than Home Owners

May 17, 2024 John Klar

National media is abuzz with surreal tales of US citizens ejected from or arrested while trying to reclaim their own homes from criminal squatters. One viral TikTok video features a Venezuelan thug named Leonel Morino exhorting his fellow hoodlums to seize homes as squatting escalates in Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles, and other major cities.