News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Remember back in 2024 when the Democrats and Progressives in the Vermont legislature passed H.72 (Act 178), establishing a much hyped “overdose prevention center” in Burlington? (No Republican voted for it, and the Governor vetoed it only to see that veto overridden by the supermajority.) The law basically gave the Queen City around $2 million … Read more
Vermont ranks low when it comes to political ethics accountability. According to the Coalition for Integrity’s S.W.A.M.P. (States With Anti-Corruption Measures for Public Officials), Vermont ranks in the bottom ten nationally. The Center for Public Integrity gives us a D-. The general reasoning behind the bad grades is we have few rules governing our politicians’ … Read more
This week on Right Side Up, Alison and I discuss Act 73 issues, Medicaid data requests from the Feds, and some miscellaneous bills in the legislature. You Can Watch on the ‘Grok Rumble Channel if the embedded video does not load. Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok … Read more
The Cost of Joining New York’s (Still Non-Existent) Cap & Invest Carbon Tax Scheme As the Vermont House Energy & Digital Infrastructure (HEDI) Committee debated whether or not to blow $800,000 (and $500,000 every year subsequent) establishing a new fossil fuel registry (H.740), Treasurer Mike Pieciak (D-VT) chimed in with a February 25, 2026, letter … Read more
This week, on Right Side Up, Alison and I discuss land use policy, energy policy, and Act 73 versus tuitioning statewide. Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We Want to Hear It. … Read more
An anti-Israel group will rally the day after Town Meeting to celebrate what it hopes will be Town Meeting referendum victories. The referendum asks voters to approve several initiatives, including withdrawal of Vermont Air National Guard F-35’s from the strike force now aimed at further military action against Iran. The Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation … Read more
Stop Giving It More Money! As Vermonters gear up for Town Meeting Day and prepare to vote on the local school budgets that will determine our statewide property tax bill, please consider that the post-Act 60 public school system we have created is destroying our state. It has become a money-sucking vortex of incompetence eating … Read more
This week on Right Side Up, we discuss written testimony on Act 181 (Vermont’s land use planning framework and use jurisdiction) because your rights matter.” Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We … Read more
Voter ID Is Critical, Especially Now In order to ensure anything we decide as a society by voting – elections, referendums, budgets, etcetera – is a fair and accurate reflection of the voting public, the system has to be able to safeguard the principles of one person/one vote and the secret ballot. If the system … Read more
A Vermont couple has regained their foster care license following a legal dispute with state officials over required LGBTQ-related training, according to a report by Fox News. Melinda Antonucci, 45, and her husband, Casey Mathieu, 43, reached a settlement with the Vermont Department for Children and Families after their foster care license was revoked amid disagreements … Read more
A provision of the federal law H.1, aka the One Big Beautiful Bill, allows taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on your federal income tax of up to $1700 for contributing to a state-based 501c3 organization classified as a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). The SGO then uses that money to, as its name suggests, … Read more
A proposed amendment to Act 73, Vermont’s sweeping education reform law, would create a single, unified statewide school district in which parents would allocate tuition dollars to any public school. The proposal was introduced by sponsor Steve Heffernan (R-Addison) on Wednesday afternoon in Senate Education. The amendment would move Vermont toward a Unified School System designed to … Read more
This week, on Right Side Up, we discuss solar siting, the Act 181 land grab, and the Education nightmare. Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We Want to Hear It. Comment or submit … Read more
Vermont, once famous for its dairy – I dig a good Vermont Cheddar – is getting cheesy in other ways. Progressive legislators, some of them elected as actual progressives, are always looking for ways to steal money from people. Two facts or rules of progressive political life. First, when it comes to the Elected Left … Read more
For better or worse, the Vermont Legislature has not yet passed any bills into law this year. The Senate last week passed two controversial anti-ICE bills. Both bills passed by a 27-2 roll call vote with only Sens. Russ Ingalls (R-Essex) and Terry Williams (R-Rutland) voting no. Both bills now move over to the Vermont … Read more
Just before I took off for a week’s family vacation, Senator Andrew Perchlik (D/P-Washington) held a press conference flanked by Secretary of State Sara Copeland Hanzas (D-VT) where they were handing out $10,000 and $5000 checks to a bunch of local media outlets. Oh, this is bad, I said to myself with some excitement. I’ve … Read more
The leadership of the House Ways & Means Committee wants nothing to do with allowing Vermonters to access a One Big Beautiful Bill tax credit that would give them a dollar-for-dollar return on money contributed to private school scholarships. Ways and Means, the committee with oversight over all tax policy and legislation, on Wednesday discussed … Read more
I realize not all of my readers are in Vermont, but the issue of a young student trying to bring intellectual light into Vermont’s progressively darkened schools is of national interest. It is shameful that there are many who want to allow only one political voice, including in public schools, often indoctrinating children into far-left … Read more
This week, on Right Side Up, the new school maps and the latest bill wording (no school choice), and more on Energy policy.” Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We Want to … Read more
Going into the November 2026 elections, Vermont Democrats are eager to impress voters with the notion that the Clean Heat Standard, the “Rube Goldberg” carbon tax scheme they passed over the veto of Governor Scott in 2024, is dead and gone. A bad but fading memory to be hopefully forgotten about by this coming fall. … Read more