News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Ronald Reagan once quipped that government is like a baby, an endless appetite on one end, and no discipline on the other. No place lives up to – or down to as the case may be — that analogy more so than Vermont. In case you missed it amongst all the hubbub and controversy surrounding … Read more
I just got my new jetpack, and my new micro-helicopter, so I won’t be using the roads anymore. Who do I see about getting my ‘road dollars’ back? What, you say? There’s no such thing? We just pay for the roads, and whoever wants to use them can? And because anyone can use them, we … Read more
I’m speaking primarily to Republicans because the Democrats are not going to pay attention or care, or, if they do, buck their party leadership – just a quick reminder that back in November 2024, your voters didn’t go into the polls screaming, “We have too many school districts!” They weren’t calling on you to close … Read more
Now that he is running for the US Senate, a position for which it is difficult to unseat even the most despicable liberal scold, Chris Pappas, has invited more scrutiny. As a member of Congress, he can and has done plenty of damage, but the size of the US House dilutes the potential harm. He’d … Read more
The movement to shift public school funding from local governments to the state is driven by a core belief that the shift will bring more funding. But that assumption is almost certainly wrong. The National Education Association’s latest annual report on public school data drew media coverage this week for its finding that New Hampshire’s … Read more
President Trump has proposed using the revenue from his increased tariffs to lower or even eliminate income taxes — with a priority on removing Americans making less than 200,000 dollars a year from the tax rolls. Exempting more Americans from income taxes — and lowering taxes on other Americans— is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. However, … Read more
As the 2025 legislative session winds its way toward the finish line, minority party Vermont Republicans are trying their best to act on the loud and clear message sent by voters last November in regard to such laws as the Clean Heat Carbon Tax, electric cars and trucks adoption mandates, mandates for more expensive renewable … Read more
The Proglodytes are forever whining about someone paying their fair share or taxing the rich, even though Democrats have more oligarchs (rich folks) registered on their team. It’s a bait and switch. Democrats want to tax the crap out of everyone with a tax code full of loop holes only the rich can afford to … Read more
New Hampshire legislators have devised various schemes over the years to protect the logging industry from market forces. The latest scheme comes in House Bill 123, as amended. Promoted as “closing a loophole” in the state’s Timber Tax, HB 123 in fact creates a new tax on revenues generated from sales of carbon credits. The new … Read more
A handful of Democrats presented their bill, H.376, which would increase the excise tax on liquor and the gallonage (turns out that’s a word) tax on wine and beer by an estimated total of $16 to $17 million on hard after-working Vermonters. This represents for beer and hard cider a whopping jump from 26¢ per … Read more
The Republican-majority Congress has a significant amount of work to do, and regardless of the outcome, it will likely be unable to please everyone, especially us. But no one will be as displeased as Democrats, but should we care? You can’t make them happy. Even when they get their destructive, miserable way, until they’ve made … Read more
When Governor Scott unveiled his education reform plan, I warned readers to be prepared to “kiss your sister.” There’s a lot to not like in what he came up with, but at least it reduced spending by $180 million in order to cut taxes. The plan the Democrats are putting forward, however, is more like … Read more
After submitting my most recent article on rogue Rs that voted the wrong way on HB1002 last year and removing property tax relief from HB2 this year, I started alerting constituents of the latter. A constituent of Bryer complained of him being a “union schmuck” and that inspired me to do more cross referencing. I … Read more
The top ten US states with the highest tax burden are all blue. One of them is Vermont (#3). Maine clocks in at #5, with Rhode Island at #8, and Connecticut at #10, with the highest total tax burden. Massachusetts is #13. New Hampshire is 48th, making it the third least taxed state in the … Read more
Climate change has always been about wealth redistribution. A complete reimaging of the American economy to send money to the developed world (by which we mean, global elites). It is by far the most authentic expression of Democrat-Socialism. Create economic parity by making nearly everyone poor and dependent. These are the pigs from Orwell’s Animal … Read more
In 2024, the Vermont legislature charged the State Treasurer’s Office with studying what a “Cap & Invest” program would look like as a means for meeting the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) targets for greenhouse gas reduction in the transportation sector (aka you driving your car). That report is now complete, and, just as the Public Utilities … Read more
Think the American Revolution was just about taxes, tea parties, and representation? Think again. The real conflict wasn’t about a few policies. It was about power – a British claim to unlimited, centralized power “in all cases whatsoever.” James Madison later called this the “fundamental principle” on which independence itself was declared. And he was far … Read more
The US and China came closer to a full-fledged trade war last week when China imposed tariffs of up to 15 percent on key US agricultural exports. This was retaliation for President Trump’s increasing of tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States from 10 percent to 20 percent. China’s retaliatory tariffs show how export-dependent … Read more
A majority of New Hampshire Communities go to the polls today to vote in local town elections. To say this is important is an understatement. Your property taxes hang the balance. For the record, my town is weird. Our Deliberative Session is tomorrow, and we vote on April 8th. Merrimack is an SB2 town. But … Read more
We learned it was quite a long day as we dealt with 42 bills and approved HR17, the budget unrestricted revenue estimates from the Ways and Means committee. In attendance were roughly 207 Republicans and 165 Democrats in the House. Given that roster of House bills I’ll be reporting on some interesting bills as well … Read more