John Klar: Flattening the curve of the true virus — fear
There was never any interest in flattening any COVID-19 infection curves — flattening the Constitution, and human contentment, are the obvious intentions here. That is the real virus.
Flemming: Even without TCI, cap-and-invest still looms large
Any cap-and-invest scheme would eventually make Vermont border gas stations so uncompetitive on price that they would go out of business, long before gasoline is banned entirely.
VTGOP: Single-member district vote Friday afternoon
Tomorrow, Jan. 14th at 3 p.m. the VT House of Representatives will meet and they are scheduled to vote on whether or not to subvert the proposal of the Apportionment Board to create a map of single-member Vermont House districts.
Tom Evslin: Vermont can exceed 2025 carbon reduction goal just by planting trees
We will best meet our environmental goals by good use of Vermont land. Reforestation Hub shows the size of the opportunity. It’s time to change crops, as Vermont has often done in the past, and turn some farms to forests.
Flemming: Ditch ‘defined benefit’ approach, adopt ‘defined contribution’ or hybrid plans for pensions
To stop the bleeding and secure the future of its pension system, Vermont must follow the lead of its peer states that have already taken action to move to a defined contribution or hybrid system for new hires.
Health Choice VT: Two more good vaccine bills in the Vermont House, one bad bill in the Senate
New bills would require informed consent prior to administration of any vaccine and prohibit discrimination based on vaccine status, but another would ban parents’ right to opt-out of any recommended vaccine for school based on religious or conscientious beliefs.
John Klar: The unvaccinated are not the problem — and statistics prove it
Since the science is now very clear that vaccinated people can still contract and spread this disease, it is bizarre to watch the discrimination against the unvaccinated based solely on fear and prejudice.
Eric Davis: Gun rights will again be ‘on chopping block’ this legislative session
For the third year in a row, the right to keep and bear arms will be first on the chopping block. Those who have been around a while will remain unsurprised by this approach; it seems the government in this state attempts to solve all problems through the expropriation of individual decision making.
McClaughry: Bill McKibben’s advice to President Biden — use executive authority ‘boldly’
McKibben is urging that Biden advance every liberal cause using executive authority to decree things that Congress won’t pass. This advice is from a liberal member of the party that’s always worrying about threats to democracy.
Paul Dame: Haste and waste on redistricting process
It should be troubling to every Vermonter that the first step is to subvert the majority in favor of the Democratic Party’s map. Why aren’t we using the approved tri-partisan map as a starting point, since it already has the most support?
McClaughry: The peril of the federal billions
If a state spends its federal windfall money on ongoing programs including supposed remedies for climate change, sooner or later it will have to cut back those programs it unwisely expanded, or start paying the increased costs from its own resources — most likely by jacking up taxes.
Robert Rich: Condos wrong about election integrity measures by states
Last summer, Secretary of State Jim Condos wrote an article on our elections that he circulated around the state. Unfortunately, for readers sincerely concerned with the integrity of our elections, Condos’ letter was long on obfuscation and incendiary rhetoric and short on fact and reason.