Meg Hansen, a former executive director of Vermonters for Health Care Freedom and current TV host and political commentator, is running for lieutenant governor.
She teased the announcement in an email sent to True North ahead of her official campaign launch, expected this week.
In a pre-recorded audio campaign pitch sent to True North, Hansen says it’s time for a change in the Green Mountain State. The political class in Vermont is acting against the interests of the people, and the answer is to redirect the state back toward economic and personal freedom.
READY TO RUN: Meg Hansen, the former executive director of Vermonters for Health Care Freedom, has indicated that she is going to run for lieutenant governor.
“I believe that we need to be pro-economic growth,” she said. “Economic growth is progressive, with a lowercase p, meaning forward movement. Economic growth means prosperity for all. But to become pro-economic growth, Vermont needs to become a pro-freedom state again.”
Hansen’s campaign will revolve around three main issues: the economy, health care and education.
“In 2018 Vermont ranks fourth-highest in overall tax burden and it is the second-worst [state in which] to start a business — this is the opposite of economic freedom,” she said. “We need to enact tax reform because lowering taxes is the number-one way to foster a pro-growth, diverse business climate.”
On the issue of health care, Hansen said lawmakers need to expand Vermonters’ freedom to choose health insurance plans, which should be better customized for each individual and family. State leaders also need to reject “monopolies” comprised of the hospitals and insurance companies.
In particular, she criticizes the state’s sole accountable care organization, OneCare Vermont. The newly created ACO is an “all-payer” system with money pooled together from Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. Unlike the traditional fee-for-service model, the OneCare all-payer model pays doctors and hospitals a flat, annual, per-patient fee while focusing on preventive care and cost containment. OneCare’s goal is to deliver higher quality health care with lower cost increases.
Hansen said Vermonters for Health Care Freedom investigated OneCare and the all-payer model and concluded the new set-up was bad policy.
“The all-payer model is simply a backdoor to single-payer [one provider, no competition],” she said. “With this investigation, I helped uncover this experiment’s incorrect and incomplete health information data and technology, the shocking absence of accountability from OneCare, and an embarrassing lack of oversight from the Green Mountain Care Board and other health care authorities.”
On education, Hansen says the best way to drive down costs and increase quality is by allowing for more school choice in all communities. She also said Vermonters should be able to “hold local and state education authorities accountable regarding school budget and spending decisions.”
Meg Hansen interviews Ethan Allen Institute President Rob Roper for a recent episode of “Dialogues with Meg Hansen,” a Vermont-focused interview series shown on the YCN Network.
As of late, Hansen has been active in media. She is the creator and host of YCN Network’s “Dialogues with Meg Hansen” and has written numerous commentaries published in Vermont news outlets.
Toward the end of her audio pitch, Hansen blasts the state’s political class for using social justice claims and climate catastrophe rhetoric to spook Vermonters into keeping silent and accepting higher costs of living.
“We live in an age of Wokedom and cancel-culture where the media and cultural leaders demand thought-conformity, stamping out all dissent,” she said. “It’s no accident that our zeitgeist is topsy-turvy.”
She added: “They need us disoriented, drugged, docile, desperate and dependent. That’s how the political class stays in power.”
Hansen also said state officials “agitate against us” in the name of climate change.
“They wrongly pit our economic development against nature; they use the specter of climate catastrophe to demonize us and to restrict our ability to flourish,” she said. “The problem of impending catastrophe is dishonest, but their proposed solutions are worse — they are immoral.”
She added that progressive policies like the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) and banning plastics will ultimately drive out low-income Vermonters.
Hansen was born in India and lived in United Arab Emirates, Italy and Norway before coming to Vermont. She said she wants the state to strengthen its rural, blue-collar and middle-class roots and reject elitism.
“It wrecks my heart to see how more and more of us in Vermont are losing our American freedoms, our American rights, our American advantage. Our campaign theme is small towns, big hearts,” she said.
Hansen is expected to make her official announcement to run for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket Tuesday.
Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North Reports. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.
Meg Hansen for Lt. Governor is good news for Vermonters. In the article, Meg, a conservative Republican, said she desires to speak on a statewide platform to the issues that are forgotten and overlooked for Vermonters. Knowing there is a need for clear policy direction in areas of tax reform, health care insurance and school choice, Meg feels led to be the one doing that because, as she said, she is “qualified” to speak to these issues.
I know her and she is not only qualified from a professional, communication, experience aspect, her attributes go far beyond that. She truly cares about Vermont, its citizens, and wants good things not only for herself but the same for all who she will represent. Her desire is to uplift all Vermonters, not to use the position to dictate and control every aspect of their lives as is the end goal of liberal Democrat/Progressives such as our current Lt. Governor.
My sincerest gratitude to all of you for your kind encouragement! Reading these comments filled my heart with such warmth and strengthened my resolve to win for you in 2020.
This morning, we officially launched our campaign. Learn about why I am running, who I am, the campaign platform, causes I am passionate about, and how you can join our amazing coalition here — https://hansenforvermont.com/
Thank you to all of you who have donated and to those who wish to support our campaign. Many have expressed to me their desire to donate online, which can be safely done right here: https://hansenforvermont.com/donate/
OR to Meg Hansen for Vermonters
PO Box 1101, Manchester Center, VT 05255
Connect with us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HansenForVermont/) and info@hansenforvermont.com OR call me at 802-622-4165.
Meg Hansen Lt Governor 2020
Go Meg!
I’ve passed this article to many VT people I know and some outside the state but have relatives in the state. Great news.
I posted this article on Digger (Vermont’s aging Population) comments. Since Meg is a threat to Progs and Democrat totalitarians, I bet they won’t print it like many of my other comments.
Meg has media experience. The media in Vermont is another campaign political pac for liberals and they censor by omission. Let’s hope that Meg Hanson can break through and make people realize that our government does not listen or care about what we (the citizens) think or say..And that’s why they keep voting for them. The media hides conservative ideas. They are no better than the national media. They tell you what they want you to hear. This is one of the main reasons we have voters who know nothing of the real issues facing Vermont. Instead of changing the legislature they complain which gets them nothing and gives the liberals more power.Vote them out. Every conservative out there needs to become a voice for reason in the war to return freedom to Vermonters.
Re: “On education, Hansen says the best way to drive down costs and increase quality is by allowing for more school choice in all communities. She also said Vermonters should be able to “hold local and state education authorities accountable regarding school budget and spending decisions.”
Ms. Hansen: I welcome your initiative and courage. My only advice at this time is to make Education reform priority one. The economy and healthcare are inextricably connected and will begin to improve with the enabling of comprehensive School Choice.
The only way to “hold local and state education authorities accountable” is to allow parents the opportunity to choose those schools (public or independent) that ARE accountable to them. Otherwise, the rampant conflict of interest, clearly evident in local and regional school boards, not to mention the State Board of Ed. and the legislature, will resist and overwhelm all attempts at reform.
We can achieve both objectives (school choice and accountable spending) simply by enabling parental school choice tuitioning using the State’s Announced Average Tuition as the voucher.
Again, everything else will begin to fall into place once parents have the freedom to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children.
I agree somewhat on her position on education costs, however I believe the most effective way to contain costs is to have the voters smarten up, pay attention to their local budgets, , and to . attend local meetings. The voters are at fault for high budgets.
You’ve got my vote Meg. You go girl.
From a “Fashionista” to Personality to Politicians. Nay, I’ll pass on this. But if you want so really good fashion advice or opinions about popular culture, you may want to check out her twitter feed before someone in her “campaign” decides it would be very smart to remove it.
Years 2014-2017 are so good.
https://twitter.com/megmhansen
Trolling much…you’ve left your bridge unattended sir…may I suggest you find a better hobby…waaay too much time on your hands?
Great news. Go for it Meg, you’ve got my vote!!!
That’s Great News!
Boy is this a breath of fresh air. It’s like the cool evening air moving down a mountain with all the nice evening odors.
In Marty Robbins song “Lord you gave me a Mountain, a hill I may never climb”.
It’s the same in very liberal politics in VT. There are many in the state wherein a person running for office with the letter “R” is a danger. It’s a mountain to climb. There are too many socialist shepople that would vote “D” regardless whether it’ll harm their well-being or not. It’s automatic.
How to break that mindset? First off have to break up that monopoly in Chittenden County, 6 Senators and 23 Representatives, haven’t mentioned Washington and those surrounding counties of Liberalism, mainly.
Where can we send money, how can we all help?
The socialist pig tail is a bad effect on our economy
Thank you Doug. If you wish to donate Meg would also be very grateful to you as I can say that on her behalf.
You can make a safe, quick donation here: http://hansenforvermont.com/
Or send a check to:
Meg Hansen for Vermonters
PO Box 1101, Manchester Center VT 05255
Thank you Meg, you are the future I would hope for, so good to hear you are running!
Good. Get rid of that smug communist ponytailed hippie.
Amen!!!!!
Glad to see Meg Hansen announcing he run for Lt Gov, it’s about time we see someone
with common sense and concerns for the state, instead of like the agenda follower that
currently holds that position mostly concerned about the Commerical pot legalization !!
Vermont deserves better, Meg will help get us there !!
Meg, I was hoping you would run. Thanks.
I have followed Meg’s interview and podcasts for a while and found her to be thoughtful, smart and intelligent, with a reasonably conservative approach to the issues of today’s Vermont.
Good luck Meg, we need smart, kind hearted people like you in office. Best of luck! Hopefully you can help heal Vermont, literally and figuratively.
I have met Meg and find her a breath of fresh air. She is smart, sensible, energetic and knows the issues. If Vermont is going to survive, we need some young blood to enter the political spectrum to fight for our values, freedoms and to resist the control-hungry establishment.
If only Ms Hansen could develop a sensible, communicable and non-divisive message that would capture the imagination and hearts of Vermont’s silent citizens and subsequently create a Conservative party with sustainable momentum.
I wish her the very best in her effort!