John Klar: Vermont’s shameless Democrats and Peter Welch

The New Left’s preoccupation with identity politics seems not yet to have grappled with the likes of Peter Welch, the poster boy for white-old-man elitist rhetoric. Perhaps Vermont’s Democrats simply pray that if they hold their collective political breath, voters won’t notice the stark contrast between calls for electing a woman to the United States House based solely on her gender, and the quiet acceptance of the white-privileged Kingpin Peter Welch.

Surely, any sensible adult understands that merit outweighs genetics, and that old white people like Peter should not be misjudged by virtue (vice?) of their pale complexion. Yet, Congressman Welch has a clear record that can be assessed independently of his “political identity slot,” and there is much there to merit concern.

John Klar

Peter Welch is the quintessential flatlander (born in Springfield, Mass; law school at Berkeley, California) who unpacked his carpetbags to create a lucrative-if-shameless political career via exploitation of the Green Mountain State. With eight years in the state senate, a run for Governor, and eight terms in the United States House, Mr. Welch is not merely a career politician in a time when Americans of all parties are calling for term limits: he is a very wealthy one (net worth estimated at $5,114,048.50) who appears to have increased that wealth through his political power.

I say “appears,” because it is axiomatic that even appearances of conflict are damaging to lawyers, doctors, and yes — politicians. This is why it would be better if millionaire Wall Street investors like Peter Welch simply did not own private securities while serving in an office, and on influential committees, as an elected representative. Yet Peter Welch has (until very recently, having “appeared” to have benefitted from insider stock trades) opposed efforts to prohibit such holdings.

Bad enough that Representative Welch “appears” to have profited financially from stock trades, but those appearances are associated with some of the most foul corruption in our nation — Wall Street bailouts; pharmaceutical fraud; profiting from COVID while Americans died. (As I say, these are merely “appearances”).

One of Mr. Welch’s more prominent appearances of impropriety occurred relative to the opioid crisis.

“U.S. Rep. Peter Welch was heavily invested in the health care industry as he worked to pass a bill championed by powerful health care companies, including ones in which the Vermont Democrat had a financial stake,” reporter Jasper Craven reported in 2018.

The report went on ton note “Welch had received $79,000 in campaign contributions from companies that backed the measure. He also had bought and sold between $215,000 and $550,000 in Rite Aid stock as the legislation moved through Congress. According to federal lobbying disclosures, Rite Aid invested significant lobbying resources in support of the measure between 2014 and 2016.”

Interestingly, it appears that Mr. Welch is still favored by Rite-Aid Corporation, who reportedly donated $1,000 toward his current $2,172,789 bankroll for his U.S. Senate run. Home Depot gave $5,000, Best Buy$3,500; plus $10,000 from “agribusiness” and $6,500 from chemical businesses.

Back in 2018,  Welch shrugged off complaints about the cloud of trust created over his stock trades, and pleaded innocence:, saying he did not support a ban on stock trading and that public disclosure is all that’s required.

In view of recent friction over increased national debt, Mr. Welch’s pork-belly past is apposite. In a 2013 press release Citizens Against Government Waste wrote: “For demanding that Congress be allowed to continue ignoring its massive spending problem and for advocating unilateral executive power over borrowing, Rep. Peter Welch is CAGW’s January 2013 Porker of the Month.”

But like all moral hazards, Peter Welch has been encouraged to continue his shady “appearances” without consequence, and still brazenly run as a person with “Vermonters’ interests” in mind. There is no shame, or else just no expectation that voters will ever look up long enough to demand accountability.

That time is 2020. Just last year, Peter Welch appears to have profited on inside information about the impending chaos of COVID-19, yet says he was unaware of the stock purchase. Most Vermonters do not have the privilege of owning stocks, but those who do generally know what shares are being purchased before authorization — Peter’s a pretty Big Wig indeed if he just has his “financial advisors” choose individual stocks (as opposed to mutual or other blended funds) for him. It stretches credulity to claim he was unaware — but apparently not to Dems, who put those “Hear No Evil” earmuffs on so easily these days.

Here is what voters hear: “Rep. Peter Welch purchased more than $7,500 worth of stock in Qiagen, a German diagnostics company that produces COVID-19 tests and, in the midst of a global economic meltdown, has been a rare company with a rising stock value,” VTDigger reported. Welch said an investment advisor made the purchase and that he had “no knowledge of the purchase.”

Can Peter yet again dodge any responsibility for tarnished appearances by presuming an eternal cognitive dissonance by Vermont voters? Because those appearances appear mighty sketchy. VTDigger reports: “In 2019 alone, Welch purchased between $16,000 and $240,000 in investments including stocks in companies like General Mills. … Welch, whose work on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce often involves oversight into technology and consumer goods, has also invested in a number of tech and consumer goods companies, including Orbotech, Church & Dwight, and Mitek Systems.”

The solution is for elected officials to divest from securities that could possibly even appear to create a conflict of interest.

It does not appear that the Vermont Democratic Party cares one whit whether wily Welch is honest — he is their old, white, male, elite, privileged, millionaire, insider-trading, flatlander-claiming-to-speak-for-Vermonters poster-boy for shameless hypocrisy. How could they possibly permit race, gender, or heterosexuality to intrude on that appearance? But if Peter Welch were a gay, transgender BIPOC, he’d stillappear to be an elitist, opportunistic crook.

John Klar is an attorney and farmer residing in Brookfield. © Copyright True North Reports 2021. All rights reserved.

17 thoughts on “John Klar: Vermont’s shameless Democrats and Peter Welch

  1. When I ran against Peter Welch in one of the radio interviews/debates they asked us why we wanted to be a congressman. Peter’s answer was “I like my job”. There was no follow up of I want to serve Vermonter’s or make things better Just I like my Job. Why wouldn’t he making $185,000. Which does not add up since he has been in Congress 10 years, but he is now worth over 5 million dollars. I am guessing that is what he likes about his “Job”.

  2. Ah yes – Peter Welch – perfect example of – if you hang around long enough, you’ll get a top slot in the Democrat Party. Welch is a committed leftist and not the “sharpest knife in the drawer”. He is a “yes man” for socialist legislation and a Bernie Sanders boot licker!

  3. “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims but accomplices”.

    George Orwell

  4. How could they? They and Uniparty right worship power and money. This is the state goal of any whom follow Saul Alinsky. in his own bio he mentions his community organizing days. It’s all about power and money, derived from division and hatred by design. They have found that when they get american hating american they can raise massive amounts of money!

    Don’t expect uniparty left or Uniparty right to change any time soon. Their plans are working perfectly. The rights and money of the peole are all going to them, voluntarily!

    They must laugh at us in private. Their sins will find them out. It will not be pleasant.

  5. And..John never mentioned Pee-Wee Welch’s wife either, isn”t SHE a “lobbyist” and/or have many ties to same & uses her maiden name to throw folks off the scent of “the appearance of impropriety”? What with Pee Wee taking cash from a company his wife “regulates” (look up PW & Margaret Cheney) as a member of the Vt. PUC (“PUKes”?) means NOTHING! There’s nothing to see here, these are not the droids you’re looking for, you may go about your business….Wake UP people! ALL we have to DO is get US & our neighbor’s OFF their BUTTS & Vote these shysters OUT before we go BROKE, both here in state & down on DC, the District of Criminals..It’s just THAT easy…

  6. We know how the democrats love to bring up that Vermont has never sent a woman to Congress, yet it was the VTGOP that ran a very qualified woman with top leadership qualities, Martha Rainville against Peter Welch. So, we have had the OPPORTUNITY to elect a woman to Congress, but instead we sent a white, male attorney. With Welch’s announcement, I want to re-purpose my homemade car window sign slogan from back then to say: “the Senate needs another woman, not another lawyer”.
    Identity politics have not served Vermont well.

    • If Martha Rainville were up for it, I would support her run to fill Leahy’s seat in the US Senate. Ms Rainville is a highly qualified and proven leader, and would actually represent Vermonters. The last thing the Sate of Vermont needs is Peter Welch in the Senate–one self-serving socialist as a Senator from Vermont is enough.

  7. Vermont’s shameless Democrats and Peter Welch, kind of sums it up.

    The real question is when will Vermont wake up, and toss these liberal
    carpetbaggers to the curb………. pretty sad state of affairs !!

  8. Laura, Thank you for your comment. You are not alone in your disgust for these political invading carpetbaggers who have enriched themselves and destroyed the people who sent them to office. At least NH has had some gains in turning things around while Vermont circles the drain waiting for the complete flush.

    Look no further than Brooklyn Bernie. He started stealing early on. According to an expose’ in Seven Days years ago, Bernie stole electricity from his neighbor to heat his dirt floor maple sugar shack that he was living in with his pregnant girlfriend.
    He is notorious for asking for small donations for promises to his followers and for years they have received nothing in return but Brooklyn Bernie is now the owner of three homes and is a millionaire. He’s not quite as grouchy as before and has been seen occasionally with a smile on his face. Not quite the same for his followers and Bernie Bros.

    Pat, Bernie and Pete, three old political dinosaurs with a combined net worth of millions, all earned from political connections. All with a combined government teat sucking salaries spanning about 100 years in office and what have they done to improve the lives of the less fortunate? What have they done for America which is now close to 29 trillion dollars in debt ($29,000,000,000,000.00) with more insane spending proposed by the man in front of the curtain, dementia Joe.

    All you have to do to understand how this and more has come about is to look at the average Vermont voter. Many have arrived here for the benefits, many are trustafarians with an ideology who need nothing from anyone to live, most have no clue who any of the politicians are or what they’ve done or not done but recognize their name at election time. The myth that democrats are for the working people has brought us substandard education, unfunded state and teacher benefits, high taxes,
    no industry for good paying jobs, an opioid crises, gun control, solar panels and ridgeline monoliths, climate nonsense, Social Justice Warriors, a proposed constitutional amendment to proclaim the woman’s right to abortion right up to birth, the idea that all white Vermonters are racists and the indoctrination and pollicization of schools and that’s the short list.

    The damage has been done and will probably continue by sending Peter to the senate. I believe it is almost impossible to educate people as far gone as the Vermont voter. I am personally giving it one more election cycle to confirm my belief that all is lost for my birth state. If nothing changes, I’m getting to hell out of here to a place where I can live out my remaining years in Freedom from Vermont oppression. God help us!

    • Oh and how could I forget the lockdown, Covidian vaccine psychosis and the push to vaccinate anything that moves with an experimental gene therapy that has filled the government coffers with 5 billion dollars. And the insane and maybe criminal, certainly insane drive to inject this poison into children under this fake emergency to keep the dollars flowing into Vermont. And I would remind everyone reading this that our Republican governor voted for Joe Biden. And how is that working out for us little people.

      • Amen, Dano. Agree on all your well-stated points. Perhaps the mid-term elections next year will correct our left-listing national ship of state a bit, but not much hope for Vermont. What really gets me is the self-righteous hubris of those on the left who think their ascendancy to ever-higher political office is automatically theirs for the taking! Qualification? Who tells the best lie!

  9. John,

    You neglected to mention his lucrative career as White River Junction’s high profile “Ambulance Chaser” and “Slip and Fall” lawyer – star of late-night commercials back in the day !

    Brooke

  10. Boy does this burn me up.. Great work John. It takes a lot to get me going these days as we all grow numb being conditioned into submission by seeing insanity and thievery day in and day out -but this article touches a frazzled nerve of mine.
    The audacity of these scumbag politicians never ceases to amaze me.

    I’m reading this from NH, like VT we too have been ravaged by the opioid crisis. There is scarcely anyone left not affected by the opioid crisis and the ripple effects of it in some way, shape or form.
    You want to know why we need to pay higher property taxes to feed kids breakfasts in school now and why the non-profits are overwhelmed? A big part of all of this is the destruction of the family unit and today addiction plays a huge part of how that happens and we are all paying for it.
    AND most addicts are self medicating for some underlying mental health situation.
    The times we are trying to survive in now are so damned stressful that even the formerly “normals” are hitting the bottle to cope. The suicides are off the charts.

    THAT our elected politicians are creating this opioid crisis, profiting from it, furthering it, not solving it because they are making so much money off of it.. THAT is Repugnant beyond description. In a sane world this would be seen as criminal and would have been ‘handled’ long ago by real men with brains, bravery and the courage to go there.

    Until we can tar and feather these politicians again or sue them into the poor house, what people like Bernie, Peter and Fauxcahontas do is not going to change. There has always been crooks among us looking to get into our wallets, but what has changed is our appetite to end their crime sprees in government.

    These people like these disgusting grifters are criminals with blood on their hands in all reality.
    THIS is what people should be waking up and seeing and solving.

    What makes me sick is that so much of what has befallen upon NH and VT- The Twin States- if anyone remembers that.. has been at the hands of these flatlanders that have invaded us and wound up in government. We’ve all really be screwed over by them and our states paths forever changed for the negative by people that were not even our own.

    When John Adams wrote “This Constitution was written only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”.. What we are seeing today is completely what he was trying to teach us and warn us about.

    We are being controlled and destroyed by criminal politicians elected by a dumbed down and lazy electorate just as our Founders feared and tried to prevent.
    And here we are now because of that our nation as founded is falling- and we’re now all trying to survive in a country that has been turned into a psych ward that these crooks create, and keep going because they make so much money off of it.

    It pains me beyond words that history will say that it was on our watch that we lost it all.

    • Spot-on assessment:
      “We are being controlled and destroyed by criminal politicians elected by a dumbed down and lazy electorate just as our Founders feared and tried to prevent.”

    • Laura get your mask on! Don’t talk about real problems! Get in line! You too can be part of the uniparty dreams! Please let’s argue about thigs that don’t matter!

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