John Klar: We have no clue
I am not without sympathy for federal workers whose pay was delayed by the partial government shutdown. But that sympathy withers when these workers’ plight is compared to Vermont’s dairy farmers.
Statehouse Headliners: Former US Attorney to tell all about ‘tax and regulate’ in Colorado
“Legal” stores sell pot for morning sickness, store-bought pot is recalled for pesticides and mold, and highway deaths, electricity use, youth consumption and black market are all up.
Report: Minimum wage hikes could lead to increased property crimes and $2.4 billion in associated costs
Sabia notes that they found evidence “that some affected younger workers turn to property crime, either due to excessive idleness or to replace their lost income. Higher minimum wages may, therefore, make some neighborhoods less safe.”
Kobach: DHS has been unwilling to execute Trump’s border policies
“I have been in the room when the president has given express orders to leadership at DHS and been assured that yes, those orders will be carried out, and then a year later nothing has happened.”
Bernie Sanders says felons should be allowed to vote in prison
“In my state, what we do is separate. You’re paying a price, you committed a crime, you’re in jail. That’s bad,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “But you’re still living in American society and you have a right to vote.”
House approves paid family leave, allows no opting out
House lawmakers last week passed the universal paid family leave bill by a 92-52 vote, shunning amendments that would have eased the impact on taxpayers and allowed Vermonters who can’t afford the program to opt out.
Statehouse Headliners: New bills cover net-zero building, health insurance coverage for transgender surgery
New bills would require insurance coverage for transgender operations, “affirmative consent” for sex, licensing of building contractors and net-zero emissions of new buildings by 2022.
Dialogues with Meg Hansen: Health insurance woes continue in Vermont
In this week’s Dialogues, Meg Hansen discusses new Vermont legislation about the impending tax-based penalty related to the individual mandate, and the politicization of health insurance in the state.
GOP makes $10 million push to win over Jewish vote as Dems struggle with charges of anti-Semitism
The Republican Jewish Coalition is spearheading plans for a $10 million-plus campaign blitz geared around elevating Jewish support for President Donald Trump, the report notes. The group revealed its plans Friday in a conference room at GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian resort.
McClaughry: The latest big idea — taxing heating fuels
Let’s agree that weatherizing drafty homes is a sensible thing to do. The question is who should pay for it. All taxpayers? All heating fuel users? Or the people who benefit, paying over time out of their ongoing fuel savings?
Sen. Joe Benning: Self evident in the Vermont tradition
I decided to vote for Proposition 5 for three reasons. In the case of abortion, it preserves a balancing test between a woman’s right to privacy and a state’s interest in protecting a viable fetus.
Economic freedom is the way out of extreme poverty
The 18 countries that accounted for 95 percent of the more than 1 billion people escaping from extreme poverty from 1990 to 2013 increased their Index of Economic Freedom scores by an average of 7.14 points through 2013.