Commentary

by William Sayre (MAY 12, 2013) As often happens in Montpelier in the month of May, a little noticed provision in major piece of legislation, erupts in controversy, as lawmakers, with a little help from the people who would be affected by the new law, discover the unintended consequences of what the law proposes to [...]

by John McClaughry (MAY 12, 2013) As the 2013 legislative session crawls to its conclusion, a lot of Vermonters are probably wondering why the main business of that session seems to have been finding and extracting ever more millions of tax dollars. First, let’s look at transportation taxes. Unlike most taxes that have a percentage [...]

by John McClaughry (May, 2013) In his 2011 inaugural address Gov. Peter Shumlin declared “we must create a single-payer healthcare system that provides universal, affordable health insurance for all Vermonters that brings these skyrocketing costs under control. Let Vermont be the first state in the nation to treat healthcare as a right and not a [...]

What going to 90% renewable energy would do to Vermont’s landscape By Meredith Angwin In 2011, the Vermont Department of Public Service published a Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) for Vermont’s future. The CEP states that Vermont will get 90% of all its energy, including the energy we use to drive our cars and heat our [...]

By Rob Roper (April 25, 2013) MSNBC recently ran a highly controversial promo in which Melissa Harris-Perry, one of their show hosts, floated the idea that our kids don’t really belong to us, but rather to the community at large. “… [W]e have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to [...]

by John McClaughry             Renewable electricity costs from two to five times (depending on the technology) as much as electricity from the New England grid, generated by natural gas, hydro, coal, and nuclear. Therefore no utility would rationally buy it but for an astounding assortment of subsidies and mandates. Consider just these: The federal investment [...]

Remarks of John McClaughry, Ethan Allen Institute, to an assembly at St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, April 10, 2013 My topic today is Thomas Jefferson’s Legacy to the Youth of America – and for that matter, of the world. Thomas Jefferson was a remarkable man – perhaps the most remarkable in all American history.  [...]

by John McClaughry (April, 2013)             In 2011 the Vermont legislature enacted Act 48, Gov. Shumlin’s Green Mountain Care law. A section little noticed at the time conferred upon the new Green Mountain Care Board the power to “set rates for health care professionals … to be implemented over time, and make adjustments to the [...]

By John McClaughry (March, 2013)           Gov. Peter Shumlin signed Act 48 into law in 2011, and Act 171 in 2012. Together they promise the achievement of the longtime liberal goal of a “universal and unified health system”, that is, a government-controlled health system rationally designed, managed, and enforced by five [...]

by Rob Roper The U.S. Department of Labor and the IRS announced again that they are “cracking down” on independent contractors and the businesses that hire them—an odd tactic when we are trying to grow the economy and unemployment remains stubbornly high.  Independent contractors can be seen in all business sectors.  From real estate agents [...]