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The Institute encourages the downloading and circulating of its Commentaries. Please credit their authorship to "John McClaughry, President, Ethan Allen Institute."

In each of the issue categories, the most recently published commentary appears at the top of the list.

Constitutional and Legal Corporate Welfare Economics and Regulatory Issues Education Environment Food and Agriculture General Health Care Land Use and Property Rights Welfare

Constitutional and Legal

• The Constitutional Agenda of 2007
  The four-year term constitutional amendment will doubtless emerge again in 2007. The legislature should propose it for the Governor-Lt. Governor team, reject it for legislators, and take the four lower statewide offices off the ballot entirely. (November 2006)
• Private Property At The Mercy of Government
  In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court amends the Bill of Rights to allow governments to use eminent domain for any (alleged) public purpose. Shorn of the 5th Amendment's protection against government confiscation, Vermonters may want to fashion a state constitutional amendment that protects them against both actual and regulatory takings. (June 2005)
• Constitutional Infidelity
  Two ancient Vermont Supreme Court cases clearly establish the constitutional requirement: "no oath, no office." But Justice John Dooley has never produced any evidence that he ever subscribed to his oaths of allegiance and office. Why should he be retained? (March 2005)
• Rescue The Constitution from the Court
  Justices John Dooley and Denise Johnson are serial offenders at concocting hitherto unspuspected constitutional "rights" and imposing judicial mandates on the legislature. The only way to discipline such Supreme Legislators is for the elected legislature to deny them reelection to new six-year terms. Now is their opportunity. (February 2005)
• Coming Up Next: The Supreme Court Retention Battle
  The first shot has been fired in a classic populist-elitist political battle: should the 2005 legislature vote to retain two Justices who have twice rewritten the Constitution to advance their own progressive preferences? (August 2004)
• Gov. Douglas and the Five Supreme Legislators
  Friends of an activist, progressive Supreme Court are pressuring Gov. Douglas to appoint a new justice who, like the current four, will keep inventing new "rights". Douglas should refuse, and take his case for judicial restraint to the people to whom the constitution belongs. (July 2003)
• The One Big Choice Plan
  Every two years Vermonters face campaigns for six statewide positions. Wouldn't it be better if this confusion was reduced to one meaningful choice? (December 2002)
• A Refresher Course on the Constitution
  Sen. Peter Welch wants to rewrite the Constitution for political advantage. Enough already! (October 2002)
• Voucher Decision will Reverberate in Vermont
  The U.S. Supreme Court clears the path to parental choice, but the Vermont Supreme Court still stands squarely in the way. (July 2002)
• Sorrell Takes on Microsoft
  Vermont's attorney general jumps into the Microsoft court case to oblige its competitors - and shows high tech firms what they can expect when doing business in Vermont. (October 2001)
• Vermont's Smoking Gun
  The 46-state tobacco settlement is on increasingly shaky legal ground. Its demise would cost Vermont $24 million a year, but we'd get our integrity back. (August 2001)
• One Vermonter's 21 Year Courtroom Odyssey
  In 1981 the city of Burlington informed Paul Preseault that it now owned the abandoned railbed in his back yard. Preseault fought back, and 21 years later he was vindicated. (July 2001)
• The Gun Controllers Return
  The Vermont Supreme Court has given an emphatic "No" to local gun control ordinances - but the people who hail the Court's declarations on school finance and gay marriage are not taking that "No" for an answer. (January 2001)
• "Thus Saith The Lord": When A Supreme Court Should be Replaced, Not Obeyed
  Leading defenders of Vermont's runaway Supreme Court claim that everybody must do just what the Court says. Not at all, reply Hamilton, Marshall, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ethan Allen Institute President John McClaughry. (October 2000)
• Reining in an Errant Court
  Vermont's Five Supreme Legislators badly need to be reined in. But how? (October 2000)
• Criminalizing Gun Possession
  School boards have long had the power to prohibit firearms on school property. But now the legislature wants to make completely innocent possession into a crime, even when there is no criminal intent. (January 2000)
• More from the Five Supreme Legislators
  The Vermont Supreme Court has instructed the legislature to enact domestic partnership laws -- or else the Court will decide that gays and lesbians have a "right" to marriage. (December 1999)
• Regulation and Taxation Through Litigation
  The legislature won't raise taxes or increase regulation? No problem. Have the Courts do it. (August 1999)
• Plain Language Baffles Supreme Court
  Vermont's Five Supreme Legislators have struck again, misinterpreting another 1786 constitutional provision to thwart religious school choice. (June 1999)
• Stopping the Next Predatory Lawsuit
  First tobacco, next firearms. Predatory trial lawyers are hoping to get rich from both industries. All they need is a cooperating attorney general or mayor. (March 1999)
• Who Owns The Vermont Constitution?
  The defenders of the Brigham Justices seem to think the Constitution belongs to the Supreme Court. It does not. It belongs to the people (February 1999)
• The Brigham Justices: Should They be Denied New Terms?
  Here's the full argument for why the justices who perverted the Constitution in Brigham should be excused from further service. (January 1999)
• Who Controls the Supreme Court?
  In a democratic government based on popular sovereignty, there must be a popular check on all branches of government. Who controls the supreme court? It's the duty of the legislature to do it, by disciplining justices who lose sight of the constitution. (September 1998)
• Sharp Practice
  Over the past 220 years the Vermont General Assembly, like any democratically-elected legislative body, has done some fine and memorable things, and some foolish and costly things. (April 1998)
• When the People Surprised the Politicians
  Twice controversial constitutional amendments passed the legislature with huge majorities, only to be rejected by the people at the polls. (February 1998)
• A New First for Vermont
  A Supreme Court made up entirely of government lawyers. (August 1997)
• Constitutional Principles: The Legislature, the Court, and Education Financing
  Why the Supreme Court can and should be ignored on educational finance. (April 1997)
• The Dooley Principle
  Justice John Dooley comes up with a new legal theory: your life belongs to the state. (March 1994)

• Senate Votes for Higher Electric Bills
  Here's the Next Big Idea in energy policy: force ratepayers to pay more for their power, to benefit politically favored renewable energy producers.Twenty-four Senators thought it was a great idea. It's not. (March 2004)
• Renewable Corporate Welfare
  Another industry seeks a corporate welfare handout. This time it's renewable energy. (May 2002)
• Tax Credits to the Rescue!
  The Dean Administration faced some real embarrassment for failing to deliver Husky's $6 million bridge in Milton. So it handed out $10.6 million in tax credits to Husky. (October 2000)
• The Friends of VEPC Strike Back
  State tax subsidies for favored corporations has found a champion (in addition to Governor Dean): William Schubart, whose firm pocketed $1.3 million from this sweet deal. (July 2000)
• Crony Capitalism Starting To Get Bad Reviews
  According to a JFO study Gov. Dean's touted Economic Advancement Tax Incentives program is not working out well. Why are we not surprised? (June 1999)
• The Filene's Bills: Greasing the Skids for Burlington
  The main effect of the much-heralded "Downtowns Bill" has been to subsidize Burlington and one favored corporation. (May 1999)
• Crony Capitalism Comes to Vermont
  For your business to have a chance to succeed in Vermont, more and more you have to get in bed with the nice folks in Montpelier. (September 1998)
• Buying An Economy
  Gov. Dean's "economic advancement" incentives are an effort to buy an economy, instead of getting out of the way and letting it grow. (January 1998)
• Corporate Welfare Wins Big
  How liberal Senators slipped in the goodies for Husky, Filene's and big telecommunications users. (May 1997)
• Sweet Deal for the Big Dog
  The amazing lengths the Dean administration went to induce Husky Injection Molding to locate in Milton, and the hypocrisy of "planning". (November 1996)

• Economic Rankings and the Freedom to Grow
  Two different state economic rankings showed Vermont as 12th and 50th. Why the discrepancy? What can be done to push Vermont up the rankings? And why are the present legislative leaders unlikely to do it? (January 2008)
• The Disgraceful “Fairness Doctrine”
  Liberals (Dean, Sanders, Welch) are clamoring for reinstatement of the FCC's "Fairness Doctrine", to silence right wing talk radio. It's disgraceful that they support government regulation to suppress the free discussion of ideas, just because their side is losing so badly. (August 2007)
• Big Money from Big Wind
  The enviros are red hot for industrial wind farms in Vermont. Huge wind towers marching along Vermont's ridgelines may be a poor energy source - but they're a wonderful government subsidy machine for their investors. Why not slap an offsetting 1.9 cent/kwhr tax on Big Wind, and see how many wind towers go up? (July 2006)
• The Petroleum Panic
  Gas has hit $3 a gallon, and politicans are falling over themselves to name a scapegoat or prescribe a silly "solution". Wouldn't it be nice if just one of them had the wit and courage to stand up and tell Americans that letting the market work is the only available remedy? (May 2006)
• The Regional Greenhouse Gas Scam
  The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative bill will increase our electric bills, give state government new tax revenues, and direct the PSB to distribute those revenues to the enviros' favorite corporate welfare project, "renewable energy" (read: wind). This is the Grand Slam of Scams! (March 2006)
• “Price Gouging” Foolishness
  The Vermont Senate is at work on a foolish bill (S.228) to control "price gouging" of petroleum products. Passage would enlarge Vermont’s reputation as an anti-business state governed by the economically ignorant. (February 2006)
• Economic Freedom in Vermont
  If Vermont changed its economic policies so as to gain just one point on the 10-point economic freedom index, it would move from 38th into a tie with Indiana for 13th in the state rankings, and our per capita income would increase by $5,907. That seems worth doing. (July 2005)
• New State Revenue Technique: Simony
  The state that taxes everything known to man has rediscovered an ancient revenue raising technique: simony, more commonly known today as extortion. The principal victim (so far)is Entergy Nuclear. (May 2005)
• Pay More for Electricity!
  Backers of "renewable" electricity (especially wind power)are demanding that the legislature force Vermont utilities to buy their high priced product. Amazingly, 24 Senators bought into this green corporate welfare, and higher energy prices for all Vermonters.. (March 2005)
• Why Vermont is “Permit Hell”
  A Vermont radio station spends nine years and nearly a million dollars to win an Act 250 battle just to keep on using its existing tower - and the Environmental Board didn't even have statutory jurisdiction over radio broadcasting. Is it any wonder that people think Vermont is "permit hell"? (January 2005)
• The Mandatory Seat Belt Debate
  Since 1992 the Department of Public Safety has strenuously argued for giving law enforcement officers the power to stop and ticket motorists for not wearing seat belts. There's a good reason for the legislature to keep on saying No. (October 2003)
• The Time Comes for Permit Process Reform
  After two decades of ducking the issue, the legislature finally seems willing to tackle permit process reform - and they have a governor who will pull his share of the load. (January 2003)
• The New Act 250-Free Zones
  At last the legislature has passed a law exempting many politically-favored projects from Act 250 review. Why stop there? (July 2002)
• The ZEV Rebellion
  Governor Dean told his Agency of Natural Resources to put out a wacky rule requiring auto dealers to buy unsalable electric cars. For once, the legislature said "No". (December 2001)
• It's Back: Taxpayer Financed Parental Leave
  A liberal coalition (partly financed by tax dollars) wants taxpayers to pay for government-mandated paid parental - and eventually medical - leave. It's not a good idea. (February 2001)
• The Government's Quiet War Against Better Housing
  There is a huge demand for decent housing in northwestern Vermont, but state and local governments are making sure that most of it won't be met. (September 2000)
• Strict, Fair, Swift and Certain
  Vermont's Act 250 has become a weapon of choice for extortionists. Land use regulation ought to be made "strict, fair, swift, and certain." (August 2000)
• The Livable Wage Movement: Where It's Headed
  The "Livable Wage" legions are marching, with "mandated wages" on their minds. (November 1999)
• Nobody Cares About Her
  Liberal legislators increase the minimum wage supposedly to help the working poor, and pro-business legislators concoct new subsidies for business as their price for going along. But who cares about the unskilled worker whose job is wiped out? (May 1999)
• A Better Path Toward the Livable Wage
  A Burlington-based group wants the government to make sure everybody gets as much pay as they need. Imagine what this would do for our economy. (January 1999)
• Vermont's Telecom Future
  Vermont ought to have a bright future as a telecom industry base - but for the political game in Montpelier that gave us a new sales tax on telecommunications. (October 1998)
• The Value of Creative Destruction
  How a free and open market economy allows new enterprise to spring up. (September 1997)
• The Perils of False Deregulation
  Why half-hearted electric deregulation may be worse than nothing. (April 1997)
• Hasty Tax Choices May Threaten Vermont Economy
  How a gross receipts tax might work. (March 1997)
• Vermont Labor Goes for the Brass Ring
  What Labor wants, and may get. (February 1997)
• Costly Regulatory Farce of the Month
  The state tells an Arlington business not to let employees drink out of the toilet. (July 1996)
• Increasing the Minimum Wage
  Who will explain it to the unskilled worker priced out of a job? (February 1996)
• Understanding the Flat Tax
  How it works, and taxes everything at once. (February 1996)

• Education Costs and Results
  Vermont ranked number 3 on the 2007 ALEC state education report card, by spending the fourth highest per pupil in the nation - and still no more than 42 percent of our students qualify as "proficient". Maybe we ought to adopt a Florida A+ plan to get better results for less money. (June 2008)
• Turning over a New LEAF
  The new LEAF proposal for educational finance puts an end to the residential property tax for education and transfers special education responsiblity to the state. That's good. But the proposal flies in the face of the Supreme Court's 1997 Brigham decision. Maybe it's time for the legislature to simply ignore that political mandate(but it won't). (February 2008)
• Utah's School Choice Lessons for Vermonters
  The mighty NEA cash machine poured millions into Utah, and it persuaded the voters to reject parental choice in education. The November referendum outcome shows why it is so difficult to give schoolchildren a better chance. (November 2007)
• Vermont’s New 15-year School System
  Gov. Douglas's signature on the preschool bill paves the way to a full blown 15-year public education system - at a time when rising education costs are a major concern for voters. So much for the "Agenda of Affordability". (May 2007)
• Reinventing Something Like a Wheel
  The Vermont Department of Education wants to spend millions to expand its home-made NECAP high school assessment program. It would be far better and cheaper to use the well-established American College Test (ACT). For one thing, it wouldn't allow the Department to inflate its results to justify Vermont's extravagant spending on public schools. (March 2007)
• The Expensive Future of Early Education
  The universal preschool committee's draft report has some merits, but the end result will likely be a further Big Momma government expansion, with the usual higher costs to taxpayers. The ultimate vision is "Building Bright Futures", a $300 million tax-funded mega-nonprofit. (January 2007)
• More Money for More Schooling?
  A study committee on the costs and benefits of universal preschool is at work in Montpelier. Here are ten incisive questions its members need to answer honestly in their report to the legislature. If they do so, the campaign for universal preschools may well be terminally crippled. (September 2006)
• Answering the Vermont NEA Questionnaire
  The state's most powerful political action organization is seeking responses to its five-question candidates' questionnaire. Here's a reply that will send the Vermont-NEA running for their smelling salts. (August 2006)
• The Perils of Consolidation
  It's back again - a proposal for public school governance consolidation. This idea has been debated for forty years; there are some benefits, but lots of downsides. (June 2006)
• The Raid on the Education Fund
  The fund raiders are loose again in the state house, and their target is the Education Fund, predominantly funded by property taxes. It's time for legislators to say No to fund raiding - and to tell the education establishment just what the citizens expect for their $1.3 billion. (February 2006)
• Hard Choices on Expanding Preschools
  The legislature is moving quickly to expand the public school system by two more grades - authorizing public preschools for all 3- and 4-year olds. This will deplete the Education Fund by as much as $70 million a year and produce few if any benefits beyond taxpayer- subsidized day care (unless driving private day care providers out of business is considered a benefit.) (January 2006)
• The Colchester Opportunity
  The Vermont-NEA unionized teachers are striking in Colchester. Parental choice in education would prevent community-wide teachers strikes, and consumer-driven health care would take that contentious issue off the table. (October 2005)
• Getting Value for Education Tax Dollars
  Property taxes for education have increased 22% in the past two years - and the public schools still won't tell us how well our kids are doing. Parental choice would make them tell. (August 2005)
• How Vermont Quietly Got Universal Preschools
  In June 2005 Vermont became the sixth state to authorize universal public preschool programs. Unlike the other five, Vermont did so through a dark-of-night legislative maneuver without floor debate and roll call votes. Whatever one may think about the costs ($40-70 million a year)and merits of universal taxpayer-financed preschools,the Vermont Legislature, the governor, and the media failed the people of this state. (July 2005)
• How Vermont Quietly Got Universal Preschools
  In June 2005 Vermont became the sixth state to authorize universal public preschool programs. Unlike the other five, Vermont did so through a dark-of-night legislative maneuver without floor debate and roll call votes. Whatever one may think about the costs ($40-70 million a year) and merits of universal taxpayer-financed preschools, the Vermont Legislature, the governor, and the media failed the people of this state. (July 2005)
• Cutting Through the Preschool Smoke and Mirrors
  The Senate will soon approve another high-sounding public pre-K education expansion. It's a clever effort to hold down per pupil spending in the face of declining public school enrollment. It will also tap millions of dollars from the Education Fund, not to help at-risk kids, but to babysit all kids. (May 2005)
• A Plea for Adult Supervision
  Vermont is first in the nation in public school employees per 10,000 population. We're 50% above the national average, and getting back to that average would save us $171 million tax dollars. But the next legislature is likely to try to expand public school employment by adding two more preschool grades. (November 2004)
• Facing Up To the Free Rider Problem
  For years the Vermont NEA has wanted non-member "free riders" to pay an agency fee for the union's representation services.Will the union agree to independent accounting of its expenditures in return? Probably not. (August 2004)
• Choice in Education: Missing in Action
  People want expanded school choice. The Governor wants expanded school choice. But they aren't getting any more of it, because the special interests opposing it have dug in their heels to stop any expansion of its terrors. (April 2004)
• The Preschool Bait and Switch
  Providing taxpayer financed preschool programs for all children through a "public private parnership" has a certain appeal. But when one spots the bait and switch, and closely examines the arguments, the facts, the alleged benefits, and the very real costs, it looks like another costly big government disaster in the making. (February 2004)
• Vermont Education by the Numbers
  Vermont education spending is up, teacher numbers are up, student numbers are down, test results are distressingly poor, and taxpayers are being taken for a wild ride. The problem is the education monopoly. There's only one real remedy: parental choice and provider competition. (September 2003)
• Conspiracy Exposed!!!
  The president of the Vermont-NEA discovers a conspiracy to destroy public education! It is led by subversive groups like the Ethan Allen Institute that favor parental choice, private competition, and "Schoolchildren First". (August 2003)
• The Solution Legislators Can’t See
  The Act 60 "reform" of 2003 is entering its final stage. Unfortunately, it's just elaborate tax shifting and centralization of power in Montpelier. The real solution - consumer choice and provider competition - is not even on the table for discussion. (May 2003)
• Nice Work!
  In the face of a rising revolt against Act 60, the Department of Education comes up with a New Idea - expanding public schools downward to absorb children ages 3 and 4. (April 2003)
• The Tax Everything Bill
  The House Ways and Means Committe has proposed a tax everything bill to reduce the property tax on residences. The real first step should be asking whay Vermont taxpayers are shovelling over a billion dollars a year into an over-regulated, over-centralized, union dominated public school monopoly. (March 2003)
• Where’s Theseus?
  Long ago the Athenians found a hero who bravely slew the monster that was consuming them. Vermont needs to find its own Theseus who can rescue taxpayers from the education spending monster. (March 2003)
• Where Act 60 is Taking Us
  Consolidating school districts and tinkering with tax rates, sharing pool, and income sensitivity won't fix Act 60's big problem. With the link between local voters and local spending broken, Vermont is heading toward One Big School System. (February 2003)
• Home Schooling as Cost Control
  More and more Vermont families are home schooling. A small tax credit to encourage the trend could pay huge dividends in restraining Act 60's spiralling costs. (October 2002)
• A Victory for Education Liberals
  The House vote to expand parental choice in education showed a remarkable inversion of liberals and conservatives. (April 2002)
• One Big School System
  If you want to know where Act 60 is taking Vermont, take a look at Hawaii. You won't like it. (January 2002)
• Schoolchildren First
  Act 60 is sinking and will have to be replaced. Instead of accepting One Big School System, why not just empower Vermont's parents to choose what's best for their children? (July 2001)
• Looking Beyond Act 60
  Before long the legislature will have to replace the fading Act 60, It's time tostart looking at the alternatives. (May 2001)
• The Blob Gets Whipped In Court
  For nine years taxpayer-funded Vermont Legal Aid and the state department of education have hounded St. Johnsbury Academy over its fifth-grade skill level requirement for admission to mainstream calsses. Now the U.S. Circuit Court has slapped down the persecutors. (April 2001)
• The Latest Bogus School Reform
  Rutland Northeast Superintendent William Mathis says his district's new "Professional Growth Plan" for teachers will improve "student performance." Actually it will increase teachers' salaries, but it has no demonstrable relationship to "student performance." (November 2000)
• Fraudulent Choice for Vermont Parents
  Gov. Dean and the legislature say they want to expand "choice" for Vermont parents. Their bill is a fraud at best, and a menace at worst (May 2000)
• A Tiger Behind Every Door
  Act 60, so bravely passed in 1997, is heading for a fiscal crash. Every method for avoiding that crash will make a lot of voters very angry. (March 2000)
• Grassroots Education Reform
  The Education Freedom District bill would let your townspeople escape from the clutches of the education special interest groups, and do school reform on their own. (February 2000)
• What the Teachers' Union Wants
  The VT-NEA wants volunteer teacher Bill Corrow out of a Williamstown classroom - and a continued union-dominated government monopoly over education. (November 1999)
• The School Size Issue Comes Full Circle
  Thirty years ago the state of Vermont was pressuring small schools to close. Now an Education Department report says that smaller schools do better. (June 1999)
• Riley's Class Size Nostrum
  The Clinton Administration and the teachers unions want you to believe that smaller class size means better education. It doesn't. It just means more expense and more union dues. (November 1998)
• Draining the Shark Pool
  Gov. Dean thinks we should do away with the "shark pool" crafted by his friends in the legislature. Chances are real good we won't. (September 1998)
• Parental Choice in Education: An Irresistible Tide
  For the first time the Gallup poll shows clear majority support for parental choice in education. It now seems likely that even a desperate teachers' union won't be able to stop it for long. (September 1998)
• New Brunswick's Lesson for Vermont
  Thirty years ago New Brunswick enacted its version of Act 60. It's not hard to see where Vermont will soon be heading. (June 1998)
• Vermont Gets Mediocre Marks for Education Standards
  The Fordham Foundation rates state education standards for academic rigor, and Vermont doesn't fare very well. (April 1998)
• Educational Financing Lessons from California
  After a property taxpayer's rebellion, California moved to state financing of local school districts. Now the state's education system is a disaster area. (December 1997)
• Local Control, R.I.P.
  How Act 60 sounds the death knell for local control of public education. (October 1997)
• Any Way Out of Act 60?
  A real alternative to centralized state control of education. (September 1997)
• Vermont's New Centralized Education Regime
  How Act 60 will transform public education, for the worse. (June 1997)
• The Brigham Decision as the Route to Education Reform
  How the Vermont Supreme Court's Brigham decision could lead to a really smart educational finance system (but probably won't). (February 1997)
• Why Educational Choice
  Public education has changed; now it exists for the providers rather than the customers. (January 1997)
• Controlling Education Costs
  Why top down cost controls don't work; the ground rules need to be changed. (November 1996)

• The Multibillion Dollar Energy Tax
  The Lieberman-Warner CO2 cap and trade bill will extract trillions of dollars from the U.S. economy, make certain rent-seeking corporations much richer, drive up the price of energy for every American family, and do nothing to combat the (supposed) Menace of Global Warming. But Vermont's liberal senators are at the forefront of this parade. (June 2008)
• The Green Police State Averted… For Now
  Sen. Shumlin's S.350 proposed what amounted to the creation of a Green Police State - but as it progressed through the Senate and House it shrank and shrank, until there was only a smoking cinder left for VPIRG to wail over. (This double length account of the legislative action appeared in the May 2008 Vermont Business Magazine.) (May 2008)
• The Green Police State
  The Senate is about to pass a sweeping bill to register every carbon emission in the state, set up a cap and trade exchange for carbon controls, and commit more nanny-state enormities to make Vermont the Perfect Little Green State. How much of this costly foolishness can Vermonters stand? (April 2008)
• Extreme Green Makeover
  The House has passed a restrained bill aimed at promoting conservation and alternative energy - but lurking in the Senate wings is Sen. Shumlin's astonishing bill to create a green super-government with tentacles reaching into almost every aspect of Vermonters' lives. Aaaagh! (February 2008)
• The Big VPIRG Climate Scare
  VPIRG says human greenhouse gas emissions are causing more frequent extreme precipitation events in Vermont. File this under "manipulating data to aid political objective." (January 2008)
• The New Green Regime
  The Governor's Commission on Climate Change declares that the scientific debate over climate chanage is over, and that Vermont, already "the nation's greenest state", must make sweeping and costly changes to comnbat The Menace of Global Warming. Whoa! Not so fast. (November 2007)
• The Statehouse Polar Bear Pageant
  VPIRG brought a guy in a polar bear suit to the state house to campaign for an override of Gov. Douglas's veto of the Shumlin energy bill. And now, here's the rest of the polar bear story... (July 2007)
• The Enviro Wish List
  The state's environmental organizations have announced their composite wish list for the 2007 legislature. It exhibits a fanatic desire to regulate, require, prohibit, tax, and subsidize everybody and everything, until Vermont becomes the enviros’ Perfect Little State. (September 2006)
• The Underhanded Wilderness Grab of 2006
  The Wilderness Coalition, and their pals Sens. Leahy and Jeffords, have a new scheme to slip through their yearned-for designation of thousands more acres of permanemt wilderness in Green Mountain National Forest: under the table, with no impact analysis, no hearings, no explanation, no record vote, and no accountability. Slick. (August 2006)
• Another Carbon Dioxide Lawsuit Travesty
  Attorney General Sorrell has sued five Midwestern coal burning utilities for the "federal public nuisance" of emitting carbon dioxide, thus stimulating calamitous "global warming". This is political science, not real science. (July 2004)
• Refighting a 900 Year Battle
  After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Saxon peasants of England fought for over two hundred years to regain from arrogant kings their historic rights to make use of the forests. That struggle is playing out again in the battle over Federal wilderness designation in the Green Mountain National Forest. (June 2004)
• Sorrell’s Carbon Dioxide Lawsuit
  In the name of protecting Mother Earth from "global warming", Attorney General Bill Sorrell has signed Vermont on to a lawsuit to force the federal EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as a "pollutant". This latest partisan courtoom stunt is a good argument for having the Attorney General appointed by the Governor, not running his own public interest law firm at the taxpayers' expense. (December 2003)
• Permit Reform is Not Enough
  House and Senate are deadlocked over reforming the environmental regulatory process. But process is not all of the problem. It's time to attack the barnacles added to the permit criteria over 33 years. (September 2003)
• Biota or People –Take Your Pick
  The Conservation Law Foundation is using the purported health of "aquatic biota" to shut down development in Chittenden County. It's about time for our legislators to put people first. (August 2003)
• Little Kyoto
  Little Kyoto: Gov. Dean is off to Quebec to sign a sweeping commitment to impose an enviro agenda on the people of Vermont, and it's all based on a ridiculous lie. (August 2002)
• Repairing a Breach of Trust
  Two years ago sportsmen, snowmobilers and Northeast Kingdom legislators agreed to Champion lands deal on faith. They now feel that faith has been poorly repaid. (November 2001)
• The Battle of Potash Brook
  Thanks to the efforts of one enviro law firm, the Water Resources Board shuts down development by rejecting of a state of the art stormwater management system. (September 2001)
• Rural Cleansing
  The enviros are succeding in making eastern Oregon an uninhabited area. Meanwhile, they're at work in Vermont too. (August 2001)
• The Arsenic Panic
  Reducing arsenic levels in Vermont's water supplies to 3 ppb will cost a bundle, and quite likely do more harm than good. (May 2001)
• Thirty Years of Straightpiping
  Why does government require thirty years to stop 14 houses from straightpiping sewage into the Moose River? (August 2000)
• The Poster City for Fighting "Sprawl"
  Portland, Oregon is the "New Urbanist" poster city for the war on "sprawl". Ordinary people are paying a high price to realize the dreams of the enviro-engineers. (October 1999)
• Celebrating the Resourceful Earth
  Enviros love to celebrate Earth Day, as their favorite government agencies inflict enormous damage on the rights of the American people and our economy. Now sensible people who believe in human progress are offering an alternative. (April 1999)
• Recycle or Else!
  The enviro police may be looking for you if the mandatory recycling bill passes. (March 1998)
• The People vs. the Despots
  District environmental commissioners are essentially unaccountable to anybody. Here's one way to make them a little bit accountable. (January 1998)
• Here Comes the Carbon Tax!
  Implementing the Kyoto "global warming" treaty could cost Vermont $800 million a year in lost output, taxes, and higher costs. (December 1997)
• A Green Constitution?
  The enviros want to amend the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the annoyance of private property. (October 1997)
• Another Town Whipped by Act 250
  The sad story of Lyndon's town gravel pit. (April 1997)
• Another Small Town Gets the State Hammer
  Why Newport had to dig up rocks and haul them to a different hole. (July 1996)

• Save Our Cheese Plants!
  The Vermont Milk Commission seems intent on mandating new costs on dairy plants, to increase returns to farmers, rich and poor alike. The net result may be fewer dairy plants to buy Vermont milk. Why would that be a surprise? (September 2007)
• Vermont’s Agricultural Future
  The Vermont dairy industry can have a bright future - if dairy leaders stop pleading for government subsidies, price fixing, and protection and start emulating their New Zealand counterparts. (November 2005)
• Private Initiative for Dairy Farm Viability
  Vermont legislators are congratulating themselves for authorizing $20 million in new government loans to help distressed Vermont farms to keep on producing milk. But Vermont's dairy coops are joining in a national industry program to raise $245 million to get the same farmers to stop producing milk. (June 2003)
• New Federal Plan will Shape Future of Dairy Farming
  The Senate-passed farm bill of 2002 contains dairy subsidy provisions straight out of the New Deal era. It will have a major influence on the Vermont dairy industry. (April 2002)
• After the Dairy Compact
  The milk price-fixing cartel is dead. Now it's up to Vermont's farmers to get competitive. (October 2001)
• Next Step for the Dairy Cartel
  On May 3 the New England Interstate Dairy Compact Commission took the first step toward putting in place a supply management system, to pay farmers more for making less milk. Guess who will pay. (May 2000)
• Milk Cartel Economics
  How the Dairy Compact charges consumers to subsidize producers. (July 1997)
• A Shabby Special Interest Story: The Dairy Compact
  Gov. Dean looked far and wide for a compliant consumer to appoint to the dairy cartel, and guess who he found? (May 1996)
• The Reverse Robin Hood Dairy Compact
  The Dairy Compact is based on an interesting principle: take from the poor and give to the rich. (September 1995)

• The Fanatic Anti-Nuclear Movement
  Over Vermont's history there have been numerous strange political movements: anti-Masonry,Know-Nothingism, and Prohibition had some initial successes and then fizzled. The current (post 1972) anti-nuclear fanaticism richly deserves the same fate. (April 2008)
• Fighting Fiscal Obesity in Montpelier
  Governor Douglas has offered a FY09 budget that is said to be the leanest and tightest of his five years. But there is little evidence of reduced spending on anything, and it adds twelve new obesity counselors. Maybe the state shold hire an Obesity Czar to shrink state spending. (January 2008)
• The Coming Veto Battle
  Sen. Peter Shumlin yearns to tax Vermont Yankee to finance his campaign to make Vermont the world leader in combating the Menace of Global Warming. Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed that bill, and offered a $2.5 million idea of his own. The legislature ought to vote both down, and promptly go home. (June 2007)
• A Legislative Year Best Forgotten
  The 2007 legislature huffed and puffed about global warming, made a desperate effort to find new taxes to impose, passed a feeble education cost control measure, launched two more grades of the public school system, and did nothing to improve the economic prospects of Vermonters. 2007 was a legislative year best forgotten. (May 2007)
• Sen. Shumlin’s Desperate Search for New Taxes
  As the 2007 legislative session drew to a close, the big story was Sen. Peter Shumlin's desperate attempt to slap a big new tax on Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, to pay for a new bureaucarcy to fight the menace of global warming. The state's treatment of Vermont Yankee is simply extortion, and even the Mafia wouldn't go back on a deal once made. (May 2007)
• The New Tax for “Thermal Efficiency “
  The Senate wants to give the Public Service Board the power to create an ‘expanded energy efficiency utility” to explain to Vermonters how not to use so much heating oil, and to levy another tax on their heating fuel bills to pay for this service. It's time to say No to the unaccountable tax raisers. (March 2007)
• Choosing Sides on Taxing and Spending
  Gov. Douglas wants to limit General Fund spending to the sum of inflation and population growth (3.16%). The Democratic leaders of the legislature want no part of that idea. Where do they think the money will come from to support their spending habit? (February 2007)
• Is Vermont Heading Off the Rails?
  What happens to a state when its population ages, its working age population shrinks, its tax rates discourage economic growth, and its education and health care obligations eat up all the available revenues? The EAI Off the Rails report spells out the consequences for Vermont in 2030, and the remedies. (December 2006)
• The Big Mistake of 1986
  On a fateful day in December 1986, seven legislators decided to increase the income tax rate paid by Vermonters, triggering a long chain of very unhappy consequences. Twenty years later, two of those seven are seeking higher office. (October 2006)
• Stop Over Spending!
  Want to put the brakes on runaway government spending? FreedomWorks' Stop Over Spending (SOS) proposal will do just that. (October 2006)
• Voluntary Action for Stronger Local Economies
  The liberal movement for strengthening local living economies came to Burlington in June. Unlike big government liberals, these folks focus on working together to stimulate dynamic economic activity by free citizens, building stronger local economies and communities through mutual aid, free exchange, and voluntary action. May their tribe increase. (June 2006)
• The Legislature’s Handiwork
  The 2005-06 legislature is now, mercifully, history. Among its many misdemeanors, it passed an impossible health care bill, a new tax on employers, a property tax shift to non-residential property,and unabated expansion of the public schools. However a new series of Five Year Plans will surely provide for Vermont's future economic growth. Yeah, right. (May 2006)
• An Agenda for Affordability
  Gov. Jim Douglas rightly points out that Vermonters are facing a "crisis of affordability". But he was unduly reticent about pointing out that most of that crisis is caused by a long series of government taxes, regulations, mandates, and interventions. Either we will make Vermont a land of freedom and opportunity, or we will slide into eventual stagnation and penury. (January 2006)
• Whatever Happened to the Performance Review?
  The 2-year Vermont Institute on Government Effectiveness project has brought forth its report, advocating an enterprise management approach for information technology. That's good, but a thorough-going Texas-style performance review it,alas,is not. (October 2005)
• Sliding Down the Business Climate Rankings
  The 2004 Tax Foundation rankings put Vermont 45th in the nation in low-tax,pro-growth business climate. The opportunity for improvement is large, but the prospects small. Vermont state government needs a lot of tax dollars to feed the public's big government habit. (October 2004)
• Ronald Reagan: A Final Tribute
  Ronald Reagan has gone, but the great ideals of his life keep marching on. (A tribute from his one-time speechwriter and Senior Policy Advisor, EAI President John McClaughry). (June 2004)
• Far From “Historic”, but Not Bad
  Claims that the achievements of the 2003-04 legislature were "historic" is a bit much, but at least the solons didn't do any serious damage. It could have been a lot worse. (June 2004)
• Progressive Victories
  Vermont's left wing Progressives bemoan the 2003 legislative session. Actually, it's taxpayers and friends of limited government who should be weeping. (July 2003)
• Get Rid of the Government Hammer
  Too few jobs in Vermont? Republicans and Democrats agree on the solution: More Government! Wrong. (February 2003)
• Three Key Ideas in the Douglas Budget
  Gov. Douglas led off with a very creditable performance with his first budget message. Most budget controversies fade away with the next year's budget, but three items in the Douglas FY04 budget may well be remembered ten or twenty years from now. (January 2003)
• Eight Things for the Legislature to Do in 2003-04
  Here are eight reasonable things that even a closely divided legislature ought to do in the coming biennium. (December 2002)
• Climbing Out of a Fiscal Hole
  Gov. Douglas has several choices for digging out the fiscal hole that Gov. Dean left behind, even though the FY03 general fund is technically and hopefully in balance. Pro-growth economic policies coupled with smart restructuring of what government does is the best way out. (December 2002)
• The New Governor's Challenge
  Vermont's new Governor will face three very Big Problems. The good news is that there are workable free market solutions tfor them. (November 2002)
• Why Generating Economic Growth is So Difficult
  Want to know why generating economic growth in Vermont is so difficult? Ask the regional economic development specialists. They have plenty of reasons. (September 2002)
• The Fiscal Crunch and Act 60
  Governor and legislators are struggling to make up a $39 million budget shortfall. Let's be clear about why there's a shortfall: the annual $36 million contribution to bail out the Act 60 sharing pool. (August 2002)
• The Deja Vu State Budget Crisis
  Seven years ago Gov. Dean lamented a $39 million General Fund budget deficit. Now he's doing it again. (July 2002)
• Five Proposals for Legislative Reform
  Once again the legislature has stumbled into June, arguing over redistricting. Here are five ideas for reform that would fix that problem, and more. (June 2002)
• Vermont's Debt to Nuclear Power
  Vermont's enviros detest nuclear power, but for 30 years Vermont Yankee has quietly powered their eco-paradise. (June 2002)
• Two Views on Successful Communities
  The Dean Administration is promoting Successful Communities in Springfield and the Northeast Kingdom. Its idea of success seems to emphasize bureaucratic shuffling and more government. (May 2002)
• How Colorado Put the Brakes on High Taxes
  More and more Vermonters are beginning to feel that they are overtaxed.They should look to Colorado for a solution. (March 2002)
• "Cost Controls" and Government Reform
  "Cost Controls" and Government Reform: When tax revenues drop off, the governor and legislators implement "cost controls". Don't confuse that with real reform. (January 2002)
• Lessons from the IBM Layoffs
  The state's largest employer cuts back 500 employees. With a sound economic business climate, other firms will pick up the slack. The trick is creating that sound business climate. (December 2001)
• The Budget Hits the Fan
  The surpluses are gone, and the 2002 legislature will have to bite many very distasteful bullets. (October 2001)
• So...How Are We Doing?
  "Government" was the only one of ten economic categories of Gross State Product growth where Vermont exceeded the national average. Meanwhile, 49% of Vermont business owners say the state is "unfriendly to business." (June 2001)
• The Coming Tax Battle of 2002
  Vermont may soon decouple its income tax from the fedqarl tax code. It's time to think about what an independent Vermont tax system ought to look like. (June 2001)
• The Coalition to Keep People Poor
  Anti-free trade protestors have had their 15 minutes of fame. Now it's time to look at the benefits of hemispheric free trade. (May 2001)
• Vermont Should Focus on the Concept of Liberty
  Seven prominent Vermonters offered their view on "what Vermont should be thinking about" in the 3/4/01 Burlington Free Press. This rejoinder, published 3/27, makes the case for thinking about restoring our disppearing tradition of liberty and democratic self-government. (March 2001)
• It's Time to Cut Tax Rates
  President Bush wants a $1.6 trillion tax reduction package. Vermont's liberals are screaming No! (March 2001)
• The Legislature's Top Ten for the New Biennium
  What our elected leaders ought to be doing in 2001-02. (December 2000)
• Policing the Regulators
  Policing the Regulators: It's about time that elected legislators got control of rules issued by state bureaucrats. (December 2000)
• The Choices of 2000
  Civil unions may look like the Big Issue of 2000, but in the long run the real Big Issue is likely to be preserving the vital energy of a free people. (June 2000)
• Making Vermont's Democracy Stronger
  The results of a privately financed citizen initiative in Scotland on gay education in the schools has shaken the Scottish government. Isn't it time Vermonters had a citizen initiative process to shake theirs? (June 2000)
• Exploring the Big Bill
  Amazing things lurk in the fine print of Vermont's annual appropriations bill. (May 2000)
• The Rise of the Hidden Tax
  Once legislators voted taxes out where the voters could see it. Now they are increasingly finding hidden ways of extracting tax dollars to fund special projects. (April 2000)
• Tocqueville's Warning
  Alexis de Tocqueville warned New Englanders in 1835 that docile subjects of a central power would never be true citizens. When will Vermonters wake up to this eternal truth? (February 2000)
• The Price Fixing "Solution"
  Liberal politicians have discovered that price fixing is just a swell idea - if done by the government instead of corporations. (January 2000)
• Lessons from the Kirby Bridge Saga
  The little town of Kirby want to replace a little bridge. Thanks to overgrown state government, the price tag more than tripled. (October 1999)
• America's Fortunate Consumers
  Measured in the amount of time the average worker has to work to buy consumer goods, Americans are far, far better off than they were 50 or 100 years ago. Even today's poor enjoy a standard of living that was reserved to the near rich, or not even imaginable, a century ago. (September 1999)
• Vermont Needs More Democrats!
  Our system was designed to give effect to the will of the people. Unfortunately the Vermont General Assembly is marching steadily in the other direction. (March 1999)
• The Rise of the Nanny State
  All too often Gov. Dean, legislators and the people running state government seem to think Vermonters are incompetent chumps. Maybe they're right.Our system was designed to give effect to the will of the people. Unfortunately the Vermont General Assembly is marching steadily in the other direction. (February 1999)
• Restoring Vermont's Civic Culture
  Vermont rates high on a political science survey, but its authors miss an important point. (December 1997)
• $60 Million Away From Retirement Fund Reform
  Defined contributions is a far better plan, but first the funds have to be made whole. (August 1996)
• Governing Smarter and Cheaper
  Eight radical but do-able ideas for better - and less expensive - state government. (July 1995)
• Consumers, Bureaucracies, And Reform
  There are two kinds of public policy systems: one where consumers choose what they want, and one where government bureaucracies provide what consumers get (while seeing to their own comfort. (May 1995)

• MediScam Back in the News
  Seventeen years ago Vermont enacted its "MediScam" statute. Now, after 17 years of holding its hospitals harmless for the MediScam provider taxes, the state is diverting the refund payments into other uses. How long can Medicaid continue with this kind of shell game as its fiscal life support? (March 2008)
• No More State Mental Institutions!
  Replacing the 110-year old Vermont State Hospital with an expensive ($100 million+) new institution is a bad idea for mental patients and taxpayers alike. The right idea is "recovery in community", with compassion and peer support. (December 2007)
• The SCHIP Veto Confrontation
  Congress and President Bush are locked in a veto battle over reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The spin machines are in high gear. It would be far better if the national health care debate addressed some fundamental questions about the government's proper role, and how to get back to it. (October 2007)
• Here Comes Catamount Health!
  "Catamount Health" will soon become law. The state will not take in enough revenue to pay for the program's rich benefits. By 2009 the two private carriers will tiptoe away, and the program will become another state run insurance company to be folded into single payer. (May 2006)
• The Perils of Health Care “Delivery”
  The legislature's approach to health care focuses on the "delivery" of services that patients passively "receive". If society wants improved health and wellness, legislators need to adopt a vocabulary based on patient empowerment, personal responsibility and choice. (April 2006)
• Health Care: First Undo the Damage
  Governor and legislature are locked into yet another end-of-session health care "reform" battle. Why not just undo all the dumb government decisions of 15 years ago, and assist the poor to buy the insurance they need? (April 2006)
• The Douglas Health Care Initiative
  Gov. Douglas has set forth his proposal for health care reform in 2006. It notably avoids new taxes, mandates and controls. Whether it is the thoroughgoing reform Vermont needs is another question. (December 2005)
• Next Up: Medical Malpractice Reform
  Vermont's medical providers deserve protection from unconscionable malpractice suits. Here are six things the 2006 legislature could do - short of capping non-economic damages - that would largely achieve that goal. (November 2005)
• How Bad Laws Have Crippled the Private Health Care Market
  Sen. Peter Welch says the private market approach in health care has failed. What has really failed is massive and repeated government intervention that has thwarted the private market. (November 2005)
• Buncombe!
  Led by its medical society, the people of Buncombe County in western North Carolina have fashioned a community-based system to meet the health care needs of 17,000 uninsureds. Vermont could do it too - but for the determination of the single payer people to create a huge, governmental health system (September 2005)
• Good News for Texarkana – and Everybody Else
  Consumers can go anywhere to buy the products and services they want - but not health insurance. Giving them a wider choice in a national health insurance market will bring down premium costs dramatically. (August 2005)
• Understanding Health Care “Cost Control”
  For Vermont's Green Mountain Health (single payer)advocates, health care "cost control" means fixing the amount of money that the taxpayers are willing to pay for everybody's health care, and making doctors and hospitals ration it out. The high cost of health insurance is a direct result of foolish government interventions. Why would anyone see more big government as any kind of "solution"? (July 2005)
• The Health Care End Game
  Vermont's liberal House wants to create a high-tax, government-controlled single payer health care system next year. The liberal but nervous Senate wants to "set the stage" for the same system later on. Is there any way to avoid such a disaster? (May 2005)
• Save Our Monopoly!
  Decades ago the 12 Visiting Nurse Associations carved out non-competitive regional monopolies for themselves, so Medicare and Medicaid patients had only one choice of provider: the local VNA. With a Federal antitrust investigation hot on their trail, the VNAs now want the legislature to ratify their private deal - and forever keep out any competition. (April 2005)
• Universal Health Care Disaster
  Univeral single payer health care is in full flower in Montpelier. A close look at the House proposal for a government-run mega-System reveals a huge disaster in the making. (April 2005)
• The Prescription Drug “ Reimportation” Mania
  The Vermont legislature is working at full speed to pass a prescription drug importation bill. Even if it were legal under fedral law, which it's not, it's hard to see where the benefits will come from - except of course to the politicians who think they are doing something important. (January 2005)
• Medicaid Nightmare on State Street
  Vermont's expanded Medicaid program is plunging toward ever-deeper deficits. ON November 29 the legislature's finest minds pondered the evidence, and wondered what to do. They should emulate South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who has taken the Medicaid bull by the horns. (December 2004)
• A Health Care Legislation Score Card
  The 2004 Vermont legislature has produced two important health care bills. The House bill is a curious mixture of the good, the desperate, and the clueless. The Senate bill is simply awful. (March 2004)
• “Patient Power” vs. “Service Delivery”
  Two dramatically different visions of health care policy are now on the table for 2004. Gov. Douglas argues for personal responsibility, empowered consumer choice,and Health Security Accounts. His opponents seek to expand government health care, on the road to single payer. (January 2004)
• Choice for the Home Bound
  Vermont is the only state in the union that requires a Certificate of Need for home health care services. This scheme is designed to protect 12 regional home health care monopolies. But now the monopoly is starting to crack, and Vermont's needy elderly, disabled, and homebound consumers have reason to rejoice. (January 2004)
• HSAs Promise New Era in Health Care Coverage
  The Health Savings Account provisions of the new Medicare bill promise a revolution in health care philosophy and financing. The question is whether Vermonters, facing moribund small group and individual health insurance markets, will be allowed to take advantage of the opportunity. (December 2003)
• Repeal Community Rating
  The community rating of health insurance premiums is a Robin-Hood-in-Reverse scheme to tax the poor and benefit the rich, while prohibiting any rate incentive for people to take better care of themselves. Repealing it is not only right on fairness grounds, but also essential to any real market-based health care reform. (November 2003)
• Drug Reimportation - A Disaster in the Making
  Importing cheaper price-controlled pharmaceuticals from Canada is a very hot idea. If this is made legal, Americans will pay a terrible price in the economic destruction of our world-leading pharmaceutical industry. A better idea: radically reduce the cost of drugs by repealing the 1962 government efficacy requirement. (November 2003)
• Understanding Pharmaceutical Pricing and “Pharma-Hate”
  Vermonters need to understand the governmental rules imposed on the pharmaceutical industry. When they get the whole picture, the Times Argus's editorial attack on the industry will appear far more demogogic than persuasive. (February 2003)
• Governor Dean’s Health Care Record
  After eleven Dean years of expanding government intervention in health care, the uninsured percentage is higher than his first year in office. Maybe it's time to try something different. (November 2002)
• Single Payer Health Care: Reform or Affliction?
  Vermont's single payer advocates are back at work. Upon closer inspection, their health care remedy boggles the mind (September 2002)
• Political Clash Over Health Care
  Instead of finding new taxes to raise to pay for more government health care, our legislators ought to be focusing on reform. (March 2002)
• Vermont's Way Out: The Health Insurance Tax Credit
  Vermont taxpayers can't afford Gov. Dean's expanded Medicaid program. But Federal tax credits for buying health insurance could bail the legislature out. (February 2002)
• Time for Honesty in Health Care Programs
  The state's budget is heading for the red, but Gov. Dean wants to expand government-provided health care - at somebody else's expense. (January 2002)
• The Hogan Commission Report
  Govenror Dean's commission to make sense out of health care policy (after nine years of government failures) comes up dry. (November 2001)
• Command and Control Health Care
  The old Soviet system is gone, but Gov. Dean seems to want to reinstate it for health care in Vermont. (September 2001)
• Dean's Cheap Drug Plan: Another Medi-Scam
  Gov. Dean's new Medicaid scam forces pharmaceutical companies to give Medicaid discounts to people the state says aren't in Medicaid. (April 2001)
• Your Tax Dollars at Work
  Gov. Dean has scored a $1.3 million federal grant to figure out how to expand government involvement in health care. Groan. (October 2000)
• Facing Up to Vermont's Health Financing Problem
  Gov. Dean's health care strategy - drive out private insurers, make thousands more Vermonters eligible for government care, underpay the hospitals and doctors, and drive up insurance premiums - is nearing the end of the line. (September 2000)
• Transcending the Drug Price War
  Politicians are eager to force price controls and discounts on the pharmaceutical industry, but the long term solution to high drug prices lies somewhere else. (July 2000)
• The Triumph of Hope Over Experience
  The Senate wants to control the price of prescription drugs sold in Vermont. When will they learn? (March 2000)
• Dr. Dean's Road to a Single Payer Health System
  If Dr. Dean wants to ease Vermont into single-payer health care, he's making all the right moves. (December 1999)
• Farewell to Responsibility
  Why make provision for nursing home care, when you can send the bill to the taxpayers and pass your estate on unimpaired to your children? (July 1999)
• "Reforms" that Increase the Uninsured
  In the past six years the Vermont legislature has adopted several important reforms of health insurance market. Result: more Vermonters without health insurance. So the legislature expands government health insurance to cover them. (November 1998)
• KidCare: Another Step Toward Government-Run Health Care
  Taxpayer-paid health care for $49,000 families? Coming to Vermont soon. (May 1998)
• Improving Child Health and Safety
  How Gov. Dean and the AP combined to totally misrepresent the Casey Foundation's ratings of child welfare. (May 1998)
• Negative Progress in Health Care Coverage
  Dr. Dean says Vermont ranks second in the nation, but it's actually 23rd. (September 1997)
• Megamedicine: Coming Soon to Your Town
  What the Fletcher Allen-Dartmouth Hitchcock-Rutland Regional - Blue Cross merger will give us. (January 1997)
• Vermont's HMO Health Care Future
  The government's plans to put everybody into a capitated group. (September 1996)
• Health Care: Collective or Individual?
  The real choice in health care, and the consequences. (January 1996)

• The Corrupt Government Squeeze on WalMart
  WalMart may be on the verge of getting its long-sought St. Albans permit. But the district Act 250 commission is insisting that the company pay half a million bucks to its economic competitors first. This used to be called simony, and the Church made it a sin. (July 2008)
• Smart Growthers and their Perfect Little State
  After a scary beginning in the House, a bill to encourage housing development in village centers was much improved when it passed the Senate. Its tortured path to passage reveals the fearsome complexity of Vermont housing and land use law that has defeated many a proposal to build new units for Vermont's housing market. (May 2008)
• Private Property At The Mercy of Government
  In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court amends the Bill of Rights to allow governments to use eminent domain for any (alleged) public purpose. Shorn of the 5th Amendment's protection against government confiscation, Vermonters may want to fashion a state constitutional amendment that protects them against both actual and regulatory takings. (June 2005)
• WalMart Tries Again
  Ten years ago WalMart tried to open its first Vermont store in St. Albans Town. It was blocked by an astonishing decision of the Enviromental Board. Now WalMart thinks it's worth trying again. It's far from a sure thing. (December 2003)
• The Battle of Potash Brook
  Thanks to the efforts of one enviro law firm, the Water Resources Board shuts down development by rejecting of a state of the art stormwater management system. (September 2001)
• Goodbye to the Spaghetti Lot
  For 30 years the "10 acre loophole" has been a "safe haven" for developers, with very unfortunate land use results. Now it is about to be closed. (February 2001)
• Environmental Board Takes a Big Hit
  The Vermont Supreme Court slaps down the Environmental Board's regulatory power grab. (January 2001)
• Revisiting the Takings Issue
  Oregon voters, fed up with too much land use regulation, have added an important new protection for private property owners to their Constitution, Maybe Vermont should get with the program. (November 2000)
• Tinkering with Act 250
  To the horror of the enviros, the House actually approved some amendments to Act 250 to make it more user friendly. But a wholesale reexamination is long overdue. (April 2000)
• Fighting Sprawl: Start with the Government
  This year's bogeyman is "sprawl". Who causes sprawl? Mainly the government. (November 1998)
• Batscam: The Latest Enviro Attack on Vermont's Economy
  The enviros have found one supposedly endangered bat near (but not in) Green Mountain National Forest. Now all future logging contracts are suspended. (November 1998)
• The State Thinks It Owns Your Woodlot
  Not content to manage 196,000 acres of state owned land, the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation wants to manage yours as well. (June 1998)
• The Sprawl Monster is Loose!
  For almost 30 years the land use controllers have invented one land use crisis after another. Now it's the Sprawl Monster. (June 1998)
• Who Owns the Land?
  Vermont's new clear cutting law is one more step toward disposing of private property in land. (May 1997)
• The Astonishing St. Albans WalMart Decision
  In rejecting the WalMart permit for St. Albans Town, Environmental Board chairman Arthur Gibb seized on impossible facts, proposed to levy an unlegislated tax, and generally ran roughshod over the law. This preposterous decision ought to spur a thorough examination of the Act 250 law and process. (February 1995)

• Vermont's Feeble Welfare Reforms
  Vermont comes in last of the 50 states in a new study on the effectiveness of five years of welfare reform. Why? Because liberals viewed work as an unconscionable burden on the welfare population. (November 2004)
• Helping Albert
  Vermont and federal taxpayers are spending over $61,000 a year each to support and control 1,850 developmentally disabled Vermonters. The policy is not only expensive, but it also leaves the people involved isolated and dependent on state-paid caretakers instead of fostering choice and autonomy. (September 2004)
• The Godzilla of Child Care
  How about this: a giant state-created nonprofit mega-corporation handing out $300 million to 12 regional nonprofit corporations that will organize and control child care, preschool, and medical programs for children 0-5. That's the Godzilla that Gov. Douglas has taken the first step to create. (September 2004)
• The Food Stamp No-work Loophole
  Why the state wants to get out of the federal welfare-to-work requirement. (January 1997)
• Welfare Reform: The New Era of Work
  Now, if you need help, there is help. It's called Work. (October 1996)