As a certified State Inspection station for automobiles,
Tom comes into contact with both rich and poor alike.
He gets to speak to people on a daily basis, and hear
their concerns. He knows that the working poor in
Vermont struggle every day to pay their bills, pay
their taxes, and try to build a better life for themselves.
But the Legislature in Montpelier thinks it needs
to be a good "global citizen" and give away more and
more of the tax money those workers toil to pay.
That isn't right. Vermonters can't afford our State
Legislature to play the part of charitable organization
with our tax dollars. Tom believes in charity, but
also believes that it should come from individuals,
voluntarily. It shouldn't be squeezed from the pockets
of hard-working Vermonters and given away.
Growing up in the 40's and 50's, Tom remembers the
city "poor farm". He remembers how the people of Rutland
County were given the opportunity to provide for themselves,
rather than given yet another hand out. "I don't think
we want to go back to those days, but we sure can't
keep pretending that Vermont is a charity, and give
away the public treasury to anyone who can fill out
a grant request".
"One of the problems with public funded charity that
I've seen, is there's just no accountability for the
money". Tom's right. Look at what a respected publication
said about the charity pouring into Tsunami relief:
"Six months after the Asian tsunami, a leading
international charity says the poorest victims have
benefited the least from the massive relief effort."
A survey by Oxfam found that aid had tended to go
to businesses and landowners, exacerbating the divide
between rich and poor.
As Tom put it, "charity begins at home, we need to
remember that. How many Vermonters could have benefited
from the $50,000.00 a legislator wanted to donate
to the Red Cross? I'm not saying people shouldn't
give, I'm just saying they need to give their own
money because they want to and not force the taxpayers
to fund their charitable impulses."
Click
here to see the bill attempting to authorize the
spending.
Tom understands he can't put an end to 30 years of
state government expansion, overnight. "Look, a hand
full of Libertarians in Montpelier isn't going to
solve the problem. But how many people even know about
the $50,000 the legislature tried to give away? I
want to get up there and be involved in making sure
people hear about this kind of thing BEFORE they give
the money away. If I have to, I can stand on a street
corner and shout at the top of my lungs to let the
voters know what their representatives are doing!"
Please let Thomas Carpenter Jr. get directly involved
in the legislative process, and let him be your eyes
and ears in Montpelier. Vote CARPENTER on November
7th. |