Issues

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.



 
         

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