Issues

END FRIVOLOUS LEGISLATION AND TAX MONEY GIVE AWAYS

Kevin Volz believes that when it comes to good works and charity, it's better to be directly involved than to have a group of legislators making the decisions for you.  Unfortunately, the Legislature in Montpelier thinks it needs to be a good "global citizen" and show it "cares" by giving away more and more of Vermonter's hard earned tax money.  

Kevin knows that isn't right.  Vermonters can't afford their State Legislature to play the part of charitable organization with their tax dollars.  Kevin 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.
 
"At some point, we're going to have to admit that Vermont's legislature just doesn't have control over their own charitable impulses, and the average working Vermonter simply can't afford to pay for the Legislature's need to feel good about itself by giving away our tax money.  The days of 'free' grant money being given to anyone who can fill out an application are going to have to end, or 5th and 6th generation Vermonters are going to be leaving here by the busload."
 
As an officer of the Court, Kevin Volz knows how important follow-up is.  "We can't just give away money to people, without knowing how it's being used."  Here's a good example, 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."

The recent "donation" of $50,000.00 of taxpayer money to the International Red Cross for Tsunami relief is a stark example of how fiscally irresponsible Vermont's Legislature has become.  Click here to see the bill authorizing the spending.

"There are very legitimate things the State can do to help people in need.  I just don't think it's a legitimate use of Vermont taxpayer money to help people in need.....in Indonesia.  That's the sort of good work that is better left to individuals in Vermont."

He's right.  Vermonters are a charitable people.  According to the Rutland Herald, we have more charities, per capita, than ANY other state in America.  Vermonters need a fiscally responsible government though, one which recognizes that when economic times become lean, international charity is better left to large grants through the Federal Government and individual donations.  "We need to have our finances in order, and our people taken care of, before we start giving away taxes collected from OUR working poor, to the poor in South East Asia."

LET'S STOP AND SEE WHERE WE ARE, BEFORE WE BEGIN A NEW ROUND OF LAW MAKING

"I think one of the smartest things our legislature could do at this point is to pause and take a deep breath.  There's an attitude in Montpelier that we need to pass a whole assortment of laws as quickly as possible.  I think that's not a healthy trait for government.  When the legislature acts, it needs to be after very careful consideration of the problem it's trying to solve, and after lengthy inquiries into the effects the law may have.  Rushed legislation is rarely a good idea, no matter how good the legislation sounds."

Many Vermonters are beginning to see that the choices our Legislature makes, have profound effects on their personal lives and finances.  "I think it's great that we're going to help people who can't pay for their health insurance.  Catamount Health may be the greatest idea since Medicaid.  What I don't agree with is the Legislature's decision to pass the law promising this entitlement to Vermonters, without having a firm plan for financing it.  We can't have it both ways, we can't keep telling people they need to stop smoking because of the damage they do to themselves and what they cost our health care system, and then tell the people of Vermont that we'll pay for Catamount Health with an increase in the cigarette tax!  It just isn't sensible to try to fund an important public benefit on the back of a behavior we want to reduce to zero."

WHEN THE IDEA TURNS OUT TO CAUSE MORE HARM THAN GOOD, MODIFY THE IDEA

"We've got a huge number of laws on the books.  I'm not sure we really want Vermonters to get a Law degree just to open a small business.  Some of our laws are important, they've made life better for all Vermonters.  But some of our laws are being made just to help a very small portion of the people of this State.  When the legislature does this sort of thing, we need to go back and revisit the issues from time to time to make sure the good we do isn't outweighed by the harm we may cause."

FOR ONCE, A CHOICE

The Voters of Vermont have been faced with a terrible choice for far too long.  Politics in this state has been sold to the people as a choice between fiscal responsibility and social INTOLERANCE, or social tolerance and fiscal IRRESPONSIBILITY.

Kevin Volz is a Democrat/Libertarian.  He knows this is a false choice we've been given.  We can be a socially tolerant people, Vermonters are known far and wide for this.  And we can be fiscally responsible, something our prudent old Vermonters did for a very long time.  Kevin Volz believes we can move forward in ways that don't bankrupt our State and our people.  We can be the sort of socially accepting people who know it's important to mind our own business and not try to legislate our morality onto our neighbors.

If you're concerned with the direction the State is heading, if you're worried that our legislature seems to care more about it's "conscience" than it does the well being of working-class Vermonters, please join with Kevin Volz and support a change in Montpelier.



 

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