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.