To The Editor:
OK, so we’ve voted in the Democrats. Like many Independents (Republicans who understandably don’t want to be associated with the national Republican party), I want change. That change has to be new ideas, not the small reforms of incremental change but relatively new ideas that can put Vermont on a path to a new concept of self-reliance. We need to start taking steps that will allow Vermonters to shed the inconsistencies of false economic thinking that have kept us tethered to inequality and the ruination of the environment.
That fallacy is Reaganomics, or trickle down. The economy must grow from the ground up. A living wage for all is both a practical and moral necessity. As the working poor can afford to spend more, the entrepreneurial class will start making more money and reinvest those increased earnings into the local economy. In turn this will bring in more tax revenue to the state so that we Vermonters can choose how we want to spend it.
The most efficient and democratic way to work with this new revenue would be to create a Vermont public bank. Instead of paying private banks millions of dollars in fees we could use those funds to invest in projects Vermonters want to work on. Public banks are common around the world and have worked very well in the rural Republican state of North Dakota for over 100 years.
Lastly we must institute a “carbon tax.” This is a first step in weaning ourselves off polluting fuels into more sustainable energy such as wind and solar. This has been shown to be able to work without harm to the most needy of us.
So, Democrats! You have a veto proof majority. Get ’r done.
Robin Lehman
Warren
