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Left wing group holds meetings to raise taxes
By Kevin Ryan, Burlington
"Burlington -- On Monday, July 24th, I attended the Burlington meeting of Vermonters for a Fair Economy and Environmental Protection (VFEEP)..."

A Need for Vision
By Robert Maynard, a native Vermonter who now resides in Williston.  He has been active in the Vermont Republican Assembly, Citizens for Property Rights, Vermont Taxpayers Alliance, Vermonters for Better Education and FreedomWorks-Vermont. 
"With election season upon us, one would think that we would be engaged in a serious debate over the direction our state is taking. In particular, one would assume that the Republican Party would be just itching to have such a debate.... 

Vermont Right to Life plays role in striking down Vermont’s campaign finance scheme
By Sharon Toborg, an attorney for and member of Vermont Right to Life.
"On June 27, 2006, the US Supreme Court held  in Randall v. Sorrell that Vermont’s draconian campaign finance scheme, which includes extremely low contribution limits and mandatory expenditure limits, is unconstitutional." 

Sanders tells supporters to abandon Bush impeachment idea
July 24, 2006, Rutland Herald
PUTNEY, Vt. --Vermont's lone representative in the U.S. House is discouraging supporters from seeking impeachment proceedings against President Bush…. Supporters of the impeachment movement were undeterred by Sanders' advice….

Farmers Vow Defiance Of State's Registration Rule
By ROBIN SMITH And JACOB L. GRANT, Caledonian Record, July 26, 2006
…. Calling the Vermont Agency of Agriculture's livestock premises registration rule a fascist or Nazi plan, the three dozen livestock owners at a hearing at the state office building in Newport City said they would destroy their animals, or pay fines rather than put their names and addresses on a state registry…."This is the first step in the government controlling everything," [Amber] Chambers said…. [Hal Bill would] like to see the Department of Fish & Wildlife try to tell hunters they can't shoot or handle wild birds….

Prebates rekindle wealth debate
By Darren M. Allen Vermont Press Bureau, July 27
…According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Vermont's prebate system is one of the most generous property-tax adjustments in the country. Most states cap benefits at no more than $1,500…. The governor, for his part, said he will reintroduce legislation next year seeking his original $4,000 cap. He can expect a fight again, [House Speaker, Gaye] Symington said.
 

Campaign ‘06

Taxing Theme
Valley News, 7/27/06
The three Republicans running for Windsor County's three seats in the Vermont Senate appear to agree on at least one theme…. they said they are especially concerned about property taxes under Vermont's Act 60/68 education finance system. "I wasn't prepared for the sticker shock that we got," Gaysville Republican Kent Butterfield said of the recent 20 percent increase in his tax bill…. "I just felt it was time to step in and represent the average person and do what I could to try to lower some of these expenses that have got to be hitting hard."Windsor Republican John MacGovern,… said he had called for repeal of Act 68 in his 2004 run for the state Senate and would do so again….The third GOP candidate, Quechee real estate agent Anthony Paino, also said he would like to make "serious changes" to the tax system….

Rainville eyed run against Jeffords as a Democrat
By Shay Totten, Vermont Guardian, July 26
From her opening salvo into Vermont politics and at just about every public appearance she makes, Martha Rainville likes to talk about how she was courted by both Democrats and Republicans….

Guard money may have benefited Rainville supporter
By Wilson Ring, Associated Press, July 27
Less than two months after receiving $4,000 in political donations from a Florida software developer, then-Adjutant Gen. Martha Rainville asked Vermont's two U.S. senators for help on a $10 million appropriation that may have benefited the man's business…. 

Related: Setting the Record Straight: Rainville Supported Projects Not Companies - Project Was Longstanding Rainville Priority - Efforts Were Praised By Leahy & Jeffords
Related: Vermont Democrat Party Misrepresents Story for Partisan Ends

Shepard says engineering background makes him best for energy
BY Wilson Ring, Associated Press, July 20
Republican U.S. House candidate Mark Shepard says his background as an engineer makes him best qualified to help guide the future energy and environmental policies of the United States…. He said the best way to find solutions to the nation's energy problems and clean the environment would be to eliminate government subsidies to energy producers, from huge oil companies to alternative energy technologies, like wind and solar. "I think we could have a level playing field between different energy sources by not subsidizing energy sources," Shepard said." Let the market play it out and the people will decide…."

Tarrant: Would have voted for flag-burning amendment
By David Gram, Associated Press, July 26
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Richard Tarrant, surrounded by about 20 Vermont military veterans, said Tuesday he would have voted last month in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to ban desecration of the American flag….
 

Elsewhere

Rising Tide: Tax cuts are good for everyone--and everyone knows it but Washington Democrats.
By Pete Du Pont, July 25
"John F. Kennedy believed that "an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance our budget, just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits." So he proposed income tax rate reductions, which the Democratic Congress enacted the year after JFK's death. Back then, Democrats were for them: more than 80% of Democratic senators and representatives voted for the Kennedy tax cuts. 

"My, how times have changed…. Opposing tax cuts has become the mantra of the liberal left…. Mr. Bush signed the most recent tax cuts into law in the spring of 2003…. In the 2 1/4 years before the 2003 tax cuts, economic growth averaged 1.1% annually; in the three years since it has averaged 4% per year, and in the first quarter of this year it was 5.6% on an annualized basis. Inflation-adjusted per capita GDP has grown 7.8% from 2003 through the first quarter of this year. According to the government's establishment survey, in the 36 months since the tax cuts became law, 5.3 million new jobs have been added to the economy." 

Smearing Education Choice
By John Stossel, July 26
"…. Most public schools are far from outstanding. America's government schools have rigid one-size-fits-all rules that reward mediocrity. Despite raising per-student spending to more than $10,000 (at least $200,000 per classroom!), test scores have stayed flat. On international tests, Americans now lag behind students from less developed nations like Poland and Korea that spend a fraction as much money on education. The people who run the international tests told us, "the biggest predictor of student success is choice." Nations that "attach the money to the kids" and thereby allow parents to choose between different public and private schools have higher test scores. This should be no surprise; competition makes us better…."

Major Education Victory in the Sunshine State
By Julie M. Quist, July 26
"The Florida legislature took a firm step toward restoring some factual accuracy into the current perversion of teaching our nation's history. Judging from the reaction of the education elites, you would think these founding principles were downright subversive.

"The new Florida requirements (pdf pp. 22-23) state: Members of the instructional staff of the public schools shall teach ... the following: (a) The history and content of the Declaration of Independence, including national sovereignty, natural law, self evident truth, equality of all persons, limited government, popular sovereignty, and inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property, and how it forms the philosophical foundation of our government. Florida schools are now also required to teach: The history, meaning, significance, and effect of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and amendments thereto, with emphasis on each of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights and how the constitution provides the structure of our government. And, The nature and importance of free enterprise to the United States economy.

"Most parents believe teaching these foundational principles is a staple of U.S. history and civics. As Minnesotans discovered when their social studies standards were rewritten in 2004, however, the universities and schools of education have joined with the political left to censor these fundamental cornerstones of our free nation from the classroom, and they won't willingly restore them….

Chicago Weighs New Prohibition: Bad-for-You Fats
By Monica Davey, New York Times, July 18
"….Edward M. Burke, who has served on the Chicago City Council since 1969,… is pressing his colleagues to make it illegal for restaurants to use oils that contain trans fats, which have been tied to a string of health problems, including clogged arteries and heart attacks….Under Mr. Burke’s proposal, establishments that failed to remove 'artificial trans fats' from their kitchens would be fined $200 to $1,000 a day…."