A State of Denial 
By Robert Maynard

Having had the pleasure of attending several of Vermonters for Economic Health’s  town meetings, put on by Tom Licata, I am starting to see a pattern developing. It starts with a compelling presentation of the facts regarding our looming fiscal crisis, which Tom delivers in a professional, low key manner. The response of most in the crowd is one of alarm and frustration over the seeming powerlessness that average Vermonter’s are perceived to have over the direction our state is heading. This feeling of frustration is usually heightened by political leaders in attendance whose main focus is to defend the current status quo and convince the rest of us that things are not really that bad and that they have everything under control.

The theme that things are not really that bad has been an argument that such leaders as Speaker Gaye Symington have been trying to sell us on. In support of this argument, the Beacon Hill Institute Study is usually cited. 

A first glance at page 60 of the report would seem to support such a contention. After all, the report does have us 12th out of 50 when it comes to competitive advantages. Indeed, Vermont is ranked high in areas such as human resources and technology, indicating that we do have some advantages over other states. A closer look tells a different story. In measures that can be attributed directly to our political leadership, we are faltering. When it comes to "Government and Fiscal Policies", we rank 47th out of 50. Under "State and local taxes per capita /income per capita", we rank 50th out of 50. In the category of "Business Incubation", which is a good measure of how attractive we are to new businesses, we rank 45th out of 50. Finally, we rank 49th out of 50 in the Better Government Association’s "Integrity Index" 

In short, while we do have some advantages here due to our natural environment and the quality of our people, we are being held back by our political leadership. Apart from the various ratings, is the inescapable fact that we have a stagnant job growth and an exodus of young people and entrepreneurs out of Vermont. It is hard not to draw the conclusion from this that our advantages are being outweighed by disadvantages. People are leaving this state and others are refusing to locate their business here DESPITE the advantages this state offers. This should provide us with a real wake up call that our potential is being squandered. Instead, our political leadership continues to exist in a state of denial. They would have us believe that the real problem is that those of us who are sounding the alarm are creating a negative perception of the state and keeping people out whom otherwise would come and driving those out whom otherwise would stay. Does anyone really believe that a long time Vermonter would up and leave the state for more opportunity elsewhere based solely of faulty perceptions, or that a savvy entrepreneur would make such a business decision not to locate in such a beautiful state based on such perceptions? How stupid does the political leadership think such people are?

Of course, when our political leaders are not denying a real problem exists, they are busy assuring us that they have things under control. This usually comes in the form of proudly announcing that they are creating some kind of government program to deal with that problem. Not enough jobs in Vermont? The answer is a government funded jobs training program. The problem here is that people fail to see the source of our financial woes and seek to offer a cure that is really part of the problem.

Our economic crisis is brought about by an excessive amount of spending, taxing and regulating. This iron triangle of big momma government strangles far too much of creative entrepreneurial activity which a growing and vibrant economy sorely needs. The real problem is a mentality that sees government as the solution to every possible social problem. Even so-called "conservative" politicians talk about growing our economy so that we can afford more of the social engineers’ pet programs. The question of whether government is really the best instrument to deal with highly complex social problems is never raised, much less debated. The only question is whether the current direction is affordable.

It is time to step back and re-frame the whole debate. Not only is our current direction unaffordable, but it is unlikely to solve complex social problems, in fact, it is more likely to make them worse. The over spending and fiscal train wreck we are headed toward is merely symptomatic of a more fundamental problem. We are squeezing out Civil Society by allowing government to usurp the social roles that are more properly a function of the voluntary institutions of the private sector. In pointing this out, I am not making an anti-government rant. It is a simple fact that government is a blunt instrument and is competent in addressing a limited number of areas. We have strayed FAR beyond those areas in which government is competent and are reaping the fruits of straying so far.
 

Robert Maynard is the Editor of the True North website