Democrats Wanted this Budget, They Should Fix It 
By Rob Roper

By Rob Roper

It wasn't long ago that Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Shap Smith led (and where necessary browbeat and cajoled) their Democrat/Progressive "supermajorities" into passing in lockstep their version of a state budget. They did this over the veto of Governor Douglas and the objections of every Republican and elected Independent in the House. The announcement on July 17th of yet another revenue downgrade, this time a $23 million decrease, and the need for yet another budget adjustment downward demonstrates just how disconnected from reality and unsustainable the Democrat leadership and its policies really are. 

It is more than a little insulting that after ridiculing and rejecting Governor Douglas' and Republicans' ideas for a creating more sustainable budget, breaking off budget negotiations, then marshalling a divisive, partisan override of the governor's veto, these same Democrats are now saying things like, "We have a crisis confronting us. We need to be working together." (Rep. Obuchowski, BFP, 7-17-09).

We knew we were facing a crisis over a year ago. These Democrats who now have unchecked control of our State House and Senate chose not to deal with it. They chose not to cooperate or to compromise. They chose not to make tough decisions. They chose to put the thrill of exercising raw political power above Vermonters' need for good and honest government. 

In the 2008 election, Vermonters entrusted the Democrats and their allies in the Progressive Party with the numbers to override the judgment of our moderate Governor. We gave them the power to pass any legislation they wanted to without having to compromise with anyone. The Democrats used this power. Unfortunately, they used it to move an ideological agenda of patronage and special interest paybacks rather than implementing a common sense, reality-based plan to shore up our faltering economy and put Vermont on a sustainable financial path. 

During the 2009 legislative session, the Democrats' unrealistic budget actually increased government spending by over 3 percent  in the face of declining revenues, raised taxes on already tapped out Vermonters by $26 million and still left us with projected deficit liabilities of $208 million - and growing - by 2012. They passed an energy bill that raises electric rates on Vermont families and businesses by an estimated 3 percent, the proceeds of which will go to subsidize politically favored businesses, including some owned by big donors to the Democratic Party. And, in the middle of this "worst economic crisis since the great depression," they chose to inject the most divisive and distracting issue to hit Vermont in a decade, same-sex marriage. There is no reason why, except special interest politics, this social issue couldn't have waited until after the financial crisis had been adequately dealt with.

Shumlin and Smith used their power to protect the special interests of the Vermont teachers' union by refusing consider much needed education finance reform despite the facts that education has grown to one third of all state spending while K-12 enrollment has actually declined by roughly 10%. Similar consideration was afforded the State Employees Association as Democrats spent a great deal of energy (and even went beyond the bounds of the Vermont Constitution) to protect a handful of state workers while 25,000 other Vermonters swelled the unemployment lines and the unemployment trust fund was going bankrupt. 

Yes, we are in the middle of a crisis. Yes, we all need to work together to get our economy going in the right direction again. There are some good and creative ideas worth pursuing. Our neighbors in Maine, for example, just reformed their tax code by passing a flat tax. By embracing more school choice in our education system we have the potential to reduce costs, simplify property taxes and get better results for our kids. We could lower the cost of creating new jobs by reforming our regulatory process. But Vermont Democrats have shown no interest in these - or any - ideas to prepare Vermont for success in the changing 21st Century economy. Until they demonstrate some willingness to put ideological politics aside and take real-world action, there's not much point in wasting time or energy putting forward ideas that the ruling supermajorities won't let go anywhere. 

Rob Roper is the current Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party.