Now, I'm not diminishing the impact that high property taxes have on many of us in Vermont, in particular, working families. But I'm also really tired of Duglas continually harping on life in the state, while offering no real leadership of his own. In the article, Peter Shumlin summed it up like so: "It's exactly the same agenda that Jim Douglas has laid out for the last five years," said Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham.
Citing rising fuel, health care and other costs, Shumlin added, "Most Vermonters are finding life less affordable today than they did when Jim Douglas took office almost six years ago. It's time for him to start solving problems, not just talking about the problems."
Indeed. Now, this is where it gets interesting: Douglas has said repeatedly in recent months that lawmakers spent too much time last year on issues like global warming and too little on reducing taxes, bringing more affordable housing and other bread-and-butter issues.
Apparently, the governor has failed to read the final report from the Governor's Commission on Climate Change, which was released today. The first line of the report states, "The climate change crisis may represent the most important and comprehensive global challenge of our lifetime." It continues in the second paragraph, "Global climate change is occurring, and every Vermonter will experience its impacts on the quality of life for which Vermont is justifiably famous. If properly seized, however,climate change action can provide an unprecedented economic development opportunity for Vermont." And by "unprecedented economic development opportunity for Vermont", I don't think they're talking about those McJobs that Douglas is so fond of. As far as the legislature "spending too much time on the issue", House Speaker Gaye Symington said this in her statement today: The governor seems to be of two minds. On the one hand he dismisses the legislature's leadership on climate change as irrelevant to Vermonters' lives, and on the other, his own commission describes climate change as one of the most important challenges of our lifetime... Legislative leadership, on the other hand, is of one mind: climate change represents an extraordinary opportunity for Vermonters to save fuel costs and grow innovative businesses. The Governor's commission makes it clear that "attainment of the state's ambitious goals requires the implementation of all the 38 Plenary Group options" , and where further analysis or refinement is needed, "we recommend that this additional work begin immediately." I hope the commission's report is a sign that the governor will begin to take climate change and the pressures on Vermonters' fuel bills seriously. I urge Governor Douglas to join us in implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Climate Change, several of which can be found as key elements in H.520, legislation he vetoed last session.
So perhaps the governor should start doing a bit more listening to his own comissions, eh? I certainly hope that the legislature, in this next session starts to realize that leadership can often involve playing hardball. It's time to start playing hardball with Governor Douglas. He has no bold initiatives,and of course, nothing that will offend his business constituencies, a major obstacle to positive change. He seems to be able to politically survive merely by lack of strong political opposition and a rather non-threatening demeanor, not through any merits of his own (which is exemplified by the challenge of finding a good candidate to run against him). That needs to change. Sooner, not later. He can be beaten. |
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