( – promoted by GMD)
G. Norman of Vermont Tigger starts this short post with:
According to this survey of business people in the state, taxes are
… the number one factor that could cause companies to leave Vermont.
The ‘this survey’ Norman is referencing being one discussed at VermontBiz.com in an article titled Survey: Best and worst of doing business in Vermont (the link came from Norman’s post as the reference for the quote in italics above).
Too bad ol’ G didn’t bother reading the article.
Oh sure, the quote about “the number one factor” is in the article … first sentence as a matter of fact, and it appears that is where our Vermont Tigger commentator stopped reading.
I say this because the very next sentence reads
Conversely, there was consensus among survey respondents that Vermont’s quality of life acts as a powerful incentive for businesses to settle and stay here.
(ibid)
According the Arno Group, their survey has no statistical validity, but let us pretend a bit just to give the Tiggers their due:
Less than half the respondents ranked the “pain” they feel from labor costs as a three or higher on a scale of seven. Energy costs may also not be a source of acute pain for many Vermont companies, the survey suggests.
Whatever the relative tax burden borne by Vermont businesses, most of those taking part in the Arno Group survey said they would not consider leaving the state because of the issue of taxes.
Arno Group Partner David Rocchio said, “The survey suggests to me businesses are in Vermont because of the state’s culture and societal structure and landscape.
**Sigh** too bad Norman didn’t get past that first sentence. The “I hate Vermont” duo of Dubie/Douglas won’t appreciate the bulk of this piece either.
Anyway the article is an interesting read even if based upon a survey that is more speculation than representative self selecting rather than random.
This is from a computer programming glossary of terms but it sounds like the Douglas /Dubie method as sung by Vermont Tiger…
Repetition can be very valuable. For example, to move forward four sentences, you need only write a program that will move forward one sentence and then repeat the process four times. Since a computer does not get bored or tired, such repetitive action does not have the deleterious effects that excessive or the wrong kinds of repetition can have on humans.
It seems to work wonders for them.
The right cares about sound bites, not accuracy or truth.
We need to remember that they have beat the drum so loudly for so long that people accept it as a rhythm of life.
There has been no counter drumbeat from the left, and that’s why the pundits say we are in trouble, even though the right is responsible for the crash and the wars we are in.
I won’t be surprised if the pundits are right. Until we get some leaders who are interested in laying down a baseline that everyone understands, the left will continue to appear, and be, weak and confused.
It’s second nature to these guys now. Unfortunately, the factoids that can be plucked to support their extremely weak positions seem to be getting fewer and farther between, making it necessary for them to skip over huge chunks of material that supports a perspective completely opposed to their talking points.
The problem is that the Douglas administration constantly feeds the tiger. They promote the negative attitude across the board and are generally joined by The Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the homebuilder and construction groups, AIV and the Republican party leadership. The good news may be that they spend so much time talking to each other that few others listen. The bad news is they have the financial resources to broadcast their negativity both within and outside the state. We need more liberal oriented blogs!
I’m unclear on why you think the positive statements refute the negative ones. The survey does in fact state that taxes are the number one factor that could cause companies to leave Vermont. They go into quite a bit of detail on that point, actually.
The Arno Group does IN FACT acknowledge its survey is not statistically valid.
People who rely on “FACTS” from admittedly invalid surveys to support their own pre-conceived and delusion notions of reality are silly and not worth responding to.
I’ve got my health care plan, fuck you. I’ve got something to eat, fuck you. I’ve got my stuff, fuck you. I’ve got mine, fuck you. Me. Me. Me. Fuck You.
I read the article in Vermont Business Magazine this morning and there was a sidebar on the study’s methodology. I don’t have the magazine with me now. As I recall, they mailed out the questionnaires to a large group of businesses and got a very small return.
The key question would be, “which of the recipients of the surveys were motivated enough to return them?”
It could be that it was just a few that wanted to complain about taxes or some that really love Vermont and wanted to express it. We have no idea which (or anywhere in between).
VBM should be ashamed of themselves for publishing a study that was not only “non-scientific” but totally meaningless.
Norm
I know, like, and respect Kevin Kelley but have some problems with the story. I submitted comments on Wednesday (link below).
http://www.vermontbiz.com/news…
Bottom line: this is baloney (especially Norman’s use of the so-called “data” to make a point that is demonstrably false). Unless and until the quoted business owners and advocates can back up ANY of their statements with facts, they should be called out. Important policy decisions cannot / should not / must not be made on the basis of a few people making unsubstantiated self-serving statements uncritically presented by a compliant and (in my view) irresponsible media.
Too bad I didn’t check this out sooner. I might have been able to make some better arguments. Jack Hoffman has a nice piece on this subject:
http://publicassets.org/blog/
Norm