Examining the budget since the early 1990s shows a budget increase of one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000.00) every five years. No wonder Vermont is consistently ranked one of the highest-taxed states in the nation.
Govenror Doulgas has approved a spending increase of 17 percent or $637,963,248 or $1,046 (per person) in his first term in office. He's spending faster than Dean.
Let's put the brakes on run away government spending. Sign Tax Payer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) petition. (Learn more about TABOR...)
As a small business owner, I can tell you that the number one thing government can do to "create jobs" is to get out of the way! And the best way to stop interfering is to reduce taxes and reduce or simplify regulations. But you cannot responsibly cut taxes without scaling back spending.
Our neighbor to the east is consistently among the lowest taxed states in the nation. New Hampshire's low tax burden creates more jobs, higher wages and attracts the second highest number of venture capital firms in the country... which means they do not need VEDA-style corporate welfare programs. The net result is fewer children living in poverty, more working families able to afford health care, and fewer citizens wholly dependent on government.
| State | Vermont | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| Budget (in billions) | $4.0 | $4.4 |
| Population | 600,000 | 1,300,000 |
| Tax burden (per person) | $6,546 | $3,397 |
My goal as governor will be to rollback government spending to 2001 levels so working Vermonters will have $2000 more per year to use how they choose, rather than how Montpelier and Washington dictate. My proposed line-by-line budget for 2005 in online. If adopted it will lower the tax burden by $2,000 to $4,500 per person.
You could pay down a credit card, fix the washing machine, invest the money for your kid's or grandkid's college education, buy a ski pass to enjoy all of this great snow and help our local economy, or you could start up a small business as I did with Catamount Software ten years ago, with only $800. The list is endless.
It is your money and your choice. Keeping money in workers' pockets is the best way to create a "livable wage."