WOODBURY – To quote Governor Scott, enough is enough. I could not agree more. Not only with the murderous actions of ICE, but with the whole Trump administration and Republican Party.
But enough is enough also with a Scott administration that won’t denounce Trump’s trampling on the Constitution and the rights of Americans, and his senseless wars.
And enough is enough with a Scott administration that, over the past ten years, has failed to address serious problems in Vermont, offering weak solutions while our health care, education, and housing systems deteriorate to the point of ruin.
Let’s look at the record with Trump first. Trump and his henchmen are taking a sledgehammer to the Constitution, breaking the law every day and constantly lying. Now they have started a senseless war that will kill thousands of innocent civilians before it is over. They have been enabled by the Republican party, both in Congress and at the state level.
Governor Scott has been one of the Republican office holders who has mostly kept quiet while all this has been happening. First, Governor Scott said he could not respond to every statement out of D.C. hen, in his budget address he called political objection “posturing.” After the murder of Alex Pretti, Governor Scott issued a statement criticizing the excesses of ICE and saying, “enough is enough”. But he didn’t criticize the leader of all this violence and lawlessness, Donald Trump. Governor Scott also said he had reviewed the video of Pretti’s murder several times, and it looked like “inadequate training.” The state medical examiner ruled it a homicide. Now, as I write this, we are waiting in vain for our governor to condemn the unnecessary, illegal and unconstitutional war on Iran.
This is completely unacceptable. None of this would be happening if Trump were not ordering it. Trump is the leader of the Republican party, the same party that Governor Scott leads in Vermont. Our governor could show courage and denounce Trump, like other Republicans such as Adam Kinzinger. Or, better yet, Governor Scott could show integrity like another Vermont Republican, Jim Jeffords, and leave the party and become an Independent. Instead, Governor Scott’s carefully chosen words make him complicit in the destruction of our democracy.
As if that were not enough, Governor Scott’s tenure has seen worsening changes in affordability, our health care system, our education system, and housing and homelessness. Vermont is significantly worse off and less affordable than it was ten years ago when Governor Scott took office.
Our healthcare system is one of the most expensive per capita, not only in this country, but in the world. Vermonters cannot afford their health insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles and many cannot find a primary care doctor. Most of our hospitals are losing money. Our mental health system is in dire straits. Nursing homes need tens of millions of dollars to stay afloat. In his ten years in office, Governor Scott has not offered workable plans to solve these problems except the OneCare ACO that wasted eight years and cost Vermonters $100 million. That $100 million could have paid for a lot of health care.
Our education system is also in crisis, a situation everyone saw coming for years, including the Governor. Instead of working with the Legislature to redesign education in Vermont, his solution is to reduce the number of superintendents and districts. This is likely, like its predecessor, Act 46, to fail to improve education or reduce costs significantly. Reducing districts is code for closing small schools. . It does nothing to address the key cost drivers in education such as health care costs, aging infrastructure, specialized services, and behavioral issues in schools.
And, it is ironic at best for the Governor to complain about education costs while doing next to nothing to address one of the key causes, health care costs.
The Scott administration has not put forward a feasible plan to address homelessness in Vermont, which has doubled or more during his tenure. It is inhumane to have people sleeping outdoors in below zero weather. His administration has greatly reduced the availability of hotel beds but has offered nothing substantial to replace them.
Another Republican, Ronald Reagan, won the presidency by asking the question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Vermonters should ask themselves, “Are we better off now than we were ten years ago?” We are clearly worse off. t’s time to replace Governor Scott with an effective leader who has a clear vision for Vermont, concrete plans to solve our pressing problems and strong opposition to the disastrous regime in Washington.
