War and Taxes

I attended my third Democratic candidate debate last night in Shelburne. I asked the question about how we as citizens can stop paying taxes to fight wars. We have a deficit yet 1.5 billion of our money is being used to murder people. The candidates all claimed they opposed the war and were helpless to keep us from paying for it. Only Doug Racine choose to say he would not always walk heel to toe in regard to the Federal Governments demands. I knew they had no grand plan for keeping our money here in Vermont. My main goal was to point out that we as a state are wasting lots of our tax money on something that benefits us in know way. In fact it is a major detriment, and will burden our taxpayers for years to come. I still believe education is the key. Burlington College has a course on war that is being taught by an anti-war activist. We need to have these courses in every high school so that children learn the truth about conflict and we can help fight the propaganda delivered by the Military Industrial Complex. The best way to stop war might be to have nobody willing to join the military.

NO DEBATE

The latest in a series of gubernatorial debates this time in Montpelier has shown us that we have no diversity in government. Once again the debate featured only Democratic Party candidates showing how homogenized and sterilized our system has become. Third party candidates are not being invited and Republican candidate Brian Dubie has failed to show at even one of these many debates .Why should he? He’s decided to use the very successful Jim Douglas approach. Do nothing, say nothing, achieve nothing and watch the other guys fight over the scraps. High school pep rallies have more conflict and independent thinking than these debates. If the invited panel agrees on 90% of the issues is it really a debate? If they are trying to choose the runner up for governor then just get Patrick Leahy to flip a coin so we can proceed.
We already knows the policies of the Democrats and Republicans. They’re the ones that got us into this mess. War is profitable therefore they support it. Wall Street is financially strapped so the middle class must help pay their bonuses. Health insurance companies need mandatory compliance so they can milk the system more thoroughly. The people of Vermont deserve a real choice. So far the debates have been neither enlightening nor entertaining. Debate organizers need to invite all candidates, regardless of political affiliation, not just the ones from the vanguard.

Obama's Desperation

Todays news announced by Barack Obama that he is willing to break the 20 year moratorium on drilling is just one more desperate last attempt to extend the age of oil. It is a feel good band aid approach to a much bigger issue. Out economy is in the decline because it is dependent on cheap energy for its survival. All new forms of energy are not going to be as cheap or as inexpensive to harvest as sweet oil close to the surface of the earth. This source for all purposes is done. It is time to adjust our economy to deal with this fact. In the near future it will be impossible to transport items long distances economically enough to make it worthwhile. A more local approach to agriculture, and most other consumer items will be necessary. Sending jobs abroad that require transportation of goods back to America will end. We can only hope that the military machine we have created shrivels and dies an oil starved death also. My fear is that we will continue the scourge overseas until we have consumed every last drop of oil. We need to use our resources wisely to build for the inevitable future of energy needs without the availability of cheap oil.