As I speak to people, I hear lots of mistrust in many institutions – media, government, schools, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. We are in an information war with rampant censorship, and those not following the narrative are labeled as conspiracy theorists or domestic terrorists. We have become a headline society, consuming the soundbites and not digging into the content below the headline.
Recently, the U.S. government passed new legislation entitled “Inflation Reduction Act.” As a society, we see inflation at the gas pump and the grocery store, so the government helping to reduce inflation is good. Unfortunately, the Inflation Reduction Act reinforces the well-known lie of “I’m with the government, and I’m here to help,” doing absolutely nothing to reduce inflation. The bill funds the IRS to double its workforce, adding 87,000 armed agents to the agency. The bill also includes increased taxes for most Americans. The biggest portion of the bill is nearly $400 billion for the green new deal. None of this spending or taxation will do anything to reduce inflation; it just furthers the expansion of fiat currency, which fuels inflation.
Vermont legislation is a little different. In the 2021-2022 session, H.715 was legislation entitled “An act relating to the Clean Heat Standard.” This bill was essentially a new tax on Vermonters to fund the climate change agenda by establishing a market for clean heat credits and requiring fossil fuel sellers to purchase these credits, with proceeds subsidizing replacement heating systems that meet the Clean Heat Standard. Fortunately, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the bill, and despite the existing Bennington-4 representatives voting to override the veto, insufficient yea votes were cast to override the veto.
Vermont legislators are advancing a number of pieces of legislation in the name of climate change, even weaving it into environmental justice legislation. Is this what their constituents want, or are our representatives following the desires of the World Economic Forum? Is Vermont the right test-bed for these initiatives?
Trust in government starts with your local representative. As a representative for Bennington-4, I will ask the hard questions on legislation. I will stand up for my constituents, provide them with truth and transparency, and do my part to ensure that there is common sense in our legislation. With several decades of product management experience, I know how to build for the future, and I know how to break things down into tangible steps that make sense. Right now, our current legislatures are passing laws that will cost Vermonters money we don’t have and don’t necessarily result in a solution that works.
Joe Gervais
Arlington
