People smoke pot, regardless of its legality. They have been doing so for thousands of years. The prohibition on marijuana began as a strategic political maneuver. There has never been a valid medical, scientific, or moral argument against research and use. Especially not when we encourage, regulate and tax alcohol and tobacco. Adults should have the choice of marijuana both medically and recreational.
We already have in place laws that regulate the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Those same laws should be adequate to the task of regulating marijuana. Marijuana is a valuable cash crop for Vermont. Quite frankly, you can bet your boots that "Big Tobacco" has already planned and strategized how they are going to approach the sale, regulation and advertising of marijuana. They probably already have ready-to-be patented strains.
I believe that Vermont should not only tax and regulate marijuana, but that it should also take into consideration the "Vermont" brand and tourist trade in developing those regulations. Before corporations have the chance to dump chemical laden, nasty weed on our state, start now to develop a Vermont artisan marijuana movement and take control of how it will be seen and treated here at home.
Rather than simply legalize, encourage acceptance. Be the first state to embrace the business opportunities that marijuana represents. Consider not only the number of jobs that could be created by encouraging cannabis entrepreneurship, not just the revenue, but also the draw of young business people back to Vermont. We are getting old. the average age in Vermont continues to climb as our young people leave. As a state we missed the boat on both tech and alternative energy. But we have an opportunity to position the state to be in on the ground floor of the cannabis legalization movement, the Silicon Valley of cannabis.
I know that not everyone agrees. there are people who will never see cannabis as anything other than a horrible drug. But, as we saw with civil unions and then same sex marriage, not everyone is going to agree. But when it comes down to it, I'd rather benefit from it than waste resources fighting the inevitable. We can legalize, tax, regulate, and promote now. Or we will deal with decisions made by others 10 years from now. I believe that Vermont has enough common sense to tackle this issue and create from it a cultural shift.
There are strains of cannabis created here in Vermont that are to connoisseurs what Boucher Blue is to cheese, what Lincoln Peak is to wine, what Vermont Smoke and Cure is to meat, what Phish is to music, what Burton is to snowboards........quintessential Vermont. Why lose that?
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The President's Address
The President had his "State of the Union" address. Some of it I was okay with, some not so much. I don't see a big recovery going on for anyone that I know. Everyone is still struggling, wages are stagnant, and the unemployment figures, for all the "magical mystery math" that is used to calculate it, belie the number of people who have dropped out of the work force, got tired of looking, realized that their skill set just wasn't needed anymore, or just heard "no" one too many times. I think that no amount of good speech writing is going to alter the reality for most Americans, certainly not for most Vermonters.
What irked me the most about this speech is the fact that the President, and all of the politicians in office right now, insist that only two ideologies, two "bought and paid for" parties, the same two groups that have made a disgrace of our republic, are the only two choices that we have. As if there weren't a hundred different ideas out there, as if the common person couldn't possibly figure it all out without the parties telling us what to think. They behave as if we don't know that they are all taking money from the same lobbyists, the same companies.
I believe that the average citizen has a far better understanding of what is needed right now than anyone currently in Washington D.C. I believe that myself, and 675,000+/- other Vermonters know what we need here better than either of the parties. Heck, neither one could even manage a majority of the voters! The pool of participating voters doesn't constitute a majority of citizens by a long shot. So the reality is that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans were able to convince a majority of Vermont citizens that their votes would matter, and neither was able to convince the voters that did turn out to give them a majority. That's too bad!
There are far, far more options available to us than either of the parties would have you believe. The party system itself is an invitation to corruption. Better to choose from among us ones who agree to serve their fellow citizens in their turn. It is not to the advantage of the common citizen to vote in the prescribed manner. The party system insures that no candidate can run without the approval of one of the parties and so they control the flow of ideas. If you are going to vote for someone, you ought to know their name and be able to write it in. If you are simply pulling the party lever, you are granting them control over your life to a degree that is frightening.
Someone in your town, that you know, would be great at representing his or her neighbors. They are smart and level headed. They care about people and are honest and fair. Well, dammit, vote for them! Just because their name isn't printed on the ballot doesn't mean that you can't vote for them. You DO NOT have to vote for anyone printed on the ballot. Sure, those folks pay a lot of money to get printed on the ballot, but their spendthrift ways do not create an obligation on your part. You can vote for who you darn well please. Even if that person doesn't have a flashy TV commercial or big lawn signs or raised a billion dollars from out of state donors who have nothing to do with your county. Just because folks raise and spend money to tell you lies, doesn't mean that you have to believe them. Look around you. Somebody you know would be a wonderful states-person, even if they are not a flashy politician. This time, write them in and the establishment be damned!
Repeat after me: I AM MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
There, now don't you feel better? I do.
What irked me the most about this speech is the fact that the President, and all of the politicians in office right now, insist that only two ideologies, two "bought and paid for" parties, the same two groups that have made a disgrace of our republic, are the only two choices that we have. As if there weren't a hundred different ideas out there, as if the common person couldn't possibly figure it all out without the parties telling us what to think. They behave as if we don't know that they are all taking money from the same lobbyists, the same companies.
I believe that the average citizen has a far better understanding of what is needed right now than anyone currently in Washington D.C. I believe that myself, and 675,000+/- other Vermonters know what we need here better than either of the parties. Heck, neither one could even manage a majority of the voters! The pool of participating voters doesn't constitute a majority of citizens by a long shot. So the reality is that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans were able to convince a majority of Vermont citizens that their votes would matter, and neither was able to convince the voters that did turn out to give them a majority. That's too bad!
There are far, far more options available to us than either of the parties would have you believe. The party system itself is an invitation to corruption. Better to choose from among us ones who agree to serve their fellow citizens in their turn. It is not to the advantage of the common citizen to vote in the prescribed manner. The party system insures that no candidate can run without the approval of one of the parties and so they control the flow of ideas. If you are going to vote for someone, you ought to know their name and be able to write it in. If you are simply pulling the party lever, you are granting them control over your life to a degree that is frightening.
Someone in your town, that you know, would be great at representing his or her neighbors. They are smart and level headed. They care about people and are honest and fair. Well, dammit, vote for them! Just because their name isn't printed on the ballot doesn't mean that you can't vote for them. You DO NOT have to vote for anyone printed on the ballot. Sure, those folks pay a lot of money to get printed on the ballot, but their spendthrift ways do not create an obligation on your part. You can vote for who you darn well please. Even if that person doesn't have a flashy TV commercial or big lawn signs or raised a billion dollars from out of state donors who have nothing to do with your county. Just because folks raise and spend money to tell you lies, doesn't mean that you have to believe them. Look around you. Somebody you know would be a wonderful states-person, even if they are not a flashy politician. This time, write them in and the establishment be damned!
Repeat after me: I AM MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
There, now don't you feel better? I do.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Food Policy
Can anyone really doubt the importance of food? We all depend upon it to live and, here in Vermont, many depend upon it for their livelihood. While we certainly have rules and regulations surrounding the growth, manufacture, sale, and labeling of food, Vermont does NOT have a comprehensive food policy. Neither, in fact, does the federal government. The problem with that is multifaceted. First, only if food is treated as the valuable natural resource that it is can we hope to create an atmosphere in which the impact of laws in one arena is weighed against the impact on agriculture, food production and sales. For example, a policy intended to encourage growth in one industry, say tourism, could have unintended effects on agriculture and so on. By treating food as a natural resource, we can create a food policy that encourages all policy proposals from all industries to consider the impact on food.
Food simply does not grow everywhere. Much of the arable land in this country has been stripped of all of it's natural benefit and ability by the over use of chemicals, poor land management, and a reliance on food mono-cultures. Because the country lacks a food policy, you end up in situation where the first lady is telling us all not to consume high-fructose corn syrup while her husband is signing legislation that subsidizes the production of that very product. A comprehensive food policy would ensure that those types of conundrums would seldom occur.
Vermont, with it's productive and fertile land, history of family farms, brand recognition in many micro-enterprises including beer, cider, cheese, wine, apples, maple syrup, and so much more has the best incentive available to enact a comprehensive food policy: Protection of our agricultural viability. We should lead the country in protecting our ability to feed ourselves.
Food simply does not grow everywhere. Much of the arable land in this country has been stripped of all of it's natural benefit and ability by the over use of chemicals, poor land management, and a reliance on food mono-cultures. Because the country lacks a food policy, you end up in situation where the first lady is telling us all not to consume high-fructose corn syrup while her husband is signing legislation that subsidizes the production of that very product. A comprehensive food policy would ensure that those types of conundrums would seldom occur.
Vermont, with it's productive and fertile land, history of family farms, brand recognition in many micro-enterprises including beer, cider, cheese, wine, apples, maple syrup, and so much more has the best incentive available to enact a comprehensive food policy: Protection of our agricultural viability. We should lead the country in protecting our ability to feed ourselves.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Religion?
There is a bit of a kerfluffle about religion in the current congress, namely those who refuse to list a religious affiliation. In a secular government, should they even be asking about religion? A nation that condemns Islamic based governments but is itself 90% old, white and Christian? Doesn't that really put us on par with, say, Saudi Arabia or Iran? And really, as much as we claim freedom of religion we still penalize those who stray from the judaic/christian/islamic triumvirate. I don't think it should even be asked. If employers are not allowed to discriminate based on religion, shouldn't that also apply to voters, who are the employers if politicians?
Comments?
Anyone?
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Governor's Race...
So, Shumlin gets a third term. If each legislator had voted as their district voted, Milne would be Governor. Not that the difference is discernable. They both get their funding from the same out-of-state lobbyists.
2 more years of the same old crap. Too bad.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Consumption Tax
So what, exactly, is a consumption tax?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumption_tax
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ConsumptionTax.html
You can find reasonably easy-to-understand explanations at the above links. But basically a consumption tax taxes what you spend rather than what you earn. Why would that be an advantage to us in Vermont? Well, the easy and most obvious answer is that people don't currently pay taxes on unreported income. So drug dealers, gamblers, prostitutes etc rarely pay income taxes. They would, and do, pay consumption taxes. Business owners would no longer have to be tax collection agents for the state and get on with growing their business. Finally, workers would get to keep all of their income and decide how much tax they are willing to pay.
There has been a bill before congress, known as the Fair Tax, for years now. Of course the sitting government is so dysfunctional that they can't even consider it. But as voters you should at least know it exists and understand how it would benefit workers and businesses in Vermont. If you are a small business owner, consider what it would be like for you to be able to ignore the income tax hoops that you must currently leap through every pay period. If you are an employee, imagine getting ALL of your earnings and then being able to decide what NEW items you are willing to purchase and pay taxes on.
A link to the federal bill can be found here.
Of course this is something that would have to be developed in cooperation with the legislature and at the pleasure of the citizens, but I believe that Vermont could be in a much better fiscal position if we start implementing ways for workers and businesses alike to increase buying power and choices.
Thoughts?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumption_tax
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ConsumptionTax.html
You can find reasonably easy-to-understand explanations at the above links. But basically a consumption tax taxes what you spend rather than what you earn. Why would that be an advantage to us in Vermont? Well, the easy and most obvious answer is that people don't currently pay taxes on unreported income. So drug dealers, gamblers, prostitutes etc rarely pay income taxes. They would, and do, pay consumption taxes. Business owners would no longer have to be tax collection agents for the state and get on with growing their business. Finally, workers would get to keep all of their income and decide how much tax they are willing to pay.
There has been a bill before congress, known as the Fair Tax, for years now. Of course the sitting government is so dysfunctional that they can't even consider it. But as voters you should at least know it exists and understand how it would benefit workers and businesses in Vermont. If you are a small business owner, consider what it would be like for you to be able to ignore the income tax hoops that you must currently leap through every pay period. If you are an employee, imagine getting ALL of your earnings and then being able to decide what NEW items you are willing to purchase and pay taxes on.
A link to the federal bill can be found here.
Of course this is something that would have to be developed in cooperation with the legislature and at the pleasure of the citizens, but I believe that Vermont could be in a much better fiscal position if we start implementing ways for workers and businesses alike to increase buying power and choices.
Thoughts?
Saturday, January 3, 2015
10 Point Plan
The following is my 10 point agenda for my first term in office. I will work to address all of these issues, while seeking advice and input from citizens, legislators and business leaders. Together we can create AND fund the type of society in which we want to live and work.
1. Consumption Tax to replace state income, sales and use, alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, all business and property taxes.
2. Creation of a Food Policy that recognizes the importance of our landscape, economy, ecology, land use, health and nutrition, and agricultural uses and resources and works to preserve the same.
3. Legalization and regulation of cannabis use utilizing the system already in place for the sale and regulation of alcohol, restricting sales to currently established state liquor stores and to restaurants and clubs utilizing the same alcohol service regulations currently in place including mandatory training for servers and managers.
4. Set a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
5. Tuition free education at Vermont state colleges for all Vermont high school students graduating in the top 10% of their class. Tuition free education at UVM for all Vermont high school students graduating in the top 1% of their class.
6. Student loan forgiveness for graduates in select fields who agree to work in state on a percentage per year basis.
7. Consumption tax on alcohol, cannabis and cannabis enhanced products, tobacco and petroleum products to fund education and healthcare initiatives.
8. Work with interested stakeholders to develop an administrative culture conducive to entrepreneurship and economic growth.
9. Overhaul the social service delivery system in Vermont to reflect present day realities and the need for training and educational opportunities for disadvantaged people.
10. Review current educational spending and reorganize priorities to reflect the growing understanding of pre and post- secondary educational needs and the societal returns on investments generated by such programs.
1. Consumption Tax to replace state income, sales and use, alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, all business and property taxes.
2. Creation of a Food Policy that recognizes the importance of our landscape, economy, ecology, land use, health and nutrition, and agricultural uses and resources and works to preserve the same.
3. Legalization and regulation of cannabis use utilizing the system already in place for the sale and regulation of alcohol, restricting sales to currently established state liquor stores and to restaurants and clubs utilizing the same alcohol service regulations currently in place including mandatory training for servers and managers.
4. Set a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
5. Tuition free education at Vermont state colleges for all Vermont high school students graduating in the top 10% of their class. Tuition free education at UVM for all Vermont high school students graduating in the top 1% of their class.
6. Student loan forgiveness for graduates in select fields who agree to work in state on a percentage per year basis.
7. Consumption tax on alcohol, cannabis and cannabis enhanced products, tobacco and petroleum products to fund education and healthcare initiatives.
8. Work with interested stakeholders to develop an administrative culture conducive to entrepreneurship and economic growth.
9. Overhaul the social service delivery system in Vermont to reflect present day realities and the need for training and educational opportunities for disadvantaged people.
10. Review current educational spending and reorganize priorities to reflect the growing understanding of pre and post- secondary educational needs and the societal returns on investments generated by such programs.
What if the winner was a write-in candidate?
I think I'll run for Governor.
Of course I have no party, no money, no political machine.
To get my name on the ballot would require more money than I have, and, quite frankly, I am tired of party politics.
So here's the deal. First I'll post a biography. Then I'll post a series of articles outlining what I believe is the right direction for Vermont. Read it, and if you like it, write my name, Patricia R Peters, on the ballot for Governor on November 2, 2016.
Patricia R. Peters
Biography
I was born on Mather Air Force base, in Sacramento California on February 7, 1965.
My wife's name is Valerie.
I have 3 daughters, 3 granddaughters and one grandson.
I have a step-daughter, a step-son and a step-grandson.
My parents are still alive and have been married all of my life.
I have a sister who lives in VA and a brother who is deceased.
I have a BS in Business from the University of Phoenix.
I have an MBA in Finance from Southern New Hampshire University.
I am currently employed as a cook at Middlebury College.
Before that I worked as a baker for American Flatbread.
I live in Middlebury, VT.
I haven't decided how I feel about turning 50.
Of course I have no party, no money, no political machine.
To get my name on the ballot would require more money than I have, and, quite frankly, I am tired of party politics.
So here's the deal. First I'll post a biography. Then I'll post a series of articles outlining what I believe is the right direction for Vermont. Read it, and if you like it, write my name, Patricia R Peters, on the ballot for Governor on November 2, 2016.
Patricia R. Peters
Biography
I was born on Mather Air Force base, in Sacramento California on February 7, 1965.
My wife's name is Valerie.
I have 3 daughters, 3 granddaughters and one grandson.
I have a step-daughter, a step-son and a step-grandson.
My parents are still alive and have been married all of my life.
I have a sister who lives in VA and a brother who is deceased.
I have a BS in Business from the University of Phoenix.
I have an MBA in Finance from Southern New Hampshire University.
I am currently employed as a cook at Middlebury College.
Before that I worked as a baker for American Flatbread.
I live in Middlebury, VT.
I haven't decided how I feel about turning 50.
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