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 Vermont Votes
Changing the face of Independent politics in Vermont
Ask The Candidates!
Welcome to the "Vermont Votes" webpage, hosted by the Sam Young for Governor campaign and designed for the 2008 Gubernatorial election process. This website empowers citizens to engage Vermont's candidates for governor in substantive discussion about current issues, the legislative process, and how citizens can participate in their government. Instead of simply reciting a platform, Sam Young will be taking your concerns and integrating them with his campaign messages. But it all begins right now, right here, when you submit your questions and vote on questions submitted by others.
Want to ask Sam a question? There are a great number of concerns, as well as innovators, in Vermont. So to make the most of the election process, Sam has created a system for gathering as many questions from Vermonters as possible. Want to submit a question? Here's what you do:
- Take A Quick Look Around First: Before you submit your own question, read around to see that the site has been divided into categories to help organize the submissions and elicit as wide a range of ideas as possible. Also, take a quick peek at what's already been submitted.
- Click on "New Idea" To submit a question start by clicking the big orange button that says "New Idea." You will be asked for a valid email, and then taken to a basic comment submission form.
- Formulate a Concise Question: Keep in mind that a question is a single sentence with a question mark at the end of it--preferably a sentence that can be spoken in one breath. If your question multidimensional, consider (1) revising it to make it shorter and more concise and/or (2) dividing it into multiple submissions. What makes for a great question? Try for a question that invites Sam onto new terrain having to do with policy, campaigns, or democratic engagement. Questions that invite the Sam to address concerns with his candidacy are not off limits.
- Hit "Submit" : Once your questions is written, submit it and your job is complete! Feel free to submit as many questions as you have in as many categories as you like.
- Vote Up! Vote Down!: The final step is one that every blogger knows well: recommending. Our system has a built in voting system not unlike Digg or Reddit. All you need to do is vote a comment up or down and everyone (including the moderators) will get to see which questions sit best with the most blog readers and conference attendees.
What Happens After I Submit My Question?
Sam Young will read, vote, and respond to the ideas you post on the "Vermont Votes" website. Each week he will address the most popular topics in his webcast to Vermont. You can post comments, links, and files to help Sam form his positions on the issues that matter.
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Got an Idea/Suggestion?
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Browse
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Posted by info 06/11/2008 12:00 AM PDT Is anyone else sick of waiting for the page to load.
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Could Vermont lead the way, at least in this country, in encouraging both lower impact vehicles and progressive use of trains and other efficient public transport for personal transportation and distribution of local goods?
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Posted by info 06/11/2008 12:00 AM PDT What would it take to get a direct flight to Burlington with a plane full of European tourists that want to explore Vermont and spend their Euros.
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According to Peter Moss:
"Medicare spends 97% of its revenue for benefits and 3% for administration. Private insurers spend 70% on benefits an 30% on administration, waste and profit."
We need a Governor who understands the costs of healthcare on society, and will implement solutions to lower costs and increase coverage to all!
We don't have a health problem, we have a cost of insurance problem!
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Vermonters should defend open access for all candidates in public debates. The political process needs reform and true populist politics requires open debate by all voices.
Douglas limits the number of debates and who he will have debate with. Symington won't debate without Douglas. And Anthony Pollina can't decide which party he is in.
It is time for a change! Let Sam speak!
Sign the petition at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/open-access-for-vermont-politics
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Posted by rob 06/10/2008 12:00 AM PDT All elections in Vermont should be implemented using IRV. Open political races and expand the diversity of opinions. Let people vote for who they believe would be the best candidate.
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All I can think of is how do we keep these New Yorkers from buying property and driving up prices.
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Over 3,000 Vermont guardsmen are set to deploy to Afghanistan by 2010, many for the second time.
Almost half of all soldiers in Iraq have been National Guardsmen.
Bush's call to war has expired!
It is time for the Governor of Vermont to take back control of the Guard.
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How are we going to support the growing number of elderly in our state?
The aging community are becoming more and more numerous, and with the surge in new and changing family structures that have been taking place over the last 60 years, there is much confusion over who will care for all the people that no longer work. Social Security cannot provide for these people to lead healthy lives, so who will?
Check out these links for a little more info:
http://www.understandingvt.org/aging-population/
http://www.vhfa.org/about/news/releases/75_aging_report.pdf
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We will be stuck with the clean-up and the bill for many many years as the corporations slither their way out of their obligation to Vermonters unless we act soon and forcefully. We can find alternatives to this most toxic of energy sources!
Sources:
http://www.vyda.org/
http://www.nukebusters.org/
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Vermont needs to abolish nuclear weapons. We have nuclear weapons right here in Vermont. Let us be the first state in the nation to ban them.
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Posted by info 06/11/2008 12:00 AM PDT Return Local Control
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Posted by leanne 08/12/2008 12:00 AM PDT How can we be so surprised that so many youth are leaving Vermont when there is no Vermont History requirement in high schools? Vermont youth need to understand the legacy of independence that is their inheritance and to be taught pride for this beautiful state. American History is a required course in American high schools, and for the same reasons, Vermont History should be a required course in Vermont high schools. Teach our youth to love this state and make them want to come home and take part it its interactive democracy.
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Gov. Douglas just announced (June 13th) a "task force" to help combat rising oil costs. Why did he wait so long to take action on these issues? And why now? Because it's election time! This seems to be his "Election/PR" response to accusations about his lack of response to the energy crisis in VT.
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In the last 50 years, the coal companies have destroyed over 450 mountains in the Appalachian region. This is intimately tied to the production of power in the US. . . approx. 50% of US energy is from coal-fired power plants.
As lovers of mountains, Vermont should stand in solidarity against this travisty. . . mountains are not replacable! Vermont should lead the country in renewable and sustainable sources of energy, decentralizing energy, and promoting efficiency.
Learn more at www.ilovemountains.org
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While I am by no means a person who could be termed a one issue voter, it is my opinion that among the key issues in serious need to be made top priorities and meaningfully addressed by the candidates for Governor are both homelessness and affordable housing.
Thus my question to the candidates would be:
If the voters (re-)elect you as Governor in the general election, when it comes to addressing homelessness and affordable housing across the state, please answer the following five (5) part question:
* Priorities: What type of priority would both of these matters hold within your administration?
* Steps: What concrete steps would your administration take to address these matters?
* Time Lines: What time lines would your administration set for addressing such?
* Outcomes: What are the expected outcomes by which your administration would measure the effectiveness of such proposals?
* Funding: How would your administration fund such proposals?
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Vermont schools grappling with high fuel costs (August 10, 2008)
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/NEWS01/808100392/1002/NEWS01
Again, community-owned grass pellet plants come to mind. . .but that is another idea!
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Posted by fldworx 09/14/2008 09:03 AM PDT As long as innovation in quality education is divorced from the funding mechanisms, change cannot occur. Where there is inequity in the funding of schools in a property tax based educational system, innovations cannot happen.
It is a mistake to pitch education to voters as something which only affects K-12 or colleges and universities. Until the state sets the tone for a lifelong educational process and everyone understands that they may need to access the educational system several times( look at the ages and enrollment statistics for community and technical colleges) people will think education is something that doesn't affect them once their kids are out of school. Even if they are not thinking about the next generation, a case could be made for thinking about themselves. So the funding mechanism needs to be linked to all Vermonter's needs for education and re-education. Because just as technology grows obsolete quickly, skills in some areas are constantly in need of updating.
An innovation in education funding needs to be presented along with education proposals.
I also want to argue not just for technical education, which is self-evidently necessary, but for a renewed emphasis on another and less obvious set of educational experiences.
Creative thinking and problem solving is not always a linear process, like a math problem. Skills required have to do with taking information from different domains, extracting and analyzing the relevant elements, and juxtaposing and synthesizing that info into new ideas.
Critical thinking skills can be developed through the humanities, but especially the arts. Arts experiences develops those very skills in imagination--in conceptualizing, analyzing and synthesizing ideas.
There was a book published by the Sloan School of Business, at MIT which talked about the importance of the arts in developing those very skills, which it found underlay success, in their case, in business.
While technology can produce tools for connecting, it cannot furnish the content, or what folks want and need to connect about.
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Posted by info 06/16/2008 12:00 AM PDT We should combine efforts to remove Jim Douglas from office.
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Posted by jpecorii 10/17/2008 07:33 PM PDT Raise cancer research funding so it is at least more than 1% of the defense budget.
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Posted by openid 09/04/2008 08:06 AM PDT The greatest thing about Vermont is in general it has a very socialist mindset, it wants to do everything it can for the people. I think its time the people make a sacrifice for the state. We have urban sprawl, we have lack of business, we have young people moving out of Vermont because there is no future here, we have open land that we want to conserve. The answer to all of this is the same: Structural Development. We plan out how a town grows, we consolidate sprawling neighborhoods so that its is a closer community, we give the open fields to farmers and community co-ops. The more people there are concentrated in an area the more attractive it is for business. The more business the more revenue for the state in taxes to pay for such services as health car. Also more absolute town lines makes it possible for public transportation. which would take a load of our roads and highways. then we can re-introduce the train and replace the truck shipment local/national transportation with train travel.
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Posted by fldworx 09/14/2008 08:46 AM PDT Many folks over 65( particularly the many self-employed) in Vt, cannot afford to stop working. They would lose their homes because of both maintenance and rising property taxes,(Ask a senior homeowner about the impact of recent reappraisals coupled with a declining home value) and especially if they work out of their homes.
The Vt dept of Aging and Disabilities report on Seniors, projected through 2010, show both an increasing senior population as well as rise in the expected number of seniors living in poverty. Those living in poverty are not necessarily the frail, ill, or handicapped, for whom most of the state's resources for elders are spent.
There are three issues working seniors face which could be addressed through governmental leadership and initiatives:
Job development, retraining, and incentives to businesses for hiring.
As it now stands, a job-hunting senior is routed both by employers, the state, the temp( or pre-screening) agencies, to low paying, hour intensive jobs which require few skills-crossing guards, parking lot attendents, maids, elderly care, in which, regardless of their skill sets, transferrable skills, education, abilities, they are routed.
Even if seniors haven't a BA in computers, it takes less than six weeks to teach the rudiments of data entry, and e-mail screening for a company.
Seniors, ( as well as folks coming through the Vt Voc Rehab training programs) can be cross trained in groups so that one position could be filled by a team in rotation, which would take into account abilities and limitations, and assure the employer that a reliable position would be filled by a responsible employee.
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Posted by e_crelin 06/23/2008 12:00 AM PDT I think that both of these companies are honest and hardworking, unfortunately people seem to think that both companies are a detriment to Vermont, Both companies give most of Vermont it's power, and they are environmentally friendly. People are mad and crazy when it comes to Nuclear energy, but it is possibly one of the cleanest forms of Energy, so I say Hooray to Yankee Nuclear and Hydro Quebec, Let's keep them running and giving us clean cheap power!
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Posted by info 06/12/2008 12:00 AM PDT How do you feel about Nuclear Power. The solution to global climate change or a big pile of nuclear waste?
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Posted by info 06/23/2008 12:00 AM PDT Pretty good commentary and responses. . .
http://www.vermonttiger.com/content/2008/06/dont-ask-dont-t.html
The legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill that raises retirement benefits for state employees by 20%. You never heard about it (until now) because the legislation made it through the halls of Montpelier like a thief through the night. No hearings, voice vote, no media coverage. The union is happy and the taxpayers are unaware and the damage will not be felt until 2014 when the bill comes due and all parties responsible will likely be back in private life.
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The youth have been silenced long enough. Let the youth be heard. Let the young vote. The vision, creativity, and wisdom of young people is undermined by a voting age of 18. Bring this young energy into politics now! We need change. Let the children show what they know. They matter just as much as adults.
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