This letter was submitted by Russ Ingalls Senator, Orleans/Essex District.
As many of you are aware, there was a Resolution passed by the House and Senate this week to which I voted no, the only one in the Senate to do so.
If this Resolution were to have condemned the rioters that breached the Capital, I would have gladly signed on.
I also would have wanted condemnation of all the rioters and their actions that have been occurring across this country through all of 2020 that is happening in mainly Democratic-controlled cities that the Democrats refuse to acknowledge or condemn.
Portland’s Federal building is attacked on a nightly basis with almost military procession but that seems to be ok.
That is only one mention of many problems that has persisted but yet are still called peaceful protests.
Although I’m bothered that not one Democrat will stand and condemn this violence, I’m not willing to hold accountable the Politicians who say nothing about it.
I hold the people who are doing the rioting and looting accountable.
Donald Trump did not say to these people to go storm the Capital.
This Resolution was a political statement to cause as much harm as it possibly could to all Republicans and Trump specifically.
It was a hate-filled, poorly written, vile document that was unworthy of anyones signature.
If we are going to start blaming Politicians for people’s lawlessness, let’s start blaming all the Politicians, including the Democrats because they are all complicit in their actions as defined in this resolution.
I condemn all violence no matter who perpetrates it. If there were a Democrat president and this were to happen and this resolution were to appear written in the same way, I would not have signed it.
Vermont faces many problems and the pandemic has created more.
Our small businesses are getting crushed. Many have closed their doors never to return with many more just trying to do whatever they can do to hang on. The employees that all politicians profess to care for are getting crushed even more.
Our kids are falling behind with their education with this ridiculous at-home learning and the lack of social interaction that is so important in the development of a child.
Lack of reliable broadband for all is a huge problem but we also spend more money per pupil than Sweden, which by many is said to be the gold standard of education, with Vermont kids seeing vastly different results than their counterparts.
It’s very unfortunate that our kids don’t stay here after they graduate because there are no jobs here to support them. It is a foregone conclusion that once they go to college, we see them only on an occasional home visit.
We should be spending more time to solve that problem.
Lack of broadband also keeps the creation of new businesses at bay and hampers the abilities of ones already here from competing with the world and severely restricts the ability for folks that are able, to work from home.
Our farmers are struggling. Is there anything more Vermont, more wholesome or any better ambassador for our State than a Vermont Farmer? I think not.
Let’s do the only thing Vermont Farmers have asked for, pay them for their milk. They are resourceful enough to figure out the rest. I have a bill that does that.
We need to find a way to equitably tax our citizens without driving away our population, our businesses or any business that would like to come to our State as what is happening in New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Washington and many other high tax states.
But instead we pass laws that do just the opposite such as the global solutions act that professes to solve a problem that we don’t contribute to, didn’t create and are too big to solve ourselves even as the United States has reduced its greenhouse gasses more in the last 4 years than any developed country in the world including any of the countries still in the Paris accord.
The tax burden proposed hurts Vermont’s most vulnerable at a higher proportion than any other segment of our population.
The list to our problems can go on.
I was elected to help solve Vermont’s problems and to represent, to the best of my ability, the people of the Orleans/Essex District.
I did not sign on to play the ‘Gotcha Politics’ that this Resolution is.
Our new leaders in the House and Senate have expressed a willingness to address mainly the problems that Vermont faces with the expressed interests of what this pandemic has created but yet here we are, playing the games that do nothing to help our constituents.
I’m hoping that we can get back on track.
