Posted on 10/28/2002 6:55:32 AM PST by JimVT
Governor: Jim Douglas
Jim Douglas has been the Dutch uncle of the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, the candidate who has continually shaken his finger and sternly warned that Vermont faces difficult financial times that will require major changes in state government to overcome.
Vermont is caught in a fiscal trap. State revenues are declining while health care, education and other costs are rising. Something must give. The next governor must make tough choices to balance the taxpayer pocketbook against pressing and incessant demands for government services.
Jim Douglas is the candidate best suited to make those decisions. That is why The Burlington Free Press highly recommends him for governor in the Nov. 5 election.
In a 54-page document called "A Plan for Prosperity," the Republican candidate laid the groundwork for economic growth while maintaining programs essential to the well-being of Vermonters and the state's enviable quality of life. None of the other candidates has offered such detail on how he would refocus the energies of state government to reboot the Vermont economy, create jobs and improve education.
Jim Douglas offers experience -- a long career in government -- and could also bring creative thinking and dynamism to Montpelier. Having served as a state legislator, a gubernatorial aide, secretary of state and, since 1995, as treasurer, Douglas understands how government operates.
A Douglas administration would scrape out the bureaucratic and policy-making rust that inevitably builds up after a prolonged period of one-party rule in the executive branch. It is good to revitalize the system occasionally, to pour fresh blood into government, to consider new approaches to state issues.
The next governor should be a person with vinegar in his veins. The Vermont economy does not have the capacity to produce the resources to meet the burgeoning strains on state government. A prime requirement to be governor over the next two years is the ability to say no -- to resist the often worthy appeals for additional spending until the economy rebounds.
The moment calls for a true fiscal conservative, a description that fits Douglas better than either of his two primary rivals.
Vermont has lost thousands of jobs over the past few years, for reasons that include the national recession, high state tax rates and regulatory red tape. For Vermont to regain its economic footing, state government should brighten the state's business climate by drawing outside companies to locate here, nurturing existing firms and encouraging entrepreneurial startups.
Vermont is crunched between a hearty appetite for state spending and a tax system that hobbles economic growth.
The Democratic candidate for governor is the reverse of what Gov. Howard Dean has claimed. Doug Racine's reputation as a tax-and-spend liberal is well deserved. Racine's big-government philosophy and voting record reflect it. His position is the furthest thing possible from fiscal restraint. Vermont cannot afford to let Racine's free-spending ways push the state deeper into the fiscal hole and cost the state more jobs. Vermont must have a governor who listens to the business community and helps retain and increase employment for its citizens.
Jim Douglas is that person.
At this time, government must set clear priorities. Unlike the other candidates, Jim Douglas has done that. Except for economic development, higher education and public safety, he says every other government program is on the table for possible budget cuts. He would establish a cost-control commission of financial experts modeled after a similar effort by former Gov. Richard Snelling that helped lead the state out of a comparably dire fiscal situation in the early 1990s.
A major test for the next governor is education. Realizing that a recent decision by a Superior Court judge in Rutland declaring the Act 60 financing mechanism unconstitutional could force a rewrite of the school funding law, Douglas would get rid of the controversial sharing pool and raise the state per-pupil block grant.
Equally important, Douglas would focus on classroom accountability. Noting that Vermont's per-student costs are among the highest in the country, he doubts that taxpayers are getting their money's worth in light of mediocre scores on state assessment tests. He backs public school choice, which would allow parents to select the school most suited to their child's educational needs, possibly leading to better academic results because students would be more likely to find a classroom that matched their learning style. He would look at teacher quality to ensure that young Vermonters have top-notch instructors.
Jim Douglas also would champion higher education, a critical element in enhancing the state's future economy. In addition to rejecting budget cuts for colleges and universities, he would seek to lower tuition costs, which are among the highest in the nation and deny many Vermonters access to skills crucial in a job market heavily dependent on brainpower.
The 2002 campaign has failed to generate a great deal of excitement or passion among Vermonters. Perhaps that is partly because many Vermonters are apprehensive -- if not in outright denial -- about the hard times that lie ahead and aren't quite ready to accept the unpleasant financial realities that await the next governor and Legislature.
Avoidance makes things worse.
Jim Douglas has stood far above his opponents in confronting Vermont's economic anxieties and charting a responsible course to navigate through them. He is the right candidate for these troubled times. He should be elected governor of Vermont.
Vermont's largest newpaper, not noted for conservative views, has picked Republican Jim Douglas as its candidate for Governor.
With several candidates vying and one pulling votes away from Douglas i.e., "Independent" (former Rep.) Con Hogan, this can't hurt.
There is a possibility the choice may go to the Legislature which, right now, has a Rep. majority.
Hope all you VT Freepers have absenteed or plan to get out next week with a few friends.
Beatiful! Never saw that description before.
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