Depending on what study you choose to look at, Vermont’s business climate is either slightly below average or quite close to last in the US. Just a few days ago, CNBC gave Vermont a #31 ranking. While this rank is a little below average, it is far above where the Tax Foundation placed Vermont just last December: #43. So did Vermont’s Legislature somehow manage to pass enough business-discouraging legislation between December and July that we fell so many spots? While there was some legislation that certainly didn’t help, the immediate answer is “no.”

President Biden signed an executive order directing agencies to take steps to protect access to abortions and the privacy of patients seeking reproductive health services. The order also directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make reports and launch a public education campaign on access to reproductive health services.

At the June 6^th Windsor Co. Democrats - State Senate Candidate Forum, all three sitting legislators vying for election stated directly or implied heavily that their response to recent Supreme Court decisions (rulings that school choice programs like the one Vermont has had for over a century and a half cannot discriminate against religious schools) would be to end our tuitioning system entirely.

An important provision in the compromise firearms violence package being debated in the U.S. Senate is the extreme risk protection order, or red flag law. At last report the Senate package contains millions of dollars for states to create red flag laws, designed to put firearms out of the reach of individuals deemed likely to use them to harm others.

One of my favorite organizations is Institute for Justice, that defends citizens whose property rights are trampled by governments. One recent case is that of Vicki Baker, who lives in a suburb of Dallas.

Columnist Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal has long been a critic of exaggerated and fictitious claims about the menace of climate change – while at the same time advocating for a global carbon tax to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

On June 7, John Walters posted a piece titled, “What We’ve Lost” on his blog, the Vermont Political Observer, which he describes as “Analysis and observation of Vermont politics from a liberal viewpoint.” Many Vermonters enjoyed Walters “Fair Game” column in Seven Days from 2016-19, which gave us a weekly update on the goings on at the Statehouse.

One of the most serious coming effects of climate change as declared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be rising sea levels. Global Mean Sea Level has risen steadily by  around eleven inches since 1940 and the IPCC projects an acceleration as higher global temperatures cause the oceans to expand. Let’s say it might rise by two feet by the year 2100.

A month ago the Biden Administration came up with a super new idea – creating a Disinformation Governance Board within the Department of Homeland Security. The Board could stamp out disinformation about the Biden program, and like Big Brother  listen in on anything you say.

The horrible school shooting in Uvalde, Texas has brought forth impassioned demands to “do something”, but as Sen. Cruz pointed out, the people making the demands rarely if ever have any idea what to do that would sharply reduce such shootings.