Wilton’s numbers are not accurate, but she will try to scare people with them. The fact is that every major study that the state has commissioned has always come to the same basic conclusion — single payer is the most efficient way to pay for health care and also is the only way we can cover all Vermonters.

This is not correct. The fact is that the Employer Assessment was never intended to fund Catamount Health alone. It also pays for needed programs, some of which started during the Douglas administration, such as the Blueprint for Health, as well as an immunization program (certainly necessary for public health).

Act 48, which passed last year, further requires the Legislature to examine whether the employer assessment should continue in the next legislative session. As a Vermont citizen I expect that this examination next session, as well as the discussion of the entire financing package for Green Mountain Care, which will ultimately replace private premiums, will be an open and transparent process with plenty of opportunity for all of us to weigh in. I don’t see any “shenanigans” here.”

” Her main complaint is that while the Catamount program has been eliminated, the Employer Assessment that paid for it (assessed on those employers who do not cover their own employees ) continues.
In fact, the Employer Assessment was never intended to fund Catamount Health alone. It also pays for needed programs, some of which started during the Douglas administration, such as the Blueprint for Health, as well as an immunization program ( certainly necessary for public health).
Act 48, which passed last year, further requires the Legislature to examine whether the employer assessment should continue in the next legislative session. As a Vermont citizen I expect that this examination next session, as well as the discussion of the entire financing package for Green Mountain Care, will be an open and transparent process with plenty of opportunity for all of us to weigh in. I don’t see any ‘shenanigans’ here”.

And in any event, Sen. Sanders’ press release justifies this action with a GAO report that says nothing more egregious than the “appearance” of conflict of interest results from the current state of affairs. It seems like overkill to remove all vestiges of banking expertise to address an image issue.

If someone suggested that the National Labor Relations Board be purged of anyone with even a passive involvement with labor unions, because of the appearance of conflict of interest, Sen. Sanders would rightly insist that such a move would detract from the board’s ability to do its job by removing valuable experience. Sen. Sanders’ proposed legislation is just as flawed.

This is not true, the Employer Assessment was never intended to fund Catamount Health alone. It also pays for needed programs, some of which started during the Douglas administration, such as the Blueprint for Health, as well as an immunization program (certainly necessary for public health).

Act 48, which passed last year, further requires the Legislature to examine whether the employer assessment should continue in the next legislative session. As a Vermont citizen I expect that this examination next session, as well as the discussion of the entire financing package for Green Mountain Care, which will ultimately replace private premiums, will be an open and transparent process with plenty of opportunity for all of us to weigh in. I don’t see any “shenanigans” here.

Here is the language in the FY 2012 Budget Adjustment to which Reps Sheuermann and Fisher disagree. A search on Catamount will find pertinent sections. Section 83 repeals the Catamount fund, Section 82 repeals a related report, and Sections 106, 109 and 110 redirect and blend Catamount revenues into the State Healthcare Resources Fund (SHCRF) while allowing for Catamount related expenditures from the SHCRF. Bottom line is that the 2012 Budget Adjustment extinguished the dedication of Catamount revenues from the employer assessment to the Catamount program and redirects these previously dedicated revenues to the more broadly purposed SHCRF. Further, here is H. 559,

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/Passed/H-559.pdf

as proposed by Rep. Fisher, that calls for the elimination of Catamount Health on January 1, 2014.

Given that there was no sunset clause for the employer assessment matching the sunset of Catamount, the program funded by the employer assessment, but rather a redirection of employer assessment revenues to the SHCRF, the concerns raised by Rep. Sheurermann about a legislative “bait and switch” relative to the employer assessment are quite reasonable. I think Mr. Powers queries to Rep. Fisher in this regard are on point.

As the Obama Administration sees it, nuclear weapons delivered by fighters will continue to play an important role in the nation’s international affairs. The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, released in April, reaffirmed the requirement for tactical nuclear weapons in US defense strategy.”
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2010/July%202010/0710nato.aspx

And again, here:

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2009/May%202009/May%2012%202009/TheNuclearF-35.aspx

This will retro fit the F35A (CTOL) so that it will carry two nuclear bombs (one in each bay).

Jobs and money based on killing aren’t exactly the choicest of economic stimulus we should be looking for in Vermont.

Granted, we’ve always contributed to the armorment industry but I don’t think we should turn Burlington into another “Military Town” that’s all.

I agree that its all too tempting to get sucked into the easy cash of the very same Military Industrial Complex Ike Eisenhower warned us of but we should try to resist the temptation at least.

Its also the principle that fighter jets are here to preserve the peace and not destroy it.

Lee Stirling, point well taken. I still dont want to hear it in the summer with my windows open. Plattsburg AFB has a runway which was designed to handle B52 bombers.

We should lease that waisted base and run them from there.
Earth Google Plattsburgh NY and Burlington and compare runways.