Editor’s note: This commentary is by Arthur Berndt, who was finance chair of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s first campaign for governor. He is currently chair of the Governor’s Council on Energy & the Environment. He and his wife live in Sharon and are co-trustees of the Maverick Lloyd Foundation.
[I] am disheartened by how much Vermont media, in general, has contributed to the post-single-payer health care malaise we now find ourselves in. A malaise that has spread like cancer, eating away at the fabric of our civility.
Over these past few years, rather than simply providing the public with objective and even-handed information so one can reach a thoughtful conclusion for oneself, there has been a lot of editorializing. It seems much Vermont media has tilled the soil for the disconcerted who have used almost every opportunity to take shots the governor, both personally and politically, on issues ranging far beyond single-payer health care.
It appears that journalism in Vermont is so desperate for bandwidth that any opportunity to sow discord is the easiest way to gain appeal and bring in the cash. Sadly, Vermont media appears to be joining our national media.
When Peter Shumlin stepped into his fifth floor office as governor, he had to balance the needs of all the citizens of Vermont — Republicans, Democrats, independents and Progressives, rich and poor, environmentalists and industrialists. It is not easy, and it is particularly difficult in tough economic times.
The passing of time has changed the landscape. What looked feasible in 2010 is not what we see now at the beginning of 2015. Universal, single-payer health care was not a political ploy. It was based on Peter Shumlin’s deep-seated belief that health care could be, and should be, a fundamental human right. In 2010 conventional wisdom suggested the economy was rebounding from the financial crisis of 2008 and that Vermont could depend on federal dollars to support an innovative approach to single-payer health care. The rebound didn’t happen. This is not Gov. Shumlin’s fault.
I believe Peter Shumlin has had our interests at heart. I give him credit where credit is due — he has worked tirelessly on our behalf and has accomplished much.
It is important to understand what may have gone wrong and when, but it is unfair to accuse the governor of selfish intentions. To even imagine, as one pundit suggested, that his work on single-payer was for “personal gain and professional advancement” is to ignore the history of Gov. Shumlin’s outspoken passion for delivering to Vermont an enduring single-payer system and is way off base.
Mistakes have been made. The destination was worthy, the road rocky. The governor did not meet the 2013 legislated “deadline” to divulge the details of the plan because the plan was not yet solid. Who in their right mind would distribute a plan that was still incomplete so that the media and one’s opponents could have a field day ripping apart a difficult work-in-progress? It would be like chumming the waters of the Amazon for piranha.
Changing health care in Vermont is an incredible challenge. The audacity of the governor to create change was not the problem. The landscape changed over the years while the plan was in development. I applaud Peter Shumlin for setting difficult goals and working hard to meet them, even in the face of growing economic challenges and running negative commentary from the much of the media and the public.
Like coyotes circling their prey, Shumlin’s critics have been lying in wait over the years, nipping anywhere they could get a grip. Pulling the plug on the single-payer health initiative gave them an opportunity to pounce, whether or not the decision proves out to have been in our best interests right now.
I found it especially difficult in this recent election cycle to find objective voices in Vermont media that would simply report factual information from diverse quarters and let me make up my own mind. This is my real beef — the media has helped fuel personal attacks on the governor by failing to provide fair and balanced reporting. Our media seems less and less inclined to promote a culture of civility or to encourage Vermonters to look at the glass half full rather than half empty.
It appears, from many of the comments now being levied on Gov. Shumlin, that taking the easy road is the only path to success as a public executive. Don’t rock any boats. I, for one, do not want a do-nothing governor who, for political reasons, steps back from challenging the status quo — even if my personal interests are not always aligned with his.
I believe Peter Shumlin has had our interests at heart. I give him credit where credit is due — he has worked tirelessly on our behalf and has accomplished much. He continues to be our best choice for governor with much work still to be accomplished. When it comes right down to it, we — each of us as individuals, and the collective “we” — are part and parcel of our governor’s successes and failures. We, and certainly our media, can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution. I think we have failed to stand up with our governor when the going got rough and much of the Vermont media failed us — failed to provide fair and balanced reporting or even to suggest, on occasion the glass is half full.
In this recent election cycle most of us were aware that there were very few “Shumlin for Governor” lawn signs out anywhere in the state. It is a fact that, in general, the Vermont Democratic Party did not put much effort into signage for any of its candidates. But did anyone notice, did anyone really peel back the layers and write that one of the few lawn signs for Gov. Shumlin in the entire state of Vermont was in Jerry Dodge’s front lawn? Now that was news worthy of reporting …
