Back-to-Back Wednesday!

Here's what Vermont's incumbent Republican governor will be doing this lovely Wednesday morning right after the Democratic gubernatorial challenger hold his Statehouse-Steps presser:

Governor to Outline Details of Property Tax Cap Proposal

Proposal Reduces Property Taxes by Millions of Dollars

WHAT:      Property Tax Cap Press Conference


Montpelier, Vt.—Governor Jim Douglas will outline the details and projected savings of his proposal to cap property taxes.

He is also expected to call on the next Legislature to enact additional changes they had previously refused, including a means test to protect Vermonters who own a home and land that has appreciated significantly over the years but are of modest financial means.  The Governor will also urge the legislators to end abuses of the system and close loopholes that allow the owners of million dollar homes to collect 5-figure government assistance checks.

Governor Douglas has proposed capping education property tax growth at around the rate of inflation each year.  “A real property tax cap would reduce taxes by millions of dollars each year and allow room for school budgets to grow responsibly to meet the needs of a community,” he said.

Governor Douglas also noted that making Vermont more affordable requires reducing the tax burden on working Vermonters, which according to the U.S Census Bureau is the highest in the nation.  “Property tax increases are making it more and more challenging for parents to provide for their children and for longtime residents to stay in their homes.  We simply cannot afford tax increases at double the rate of inflation, at a time when student enrollment is declining,” he added.

The Governor’s property tax cap proposal exempts special education and capital costs.

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As we report in today's "Inside Track" in the weekly edition of Seven Days, Vermont's Republican Team at the top is a little more worried about November 8 than we had realized.

Our GOP source was expressing the concern Ol' Scudder would continue his unorthodox "stealth" campaign - avoid harping on what our source described as the usual property-tax-raising lefty issues - and then sneak across the November finish line first by cashing in on the BIG WAVE that everybody knows is coming. The Big Anti-Bush, Antiwar, Anti-Republican WAVE that, here in Vermont, will be led by Independent Shoo-in Bernie Sanders in the Senate race.

The fear in GOP Land is the WAVE is so damn big on November 8 that Bernie, with his phenomenal get-out-the-vote power, and Democrat Peter Welch (and his dog) in the U.S. House race, drag Ol' Scudder along to victory, too. Maybe even one of them eager Dems running for Lite-Gov, too?

And we predict the size of the Bernie WAVE grew this week as the most desperate, richest man we know - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rich Tarrant - started running his Bernie is a Child Molester ads on Vermont television.

A desperate man is Richard Tarrant.

At least Tarrant, our favorite Florida oceanfront mansion owner,  should have used a concerned Vermont mom in his child-molester TV spot, instead of some grizzled, gray and mean-looking old-timer who, some have remarked, comes across like a you-know-what, i.e. the kind of old-timer you don't want to let the grandkids play with alone, if you know what I mean.

So it's a Montpeculiar Day ahead, a "Double-Banger Plus."

Scudder the Democratic Challenger, followed by King James the Republican, followed by fresh-roasted African beans from Capitol Grounds.

We'll let you now this afternoon how it went.

Comments

[J Michael Good]

If Tarrant's residence is in Florida and he is a registered voter in Florida, how can he run fr office in Vermont? Am I missing something somewhere? Secondly, how much personal income tax did he avoid paying to the State of Vermont since Florida has no state income tax? The figure should be made public to the Vermont constituency, don't you think?

[Mr. Peepers]

1. Tarrant has been a VT resident since 1960 without interruption.

2. None. Florida was never his tax home.

There was one misfiled tax form which was quickly corrected, but humor columnists like Freyne will keep trying to make you believe that his residency was at some point shifted to Florida. It wasn't.

[SnarkyBoy]

This is interesting and all, but don't you want to see Rainville's connection to Abu Ghraib? Snarky Boy's got it documented right here. And you can now smack him upside the head with comments. Oh, the fun of it all.

Get Snarked.

[John Shaplin]

The Bernie WAVE? I don't see it, bad tarrant doesn't mean good Bernie.

First, Bernie voted for the 9/11 resolution providing Bush plenary powers to fight the war on terrorism, or at least gives Bush the excuse to do anything he wants to fight the war on terror(or should I say terrorize the world himsel?). In that respect Bernie proved that he was not a leader but a follower, a reactionary who, at the slightest disturbance, follows the herd right down the road to oblivion, someone without vision or principles: one who lives by the polls. NOT A THINKING PERSON!

Second, The Patriot Act (or whatever the hell its called): the provision that about the FBI or whomever being able to check out what books people take out of the public library, OOOOH MY GOD! That's right at the bottom of my list of freedoms qualified,threatened or abandoned by the Legislative environment in D.C. these days but, apparently it's Bernie's main concern.

Third, House Resolution 923 ( did I get the number right?): the one just recently about supporting Israel's right to "self-defense", beating back Hamas & Hezbollah, holding Iran and Syria accountable and generally expressing contempt for all things foreign and Islamic. Actually, a handful of Democrats did vote against it, BUT NOT BERNIE!

No doubt Bernie will win the election (without my vote for sure) and if he keeps it up like this, responding ONLY to the absurd accusations of the Tarrant campaign he will undoubtedly get a plum position on some foreign affairs committee where he comfortably continue to sell this country right down the drain and vouchsafe perpetual war. Bernie Sanders spells B.S.! I'll write in Donald Duck if I have to!

[Stanley]

I like the part in your column this week where you spend half a page saying that Kiss hasn't done jack shit since taking office. That was some real wordsmithing.

[homer]

The tax evasion story is here->http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060119/NEWS/601190360/1002/NEWS01

[homer]

The Bernie WAVE refers to the result of the general distaste Vermonters have with the way tarRANT is behaving.

[homer]

Well, if he registered to vote in Florida in 2003 which he did, but was still a legal resident of Vermont, he would have broken the law.

[Mr. Peepers]

"He said Tarrant's accountant entered the wrong parcel number in his state homestead declaration form, and it was rejected because a Vermont homestead cannot be an empty lot."

Wow, what a scandal.

[J Michael Good]

Well you can't get a voter registration card in Florida if you are not a resident and it's my understanding he is registered to vote in Florida. Is he registered to vote in Vermont? Either way, it is a conflict of interest and he should withdraw from the race and stop slinging mud. That is desperation on his part. And another thing, why is his property assessed significantly undervalue, compared to the properties around him in VT?

[J Michael Good]

Talk about snakes on a plane, we got our share right here in VT. Guess they must be tied to the elephant, LOL