Sandy Golden

Democrats have had opportunities to affect housing since Reagan era

Nancy Braus seeks to blame Ronald Reagan for the current housing situation, from unaffordability to lack of options.

Haven't we had some Democratic party presidents since Reagan? Haven't Democrats had control of the House and Senate at times since Reagan was president? Don't Democrats run any states, or cities, where, presumably, they have "fixed" the housing problem?

In Vermont, the Democratic Party has complete control of the Legislature, yet Vermont has the second-highest homeless population per capita, second only to California, also controlled by Democrats.

This clearly isn't a problem that will be solved by either political party.

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A tragedy indeed, on both sides of the aisle

This piece weaves an elaborate tale of Shakespeare's Othello and draws a comparison to Trump and his insistence he won in 2020. Regardless of how one feels about Trump, let's recall there are others who refused to accept election results. Remember Al Gore vs. George W. Bush, endless court...

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'Someone else's money' simply ran out

It is unfortunate that motel/hotel vouchers are ending, but it is also necessary. Struggling taxpayers cannot be expected to give someone else a “free” (please read: taxpayer-funded) place to live while they can barely pay their own rent/mortgage/ other expenses. Before they were placed in taxpayer-funded motels, all these...

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Look at all causes for rent increases

I read with interest about Brattleboro’s proposed charter change to limit rent increases to 12% per year to avoid throwing tenants out due to rent increases. I propose an addition to this amendment: since rents may not be increased by 12%, property taxes (which affect renters as well as homeowners) may not go up by more than 12% in a year. Let’s look at causes for rent increases ... all causes.

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Solutions to crime start with demands to state lawmakers, not blaming Trump

Nancy Braus writes that the Republican solution to crime is to “lock away all Black men,” which seems to imply she thinks only Black men commit crimes and that skin color matters when police try to stop crime. She also says that arrest and prison, as well as “catch and release,” do not stop crime. She proposes having a private security service -unarmed - to walk downtown at night. Who does she think would want that responsibility and the risk?

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High gas prices are Biden’s campaign promise

As we pay more at the gas pump and consequently more for everything else, let us remember that Joe Biden is only fulfilling his campaign promise. Over and over again, then-candidate Biden promised to “get rid of fossil fuels.” He made this promise to children on the campaign trail. He stated he would transition the U.S. away from fossil fuels and end drilling. I'm not sure what people thought he meant, but Biden is keeping his campaign promise, by making...

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Children described as waste products?

Elayne Clift stated in her column about abortion that a Supreme Court justice said that women don't need abortions “because they can easily dump their newborn babies into adoption or foster care like so much detritus.” The definition of “detritus” is waste of any kind, or organic matter produced by the decomposition of organisms. Is she seriously stating that adopted/foster children are simply waste products? I call upon the author to clarify her truly horrifying statement.

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Viewpoint illustrated what is going wrong in our country

I read Tim Stevenson's most recent angry diatribe and could not be more struck by what a great example he is of what is going wrong with our nation. Stevenson goes after the Republican party and anyone who voted for Trump, declaring among other things that the party has become “an incipient fascist outlier” and that it has been “waging war against democracy.” He wants to divide people based on political affiliation. He seems to support one-party rule, which is...

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