Gaelan Brown’s Website

food, Energy Vermont needs to become more food and energy independent using our local natural resources, and we should aim to produce 75% of our own food, power and heat energy by 2020. This will create tens of thousands of jobs and keep hunreds of millions of dollars in our annual local economy.

budget, finance One systemic way to increase Vermonst's financial stability could be a state-owned bank similar to the Bank of North Dakota, which is arguably the reason N. Dakota is the only state with a budget surplus.

independence Washington DC has lost all moral authority over Vermont. We need to exert our rights as a sovereign state. What could Vermont do if we spent our annual share of the cost of US military overstretch, $1.5 Billion, to build the local economy instead?

Health Care A State-level single-payer system could cut costs by 30%, but we also need Tort-reform and a focus on prevention and wellness. Vermont is the healthiest state in the nation, it's time for us to create a real solution and move beyond the left/right debates coming out of D.C.

Tax reformTax only unearned-income, not salary/wages. Reform property tax, moving to a land-rent-tax that does not penalize the creation of value. Reform Act 60, nullify NCLB, giving towns full control and responsibility over local education.

AN ENERGY OPTIMIST: The Worst Thing That Could Happen Could Be The Best Thing That Could Happen

Submitted by gaelanb on Thu, 2010-06-24 21:32

I recently had the privilege of visiting friends and family in the chaotic and bizarre city of Beograd (Belgrade), Serbia, former capital of Jugoslavia. Beograd's economy collapsed and spiraled into black-market chaos during the civil war and the 10-year embargo of the 1990s. I lived there for a year in early 2000s and the economy has only seen a modest improvement since then, with the average income still being only $6,000 per year.

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