Opinion: Dubie not telling truth

In his ads, Dubie says Peter Shumlin wants to cut the corrections budget $40 million by firing 300 corrections officers and prematurely turning loose hundreds of nonviolent prisoners on a wholesale basis. This is a lie.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100928/OPINION02/709289949

Published September 28, 2010 in the Rutland Herald

Dubie not telling truth

The pattern is undeniable. Brian Dubie intends to become governor by telling lies. The Shumlin proposal is not to cut the corrections budget, but to reduce its rate of future increase by carefully supervising and attending certain nonviolent prisoners after their normal time of release to reduce recidivism. No corrections officers would be fired, and no one would be released sooner than they are now. This plan is essentially what Gov. James Douglas proposed in 2007.

In another lie, Dubie says taxpayers helped by Vermont’s policy of reducing school taxes for low- and moderate-income homeowners “insulates” them from the consequences of voting for higher school spending. This is absolutely false.

Like most Vermonters, my wife and I qualify for some property tax reduction through school tax income-sensitivity. But the school tax we must pay depends on what our town votes to spend on schools. If school spending goes up 20 percent, the school tax we must pay goes up 20 percent, too. This is not “insulation.” It is a direct connection.

If you want an honest, straight-talking governor, vote for Peter Shumlin.

RICHARD ANDREWS
Springfield

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100928/OPINION02/709289949