Official public social communications channel for Gemma Seymour, Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Member, District 8, and Member of the Brattleboro Planning Commission. My campaign motto is, "Let's Grow Brattleboro", my values are "Equality, Liberty, and Justice for All", and my ethics as "Compassion, Frugality, and Forbearance".
Voter information statement at https://gcvrsa.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/gcvrsa-vis-2025020501.pdf
Contributions: https://paypal.me/gcvsa
@2qx Yes, there are wealthy people in Vermont who have lots of money, but what matters to Vermont's economy as a whole is whether or not, and how, money is spent.
Wealth locked up in investments is wealth not being put to productive use building housing to lower the cost of living and the cost of doing business, which is what attracts and enables immigration and entrepreneurship.
The strength of an economy is not measured by how much money it contains, but how quickly money moves. F=1/2mv^2
State and municipal banks could and should operate by primarily lending money into existence that is fixed to the location of their jurisdiction. The most obvious means of doing so is via #mortgage and construction lending.
Since these banks would be publicly owned, they would effectively be #nonprofit organizations, able to charge much lower interest rates than private and commercial banks.
In #Vermont, our most pressing economic issues are a lack of #housing and a lack of #money to build.
Taxes categorically do not "pay for" government, at least, not on the level of the government that issues the currency. #ModernMonetaryTheory #MMT demonstrates this ably. The federal government *must* first spend the currency into existence, in order for taxes to be paid.
However, for the state and municipal governments in the US, since they cannot spend more currency into existence, they are forced to tax first, then spend.
#PublicBanking would allow them to get around that limitation.
We can argue that it's a good thing that we tax more now to account for certain public goods. I am not arguing that taxes should be lower, only that the structure of our #taxation system is dysfunctional, because of the structure of our political system.
In a modern economy, taxes have two and only two legitimate purposes and functions: to stabilize and regulate the value of the #currency, and to redistribute wealth that unjustly accrues to the owners of economic monopoly privileges. #MMT
But shortly after Amendment XVI was ratified in 1913, the US found itself embroiled in World War I and the global influenza epidemic, followed by the boom years of the 1920s, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the Space Race, and ever since the federal government instituted income taxes to cope with paying for WWI, the federal government has ballooned in size to the monstrosity it has become, especially since WWII, after which taxes never returned to pre-war levels.
#AmendmentXVI to the Constitution of the United States was never intended to permit the federal government to institute a universal wage and income tax.
The purpose of it was to allow the federal government to tax land values without apportionment, since the Supreme Court ruled in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, 157 U.S. 429 (1895), affirmed on rehearing, 158 U.S. 601 (1895), that any taxes on land were "direct taxes" under the Constitution, and would need to be apportioned.
@MissGayle What I meant is that while Chicago may have a number of similar buildings that were built as 2-to-4 flats, East Coast cities are dominated by similar buildings that were originally built as single-family homes, many of which were later converted into apartments. Chicago is a much newer city than, for instance, New York, Boston, or Philadelphia. It seems strange to me to refer to these as "European style" buildings, having grown up on the East Coast surrounded by them.
#Currency is created in two ways in modern economies: by spending it into existence by the central government; and by lending it into existence through fractional #banking.
That gives us power that most people don't even realize we have, because while the law prevents states and cities from printing #money, it does not and cannot prevent them from owning and operating banks that could lend new money into existence.
#PublicBanking is key to reviving #Vermont's economy. #VTpol #VTpoli
The result of this is that state and local governments are severely restricted in the types of actions they can take to regulate—and more importantly stimulate—their local economies, and are forced to constantly beg the higher levels of government for funding.
Because of the structure of our political system, this gives sparsely populated rural districts disproportionate power to deny funding to densely populated urban districts which pay the majority of the taxes.
There is no provision in the Constitution of the United States or the constitutions of the several states that requires the federal government to share revenues with the states, or for the state governments to share their revenues with local municipal governments, and there are no laws which guarantee revenue sharing of any kind.
Americans typically live with at least three levels of government empowered to tax, sometimes four, but only one of those levels has the power to create currency.
Americans need to understand that our tax policy is fundamentally dysfunctional. Our system of government was not designed around a strong, centralized, unitary federal government, but for the past century or so, we have paid the vast majority of our taxes to the federal government, which shifts power away from our local communities and our individual states.
This is superb.
One mans journey from being a car enthusiast to being a car skeptic.
“If you want to continue to think of yourself as a grown man you can’t just love cars anymore, like a child.”
#Urbanism #Tesla #ClimateAction #EV #TheWarOnCars #MartinOetting
@MissGayle Why do you say "European style"? Those are American buildings that are familiar to many tens of millions of Americans, and most of them were originally, and were intended to be, single-family homes. Many of them still are. Many others have be split up into multiple apartments.
As a proud member of the Camp Ta-Kum-Ta board of directors, I'm excited to share that we have launched a search to find our next Executive Director!
Ta-Kum-Ta offers year-round programs dedicated to providing challenging, extraordinary experiences in a safe and loving environment for children who have or have had cancer and their families.
Find a full position description and application details here: https://www.takumta.org/about-us/careeropportunities/ #jobs
“According to an ICE affidavit, the subject of the warrant was Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, a Mexico native who was removed from the United States in 2022, and later illegally re-entered the country. In January, Corona-Sanchez was arrested by Middlebury police and charged with drunk driving, the affidavit says.”
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2026-03-11/ice-enforcement-action-multi-car-crash-standoff-south-burlington #ICE #Vermont
Can someone please explain to me why VTSP even has olive drab military style uniforms? This is unacceptable. You are not military forces, you are police, and you should not be wearing "tactical" gear, looking like little green army men.
RE: https://flipboard.social/@ScienceDesk/116223258634062063
Vermont! Sujata! That's all I need to know this article is worth reading. Added bonus: an answer to why we are still sleeping on climate change.
The plans will be presented to the Development Review Board Meeting on Wed Mar 18, 2026, at 1830 EDT (6:30 PM), in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the #Brattleboro Municipal Center.
The agenda packet, including address and Zoom link may be found at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-h_citOFCUvm5H9bn0hLfG8Lzbp1lxN/view
On Tuesday, I was privileged to get a look at the planned improvements for the #BrooksMemorialLibrary in #Brattleboro #Vermont.
The #library has received a $1 million grant for the improvements, which will be completed in 2026. No additional funds are being contributed from the municipal budget.
The renovations will make vast improvements to the landscape around the library for comfort, #accessibility, and #bicycle parking, as well as make the upstairs Community Room available after hours.
