Martha Abbott

Tax The Wealthy; Not The Ratepayers

Submitted by Martha Abbott on Mon, 2012-05-14 09:43

Ten years ago, the Vermont Public Service Board approved a bailout of CVPS by its ratepayers.  It was in the best interests of the ratepayers to have their publicly regulated monopoly survive.  In the bailout agreement, the PSB permitted 135,000 Vermont households to be “taxed” to the tune of $17 million with a requirement that the ratepayers would be paid back BEFORE any sale of the company took place.  At the time, no one wanted to buy it.

Now on its feet again, and an attractive financial investment, two Canadian companies are interested in buying CVPS.  The VT Public Service Department has proposed that Gaz Metro be allowed to buy CVPS without paying back the rate payers. The proposed terms would allow the $17 million (now $21 million with inflation) to be put into weatherization and energy efficiency programs for the benefit of all Gaz Metro customers.

This is simply not fair.  Although I am a big fan of weatherization programs and renewable energy projects, having proposed those programs in legislation myself, this is the wrong way to go about it. The PSB’s job is to protect the ratepayers who are in a monopoly market.  They can not turn to any other entity for electric service.  This should not be a partisan issue.  It is simply about fairness and living up to our commitments.

Energy efficiency and weatherization programs should be funded by a tax on those who are not paying their fair share, not by the ratepayers who were promised that they would be repaid.

The governor is worried that 3 or 4 millionaires might move out of state if we were to raise their taxes.  He should be more worried that 135,000 families, potentially containing 200,000 – 250,000 Vermont voters might move to another option at the ballot box.

Progressive Thought: VPP Chair Martha Abbott

Host Richard Kemp and Progressive Party Chairwoman Martha Abbott discuss the 30+ years of Progressive history in Vermont, and lays out some of the issues that will be brought up in Progressive campaigns this fall on Progressive Thought.

Prog State Cmte Meets in Rutland

Over sixty Progressives met in Rutland on Sunday for their quarterly State Committee meeting, which featured an address by Governor Peter Shumlin.

Governor Shumlin spoke primarily of issues where he sees agreement between Progressives and Democrats, such as single-payer healthcare and closing Vermont Yankee as scheduled. He answered questions which focused on the differences between the Governor and Progressives, including his support of industrial wind projects, deep cuts to human services budgets, and refusal to raise revenue at the state level. Party Chairwoman Martha Abbott stated: "Progressives are about issues. If the Democratic leadership takes our issues and fights for them in campaigns, and in the legislature, we win. Because winning on the issues is the Progressive definition of winning."

The session with the Governor was preceded by a presentation by Jeff Thompson of the Political Economy Research Institute of Amherst, MA. Thompson’s presentation, “Alternatives to Austerity” laid out a case for increased public spending financed through use of the rainy day funds and increased taxes on the wealthiest filers, who are enjoying a $190 million dollar federal tax cut.

Progressive legislators Anthony Pollina and Chris Pearson laid out ideas for an economic recovery package for Vermont, which members of the Progressive caucus will be submitting as legislation next session.

The State Committee also began work on town reorganizing, and passed as resolution in support of Burlington City Councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s recent resolution defining parameters for public-private partnerships in Burlington.

How the Vermont governor's race was won

November 7, 2010, Burlington Free Press, Nancy Remsen

    "This year, Progressives gave Shumlin the gift of a one-on-one race with Dubie when the party leadership decided in the spring they wouldn’t field a candidate in the governor’s race.

    Progressive Party Chairwoman Martha Abbott explained that Dubie was a “pale copy of Jim Douglas, likely to continue 95 percent of the Douglas policies with 95 percent of the Douglas administration and advisers.” The Progressive Party wanted change.

    A Liberty Union Party candidate for governor and an independent also signaled in the final days before the election that they wanted their supporters to back Shumlin.

    While the Progressive Party never endorsed Shumlin, staying out of the race was probably worth as many as 10,000 votes, Davis speculated."

Read the full story here.

The Future Of The Progressive Party

September 10, 2010, VPR, Bob Kinzel

One third of the Progressive Party's legislative candidates are also running as Democrats this year. And Martha Abbott, the Party's gubernatorial candidate, has dropped out of the race to help the Democrats. So what is the future of the Vermont Progressive Party? We discuss whether the party is still relevant with Martha Abbott, State Senate candidate Anthony Pollina and St. Michael's College Political Science Professor Bill Grover.

Click here for a link to a recording of the show.

Progressive leader on why she isn't running

Submitted by Martha Abbott on Mon, 2010-08-30 15:30

Jim Douglas seems like a nice guy. He remembers everyone's name and often something about our individual story. But his economic policies have driven Vermont into a ditch. I'm sure he believes that if you give Entergy and IBM and other multinational companies what they want, it will benefit all of us in the long run. But, it hasn't. The vast majority of new "jobs, jobs, jobs" come from small startups, not from big business.

I'm sure he believed that laying off 800 state employees and cutting programs was the right choice. But it wasn't. Those 800 additional families on unemployment means the economy gets worse, those paychecks don't go to pay bills in local communities any more, and 800 new families need unemployment and other benefits. We just keep digging the hole bigger and bigger.

So we need a new approach. And unfortunately, Brian Dubie, who is also a nice guy, is a pale copy of Jim Douglas, likely to continue 95 percent of the Douglas policies with 95 percent of the Douglas administration and advisors.

Progressives Take Aim At Dubie, GOP

August 27, 2010, WPTZ

MONTPELIER, Vt -- The Vermont Progressive Party's gubernatorial candidate says she won't run and instead wants to focus on defeating the GOP nominee.

Martha Abbott, of Underhill, who won the nomination in Tuesday's primary election, said Friday that Progressives have decided not to run in the general election campaign for governor this year.

Abbott says the party will instead do all it can to defeat Republican nominee Brian Dubie.

The Democratic nominee was still uncertain Friday after Tuesday's primary election failed to produce a clear winner.

Progressive Party Chair withdraws from Governor's Race

Submitted by Martha Abbott on Fri, 2010-08-27 10:00

From my August 27 press release: Martha Abbott, the Progressive Party nominee for Governor, has declined the nomination, explaining that Progressives have decided not to run in the Governor’s race this year.

Dubie is a pale copy of Jim Douglas, likely to continue 95% of the Douglas policies with 95% of the Douglas advisors.

We need a new approach. The Douglas/Dubie administration had a pitiful record on job creation, much as they liked to give the impression that they were strong on that issue. We need some economic stimulus: building housing, building roads, building solar farms and windmill farms and biomass generating facilities. Our farmers can grow the biomass crops; we can bring back some manufacturing jobs to build the renewable energy facilities, and we can emerge with a whole new economy based on producing renewable energy components for the rest of the country once they wake up and realize the folly and the impossible costs of coal and oil and nuclear.

Despite the lack of cooperation by Democrats in 2008, when Gaye Symington entered the Governor’s race months after Anthony Pollina was already running, we feel it is important to do everything we can to ensure that Dubie is not elected. I am looking forward instead to spending the next four months working for Progressives running across the state for House and Senate seats.

Progressives had a very good election night

Submitted by Martha Abbott on Wed, 2010-08-25 22:34

One year ago, Progressives challenged Democrats that to keep a Progressive out of the Governor’s race, they needed to pick a candidate who fights for the following three positions:

1) Closing Vermont Yankee
2) A Single-payer health care plan
3) Balancing the retirement and unemployment funds in a manner that is fair to workers

The top two vote-getters support all three of these positions.

In other news, our races went the way we hoped. Anthony Pollina came in just behind Incumbent Ann Cummings in the three-seat Washington County Senate race. Rep. Sandy Haas mounted a write-in campaign and to defeat an opponent in a second primary by a 2-1 margin, securing a two-way race. Tim Ashe came in second in the Chittenden County (six seat) Senate District.

And Doug Hoffer, who wants to run as a Democrat/Progressive won 60% of the vote and could well become the next Auditor.

And in the only contest on the Progressive ballot, our own Marj Power easily beat Liberty Union-ite Boots Wardinski.

Abbott, the soul of the Progressive “brand”

July 25, 2010, vtdigger, Kate Robinson

“Committed activist” is an expression that might have been invented for Martha Abbott, chair of the Progressive Party. Even if she had not lent her name to the party’s slate this year as candidate for governor—she will bow out after the primary—she is someone who, rather than holding the office, inhabits it. Yes, she’s been chief cook and bottle washer for eight years, performing the usual oversight functions—fulfilling the obligations of a major party dictated by state statute, building the organizational base and seeing to it that financial reports are properly filed—but she’s much more than that.

For one thing, she’s probably the repository of party history, having been with the Progressives through the 20 years they were a “coalition” based in Burlington (she was on the city council for two terms in the ’90s) and the 10 years they have had party status. She also frames issues for Progressives, has pushed for significant shifts in election tactics and has encouraged likely young Progressives to run—not necessarily on the Progressive line—and she has run herself.

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