My name is Ben Mitchell, and as the Liberty Union Party candidate for United States Senate, I am enrolled in the Republican Primary. Why would an anti-war socialist be a candidate in the Republican primary? It seems that the Vermonters who vote Republican are not well served by the neo-conservative agenda.
The proud tradition of the Republican Party from Vermont is known for intelligent conservatism, respect for personal liberty, a belief in personal responsibility and the proud defense of our rural way of life. The national Republican Party has been hijacked by greedy neo-conservative ideologues who serve only their own narrow self-interest. It seems to me that working people voting for the current Republican party is like a field of cows voting for McDonald's; although McDonald's does have a great stake in protecting the interests of cows, the long-term outlook for the cows pretty bleak.
The difference can be seen clearly in the issue of energy. Vice President, Dick Cheney describes money as nothing more than stored energy, and I can really understand this. When I finish stacking good, dry firewood -- enough so that my shed is filled and ready for winter -- I am a rich man. The goal of a true conservative would be to buy firewood cheaply in May, have it all stacked by the end of June, so that by the end of October it would be seasoned enough to warm a family. The Neo-Conservative philosophy is that one person should buy up all of the firewood in April, leave it uncut in the huge pile protected by a private militia, and then cut it and split it all winter to be sold green at a supermarket in little plastic bags. The trouble is it would cost $1000 cord for green wood. The truly conservative Vermont philosophy would be for each family to cut, split and stack its own firewood from a well managed woodlot, one that would supply wood for generations to come. We would each stack up a little extra incase one of our neighbors ran out. But that is not the reality of the National Republican Philosophy.
Let’s look at another form of energy, electricity. The Dick Chaney energy plan involves giving tax incentives and no-bid contracts to his friends in huge corporations like Entergy and Enron, consolidating power into ever fewer hands, leading to the sky rocketing energy costs we see today. A truly conservative Vermont philosophy would encourage each of us have our own wind turbine or solar panel on our home to generate enough clean power for our own family. On stormy days the wind would make more power; the sun, on clear days – self reliance and shared responsibility. But the national republican party only likes a plan that creates massive polluting power plants that have a strangle hold on each of our survival. That is not conservative values; it is tyranny.
By being a candidate in the Republican primary, I hope to be able to communicate with Vermont conservatives, not the millionaire ski resort owners and IBM executives who get big tax breaks no matter who wins, but the men and women who work hard and cherish their freedom. Working people are being asked to pay higher and higher prices for energy, healthcare, school taxes, but the value of our work is falling with each new turn of season. It is time for the government to remember the working people who keep this state running.
Ben Mitchell
Libunion@Sover.net
Please come see my Website at
http://www.libertyunion.windham.vt.us/Ben%20Mitchell/Ben%20Mitchell.htm