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If you have found my website, I must assume that you are interested in changing the politicial atmosphere in Vermont!

For years, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Progressives and the rest have worked to perfect their game of "got-ya" politics, more intersted in winning their point than doing what's right for Vermont. It is time for our elected officials to start doing what is best for the state and her citizens - protecting the common interest instead of their special interests.

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Freedom and Unity for Vermonters !
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Our state’s motto is Freedom and Unity, sadly little of either remains in Vermont today. Our freedoms and liberties seem to be further reduced or restrained almost daily; while divisive individuals and ideologies are used to balkanize us from our fellow citizens. What is needed here in Vermont, and just as importantly nationally, is to find a pathway back to the values of self determination and community for all.  
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Freedom -The erosion of our individual and collective rights and privileges has been a slow yet unstoppable progression. The expansive language of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights has been under attack for well over a hundred years – every imposition, every new, more restrictive interpretation has nibbled away a little more of our liberties. If the attack had been rapid we, and our ancestors before us, would have risen up in rebellion to the violence against our freedoms. Every aspect of our lives have been invaded; every aspect of public and private speech, financial decisions, personal and real estate property rights, professional and employment rights, decisions as to affiliation and association have become subject to examination and limitation. We have allowed the notion of privacy to be thought of as antiquated; more precisely, archaic. If we allow these intrusions to stand, it will be a shameful inheritance that is left to our children and grandchildren. 
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The first Vermonters struggled mightily against the claims of the (New) Yorkers threatening their lives and property beginning long before the nation was established and continuing long after the Revolutionary War had ended. The indomitable spirit of those hardy Green Mountain Boys and their inexhaustible determination alone saved our tiny “republic” from being seized and divided into what they saw as their Cumberland and Gloucester counties. It was only after the establishment of the Federal Republic under the Constitution, that Vermont and her citizens were recognized as unique and autonomous members of the new nation. For most of our history, Vermonters have been viewed as rugged, self-sufficient individuals not easily dominated or restrained. Many have been attracted to Vermont by her citizen’s spirit of independence. Others have come here, fleeing the chaos of excessive governmental control “down-country”, attracted by the less restrictive culture and values they saw here. Frequently, once these newcomers have settled in, they have found our “freedoms” too liberated and soon, desiring more “security” hav  decide to work to quell and suppress the very spirit that made Vermont so attractive. The absurdity is that when they succeed in changing things to their liking, they are shocked that their “climate” has suddenly acquired the very characteristics they fled – yet they are clueless of the fact that it is the “vagaries of security” they championed that have created the distasteful condition. Benjamin Franklin forewarned us that “those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” 
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The term “nanny state” may well describe the condition that we find ourselves today. Many in our legislature and executive branches feel it is their responsibility, their obligation, to micromanage and overprotect every aspect of our lives. To the extent that we allow them to do so, we also allow them to take away our self-determination. Freedom and Responsibility are inexorably linked! 
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Unity - In the process of electing leaders to create the laws and regulations needed to control the citizenry, Vermonters have become increasingly balkanized into adversarial groups alienated by numerous, often conflicting, philosophies of rights and responsibilities. Theses groups have taken on a competitive spirit where their will, ultimately, be winners and losers OR even worse a compromise where none are satisfied. Those who identify with these groups soon discover that their partners in one advocacy are their adversaries in others. The most promising and sustainable undertakings are those which find universal support, integrating the ideas and need of all. 
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Political organizations and their media sponsors have been most effective in “branding” their opponents. Democrats have been labeled as Communist, Socialist, Big Government advocates bent on destroying the free market system and creating a centrally controlled government and economy. Republicans have been labeled as gun toting, millionaire, anarchist bent on the destruction of the environment, uncontrolled development and trampling the working class into the ground. Of course neither of these “pictures” depicts the real people who identify themselves as members of these organizations. Democrats, Republicans, Progressives, Libertarians and Liberty-Unionist all have important contributions to make and demonizing them reduces the “conversation” and our quest for solutions. Paraphrasing President Kennedy, “it is not important if the solution is a Republican one or a Democratic one; what is important is for it to be the best one!
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Conclusion – As we approach this political season, we must be determined to find individuals who will represent the best interest of all Vermonters. For too long our Legislators arrive in Montpelier ready to represent and protect those special interests responsible for sending them there. What we really need is to send folks to Montpelier who will be persistent in representing and defending the common interest of all Vermonters in the same fashion that those Green Mountain Boys did so many years ago. We should not view “Freedom and Unity” as some old-fashioned idiom, rather it should be the watchwords that guide us in selecting our representatives and the decisions they make on our behalf.  
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H. Brooke Paige
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“There is only one form of political strategy in which I have any confidence, and that is to try to do the right thing and sometimes be able to succeed Calvin Coolidge, Vermonter and 30th President of the United States.(1872-1933)  

As I am a one-person campaign, I am working diligently to keep the website up-to-date. Please stop back again as I work to relay my positions to you. You may visit my old Senatorial Campaign website which is still active at www.brookepaige.com where you can learn about many of my long held beliefs.
Please Visit Again!

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H. Brooke Paige for Governor and Attorney General

P.O. Box #41, Washington, Vermont 05675-0041

This website is designed, scripted and paid for by the candidate.

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