Vermont's Economy
Vermont leads the nation in the production of talc, granite, marble, and maple products. Vermont's rugged and rocky terrain is well suited for dairy farming and raising fruit trees. The principal industrial products made include electrical equipment, fabricated metal products, printing and publishing, and paper and allied products. Tourism is also a big industry in the state, largely attracting skiers, hunters, and fishermen.
According to the 2016 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Vermont's gross state product (GSP) was $26 billion (50th). The top five industries in Vermont in terms of GSP are listed below.
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Demographic Data of Vermont
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(U.S. state ranking in parentheses, 1st means the highest number or rate among states)
Population
Population
- Total Population: 624,594 (49th)
- Population Density: 68/sq. mile (31st)
- Total Land Area: 9,217 sq. miles (43rd)
- White: 94.8% (2nd)
- Hispanic: 1.8% (49th)
- Asian: 1.6% (41st)
- Black: 1.3% (48th)
- Native American: 0.4 (45th)
- 17.6% (4th)
- High school graduate or higher, percent of people age 25+: 91.8% (6th)
- Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of people age 25+: 36.0% (8th)
- Median household income: $59,494 (21st)
- 9.3% (47th)
Vermont Culture
Traditions
Southern Vermont folks are viewed as an extension of Massachusetts, and “those flatlanders” are derogatorily called “Massholes.” If you live in northeastern Vermont, you’re from “The Kingdom.” If you're not from Vermont, you're considered a "low-lander". Our old timers are called “woodchucks,” their offspring is known as “hoodchucks.” A famous dish in Vermont is sugar on snow, which consists of snow, yes snow, with hot maple syrup poured over it, served with donuts, and dill pickles. The pickles serve to counter the intense sweetness of the maple syrup candy that the hot maple syrup and snow combine to create. Values "Freedom and Unity" is the official motto of Vermont. Vermont's motto is about the idea of balancing two ideals: the personal freedom and independence of the individual citizen, with the common good of the larger community. Throughout its history, Vermont has demonstrated its commitment to fairness and equality. For example, in 1777, Vermont became the first state to abolish slavery. Lifestyles Vermont is a very rural state in the Northeastern part of the United States. It's biggest city, Burlington, has only 42,417 people. Vermonters have a “Green Mountain State of Mind,” we are progressive, hardworking, fiercely independent, and community minded. The unofficial state car is the Subaru because they all come with 4-wheel drive. You can also travel to virtually anywhere in the state on snowmobile trails. Not everything is going well in Vermont today, however. Vermont is being called the “America’s Heroin Capital” thanks to the out of control use of the drug. Of the 626,000 living in the state, 43,820 of those residents reportedly use heroin. Furthermore, there has been an 800% increase in illegal drug use since 2000. But the increase in heroin use recently is nowhere near the dramatic spike in treatment for prescription pill abuse over the past decade in Vermont, as evidenced by the picture to the right. |
Vermont State Flag and Other Notables
The state flag of Vermont consists of the state's coat of arms and motto on a field of azure. The crossed pine branches, on the sides of the shield, represent the pine sprigs worn by Vermont soldiers, at the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814, during the War of 1812. The pine tree in the middle of the coat of arms represents the Vermont forests. The cow and three sheaves of wheat represent the dairy and agriculture industries. The deer head on top represents Vermont's wildlife, and the Green Mountains are in the background. The motto, "Freedom and Unity", is also used.
Famous people from Vermont
Famous Places in Vermont
Vermont 2016 Presidential Results
2016 Presidential General Election Returns:
-Hillary Clinton (D)...................178,573 (55.7%) Won by 26% -Donald Trump (R)........................95,369 (29.8%) -Bernie Sanders (write-in)...........18,183 (5.7%) 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary Vote: -Bernie Sanders.........................115,900 (85.69%) Won by 72% -Hillary Clinton.............................18,338 (13.56%) 2016 Republican Presidential Primary Vote: -Donald Trump...........................19,974 (32.34%) Won by 2% -John Kasich...................................18,534 (30.01%) -Marco Rubio.................................11,781 (19.08%) -Ted Cruz........................................5,932 (9.61%) -Ben Carson....................................2,551 (4.13%) |
How I Will Represent Vermont in Congress
Since Hillary Clinton handily defeated Donald Trump by 26% percent, and because Bernie Sanders squashed Clinton by 72% in the primary, I will be very liberal and progressive on most issues. Social Security Social Security is a very important issue to me because our state has the fourth highest percentage of elderly people. As your Senator, I will protect senior citizens' Social Security in Congress by fighting against Republican efforts to privatize Social Security and raise the retirement age. While Republicans try to weaken and destroy Social Security, I intend to strengthen and expand Social Security. The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the future is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on all income above $250,000 so that the wealthiest Americans pay the same share as everyone else. Pensions After the Great Recession, many seniors and Americans lost much of their promised pension money they earned. Much of this was due to the 2015 Omnibus Spending Law that was signed, which allowed companies to make drastic cuts to all existing pension multi-employer benefits programs (MBPs). Most of that pension money was siphoned off to into the incomes of top executives, while many of the workers under the age of 75 who have been paying into pension MPBs their whole lives lost out on their earned pensions. Thus, I plan on reinstating our promise to pay out all of the promised pension money by closing tax loopholes for wealthy corporations. Prescription Drugs Another crisis ravaging the elderly is prescription drug prices in our country. They are the highest in the world, and all Americans, especially the elderly, are taking a hit financially. We must lower prescription drug costs, and the quickest way to do that is to allow for the personal importation of safe and affordable drugs from approved pharmacies in Canada. Prescription drugs in Canada are half the cost of the same drugs in the United States, so this will help lower prices and create more competition in the marketplace. Drug Abuse As stated previously, there is a heroin and prescription drug overdose epidemic in Vermont and many other states. What we are doing is not working, so we should follow policies of the countries who have successfully reduced heroin and other illicit drug use. Switzerland, Portugal, and Uruguay over the past few decades have successfully implemented such policies and have focused on three aspects: keeping people alive, taking a public health approach, and ensuring that people who use drugs have access to services that do not criminalize their behavior, but provide them with comprehensive care. Policywise, these countries created supervised injection sites and offered substance analysis services and access to opiate substitution therapy. Federal funds were used to buy needles for needle exchange programs. They had drugs like Naloxone available to first responders in order reverse overdoses. They created safe injection facilities to keep people alive and provided them comprehensive services. We should do the same. Defense Spending Our economy does not rely strongly on the defense industry in Vermont. And as we know, government spending can be inefficient, bloated, unnecessary, and even harmful. This description currently fits our defense budget. We spend more on defense than the next seven highest countries combined. While we are spending ridiculous amounts of money on wars that have not made us safer, people in Vermont have been in dire need of assistance when it comes fighting drug abuse and rising medical costs. The defense budget can be reduced without preventing any risk to our country because of how our defense spending is wasted. For example, over $8.5 trillion in taxpayer money since 1996 has never been accounted for by the Pentagon. The pentagon needs to be audited so it can be held accountable like all other parts of government. Climate Change With tourism being a vital component of our state, it's critical that we take measures to reduce climate change in order to preserve the skiing, fishing, and hunting that our visitors and residents enjoy. Winter has become increasingly hot and unpredictable, which negatively affects our ski resorts. This is evidenced by the fact that the number of ski areas in the U.S. has dropped almost 20 percent in the last two decades, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Climate change is a national crisis, and we have to take action now before it's too late. Therefore, I favor a tax on greenhouse-gas emitters directly via a fee on carbon pollution emissions, funding historic investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies, and funding worker training and transition programs to help move workers into jobs in the clean energy economy. |
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