la liberté avant tout
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org Vermont last year began limiting how long its residents could receive welfare benefits. Six months later, the move appears successful. The ‘Reach Up’ initiative has already received fewer requests to join the program than in months’ past, according to the Vermont Department of Finance and Management. The new time-limit on the program, now…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org Vermont is knee-deep in a crisis of epic proportions, Gov. Peter Shumlin declared in his State of the State speech Wednesday. He’s determined to end it. “The crisis I am talking about is the rising tide of drug addiction and drug-related crime spreading across Vermont,” pronounced Shumlin. “In every corner of our state, heroin…
The Newspaper Talks Sense on Free and Open Migration Across the Americas By Yaël Ossowski | The Canal Blog of PanAm Post Last month I invoked the 21st anniversary of the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement by arguing that a Schengen-type agreement allowing free movement of people, now reigning in Europe, would be the best way…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org When nuclear power finally vanishes from Vermont’s borders this year, the town of Vernon will suffer the loss of its biggest taxpayer. As discovered in tax agreements with city officials, the announced shutdown of the Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Entergy, a New Orleans-based energy conglomerate, will not only reduce the choice in the…
Desperate IRS on Mission to Squeeze Tip-Income Jobs By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post Waiting tables is hard work, but it’s especially hard when Uncle Sam is on your back. On January 1, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States began taxing automatic gratuities intended for employees in service jobs. This rule change mandates payroll withholding for the tips that…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org In many aspects, Vermont isn’t not afraid to buck the status quo. After the Revolutionary War, it existed as its own republic for nearly 14 years. It was the first state to introduce women’s suffrage in 1880, allow civil unions in 2000 and pass same-sex marriage in 2009. And while it may be a trendsetter, it…
By Yaël Ossowski Published December 19, 2013 Read story here
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org As Old Man Winter swoops into Vermont, the state government wants to be sure drivers are paying attention. “Our crews just completed a weekend marathon of plowing, and are now here preparing for the next storm to arrive,” announced Gov. Peter Shumlin at a press conference Tuesday. “And as hard as they work plowing snow, they…
Embracing Free Trade and Movement Would Be a Bold Step Forward By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post For outsiders who visit the European continent, they’re quite amazed at the sight of impediment-free travel between countries. Traveling between Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and more, one can cross borders without papers and without the questioning of…
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By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org When Jeremy Hansen ran for political office in 2012, he had no idea his candidacy would spark imaginations across the country. The assistant professor of computer science at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., ran for the Vermont state Senate for Washington County on a bold platform of using online technology to ask every citizen their view on a particular…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org In July of this year, Vermont lawmakers took a bold step. They removed criminal penalties for those caught with small amounts of marijuana. Now, 5 months later, decriminalization of pot is generally judged to be a great success in the Green Mountain State, a sentiment which could push Vermont to be the third…
Censorship Contradicts One of the Most Fundamental Principles We Can Observe By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post Should it be a crime to believe an alternative version of history? What about publishing photos or writing articles that certain groups may deem offensive or downright hateful? At least in the United States, thanks in large part to the…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org If you build it, they will come … and take your land. Vermonters might face that scenario if the state’s largest private energy company can get approval for its new natural gas pipeline. Vermont Gas Systems put forth a proposed extension of the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project pipeline project to bring natural gas to…
By Yaël Ossowski | Fox News Published November 20, 2013 watchdog.org No drilling, no pipelines, and no natural gas. If environmental groups in Vermont get their way, this could be the new slogan of the Green Mountain state. That’s the message of their latest campaign to oppose the extension of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline intended to…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org No drilling, no pipelines, and no natural gas. If environmental groups in Vermont get their way, this could be the new slogan of the Green Mountain state. That’s the message of their latest campaign to oppose the extension of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline intended to transport shale gas from Canada to New York. Vermont already became…
US Intel Oversight Committees Are Biggest Cheerleaders of Privacy Violations By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post In the months since revelations about mass surveillance programs deployed by US and foreign leaders came to the public’s attention, there has been formidable outrage at home and abroad. The practice has sowed the seeds of distrust in Germany, troubled relations between the United…
La Pologne envisage de nationaliser les fonds de pension privés. Dans l’esprit de Victor Orban en Hongrie. Par Marek Tatala* et Yaël Ossowski** | L’AGEFI à Genève Cet automne, le premier ministre polonais Donald Tusk a déclaré son intention de revenir sur les réformes du système de retraites en saisissant les comptes d’épargne privés. S’il…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org In the effort to promote the new health insurance exchange required by Obamacare, Vermont might have gone a little overboard. In a promotional advertisement posted to its social media accounts, Vermont Health Connect, the state’s health insurance exchange, posted a testimonial featuring Brian D. McCarthy, a father of two from Swanton. Hepraises the exchange….
Par Yaël Ossowski et Fred Roeder | Huffington Post Québec Le 18 octobre, le gouvernement canadien a signé un accord de libre-échange avec l’Union européenne (UE). Quoiqu’il attende d’être ratifié par les États membres de l’UE et les provinces canadiennes, un coup d’œil à cet accord nous montre comment la suppression d’obstacles au commerce pourra…