"Burton to move manufacturing to Austria"

[trussell]

Yet another company leaving Vermont AND outsourcing from overseas:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100316/NEWS01/100316006/Burton-to-move-manufacturing-to-Austria-43-jobs-leave-Vermont

The article states 43 jobs will be lost, but a co-worker who's spouse works there said they thought it was over 100... Oh well.  Glad to see our country is going in the right direction.

[Chris Santee]

from WPTZ:

Burton snowboards, long considered synonymous with Vermont, will no longer produce its world-renowned snowboards in the Green Mountain state due to the high cost of doing business in Vermont.

[Chris Santee]

"Thanks to the BMC staff, we've excelled at prototyping and developing product in Vermont, which is why all four Burton Olympic halfpipe medals were won on snowboards coming out of our local factory," Burton is quoted as saying in the press release. "But simply put, it costs us significantly more to produce a board in Vermont than we are capable of selling it for, and sadly, this is not sustainable in the current economy."

[special ED]

they must not like paying taxes either,and if burton is leaving just wait to se who the next victom of tax and spend liberals are

[mirjo]

I think every political party since the US became a country can take responsibility for taxes. It's what the government is built on.

It sucks that Burton is leaving--I couldn't agree more. Clearly we have some serious flaws in our state politics, but it's the same complaining that has gone on for years and years and years. I guess people just like to comment on politics even though it's pointless.

tax and spend liberals

         political labels are ridiculous, I don't know if it is the press or the opposing party that makes them up, but they serve no purpose except to give people something to say that is mostly pointless. Sorry Ed. I know it's the catch phrase of the hour, because everyone considered a republican is totally against the current president; however, if I am not mistaken, I believe 20+ years ago, Gov. Snelling (R) did a 'tax and spend' thing during a difficult budget time for the state, so it probably isn't just in the Democratic party playbook.

Has there ever been a time in your life that you or anyone you know has ever been happy about taxes--even when they were lower they were too high, they're always too high. Has any governor or president ever significantly lowered taxes so that people in the street noticed and said "hey, I have more money in my check because the feds took less!" It's never happened for real and it never will. Politicians are crooks. They're not interested in serving the people, but we're so foolish that we repeatedly fall for the BS they dole out-then get mad about things and blame it on the "liberals" or "conservatives" or whoever is in charge at the time that doesn't match our point of view, when in fact they're all the same and against us, if you ask me, not for us.

[special ED]

snelling had a surplus when he left office and stradlin madalin had deficit,what do you suggest in dealing with politicians,violence is the only other option

[7F24]

Our Governor is republican Ed, is the mess we are in now his fault?

[7F24]

When Madeleine was governor we had a republican president.  We all want to blame someone for the mess this country is in.  I blame the people that won't do their jobs because they are afraid they might not get reelected, and the big mouth talk radio idiots that keep coming up with catch phrases like "tax and spend liberals" telling people what to think.

[slpott]

Vermont is a very expensive state to live that is for sure. It is also a very expensive state to do business. We are currently finding that out. Not sure who's fault it is but I do know that it encourages some to stay below a certain income to "Qualify" for free rather than succeed and pay out the bazooka. I have no problems with paying taxes but when you compare the 2 it is very frustrating. Asa small business we understand completely why Burton is relocating. Ron Paul makes a lot of sense. Even more sense than I used to think. Get rid of the I.R.S. and let each state take care of their own. Rather than give to the Feds for "whatever" lets give to the state for what we vote on and need.  Some states can not ever give a return. That would really be frustrating. I also like the idea of the "stimulus" payments that you have to pay back and didn't ask for it in the first place. Or the stumulus payment that was just enough to put you over the limit and now all your imcome is taxable. That is nutty. We should have had the right to choose if we wanted to borrow that money or not. I am not throwing rocks but....................I do not like fine print that is unreadable.

[Kathleen]

It's more than just taxes that cause Burton to go out of country to manufacture.  It's the cost of electricity, heating, health care for the employees, etc.  I can't blame Burton for looking at the bottomline and making the most cost-effective decision for their company.  But I think one of the reasons for the high cost of things in this country is because of the outsourcing.  You take the money for taxes and such that a business takes out of the country, we have to make up the difference in raising the cost of something else.  It's a vicious circle.

[Chris Santee]

Let's try for a minute to forget Republican vs. Democrat.

Currently there is a Bill in Montpelier, I believe, for 56 hours of paid time off annually for employees.
This would give them time to make doctors appointments, etc. and not miss any pay.

Is this a good idea ?
What worker wouldn't want 56 hours of paid time off

Howabout looking at this now from the employer's point of view.
Companies are barely making it in this economy and if they have to pay employees
to not work, what is the employer going to do ?

Somebody's getting laid off and the customers will have to pay higher prices for the goods offered.

I DO NOT believe the 56 hours paid time off is a good Bill.
I DO NOT believe it is "business friendly".

[7F24]

Chris,
     Are you saying you are against paid vacations.

[Chris Santee]

Funny guy,

I am against forcing employers by law
to give 56 hours of paid leave (sometimes on top of paid vacations).

If any company/employer wants to give two weeks paid vacation
(30 days for servicemen/women) that is their choice. Their Free Choice.
It is a great incentive to land a great employee.

[mirjo]

snelling had a surplus when he left office and stradlin madalin had deficit,what do you suggest in dealing with politicians

OK, Reagan had a deficit, Clinton had a balanced budget, see where we're going with this? AROUND IN CIRCLES. I accept your political stance Ed, no problem. Now, please get mine:

What I suggest in dealing with politicians is to not engage in pointless pi*%@ matches about policy and not focus too much on one side or the other because neither is 100% right. As I said they all raise taxes, no one has ever really lowered them. If that were the case our state tax wouldn't be 6% (more in some towns) it would still be 4% or less. Property taxes wouldn't go up every year (those do occasionally go down a little, but never to stay). Washington is a huge out-of-control bureaucracy and politics is nothing more than a partisan blame game. 7F24 said it best:

We all want to blame someone for the mess this country is in.  I blame the people that won't do their jobs because they are afraid they might not get reelected, and the big mouth talk radio idiots that keep coming up with catch phrases like "tax and spend liberals" telling people what to think.

If the media wasn't so biased (it's not supposed to be) If we got rid of the 24/7 cable news crap, which is less news than it is blowhard opinion, We would be much better off. Cronkite didn't give his opinion on what he thought about a president or an election or a situation, he simply reported the facts as he knew them to be. He also reported the news AFTER he had the facts, not while something was happening, hoping to scoop the other guy for ratings and getting stuff wrong!

Seriously, we do not need: Rush Limbaugh, Shaun Hannity, Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, Glen Beck, Rachel Maddow or any of the others telling us what to think. They're all just loud and inflammatory (with the exception of Rachel, she's not loud necessarily) but we don't need 30 different political commentary shows feeding us BS several times daily. I want to know the truth about issues, not the truth according to whichever political party's mouthpiece is talking the loudest that day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day-if you're not Irish, rock it like you are!

[Stand Alone Defense]

WOW no names of the people that twist the news on CNN though? LOL...... It's called freedom of speech and everyone is entitled to their opinion and to voice it and yes even Glen Beck and Shawn Hannity have those rights.  I do agree though it is very expensive to live Vermont in and we don't have wages to back it up.  The average house for sale in Chittenden county right now is $356,596 that is crazy you can buy a house in southern CA for an average of $401,189.  Just to give you an example of the wage difference a diesel mechanic in vermont fully certified might make 16 to 20 bucks starting on the floor in southern CA they start at 26-30 bucks an hour.  Really doesn't make sense to me.