A sad day for Stowe Vt -Tubbs goes to China

PhilNH5 · Feb 17, 2005

This article in today's Boston Globe tells how the Tubbs Snowshoe factory is being shut down as production and jobs move toChina.

Phil

Boondox · Feb 17, 2005

Yeah, some of us miss the jobs, but the beautiful people in Stowe have made it clear that there are certain things they find distasteful and that should be kept in other towns. These include affordable housing and all forms of manufacturing, as well as retired folks on fixed incomes or anyone who believes in fiscal responsibility.

Ye reap what ye sow.

Pete
Stowe, Vermont

rdln · Feb 17, 2005

I better hurry up and order my kids bed from Moosehead Furniture b4 they head to china. In fact I better make sure it already hasn't.

It sounds like the workers dont mind.

That supervisor has alot of pride in the name so he wants to make sure the chinese do it right. If I were him I'd say let them figure it out.

Bob_Skurka · Feb 17, 2005

I was listening to the news (either Fox or CNN, not sure) on the drive home last night. They said that 70% of the commodity products sold by Wal Mart are made in communist China, and that sales to Wal Mart make up 1% of the total communist Chinese economy.

I'm not a Wal Mart basher, but one of the many reasons I don't shop there is because so many goods are Chinese made. They are undercutting our steel prices by something like 40% due to currency manipulation (I live in a large steel producing region). It is easy to understand why so many high production jobs go overseas, but to look at wooden showshoes and think that those would go to China is amazing . . . then I read the details of the story, 11,000 pairs of metal snowshoes, 400 pairs of traditional wooden ones.

We all want cheap goods, so we are our own worst enemies. Who do we blame when we lose our jobs?

LarryRB · Feb 17, 2005

I think what Boondox was saying is that around here in greater New England area, there seems to be a move on for strictly residential towns. They do not want any type of industries around,, More of that NIMBY attitude that is wreaking havoc on our small towns. I lived through it as a town selectman and take it from me, it isn't pretty when all these city types all of a sudden have the need to go rural or extreme country rural.. First thing out of their mouths is "you people don't know how to live or you're going about it all wrong"... Next thing they do is create a large voting block that always over powers what is left of the "original" townspeople, the elderly, mid 50's and their children... Then, comes, no more business or industry and whatever. After a few years, their taxes will jump proportionately to make up for mass losses, and then they cry again because they are picked on... This, what "you reap what you sow" means, at least in this greater neighborhood....

Boondox · Feb 17, 2005

Thanks, Larry. You summed it up well without the bitterness I sometimes feel at having the old farmers shouted down by newcomers at town meeting while the moderator does nothing to ensure all views are heard. The very people who made Stowe what it is today are being forced to move. The combination of the tax burden created by all those bonds to buy every single bit of open land (including $150,000 last year for a 12x20' parcel with a single bench on it), plus the shrinking tax base, plus the parents who insist on a private school education for their darlings at taxpayers' expense...is proving too much for them.

We own our land free and clear, but as the mansions go up all around us I see a time in the not too distant future when we might want to move to a more affordable place. Leaving behind over 200 years of my wife's relatives buried in the meadow. Ahem. Pete

Junkman · Feb 17, 2005

( ........................
We own our land free and clear, but as the mansions go up all around us I see a time in the not too distant future when we might want to move to a more affordable place. Leaving behind over 200 years of my wife's relatives buried in the meadow. Ahem. Pete )

Owning your land free and clear is only part of the equasion... being able to afford the taxes is the greater portion of the equasion. Many people in my town are forced to move because they can't afford the tax burden. In some areas of the state, people are paying such high taxes on there property that they have to decide between taxes and food or medicine. Since we are not supposed to discuss politics, I won't go any further, except to define "politics"........'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

BillG_in_TX · Feb 17, 2005

I just recently heard about a provision in the Texas Tax code that allows for deferral of homestead property taxes for people over 65:

 "The Texas state law gives you the right.. (to)... legally defer or postpone paying any property taxes on your homestead...for as long as you own and occupy it... the deferral applies to all property taxes on your homestead. The deferral only postpones the paying of your taxes. It doesn't cancel them. Interest is added at the rate of 8% per year. A penalty may not be imposed during deferral period. " 

A lady at my church asked me about this idea, so I started looking into it. This operation is obviously marketing the idea as a way to sell life insurance, but the concept is intriguing - especially for someone having to choose between property taxes or food and medicine.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Boondox · Feb 17, 2005

Around here reverse mortgages are getting more popular with the older crowd. How about in other areas? Pete

Bob_Skurka · Feb 17, 2005

Pete & Larry, I did understand the intent of what Pete wrote and the general problem of the urbanites taking over the small towns and pushing out the residents, I was simply focusing and expanding the jobs problem to other parts of our economy and the nation, while I did leave out the people part of the equasion.

I guess I see a similar problem from a different perspective. The job loss in your area is created by 2 factors, one is exporting jobs the other is yuppie urbanization. In my area, steel jobs have been lost due to foreign competion alone. In the south the job loss has been due to cheaper foreign labor and exporting the jobs that previously existed (textiles in particular). The net effect is that in any case, paying property taxes, or for that matter, paying anything, becomes difficult. Here in my county (Lake, IN) we are facing property tax rate increases of 50% to 150% becuase the burden has been shifted off of industry and onto residential property.