Updated 9:51 p.m.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized administrators of the University of Vermont Medical Center and called on them to meet face-to-face with hospital nurses during a press conference at his Burlington office on Friday.
More than 1,000 nurses are prepared to strike on July 12 and 13 amid contentious contract negotiations. Nurses are calling for salary parity with the nurses at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., which is a member of the UVM Health Network. The union says the hospital is dangerously understaffed because low salaries create long-term vacancies and high turnover rates.
“Like so many other things, this contract negotiation is about priorities,” said Sanders. “I find it really hard to believe that the hospital has enough money to pay nearly $11 million to 15 administrators, including more than $2 million to the CEO, but apparently doesn’t have enough money to pay their nurses the same wages as nurses earn just across the lake in Plattsburgh, where the cost of living is, in fact, lower.”
A bargaining session between the union and the administration was set for 5 p.m. on Friday, but union leaders said hospital representatives will not sit in the same room as them and instead plan to rely on a federal mediator to relay information between the two sides. Prior to Friday, hospital representatives met with the union’s bargaining team directly, according to the union.
Sanders said nurses are the backbone of any hospital, but that they cannot provide the quality of care patients need and deserve when they are stretched too thin by hospital vacancies. He criticized the hospital for planning to spend money to hire replacement workers during the strike rather than agreeing to pay permanent nurses a competitive wage.
If the medical center does not pay nurses enough to live in dignity and raise families, Vermont will lose them to other states, said Sanders.
“I find it even harder to believe the medical center when it says it has to pay these inflated administrators’ salaries to attract the best and the brightest people to run the hospital,” said Sanders. “How about paying competitive wages to attract the best and the brightest nurses who actually care for the patients?”
Sanders also criticized the hospital for paying nurse’s assistants less than $15 an hour. The nurses’ union has demanded a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all hospital staff.
This is not the first time Sanders has criticized the medical center. In 1987, when he was mayor of Burlington, Sanders served the tax-exempt hospital a tax bill. The hospital sued the city and won, but ultimately agreed to payments in lieu of taxes that continue today.
Hospital spokesman Michael Carrese previously told Seven Days that wages for other hospital staff are not part of the contract negotiations with the nurses. He said the hospital’s minimum hourly wage is currently $11.79, but it will be $15 by 2020. The hospital must be careful when it raises wages because it is such a large employer, and a shift in wages would pressure other businesses to do the same, according to Carrese.
Chief operating officer Eileen Whalen said in a statement Friday afternoon that the hospital is “100 percent focused” on the bargaining session and requested respect for the federal mediation process. Hospital officials remain hopeful that a resolution will be reached before the strike, according to the statement.
The nurses are less optimistic. Deb Snell, union vice president, said the union has rented an office on Colchester Avenue across from the medical center to use as headquarters during the strike.
Sanders was not the only politician speaking out on behalf of the nurses. State Rep. Johannah “Joey” Donovan (D-Burlington) and Sen. Philip Baruth (D/P- Chittenden) attended a press conference Monday during which the nurses announced they had served the hospital a strike notice. Donovan announced that 43 members of the Vermont legislature had signed a letter to hospital CEO Dr. John Brumsted expressing concern about a potential strike and chronic understaffing at the hospital.
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful James Ehlers also sent the hospital a letter in support of the nurses, calling for “a fair contract resolution.” On Monday, VTDigger.org reported that Ehlers had criticized labor unions on Twitter several years ago.
Doctors have also joined the chorus of voices in support of the union. Ninety physicians and other health care providers signed a letter calling on the hospital to increase compensation for nurses.
Dr. Prema Menon, a pulmonary and critical care physician and letter signee, told Seven Days that short staffing makes her outpatient clinic feel as if there is a strike going on every day. It is not unheard of for the clinic to go without nurses for two days, said Menon. The clinic currently has one nurse for 20 providers, and has had seven different nurses fill that role since 2015, she said. The staffing makes it difficult to respond to patients who call in with concerns, she said.
Menon said a strike would be devastating for her inpatient clinic, where patients are admitted overnight, since understanding how a hospital’s system works is as important to safe care as nursing skill.
But understaffing has already made patient care difficult too, Menon said. Charge nurses in the Intensive Care Unit, who are supposed to take the lead in case of an emergency, have been given bedside duties because of short staffing. This means if an emergency occurs they have to leave a bedside to help, she said.
In an email Friday evening, Carrese said the hospital has hired more than 754 nurses and support staff since October 2016. The hospital’s administrators understand that paying competitive wages is key to attracting and retaining employees, Carrese said, and believe they have put an offer on the table that is fair and competitive.
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Bernie cant believe the hospital CEO gets $2 million?
Remind me again how much you made last year Bernie for doing nothing more than flapping your grumpy gums about how great Denmark is, and not doing any legislating, and having a ghostwriter write books for you? Remind me again how many houses you have?
At least the hospital CEO runs a hospital. A first rate hospital.
Youve been in Congress since 1991. Thats 27 years. How many laws are called the Sanders Act? Oh, thats right. None. Not one single one.
How many Senate votes did we pay you to miss in 2016? Oh, thats right. Almost all of them.
The chief hypocrite can’t stay away from a soundbite.
Maybe Bernie should release his financials which he kept not doing in 2016. He is part of the problem
If you were in the hospital asking for help because you’re sick or hurt you would want to have appropriate staff so you can be taken care of. You wouldn’t want your nurses to be tired and frustrated because they have too many patients for their long days and added hours covering shifts. This is not about Bernie Sanders but the hospital. Get over yourselves. I support the nurses and Bernie.
Remind me how much profit the hospital made last year?
Pay these people what they are worth. What an abomination the salaries being made by administrators. They should be embarrassed about the pay of nurses and aides and about the reduced level of care because of it. All of this is on the administrators as will whatever happens because of a strike.
The other real obscenity is how much the physicians and particularly the specialists earn, compared with the nurses who are the ones stuck with doing the doctors’ dirty work for them.
Seems that the hospital has a nursing SHORTAGE These people are not underpaid. If the nurses are tired and frustrated because they have too many patients then HIRE MORE!!! Is an increase in pay going to alleviate the ‘tired and frustrated’ ? NO! They will just then be over paid , tired and frustrated.
“This is not about Bernie Sanders but the hospital.”
Bernie just made this about himself. Notice that Leahy and Welch didn’t. It seems that one can express solidarity without making it about yourself. Bernie just can’t resist.
‘If you were in the hospital asking for help because you’re sick or hurt you would want to have appropriate staff so you can be taken care of.”
Yes. And if I were a constituent of Bernie’s paying his handsome salary — oh, wait a minute, I am — I would want someone who was actually in the Senate working full time and getting things done there, not being AWOL and missing every vote and running around the country getting on every talk show he can to glorify his Trumpian ego while refusing to even speak to the Vermont media because it has the audacity to ask questions.
I have responded to requests for donations to the hospital in the past. Now that I have learned how much is paid to the administrators and how little to the staff that deals with patients considering the amount of profit the hospital earns I will not send any more of my meager donations until the hospital pays the nurses and other staff fairly.
The administration just thinks about themselves and their extreme lifestyle that they enjoy so much and don’t bother to look at how the little people are doing. They don’t even know how it is to work anymore. They are just a bunch of greedy overpaid bunch of people taking up wasted space. It seems like some of you are for the administration to give themselves a huge raise, how does it feel to be such good friends with them?
Oh and Peter Morgan and knowyourass you sound like a couple of old ladies just looking at something to bitch about. Why don’t you both go play in your sandbox? You are so negative about everything!
//hospital representatives will not sit in the same room as them and instead plan to rely on a federal mediator to relay information between the two sides.//
Cowards. Brumstead and his fellow executives make me sick.
Peter Morgan, Hiring more nurses would help, but it is probably hard to recruit nurses when they learn the wages. Traveling nurses come because they get paid more. This is not the only problem here either. I believe they want their support staff to be better paid as well. When you pay the support staff a starting wage of 11.79 ( $12 if you’re lucky) or pay the new nurses below average wages then do you think people will work hard and stick around after being trained for the job? I can tell you from experience that you get what you pay for. For example pay someone $12/hr and they will be unhappy, barely able to pay bills and will do poor quality work. People need to be compensated for the work they do or they won’t do it. I find that if the employees of a business are happy then they will work hard and do a quality job. I believe this makes for a good business.
Mostly nurses posting here. Who else would support their VERY GREEDY protests for a 24% raise? 24 % !!!!!
Nurses are trolling all the sites to make it seem like there is overwhelming support for their money grab!!! 24 % ????? I don’t think so!!!
“You are so negative about everything!”
@ Mr. “GRIPE”:
Can anyone possibly be so utterly lacking in self awareness? Look at your post on this thread at 4:04 pm. It is a hyper-negative complaint. All your posts, every single one, is a negative complaint about anyone who you think has any money (which apparently is anyone other than you).
“Mostly nurses posting here… Who else would support their VERY GREEDY protests for a 24% raise?
Greedy? Here are some facts. From 1997 to 2015 (latest available), the inflation-adjusted median wage for registered nurses grew by 17%. During that same period, the CEO’s salary increased 625%. Yes. That’s not a typo – six hundred and twenty-five percent (and that doesn’t include the $210,000 in benefits for 2015).
In 2015, the median hourly wage for registered nurses in Vermont was $31.68. In Boston and NYC it was $42.21 and $42.45 respectively.
Bernie is trashing the CEO and the rest of the administration of the hospital for all their money they are making. Now let’s check the list on you..shall we… Bernie Sanders lived off his first wife for a long time, then she left him. then he lived off friends. Drew his 1st paycheck at age 40 when he became mayor of Burlington (facts from VtDigger). Has 4 homes and a Condo in DC and you know that condo wasn’t cheap. He and 50 family members and friends went to Rome to see the Pope for 5 mins. Who’s dime do you think paid for that vacation, donators who else ( story from 7 days or Vtdigger). Ran around the country while campaigning, the same thing Dean did while he was Gov. both forgot Vermont and their constituents. Bernie was -paid off to leave the race, why else would he leave? He has millions, not just 1 million but millionS. Bernie just wants the spotlight on him. He doesn’t care about the nurses. Just like he claims he’s for the poor and seniors.. He hasn’t helped them. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He just wants the media to plaster his face all over… The nurses should be paid well they are the ones who take care of the patients.
Mr. Hoffer, if you research Cost of Living in Burlington VT, vs say Boston, you will see Burlington is about a 30% cheaper place to live (https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/…). The nurses, using the figures you are providding, are currently paid about 32% less than a similar Boston nurse, Being paid $31/hr in Burlington is worth over $42 in Boston. That $31 is significantly more if comparing NYC. So, to make a Burlington nurse being paid an equal wage in Boston, they are due about a $1.50/hr raise across the board. The largest single cost of health care, and health insurance, is paying for salaries and benefits, from maintientce person, nurses and up to orthopods and specialists and department CEO’s making $500k – $1m+.
I have to grimace every time I see a yard sign “Patients Before Profits!” Aren’t these nurses after More Money? Seems lame argument to claim the hospital is after money when the nurses want more too.
Paitents Before Profits – Same twist-and-contort argument given by teachers – “if you are not for us only paying 25% of our families health insurance and only 33% of our own retirements, and give us annual COLA adjustments (regardless of what actual COLA is), then you are against children’s education” – no…just against the many funding the few who wish to have better benefits than the many via public and non-profit union tactics to maximize member take home pay and $. If one cared about patients, then they would be advocating for ways to reduce what consumers must pay for health insurance and hospital costs overall.
It looks like Bernie and his wife are doing just fine financially ,both for questionable job performances and
all he has to do is look himself in the mirror to see who is responsible for the Trump Nightmare the country
and the world is experiencing.A.D.D is alive ,well and thriving in the usa .
Mr. Berry – I appreciate your use of data. However, websites such as “bestplaces” are not official and don’t provide detailed methodology. For example, you referenced Boston and Burlington. Does that cover the entire MSA or is it limited to the cities? It refers to the “average cost of food and groceries.” What food? Health care is “calculated using the standard daily rate for a hospital room, and the costs of a doctor’s office visit and a dental checkup.” People who are insured pay for services based on rates negotiated by their insurers, rather than rates published by hospitals and other providers. The point is not that “bestplaces” has no value, only that it leaves a number of methodological issues unanswered.
As it happens, the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes “regional price parities.” Not surprisingly, it shows the Boston MSA as somewhat more expensive than the Burlington-S. Burlington MSA, the difference is not nearly what “bestplaces” reported (6% vs. 30%).
“the Boston MSA as somewhat more expensive than the Burlington-S. Burlington MSA,”
We can pick and choose our studies. Who is the Bureau of Economic Analysis and what is their methodology? Does it include the cost of housing? What is the “Burlington-S. Burlington MSA”?
Having lived for long periods of time in both greater Boston and greater Burlington, and being in both places regularly, I just don’t believe that the cost of living for a nurse in greater Boston is only “somewhat” higher than for a nurse who works at UVMMC. The cost of housing is probably the single biggest factor in the cost of living. Nurses in Burlington probably live not just in Burlington or South Burlington, or even just in Chittenden County, but also commute from Addison, Washington, Lamoille, Franklin, and Grand Isle counties, where housing is considerably less expensive than anywhere in greater Boston. So what’s the real average cost of living for a UVMMC nurse vs. a greater Boston nurse? I don’t think the Bureau of Economic Analysis tells us that, and I believe it’s got to be much less than “somewhat” lower.
Last week Seven Days article on non profit compensation, per board chair, CEO of UVM Medical Center, Dr. Brumstead, could be payed at 65% of the national median for compensation with bonuses, which it looks like he hit at $2.1 million, and that the remainder of his 15+ executive team is payed at the same standard, based on “market analysis”, and that the nurses are being paid their wage based on “market analysis”. SENATOR SANDERS, SEVEN DAYS, PLEASE ASK UVM ABOUT WHAT THAT “MARKET ANALYSIS” IS. Really, UVM back up that claim to restore public trust. I’ve heard same thing happening to MD’S at UVM, paying them at a low rate compared to national average, so they can’t recruit or retain MD’s, that’s why you can’t get an appointment with anyone and your doctor always changes. All this leads to bad care for patients. Priorities.
“We can pick and choose our studies.”
That’s true. Many people “pick and choose” studies. I don’t. I prefer official data that is objective, transparent and provided by professionals with decades of experience rather than an informal website.
“Who is the Bureau of Economic Analysis and what is their methodology?”
The fact that you don’t know means 1) that you didn’t bother to look it up yourself and 2) makes it curious that you would challenge BEA data. The BEA is an arm of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and the source for America’s economic accounts and official statistics such as GDP, personal income, etc. Not surprisingly, “bestplaces” lists BEA as a source. Wouldn’t you rather go the source?
What you did is not unusual or necessarily bad (i.e., refer to your personal experience or observations), but anecdotes cannot replace data produced with rigorous methodology.
https://www.bea.gov/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Ec…
Here is a paper on the subject from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve.
https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/re…
@knowyourassumptions the reason there is a shortage of nurses it’s because they are underpaid and go elsewhere-hard to attract any new/additional nurses if salaries aren’t in align with other places. I beg you to name a single nurse at the bedside that is ‘OVERPAID’ ! Do you want nurses caring for you that have so many patients they don’t have time to do a proper assessment and take care of you because of their patient load? I doubt it
Except . . .
I asked whether the the comparison you cite (Boston MSA v. Burlington-So.Burlington MSA) is relevant to the question at hand, i.e., does it actually show that the cost of living for a nurse working at a hospital in Boston is only 6% higher than that of a statistically average nurse working at UVMMC, where the UVMMC nurse may be living in Ferrisburgh, South Hero, Cambridge, Monkton, or Fairfield, where his or her housing costs are possibly half, or less, of the Boston nurse.
You sidestepped the question in your typically high handed way by just demanding that the BEA data must be accepted.
“You sidestepped the question in your typically high handed way by just demanding that the BEA data must be accepted.”
Nice try. You conveniently ignored the core issue. Which data set is reliable.
I have one of the most widely accepted sources in the world.
You got nothing…
Do all Boston nurses live in Boston or is it possible they live in some of the less expensive suburbs and commute in as well. I don’t get you point here.
@ Hoffer:
No, it is you who ignores the core issue here. You seem to argue that the cost of living for a UVMMC nurse is the same as for a Boston nurse. We all know that that’s an absurd proposition, Boston being one of the most expensive areas of the country. Yet you continue to argue for it, citing statistics for “Boston MSA” v. “Burlington-S.Burlington MSA.” Does your data actually show that the cost of living for a Boston nurse v. a UVMMC nurse is the same? You refuse to answer, bc you know it’s not.
@ Philo:
Any housing within commuting distance of Boston is way more expensive than housing within commuting distance of Burlington.
“You seem to argue that the cost of living for a UVMMC nurse is the same as for a Boston nurse.”
Never said that. And it’s not “my” data. It’s from the BEA.
I really don’t care that you refuse to accept official data. Gotta go to work.
Any housing within commuting distance of Boston is way more expensive than housing within commuting distance of Burlington.
That is simply not true.
It seems the contentions here are that nurses need more pay so they will be in line with pay for nurses elsewhere, and thus more nurses will seek jobs in Burlington and remain. That is reasonable, but one must use cost of living differences (+ and -) if one is using other areas to compare pay to. the salaries paid to doctors and nurses and other staff, is the largest expense driver for health care and health insurance, so if a union is seeking more for their members, it is reasonable to use good data to show why this is justified. Whatever the stated $42/hr pay in Boston area is equal to in Burlington area equates to, given the differences in cost of living additions and subtractions, that would be a fair pay rate.
“That is simply not true.”
Really?
Here’s greater Boston: $600,000
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-places…
http://realestate.boston.com/buying/2018/0…
May 2018: The median sales price of a single-family home in Greater Boston rose to a record high of $612,000 last month, a 3.7 percent increase from April 2017. Condo prices also hit a record high for the month, with a 14.2 percent jump taking the median price from $520,000 to $593,629.
Here’s greater Burlington and northwest Vermont: $300,000
https://www.zillow.com/burlington-vt/home-…
https://www.hickokandboardman.com/vermont-…
What’s your data?
Housing is twice as expensive in greater Boston as in northwest Vermont.
“Here’s greater Boston: $600,000”
Your own citation says otherwise. The one with the median price in all the surrounding towns shows over 40 towns at less than $400,000.
There is no doubt that some housing is more expensive in Boston. But based on what you provided, it is not accurate to make a blanket statement that “Housing is twice as expensive in greater Boston as in northwest Vermont.”
One more thing. The Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) publishes “Fair Market Rents for all counties and metropolitan statistical areas. Here are the 2018 figures for the Boston & Burlington MSAs. Last I checked they used the 45th percentile (just below the median). Note: I don’t think HUD’s methodology is optimal, but it’s the same everywhere so the numbers are apples to apples.
One bedroom
$1,421 Boston
$1,121 Burlington
Two bedroom
$1,740 Boston
$1,442 Burlington
Boston is certainly higher, but not nearly twice as high.
Perhaps there are aspects of the Boston and Burlington markets beyond cost of living that account for some of the difference in median nurse pay. While Doug Hoffer is using superior data, interpretations may vary. Again, I think this is a flawed way to determine fair compensation, but…
I think Portland, ME is a closer analog than Boston for Burlington in terms of its general qualities (population, region, major medical center, je ne sais quoi). To add to this ongoing Assumptions/Hoffer debate (using Hoffer’s dataset from BEA), regional price parity between Portland and Burlington are pretty close (101 and 103.2 respectively). Looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median hourly wages for nurses in Portland and Burlington are $32.30 and $32.01 respectively. If this were the only analysis I used, I would determine that UVM nurses are reasonably compensated.
Or use Worcester, MA if you want a more favorable outcome for nurses. Small city with the same cost of living according to BEA, but nurse median hourly wage is $38.45. In this example our nurses need a 20% raise.
Conclusions? I hope the UVM nurses get a fair and reasonable raise. Also, if we keep this going we will definitely solve this complex issue within the confines of an internet comments section (sarcasm).
Sean L — “I think Portland, ME is a closer analog than Boston for Burlington in terms of its general qualities (population, region, major medical center, je ne sais quoi).”
A reasonable comparison (and thanks for digging into the data). But there are other factors, including opportunity. Here are the number of registered nurses in each MSA.
2,370 Burlington
4,520 Portland
43,150 Boston
122,780 NYC
This matters because the competition is based in part on where the jobs are (along with wages). Not surprisingly, there are considerably more annual openings in NYC and Boston (from both growth and replacement) than in Burlington or Portland.
Moreover, most people are in relationships (or at least share housing) so household income is not usually the same as a nurses income so our cost of living musings are of limited value. Obviously, wages can’t be based on the personal circumstances of employees, but a 30% higher wage for the nurse in a two-income household is likely to be a significant consideration for a couple looking to relocate (especially since the spouse or partner’s income will also be higher in Boston or NYC).
Five of Hoffer’s (publicly paid, supposedly non-partisan position as public auditor) eight comments on this thread, are partisan comments advocating for the employee side of a private employment-employer issue, posted during work (i.e., taxpayer paid) hours. 3:15 pm, 12;25 pm, 8:29 am, 12:38 pm, 1:01 pm.
As stated below, it seems like Portland ME is a reasonable comparison for wages for a nurse…one must use cost of living as a reasonable comparison when seeking wage parity in comparing one groups wage to a similar group as a basis for seeking wage increases. I just don’t see where or how a Burlington area nurse could justify a 20% raise – 5% perhaps, but not 20% plus. They should strike if they feel they can get a hefty raise, but on same note, the nurses should be willing to accept that they could be locked out or others take their jobs, or accept a reasonable and small pay raise to out them in parity with cities in the region with similar cost of living numbers.
“Five of Hoffer’s (publicly paid, supposedly non-partisan position as public auditor) eight comments on this thread, are partisan comments advocating for the employee side of a private employment-employer issue, posted during work (i.e., taxpayer paid) hours. 3:15 pm, 12;25 pm, 8:29 am, 12:38 pm, 1:01 pm.”
My goodness. This is really sad, although not the first time. Instead of dealing with the facts, you attack the messenger with bogus allegations.
3:15 PM was on a Sunday
12:25 PM was during my lunch
8:29 AM was just before I started work
12:38 PM was during my lunch
1:01 PM was during my lunch
Do you really think people buy this crap? You are embarrassing yourself.
New survey: Vermont best state to live in.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/americas-b…
But remember, folks, according to the Auditor, these surveys ain’t worth s___. cuz they don’t “provide detailed methodology.”
Except . . . this one uses 48+ sources of data, including federal and state government sources. You know, the “official” ones.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/cnbcs-top-…
And by the way, it looks like the survey Mr. Berry used to show the cost of living difference between Burlington and Boston https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/… was in fact a very well-sourced comparison. Mr. Hoffer trashed it because it didn’t support his thesis that the cost of living in Boston is only “somewhat” higher than in Burlington, which is an absurd proposition on its face.
“Except . . . this one uses 48+ sources of data, including federal and state government sources. You know, the “official” ones.”
Your reading of the CNBC methodology was superficial.
1) It doesn’t provide details (we don’t how they weighted the component parts of each category or what time frames they used).
2) Some built in assumptions may not bear directly on outcomes, but are used because they “resonate with business.” Fisher addressed this “Grading Places.” You can’t assume that something correlates with a particular outcome; you have to prove it.
3) Certain statements are inaccurate. For example, “Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business…” Even in manufacturing the average cost of fuels and electricity is less than 2.5% of total costs.
4) They assume regulation is bad regardless of whether it protects public health, consumers or the environment.
And so on. Enough said.
“And by the way, it looks like the survey Mr. Berry used to show the cost of living difference between Burlington and Boston https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/ was in fact a very well-sourced comparison. Mr. Hoffer trashed it because it didn’t support his thesis that the cost of living in Boston is only “somewhat” higher than in Burlington, which is an absurd proposition on its face.”
Your anger has affected your reading comprehension. I did not trash it. This is what I said.
“The point is not that “bestplaces” has no value, only that it leaves a number of methodological issues unanswered.”
Furthermore, it was not my “thesis that the cost of living in Boston is only “somewhat” higher than in Burlington.” That was the conclusion of the BEA – I provided a link, along with a scholarly article on the subject.
I lean to sources I can trust. I guess we have different standards.
The sources that you choose to trust are the ones that you believe support your leftist opinions, Mr. Auditor. Many of us recognize this pattern. Good day, sir.
Hoffer sez:
“. . . the CNBC methodology 1) doesn’t provide details (we don’t how they weighted the component parts of each category or what time frames they used). 2) Some built in assumptions may not bear directly on outcomes, but are used because they “resonate with business.” Fisher addressed this “Grading Places.” You can’t assume that something correlates with a particular outcome; you have to prove it. 3) Certain statements are inaccurate. For example, “Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business…” Even in manufacturing the average cost of fuels and electricity is less than 2.5% of total costs. 4) They assume regulation is bad regardless of whether it protects public health, consumers or the environment. And so on. Enough said.”
But that very same CNBC survey is reliable enough for Lauren Glenn Davitian to cite in the opening line of her letter to the editor in today’s 7D:
“CNBC recently recognized Vermont as the best place to live in the United States . . .”
You’ll need to set her straight at the next Party Congress, Doug.