Franklin City Council takes first step towards Tax Cap override!

GraniteGrok has learned that a "sense of the council" resolution– a test vote on the budget– taken during last night’s Franklin City Council meeting that would bring new taxes in excess of what that city’s Tax Cap would allow, has passed. According to a message posted on Facebook by Franklin Mayor Ken Merrifield, the council overrode … Read more

Taush’s STEWARD: From mail to radio to TV.

Leaving no media aside, Fred Tausch’s STEWARD of Prosperity fiscal restraint message machine now hits the TV airwaves. If there was anybody left in the state of New Hampshire that HASN’T heard the anti-stimulus, anti-spending, pro-transparency, anti-Obamanomic perspective being delivered with the cold hard economic facts and reasoning combined with a somewhat biting sense of … Read more

Wednesday June 24. The BIG day for NH. IT’S THE SPENDING, STUPID!!!!

Our friends at CPR Action remind us that this week is an important one down in Concord. After all the lengthy debate and careful consideration, arm twisting and deal making… oh, wait, that’s the gay marriage process. Never mind. The big news is that this week the NH House and Senate will make final votes … Read more

“New Taxes Galore”

house of cards

Balanced Budget… Or House of Cards?

Guest post by State Senator Jeb Bradley

After two marathon weeks of discussions between House and Senate members charged with negotiating a budget, early Friday morning a package emerged.  Its fate is uncertain as the full House and Senate must pass it before it reaches Governor Lynch for signature. Counting votes before the June 24th Session will be almost as daunting as reaching this compromise — anything can and may well happen.

Let’s first focus on what is in this package and what is not, then on the impact it will have on people and businesses, and lastly how this budget will affect New Hampshire’s future.

Like any compromise, this budget is a mixed bag of good news and bad news.  Several very controversial new taxes and tax hikes that had previously been approved by either the House or Senate, were dropped. These include the capital gains tax, death tax, gas tax, insurance premium tax, and a specific increase in business taxes by loss of a tax credit. All of these taxes would have directly undermined New Hampshire’s ability to attract businesses, investors, or visitors to our state. Also dropped from the final package were expanded gambling and a controversial plan to use toll revenue for highway improvements all over the state. Several taxes rumored for late consideration never made the final package including an entertainment tax and a tax on mortgage re-financing.

There are new taxes galore however.  The tobacco tax will go up by 45 cents — the fourth hike in five years.  Non-smokers may generally be callous to the impact this tax has, but smokers, especially low income people, justifiably believe they are carrying far more than their fair share of the tax burden.  This increase will also undermine the cross border advantage New Hampshire has long enjoyed – attracting visitors to purchase tobacco products here and fill our revenue coffers. Convenience stores near the borders will be impacted, and meeting our revenue goals with this tax hike is questionable.

Any gambling winnings will be taxed at 10% including those garnered outside of New Hampshire. Will we be sending auditors to Foxwoods and Las Vegas — or charitable events in New Hampshire — to guarantee tax collection?  Under those circumstances, is the $14 million of anticipated revenue farfetched?

 

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When seconds count, the protectors will be there in minutes…

As I’ve noted before, when pondering instances of tragic school campus slaughter, or any mass shooting incident for that matter, I always come up with the same conclusion: The only defense against some random nut crashing into a classroom or other place with guns blazing is to have somebody in the room packing heat and trained to shoot back. Sure, … Read more

Scandals? Whatchewtalkin’bout? We don’t see nuthin’…

 

Obama

Gangster Gov’t

Guest post by Nancy Morgan [Originally published at RightBias.com]

Silent Scandals

Most Americans love a good scandal. Schadenfreude, the taking of pleasure from the misfortunes of others, is a basic element of human nature. Granted, not the prettiest, but nonetheless, there is something deeply satisfying about seeing the mighty brought low, the arrogant humbled and the wrongdoer getting his just dessert. A reminder to us all that misfortune is not ours alone.
 
Mainstream media obliges and indulges this base emotion, as ever more ‘news’ concentrates on he said, she said imbroglios. Ratings soar as the latest Palin/Letterman twist is breathlessly reported. Internet news providers join in by posting the most lurid and shocking aberrations of the unlucky few who had the misfortune to get caught in what the media decides is a ‘scandal’.
 
Oddly enough, despite the guaranteed ratings that accompany most scandals, the media is choosing to ignore what many consider major scandals – or would consider major scandals if they were actually reported. But they’re not. The media, working in tandem with liberals, oops, progressives, now decide which scandals get coverage, raising the question, ‘Is it still a scandal if its not reported?’ Inquiring minds want to know.
 
In just the last month, an unusual number of what were formerly regarded as scandals went unnoticed and largely unreported by the old media, to wit:
 
Obama recently fired an Inspector General of Americorps, giving him one hour to resign or be fired. This, in direct contradiction to legislation Obama co-sponsored as Senator, requiring 30 day notice and an explanation. Obama, after railing at Fox News for their audacity in pointing this out, declared that he didn’t fire Gerald Walpin because he was investigating a friend and contributor of Obama. No, he was firing him because the Inspector General was ‘confused and disoriented’.
 
Needless to say, if Obama took the time to personally fire everyone who was ‘confused and disoriented’, he’d start with his own press secretary and then go on to, well, I digress.
 

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Washington’s financial figleaf

WASHINGTON’S FINANCIAL FIG LEAF

So, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and the Obama Administration have now made a proposal for financial regulatory reform. Clearly, such a proposal was very much needed. But the proposal that the U.S. Treasury has now presented is sorely off target. It is neither comprehensive enough, nor does it address the core problems that everyone on Wall Street knows exist. It merely tinkers on the margins.

Until the fundamental problems are addressed, all we have been given is a fig leaf. This is dangerous as it has the potential of lulling us into a false sense of complacency. We have been here before with smaller crisis (such as with the Long Term Capital fiasco) and nothing was learned. Let’s not repeat our mistakes.

One of the principal reasons for the current financial crisis was the gross failure of the existing regulatory institutions. President Obama himself openly acknowledged this when he announced his reform package. Regulatory reform has been very much needed for a long time and very little has been done to fix the problems that plague our financial institutions.

The Geithner plan calls for a massive expansion of the powers of the Federal Reserve. Without a doubt, of the financial regulators that are examining the banks, the Federal Reserve is the most sophisticated. But, this is off a very low base. The Fed’s regulators are too young, inexperienced, under compensated and hardly the best we can get in the financial markets.

Nor is it clear…

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Climate Report: “It contains no new research, but it paints a fuller and darker picture of global warming…”

Bike Week rain

Once again, it’s Bike Week here in Central New Hampshire, and like always, it’s all eyes on the weather. While some reports focus on the economy and its effect on this, the 86th annual occurrence of the world renowned event, make no mistake about it—the weather is what makes or breaks the week.

As I headed off to work Wednesday morning, the thermometer in the truck said it was 46 degrees outside and, a rare happening as of late—it wasn’t raining. Yes indeed, it’s Bike Week and, as those of us that have been here for any length of time, it ALWAYS deluges at least once during the event (on a good year) and, honest to goodness summer never really starts till the thing is over. This year is really no exception, except that is does seem cooler than some years past.

Enter Barack Obama, ready to rain on the already rained on parade. On the same day I noted 46 degrees, I also read about the Obama Administration’s newly released report regarding global warming… I mean, “climate change.” According to the AP story,

“Rising sea levels, sweltering temperatures, deeper droughts, and heavier downpours — global warming’s serious effects are already here and getting worse, the Obama administration warned on Tuesday in the grimmest, most urgent language on climate change ever to come out of any White House.”

Once again, we are being asked, en masse, to suspend disbelief and firsthand observation and facts in order to get with the program of drastic change prescribed as the fix.

And while the situation gets seemingly worse, nothing has really changed fact-wise since the Bush Administration issued its version of the report.

“The document, a climate status report required periodically by Congress, was a collaboration by about three dozen academic, government and institute scientists. It contains no new research, but it paints a fuller and darker picture of global warming in the United States than previous studies.”

 

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Recovery from the disaster in Concord IS possible, but it depends on good people getting active.

lifeline

 

Disaster in Concord

Guest post by Karen Testerman

NH’s General Court is proposing to tax anything that is moving or breathing.  However, you the taxpayer know their focus is misdirected.  The whole of the current administration is looking at the symptoms, what they term, "a lack of revenue."

However, the current economic disaster with a growing $150 million deficit is in reality a SPENDING problem. 

It is a sad commentary that the Governor continues to speak out of both sides of his mouth.  On the one hand he told the residents of this great state that we are facing a budget deficit and he would not approve further spending.  Oh, by the way that was several months ago while the corner office worked with both houses to make social reconstruction the number one issue in our state. 

Taking advantage of a self-created "crisis" to re-engineer the foundational institution of society to divert your attention, while the General Court passed spending measure after spending measure to create the current $150 million disaster.  One wonders what underlying activities are taking place while the attention is now focused on the self created "spending spree" crisis.

And now, to address the created budget deficit, the Governor and both houses are proposing tax increase after tax increase and other potential ONE TIME revenue resources like gambling to make up the difference.

However, any of you who sits at the kitchen table knows that if there isn’t enough coming in (revenue) then some how the spending (proposed budget) must be reduced.

 

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NH Democrats propose “fun tax”

Well, that’s not what they’re calling it, but it’s what they might as well call a tax that basically seeks a cut of anything that ordinary people might consider "fun." From James Pindell’s NH Political Report: State House abuzz over ‘entertainment tax’ concept CONCORD — Lobbyists and budget writers are abuzz over a last minute idea … Read more

Welcome to the Police States of America. It’s happening and it’s closer to home than you’d think…

.. Regular readers know that the rise of quasi-public "special operations groups" (SWAT teams or "SOG") within the Granite State law enforcement community has caught our attention. In this prior post about a raid in Bristol, NH involving some 20 masked police officers, I mentioned two other events involving overwhelmingly excessive force given the circumstances. One … Read more

The New Hampshire Disadvantage

Eugene Van Loan, Chairman of the Josiah Bartlett Center writes, on the state budget: Oh, gosh, another crisis in Concord. The Governor says we need to steal another $150 Million to plug the hole in the budget. Otherwise, we will have to plug it with gambling (the Senate’s preference) or a capital gains tax (the … Read more

Let’s import jobs into New Hampshire

LET’S IMPORT JOBS INTO NEW HAMPSHIRE

In a time of high unemployment, why isn’t NH doing more to promote job creation?

Despite all of our problems, America remains the most attractive market in the world for almost every product imaginable. In large part, this is why most American businesses don’t immediately think of exporting their products abroad – a major failing of ours. But foreign companies are well aware of the opportunities that exist in the U.S. markets. Anyone doubting this should immediately look at the auto industry. The U.S. still produces some of the best cars in the world. But, we do so primarily in the south, in such states as South Carolina, Kentucky, and Alabama and they bear the brand logos of BMW, Toyota, Honda, Infinity, etc.

And it is not just cars; Honda Aviation, for example, recently opened a new plant in North Carolina which will help offset that state’s loss of its old textile mills. Nor is it just manufacturing; the list of businesses is almost limitless, and includes high tech companies, software companies, call centers, etc. Indeed, without such businesses, American consumers would immediately encounter a steep bout of inflation and unemployment.

So here is the question: when Kia Motors or Hyundai were recently looking to open new assembly plants, why is it that no one tried to persuade them to build a plant in NH? With New Hampshire’s great lifestyle, low taxes, our high tech base and our business environment, our state should be an excellent destination for all kinds of business operations. More often than not, foreign businesses are looking to establish operations where the enabling business environment is considerably better than in their home countries. This usually means the U.S.A. It should also mean New Hampshire.

With New Hampshire’s economy softening, 

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Jeb Bradley: “Rumors swirl of a third tax stalking horse waiting in the wings…”

tax burden

Guest post by State Senator Jeb Bradley

The Great Tax Debate

The legislative session may be winding down rapidly but the greatest issue of all, the budget, is far from being resolved. The budget debate comes against the backdrop of a distressed economy with high unemployment rates and families and businesses struggling to make ends meet.  Will the conference committee on the budget make this situation worse?

Unfortunately, despite our Live Free of Die motto, this debate is not between those who would frugally limit government and those who would inexorably allow it to grow. Rather, it could be called the Great Tax Debate as various factions of the legislature seek to add their preferred tax hikes to a budget bursting with higher taxes and fees.

Why is New Hampshire in such a tax predicament? Some would argue the recession and falling revenues to state coffers is to blame. That’s only part of the story however, as Paul Harvey would say ‘the rest of the story’ is that spending in New Hampshire has increased dramatically.

New Hampshire’s current budget allowed total spending of $10.4 billion up from $9.36 billion in the prior budget. The budget the Senate recently passed proposes total spending of $11.6 billion and the House passed budget was only marginally lower. Bottom line: if this spending plan is ratified, total spending will have increased 23.8% over 3 budgets. It is hard to imagine that the average family or business in New Hampshire has seen their income increase by anything approaching that figure…..that is if they have any income left.

What makes these increases even more staggering is that spending is going down in other states around the country. The bi-partisan National Governor’s Association (www.nga.org) recently released a study that highlights an average 2.2% decline in state spending around the nation in 2009. Furthermore, our nation’s governors are recommending additional spending reductions of 2.5% this year.  But, not New Hampshire, as there is little disagreement among Democratic conference committee members that total spending should increase by $1.2 billion.

With the exception of a few spending reductions such as closing the Laconia State Prison,  the budget debate focuses almost exclusively on new or increased taxes. The House has passed a new tax on capital gains and estates, as well as increases on tobacco products, rooms and meals, insurance premiums, gambling winnings and gasoline.  The Senate has passed expanded gambling for additional revenue, as well as increased taxes on tobacco, rooms and meals, and new onerous business taxes. Both budgets have numerous fee increases. Both budgets raid a fund paid into by doctors designed to keep medical malpractice rates in line. The $110 million raid of this fund will trigger an all but certain lawsuit which doctors stand an excellent chance of winning – because in reality it’s their money.  More cynically both budgets underfund to varying degrees the state’s historic commitment to assisting towns and cities. So property taxpayers are going to be left out in the cold without a seat in this game of musical tax chairs.

Sound chaotic and controversial? It is and deadlines are looming.

 

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Liberty & Demagogues. Oil & Water.

Khomeini.Obama Wright

What is a demagogue? According to the encyclopedia, a demagogue is a politician skilled in oratory, flattery, and invective, evasive in discussing vital issues, promising everything to everybody, appealing to the passions rather than the reason of the public, and arousing racial, religious, and class prejudices.

History tells us that personal liberty is most often the demagogue’s first victim, particularly when popular sentiment is whipped up against some internal or foreign enemy. In other words, liberty and demagogos cannot coexist. The ancient Greek word "demagogos" means simply a spokesman for the people or, more pejoratively, a leader of the mob. “Modern usage implies rhetorical gifts and the ability to arouse an audience, usually with the promise of radical change.”

We have been warned of three kinds of people: charlatans, demagogues, and politicians. And, more often than not, someone will rise up who is all three of these characters wrapped into one. Our liberty is the most precious possession. Many will aim to rob us of it and, by so doing, add to their own power, while trying to force us to become robots. We need to be vigilant and guard our liberty with our very lives.

Desperate situations spawn desperate measures. Not having learned the lessons of history, many people will turn to charlatans, demagogues, and politicians with dire consequences. Just a few old and recent cases of this tragic misstep should warn us not to be victimized in the future by frauds.

From the primitive land of the Arabian Peninsula of over 14 centuries ago rose Muhammad, an illiterate hired hand of a rich widow Khadija, claiming that he was the bearer of a perfect life prescription from God—the Quran. He claimed humanity could do no better than to follow its precepts as well as to emulate Muhammad’s own life example for a guarantee of bliss and salvation. In exchange for this, people must embrace Islam—surrender—by surrendering their Liberty to Muhammad.

Question: Why would the All-Wise Lord choose an illiterate desert-dweller, of all the people in the world, to be his messenger? Why choose a man who couldn’t read or write, a man who, over the course of 20 years, claimed to be receiving periodic revelations from God and had to rely on others who could write to jot down his recollections? These recollections were recorded as the word-for-word literal utterances and commandments of God. Furthermore, a dozen versions of the book of Allah, the Quran, turned up and a fallible Caliph selected one of them and had the rest burned. Burning books has ever since been a companion to Islam’s mission.

To this day, in places where Islam rules, many books are banned, newspapers and magazines are systematically either censored or shut down, and other non-print media are methodically blocked. Then liberty, deeply cherished by democracies, is replaced by submission—unquestioning obedience and adherence to the dictates and precepts of the all-knowing and all-wise Allah.

 

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