GOP members of the NH House ready budget cuts

not going to listen

Dems taking GOP input?

At a press conference held yesterday, Minority Leader Sherm Packard, along with a large group of fellow NH House Republicans, released the following document outlining a proposed series of budget cuts totalling $181.9 million that they will introduce should the budget fail to pass today.

“House Republicans Offer Cost-Saving Budget Alternatives”

Concord-House Republican Leader Sherm Packard (Londonderry) stood with HB 1 & HB 2 Republican House Conferees today to discuss the impending budget vote and to propose  several alternatives.

“Representatives Kurk and Scamman offered several spending reductions in the conference committee budget, some were accepted and most were ignored,” stated Packard.  “The fact of the matter is that budgets across the country have seen an average 2% decrease in their state spending and the Democrat majority in Concord has increased state spending by an unconscionable 7.7%.”

“Republicans were not fully involved in this budget process and while a suggestion or two may have been accepted, there are no significant and meaningful cuts in state spending which would defer the need for the additional taxes and fees that Democrats added in the last hours of conference,” added Republican Conferee Representative Neal Kurk (Weare).

No less than a dozen fees were increased, in some cases doubled, with the implementation of several tax plans including tightening belts for LLCs, increasing the Rooms & Meals tax, increasing the tobacco tax for the fourth time in five years and adding a new tax on gambling winnings.

“I am disappointed by these tax and fee increases,” said Republican Conferee Alternate, Rep. Doug Scamman (Stratham).  “We hurt businesses and we hurt the cities and towns of our state.  This is not the New Hampshire way.”

Republicans will be offering a continuing resolution to keep state government going at a fiscally responsible level, should the massive spending and taxing increases contained in House Bills 1 & 2 fail to pass the House in session on June 24 and call on all their colleagues to support this plan. 

 Here are the specific proposed cuts:

 

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“Silent Majority No More” anti-propaganda rally at WMUR tonight at 9 PM!

This evening, ABC will be airing an “infomercial” for Obama to sell us his Nationalized Health Care Plan. They have billed this as a “Conversation on Healthcare” and yet they are not allowing the other side of the “conversation” to be heard. Just like the Russian Government run news organization TASS, ABC is becoming a … Read more

Scenes from today’s Concord Tea Party

While the big spenders in Concord may have passed the budget today, they did so while listening to the loud boos and jeers from a crowd of 200+ attending today’s "It’s the Spending, Stupid!" Tea Party rally in front of the Statehouse. With the windows of the building open, reports were that the crowd could … Read more

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

“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

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

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

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