As COVID-related funds dry up, either by sunsetting or someone in Washington closing the valve, the amount of stupidity on full display is astounding. It’s mostly among the enemy camp, both in the ruling class and their supporters. Though gratefully relocated far from the most troubled city in the state, I still pay attention to its ongoing antics. Grokster Beth Scaer, a local, just shared a “wah wah wah” story titled “Health Director says federal cuts to Covid-era public health funding to hit Nashua hard.” To Nashua’s ruling class and every accomplice maintaining that status quo, I say, “Here is a little violin.”
This situation should be Old Hat to the average intelligent person that’s been paying attention for a while. Still, this article serves to offer some talking points that might help when dealing with what my dad calls a “simpleton.” Despite shortages of sought-after commodities in recent times, there is no shortage of simpletons in NH and Nashua has quite the surplus. On top of that, 2025 is an election year in City Hall. While it’s past this year’s window of opportunity in many government bodies to reform budgets, let’s plan for next time and consider a few examples at the private consumer level.
Many Christmases ago, I received a new Lexmark printer. While I was unwrapping it, my mom said, “Cut that bar code off the flap for the mail-in rebate.” I thought nothing of it at the moment as I did what I was told. Then, later, it came time to shop for a new cartridge, and I was floored by its price. I chose to retire the printer, and her words were, “They were practically giving away the printer.” I have two more examples to offer.
About 30 years ago, I bought one of those torch lamps in vogue at the time for about $13 at Lechmere. Using it as the primary light in my living room, the time to replace the bulb came sooner than expected. It was a very special bulb that cost almost half the original price of the lamp. Most certainly, this was by design.
My last example should resonate with the ever-growing diabetic population. We’ve been bombarded with ads from the Quaker Oats guy and other well-known spokespeople for meters. How can we forget “check your blood sugar and check it often”? Welfare healthcare, commonly called “CMS” inside the state house and LOB, aggressively encourages its patients to get their (often) free (to them, not the taxpayer) meter. You, the reader, don’t need to be told, but the simpleton does. It’s the dependency on the ongoing supply of expensive test trips (often billed to CMS) that keeps the patients checking their blood sugar.
If your simpleton neighbor, relative or coworker doesn’t understand the consumer examples or is ready for you to extrapolate them to local government, let’s move on. Many years ago, out-of-towners in Rindge made an aggressive effort to facelift its rural character. One of the NRPC’s “hey little girl, I got candy” tactics was a GRANT to expand the police force. In a town with just a $3M operating budget, the newly hired police chief wanted to take the bait, but some very attentive locals weren’t having any of it. I won’t get too deep into the weeds of that story. Still, the simpletons were incapable of thinking far enough into the future when grant money stops being available to cover the compensation of the new officers hired. What is the town supposed to do at that point? Fire those officers and accept the consequences? I’ve heard stories of other towns purchasing a new fire truck with grant money, but refusing to consider its maintenance plan’s current and future cost, which was much more expensive than just a few oil changes at Jiffy Lube.
When towns, cities, and even states “take the bait,” seasoned gaslighters like Senator Twitley and Rep Telerski just mark their calendars and lie in wait for that amount of time. Then they unleash their vitriol at the planned time, both at the mic and on social media. Plan ahead. Have conversations with people outside the echo chamber while the Dems are currently spewing their misguided talking points. Recruit the apolitical to do the same in their spheres of influence. The time to start building that “Amway Army” to fight the enemy “Borg Collective” is now.
Post-script edit: It’s come to my attention that the grants proffered in Rindge were HUD grants and that town voted to not belong to the SWRPC or have any contact with them.
