A Ward 3 political watchdog called attention to the Americans for Tax Reform PLEDGE that Tim Lang signed, as did Denise Ricciardi. If you watch the video of the January 7 meeting of the Senate, you will observe Denise asking Tim if HB451 is a TAX, to which he denied, and I mentioned this discussion in my earlier article. What’s interesting is that the Senate went into recess, as they often do during the discussion of such contentious bills, but then came out of recess, deceiving viewers into expecting the roll call to happen right after. Denise asking that question was clearly an orchestrated stunt executed at the last minute. Tim and Denise think they didn’t vote for a new tax, just like Melanie Levesque thinks she didn’t vote for an income tax.
Now, about the governor, she took that same pledge. I’m not here to question if she will implement the Denise, Tim, and Melanie modus operandi of denial. Unfortunately, I predict that she will sign it for another reason,… spite.
Most of the Senate endorsed Chuck Morse, but Denise endorsed Kelly Ayotte, and so did Rochefort. Kelly joined Denise on her campaign trail 3 elections ago, and the reciprocity has already been established and maintained. As for Rochefort, a political insider who’s often called by his initials casually said “they’re friends” when I ran into him in the LOB last spring and made small talk in the reception area. Because her pre-primary endorsers voted for the paint tax, a weak R would sign it “just because.” I’m confident Chuck Morse would veto it, but there’s another matter of spite worth mentioning.
Don’t be fooled by that cheerful holiday tweet with Queen Sharon and Regina standing on each side of Kelly in front of the executive council chamber fireplace, all smiling at the camera. People make jokes about the fury of women scorned by men, but think about all the women crossed by other women! How many of them have vendettas, petty or not? Kelly campaigned and got elected on getting down on her knees at the Group 2 altar. I should use the word GENUFLECT because it’s Kevin’s favorite word and he voted the right way on HB451. So did Senator Gray. Senator Gray, the Finance chair, was NOT a fan of that Group 2 pork, and he even proposed a compromise that appeared in NH Journal. Sharon and Regina met regularly to push back with a routine “Governor, we cannot afford what you want,” like parents dealing with a petulant kid.
Signing HB451 would be a way to stick it to Queen Sharon, Regina, and Senator Gray, don’t you think? Tax pledge be damned, she’s got $2M in the bank already, perhaps more by now. She will sadly buy her way out of any expensive consequences of fallout.
“And one more thing,” as Columbo would say, the Group 2 matter is unfortunately ongoing. Mayor Rep Bordes, or Rep Mayor Bordes, depending on how JR wants us to address him, sponsored HB1170, which needs to die. Please do your part by clicking here, selecting January 14, and Executive Departments to register OPPOSITION to HB1170, because it’s time to put the kibosh on any more Group 2 stuff.
