Well to paraphrase Garrison Keillor regarding Lake Wobegon – “it has been slow this week down to the State Capital.”
After a thug fest of pushing through an irresponsible reckless budget followed by name calling to the RC Bishop and threats to the church’s nonprofit status – the Speakah issued an email edict to all republican reps and told them to be silent and there was silence! E-mails by reps immediately ceased and inflammatory ranting by tea baggers has been tepid. All appears quiet in Concord.
Perhaps it was planned to lessen the intensity and slow things down, but after a two week hiatus – the lower house of the NH General Court was called back to Concord. This past Wednesday, Representatives were serenaded by bag pipers (Tartan Day) and except for resignations by a couple of non-apologetic republican members, the only political act to speak of was a clever game of word smithing where we learned a fee is not a fee – it is now a tuition!
A FEE BY ANY OTHER NAME…
SB 66 which had been on the consent calendar having passed easily in committee was pulled and amended on the floor. Reason – it called for a fee (Tea Bag talk: fee = tax). The present gang of radical extremists in control apparently refuses to vote for anything that has a fee or tax attached – so the amendment changed the word fee to tuition and then all was right and the bill passed by a voice vote. But don’t be tricked – a fee by any other name is still a fee!
This is just one clearer example of this crowd’s understanding – or perhaps lack of understanding on how New Hampshire has been operating for over a hundred years. NH’s entire revenue system is for the most part based on the Property Tax, a couple of Business Taxes and a ton of fees to pay for designated programs. The System has been in place for a long time and was crafted by past republican controlled frugal Yankee Legislatures.
Among the best examples of this is the Highway Betterment Fund which has now been cut $45 million ($90m for the biennium) by the GOP Radical Extremists. Last session the House increased the fee for vehicle registrations to specifically fund bridge repairs and pave highways (including city & town roads. However – now thanks to the GOP Radical Extremists we will be on a 28 year road paving cycle! Yeah – once a road is paved – it won’t be paved again for 28 years – a giant step backwards! These funds used to go to cities & towns – so now when your local taxes go up because there will be no state assistance to fill potholes – thank a republican rep. Note: no democrat voted for this budget!
DON’T LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY
I am now convinced that the more things change – the more they stay the same, and that this crowd will continue to follow their less than factual play book.
Last election – the republicans did an effective job of linking NH Government with their counterparts on the federal level in Washington DC. Consequently, people believed that NH spending was out of control and like “Heney Penny” was told that the financial sky was falling! Regardless of the fact that there was a global recession going on, and that all the national experts said how NH was being better managed than most other states and countries.
So now – following the same game plan of why let truth get in the way of a good story – they have linked spending & the deficit in Washington with spending in NH. Yes today’s mantra is “we have a spending problem!” So what if the elderly, mentally ill, children, poor, public employees and cities & towns get caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile they’ll just cut revenue streams – oops sorry – too bad! Social Darwinism rears its ugly head and Ayn Rand is now the tea baggers political patron saint!
The chant is “it’s not a revenue problem, it’s a spending problem!” This of course is just sophistry. Even one of my local papers (Eagle Times 4/16/11) stated in an editorial that “while catchy” such language is “hogwash.” The editorial went on to say that no one has the intestinal fortitude (their term was guts) to seriously look at both spending and revenue. NO – we’d rather play word games with tuition vs. fees and walk away from anything resembling being responsible!
STATES RIGHTS & THE CIVIL WAR!
I would like to end on a positive note – at least partially positive.
At the end of Wednesday’s session – Representative Campbell, (d) Nashua rose and addressed the House under Personal Consent. He pointed out how the Civil War started 150 years ago this week (April 12) and how New Hampshire has a long tradition of standing tall for justice.
He further brought our attention to the portrait of U.S. Senator John Parker Hale that is displayed in Reps Hall. Apparently Hale, a Republican, was the 1st senator elected as an abolitionist and was a key person in freeing the nation from slavery. Rep Campbell continued by providing an overview of how Hale’s family has served NH up to the present era and how former Republican Representative Jack Chandler was a direct descendant.
My own knowledge of Senator Hale is that he was raised and influenced by an uncle – John Parker – who had the distinction of being appointed by President Washington as the first United States Marshal for New Hampshire. Furthermore, how as a patriot, John Parker was the first person to read the Declaration of Independence aloud to the citizens of NH in 1776.
Some might find it odd that a Democrat Campbell would inform the 3:1 republican House about this early Republican – however, let us not forget that these radical extremists are not your father’s brand of republican either. In light of all this talk about nullification and States Rights – some wonder, especially in light of their vehemence against the federal government, if they would have voted to support the Union in ‘61!
