I like to see citizens getting involved in the process, but only a Democrat would run against another Democrat on a platform of more taxes. 

From the Union Leader

What drove Kathryn Forry, 67, a retired school teacher and education program coordinator from Jaffrey, to run for governor in a primary against ultra-popular two-term incumbent John Lynch?

Taxes.

She’s clearly a one-issues candidate, and unfortunately for her it’s the wrong issue.  She wants broad based taxes for New Hampshire to offset the current system, which she claims is unfair.  Well, I’ll admit that taxation is unfair.  As to whether the current system of business and property taxes vs. Income and additional sales taxes is more unfair, I’ll have to disagree.  We’ve had the existing system for a long time, and until recently it’s worked to our advantage…

The “recently” part of this problem is more a product of unbalanced thinking in State government.  First judges insisting that cash is what makes a public school education adequate is simply absurd.  This has been proved wrong in New Hampshire, across the US, and even on a global scale.  Money does not create academic success in the public school system.  It creates more limos for NEA reps and more NEA contributions to Democrat’s running for public office.

Locally this debate has facilitated a decade of funding battles which have in fact provided most of us with–if not an adequate education–then at least an expensive lesson about who wins this debate.  Trial lawyers.  What’s really amusing (at least to me) is that the Democrat parties second biggest campaign contributors (Teacher’s Unions are number one) just happens to be trial lawyers.   While Shaheen is cranking on Sununu for taking money from oil companies, she’s rolling in more campaign cash from unions and trial lawyers.   Probably kick backs from the energy deregulation scuffle, and all the Claremont lawsuits.  You screw a few taxpayers, I screw a few taxpayers, and we can call it even. 

This all started with Governor Shaheen (D-Harvard), and it’s been snowballing ever since.  But implementing a broad based tax will never lower any other taxes enough to be of any value because the current State government is already behind on the payments for their new budget.  They couldn’t even come up with enough nerve to ask mom and dad (that’s us) for a raise on their allowance–they just charged it instead.   Of course had they asked, they would all be out on their rear-ends.  So given these simple truths what possible incentive would they have to offset this new tax burden in any significant way, and how long would it be before we were paying just as much for property taxes, and paying all the new broad based taxes on top of that?

I’d give it two years tops.

Giving the State more mandates to tax will send the wrong message if small government and sensible management is our objective.  And if the New Hampshire advantage still means anything, we had better be thinking small government and sensible management.  The answer–to steal a much abused phrase since the passing of William F.Buckley, is to stand athwart the budget yelling STOP!  The only way we will prevent bigger budgets and more wasted spending, is to refuse to finance it.  While Kathryn Forry should be commended for engaging in the process, I question her sanity for thinking that a State which prides itself on having no State income tax, in a year when the budget is out of control, would feel inclined to advance her candidacy.  Although she is running as a Democrat.

I take it all back.  She’s got a shot at the nomination.