The owner of my company is looking to expand—we need more space (even in the current economy)—and he is seriously considering moving out of New Hampshire.  When I asked him why he said, “well, New Hampshire has this tax on business, and because of how much we have to pay now, (it keeps getting more expensive) Massachusetts is becoming quite competitive as a possible location for us.”

I haven’t looked into just how much that tax is—it didn’t seem appropriate to ask the man, it is his money—but when a multi-million dollar company with 25 employees wants to grow into a bigger company with 35 employees—or 50—or 100, the last thing I want to hear it let’s grow to Massachusetts.  It’s a clear sign that something is wrong with the environment but it’s not the one the Democrats are wasting all their time trying to tend.  The good earth of New Hampshire has been spoiled by shortsighted liberal policies.

They just can’t see how less now can equal so much more later, particularly when it comes to taxes.  The democrat monopoly on policy has given New Hampshire a much bigger annual budget, more fees and taxes to try and pay for it, a big budget deficit despite those increases, laws that remove decision making from private business owners, and non-stop efforts to remove all kinds of behaviors from the towns and the people, and vest them with the State.  In a nutshell, we got more government and less freedom, and it is clear that we are losing (lost?) our new Hampshire advantage.   That may not be exactly what we were hoping for when we went to the ballot box in 2006, but we got it anyway.

If we are not careful, come November, we may help to finally give the nation exactly what we have had in New Hampshire these past two years; a near-dominant single party agenda that will be almost un-stoppable for the next two to four years.  An agenda of big government.   Two years of that can do plenty of damage.  And at the national level, where we can’t just stop by and speak our peace to ouo elected officers on the way to the grocery store–particularly with the new breed of Democrat politician that is less inclined than ever to listen to their own constituents until it’s time to get re-elected (and are more inclined to vote the party line; Hodes 98% /Shea-Porter 97%), what possible hope is there for our voices to be heard except at the ballot box?

There is no evidence that this march toward more government and less freedom will change if we do not act now. 

So I would advise caution to voters as we move towards November, voting at every level of government; even if—for reasons I can’t personally fathom–you think a Democrat majority is still a good thing, remember that too much of a “good thing” is always bad, and in the case of New Hampshire it has cost us our advantage.  

Democrat  policies from top to bottom—among every candidate—all favor more government, more regulation, more taxes, more restrictions, less trade, and more government control of things that are best left to the people.  They are not offering us more freedom they are asking us to let them take more of it.   In the course of American history freedom is the only thing that has made us economically strong, and only economic strength will help us maintain our dominant character–to fund new ideas about energy in the future, to innovate in ways that no other nation can match, to protect our national security, to help those who are truly in need.  You are welcome to disagree, but one thing is certain.  Once we give that power to the government, we will find it extremely difficult if we should ever desire to have it back.

I for one would take the risk of freedom over the oppression of government.

 “Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.”

Thomas Jefferson