It is Time for a Tax Revolt in New Hampshire

 Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell

With this news about all of the new taxes that are being proposed in New Hampshire is it any wonder that the residents of the state are beginning to get angry? It shouldn’t be news to anyone that Governor John Lynch and his cronies are spendaholics, yet he was voted in again partly do to inadequate leadership in the New Hampshire GOP which failed to properly promote the fiscally responsible Joe Kenney. There was however some gains made in the state house where Republicans won back 17 seats although they are still in the minority.

 Perhaps the seeds of a tax revolt in the state of New Hampshire have been sown. Maybe the residents of New Hampshire have finally had enough. As New Hampshire families tighten their belts due to the slowing economy they feel that it is time for the New Hampshire government to do the same. Sure. to give Governor Lynch a little credit, he has decided to cut down on some of his outrageous spending increases, but just like any other -holic he just can’t quite bring himself to quit. In his case he is a spendaholic. So the state will still be forced to raise more taxes and fees, a move that will ultimately slow the economy more and hurt New Hampshire residents during a time when they are already pinching pennies.

 Residents are becoming fed up with a state government that can’t control itself and a tax revolution may be in it’s infancy. It will start small but it has already started and it began before the last election. However there wasn’t enough momentum then but is grows and grows. Maybe it will reach maturity by the next election. But this revolution won’t just happen from without, this revolution is looking to happen from the inside out. New Hampshire residents will start to look to take their government back and reinstall the New Hampshire advantage that Governor Lynch has hijacked.

Ed Naile of Deering chairs the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, advising local groups hoping to institute first-ever budget committees, kill construction bonds or run slates of candidates for selectmen or school board.

“We’re not a political party, but I can tell you a lot of people are asking us about running for office,” Naile said. “I think you’re going to see all but the best of the major spending proposals get shot down at March meetings.”

 Tax cap petitions are circulating in many communities and they are gaining support. In Manchester a petition was received that should have had a tax cap question put on the ballot last election, but the city said fuck you to the will of the people and refused to let the issue be voted on.

Republican Mayor Frank Guinta of Manchester tried and failed to get the Democrat-controlled board of aldermen to put a cap before voters this fall.

“There were enough petition signatures, but they voted to do it next November,” Guinta said. “A cap would force the city to choose priorities and find cost efficiencies. In a recession, you can’t spend what you don’t have. A vote of 10 out of the 14 aldermen could still override the cap in case of emergencies.”

 But we are growing louder, we must make our voices heard. We must rise above the clamor of these tax infidels for they are not done. The voters in Concord are about to get a big fuck you from their officials.

Concord officials filed suit recently to keep the matter from ever coming to a vote. He thinks they will lose.

“They’re rightly scared of this,” Naile said. “They made a mistake. When it finally goes to vote next November, the economy will be even worse. We’ll be whipping up our troops over it.”

 We can’t stand for this type of insolence to our wishes. It is time for us to be heard, we will not be stopped. We can take back our state. I am not alone, the movement is growing and we will be heard one way or the other.

Mike Biundo chairs the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition and said the taxpayer rights movement is huge and growing.

“In addition to Concord and Manchester, we’ve been in touch with folks in Londonderry and Merrimack about caps,” he said. “Some folks in Andover are interested. The one in Somersworth (this month) only failed by 8 percent. The recession is fueling it. People are looking for tax relief.”

  We are told that if we want to cut spending we are irresponsible but it is not you and I who are irresponsible. When I look at the state government that is where I see the irresponsible behavior, that is where I see waste, that is where I see a big bloated government bureaucracy so engorged that is can’t ween itself properly from it’s addiction. It is time for us to hold an intervention and make the state government understand that it has a problem. It will be for the government’s own good, as well as ours.

Some see the tax revolt as inevitable.

“There is a perfect storm brewing at school meetings next March,” warns Ted Comstock, director of the School Boards Association. “Voters have an expectation services will be maintained and expanded. They are going to want more out of fewer resources. The only branch they can get back at is local government.”

 I smell revolution in the air.