New Hampshire Governor Claims He Will Veto a Gas Tax Increase

  Today the governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, declared that he would veto any budget that included the proposed 15 cent gas tax.

In very difficult economic times, the last thing we should do is increase the gas tax

  This is certainly good news, but it is only a beginning. One has to wonder if he would hold the same position if gas prices hadn’t skyrocketed since the new president was elected. Since the election, local gas prices have risen almost a dollar. If gas prices were the same $1.45 that they were when President Bush left office I would be willing to bet that he would support the tax increase but seeing how prices have soared since the Democrat has occupied the White House it is no longer politically viable to support a further increase in the price of gas. But at least he is doing the right thing on this issue.

  In his statement he declared that this is where he draws the line, but he did not say that he would oppose ALL tax increases, just the gas tax. If it is a bad idea to raise the gas tax during “difficult economic times” than wouldn’t it be a bad idea to raise ANY taxes during the same time?

  As I said, this is a good beginning but there are other taxes on the table besides the gas tax, and the governor refused to comment on these taxes, so we must look at what else is on the other side of that line that the governor has drawn. And there are more taxes there, including a $10 increase in the vehicle registration fee and toll increases, among others.

  The governor should declare that he opposes all of these tax increases also but the problem is, they were his idea. During tough economic times it is a bad idea to raise any taxes and take money away from the people who are trying to make ends meet. The governor admitted this while condemning the gas tax increase.

   Under the governor’s plan we will still be facing higher taxes just not as much as we originally thought. I suppose we are supposed to believe that he is doing us a favor, and he is in a way, but if the governor really cared about the taxpayers of New Hampshire he would cut his irresponsible spending increases during tough economic times and not raise ANY taxes.

  Of course we are not even sure that we can take the governor at his word. After all he has been telling us for five years that he opposed gay marriage only to do a reversal on that issue, how are we supposed to believe him now? He has shown us that he is not a man of his word and that he will succumb to party pressure. Once Democrats apply the pressure to the governor on the gas tax he will probably tuck his yellow tail between his legs and sign the gas tax increase into law.