Democracy for New Hampshire - Taxes

Obama hooks with false lure of tax breaks

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:57:38 -0400

Obama has hooked many with the false lure his tax plan helps them.
First of all, Obama’s liberal voting record clearly shows he has voted to raise taxes repeatedly(including raising taxes on the middle class).
Secondly, Obama, even currently, clearly favors some substantial taxes on the poor and middle class(such as high gasoline taxes---which obviously affect everyone---McCain has proposed a gas tax holiday while Obama vehemently opposes any such gas tax relief)
Third, Obama’s claim he will give 95% of Americans a “tax cut” is a mathematical fraud and impossibly because only 70% of Americans pay taxes.
Fourth, Obama’s high taxes will gore the poor and middle class deeply when:
A)High taxes cause employers to pay less in wages and health care benefits
B)High taxes cause prices to soar because tax costs are passed on to consumers
C)High taxes cause employers to close their doors because they no longer will be economically competitive---especially in today’s stressed economy.

Obama hooks with false lure of taxes

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:26:17 -0400

Iraq and Recession Report Release at Pease:

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:48:45 -0400

On Thursday, April 24, members of MoveOn.org Political Action in the Seacoast Region will release a new report, &q! uot;Iraq and Recession". The report focuses on groundbreaking poll numbers that show that voters in New Hampshire believe that the billions of dollars a week spent on Iraq war should be invested in economic priorities at home.

“Senator John E. Sununu has consistently voted with the President to spend half-trillion dollars on this endless war in Iraq, while ignoring the mounting economic pressures of voters here in New Hampshire. The billions per week we’re spending there could be invested in our faltering economy here at home,” said Timothy Horrigan, local MoveOn member. “It’s time to bring our troops home and use those same dollars for the priorities of most Americans--health care, clean energy, and job creation--to help those hurt by the impending recession.”

After the event, local MoveOn members will deliver the report to Sen. Sununu at his Seacoast Region office at the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.

SB-2 Website

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:42:19 -0400

I have built a website that is designed to allow people to do their own research on the subject of SB-2. My reason for building it, was that I found it very difficult to educate myself on the subject when I wanted to cast an informed vote. I decided that if there was a site where people could go and get unbiased information from both sides of the issue that it would be a good thing for everyone concerned.

I am not posting here to "promote" the site. I just want to let people know about it in case they need it. I also want to urge people to comment on it and to submitt other resources that I can put on the site to help other people. My Goal? To have one central location where people can go and become informed about both sides of the issue so they can easily get the information they need to cast an informed vote when they are asked to do so.

Thanks for reading this, and I look forward to your input.

Don Chase, Pittsfield, NH

sb2now.wordpress.com

Please help a native Vermonter understand the Granite State . . .

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:35:37 -0400

I am a new member of DFNH and a native Vermonter who moved to southern NH 18 months ago. To begin with, I'm an avid hunter and angler and frequent listener to talk radio as well as NPR. I am a registered independant who doesn't go for the politics of party but rather votes on issues which are important to me. I'm probably not what you would call your "average" DFNH member as a result.

Having said that, I would also like to add that I am a public school teacher and musician who is pro-public education and an advocate for the Arts as well as Environmental conservation. I'm extremely confused by some of this state's "traditions" regarding taxes, politics, etc. Specifically:

1) Members of our legislture, from what I understand, get something like $300 a year to do their job. Forgive me for my ignorance, but WHO can live on $300.00 a year?!?! The answer is NO ONE! So then, who can afford to be a NH legislator? It would appear that only those who are independantly wealthy. So we have a system where a bunch of rich people are making laws for the state. I wonder who will benefit from laws that are made exclusively by rich people?

Film screening: "Property Tax Relief vs 'The Pledge' - The NH Tax Story"

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:12:18 -0500

"Property Tax Relief vs 'The Pledge' - The NH Tax Story".

This is a very powerful video that will have a major impact across
the state once it is widely distributed. Here is a chance for you to be
one of the first to see it!

I hope you can make it.

Here are the times and places of the showings:

Monday November 26 at 7pm
Richard W. Black Recreational Center
48 Lebanon Street
Hanover

Tuesday November 27 at 5:30pm
Red River Theatres
Capital Commons Building
11 S. Main Street
Concord

Thursday November 29 7pm
Keene Public Library
60 Winter Street
Keene

Film screening: "Property Tax Relief vs 'The Pledge' - The NH Tax Story"

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:11:14 -0500

Film screening: "Property Tax Relief vs 'The Pledge' - The NH Tax Story"

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:10:25 -0500

Residents complain about 'view tax', call for board resignation

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:22:27 -0400

SOURCE: WBZ News

COLEBROOK, N.H. (AP) -- The dispute over New Hampshire's so-called view tax prompted a call for the head of a state tax board to resign.

It happened Tuesday night, at the end of a three-hour public forum in front of two state boards that deal with taxation. Stewartstown resident Richard Simon told state Assessing Standards Board Chairman Betsey Patten she should quit.

"The basis for this request is primarily your total disregard - some might possibly even describe it as disdain - for the overwhelming taxpayer feedback last year on the contentious issue of the use of the view tax," he said.

Patten, a legislator from Moultonborough, did not comment.

Samson charged that Patten "ignored" the signatures of more than 6,000 people last year who signed a petition requesting the board "address this aggravating problem in the calculation of the statewide property tax."

Raise My Gas Tax...Please

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:43:42 -0400

Source: NHInsider

By: Chaz Proulx

Republican Representative Fred King of Colebrook has filed a bill to raise the NH gas tax by six cents a gallon. Thank you, Representative King for having the courage to file this no-brainer legislation. The alternative is a toll hike that penalizes NH drivers who happen to live near toll booths.

The Big Lie And The Rightwing's Neo-Feudal Vision

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 14:12:56 -0400

The Big Lie And The Rightwing's Neo-Feudal Vision (A Supplement To The Political Duality Series)

by: Paul Rosenberg

Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 01:44:56 AM EDT

One key to why movement conservatives are so successful is that they are playing a different game than everyone else-even most conservative voters, who really have no idea what they've signed on for.

What they are after, at a minimum, is a return to the Gilded Age system, when big business owned Congress outright, and the country was run directly for their benefit, and little else.

I'm going to be talking about this in an upcoming diary, but to illustrate it a little more fully, I created this standalone diary.

PrioritiesNH calls $20.5 million in Defense fraud "the tip of the iceberg"

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:32:07 -0400

Million-dollar washers recall platinum-plated toilet seats

Campaign pressures Presidential candidates to reduce wasteful Pentagon spending

CONCORD, NH – Yesterday's report that the Pentagon spent nearly $1 million to ship two 19-cent washers illustrates why Presidential candidates need to get serious about protecting American taxpayers from ongoing Defense waste.

The latest example of wasteful Pentagon spending became public when a South Carolina defense contractor pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. The company was paid $20.5 million for bogus shipping costs over a six-year period.

"This 20 million dollars is the tip of the iceberg," said Steve Varnum, PrioritiesNH director. “Despite absorbing half of our nation’s discretionary budget, the Pentagon cannot even pass a simple standard audit. Wasteful Defense spending is rampant and robs money that could be used to improve America’s education, health care and job training and energy independence.”

Hodes release on tax legislation

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:28:18 -0400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Congressman Hodes Backs Taxpayer Protection Act

"Granite Staters work hard and deserve to keep more of their money"

WASHINGTON, DC-Congressman Paul Hodes voted today for a bill that will lower the federal tax bill for thousands of New Hampshire's families. The Taxpayer Protection Act gives married people who are small business owners a break by allowing both spouses to be credited for the payment of Social Security and Medicare taxes (under current law only the spouse filing a return can claim those taxes). The bill, which passed the House today, also includes measures to guard against identity theft and help taxpayers recoup unclaimed refunds.

"Granite Staters work hard and deserve to keep more of their money," Congressman Hodes said. "Our 60,000 page tax code is so complex that millions of people have to pay professionals just to fill out obligatory forms. This time of year highlights the need for clear, simple rules. Having been in office for a few months, I am convinced that we can do a better job."

What would Ben do?

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:41:51 -0400

Online Oreos send Congress a message

With “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” at PrioritiesNH.org,
citizens build their own federal budgets by stacking Oreo cookies

www.prioritiesnh.org

CONCORD, N.H. - As thousands of New Hampshire taxpayers put the finishing touches on their federal tax returns, a New Hampshire organization is encouraging them to ask “What would Ben do?”

Ben is Ben Cohen, president of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream). His animated image is the star of an award-winning Web video that demonstrates the federal discretionary budget using stacks of Oreo cookies. The video can be viewed on the PrioritiesNH Website at http://www.prioritiesnh.org/oreos/ .

Now Cohen’s PrioritiesNH campaign is letting the rest of us play. PrioritiesNH has posted a “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” game on its Web site at: http://www.prioritiesnh.org/oreos/ustack/ . The game allows users to do what Ben does: Shift Oreo cookies along a bar chart of the federal discretionary budget, with each cookie representing $10 billion in spending. After building their ideal budget, players click to the next page, which allows them to send their budget vision and a personal note to their Senators and Congressperson.

Amherst a surprise Pledge dumper

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:44:16 -0400

By Nancy Bean Foster For The Cabinet and Susan Lunt Childress, Cabinet staff
Published: Thursday, Mar. 29, 2007

AMHERST — It may be time for politicians to start talking about an alternative to the property tax now that voters in Amherst and 12 other New Hampshire towns have backed a resolution calling for an end to “The Pledge.”

The Granite State Fair Tax Coalition managed to get petitioned articles on this year’s warrants in 14 New Hampshire towns calling for an end to the unofficial oath taken by New Hampshire politicians not to consider or support any broad-based taxes, such as a sales or income tax.

In 13 of the 14 towns, voters agreed that it was time for “The Pledge” to go.

Sandwich was the only town that didn’t pass the article, pointing to the fear of some that it would bring about more taxes, said Paul Henle, the Fair Tax Coalition’s executive director.

But the article was only meant to “begin a dialogue” about the current tax structure, he said, not to suggest more taxes.