Title should have been, "Stupid SOBs ruin NH"

[CNHT]

It created some problems too -- like a bloated budget, higher taxes, mandatory kindergarten and a few potential angry fathers who might want to sue (if not something worse) when they find out the state did surgery on their child without their permission...

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/REPOSITORY/707140371

Legislature's last session will be one for the history books
State addressed many longstanding problems

By Gov. JOHN LYNCH
For the Monitor
July 14. 2007 8:35AM

From making it possible for more children to graduate from high school, to raising the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, to implementing a research and development tax credit, to setting New Hampshire on a course to get 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, we came together to make this legislative session one of the most positive and productive in New Hampshire history.

As governor, I was proud to work with Democrats and Republicans to keep the promises we made and to make real progress on building a better future for New Hampshire and its families.
This year, we took significant steps to ensure the future economic success of our workers, our businesses and our state. We reinstated a Job Training Fund, allowing us to partner with New Hampshire companies to ensure workers have the skills and training they need in this changing global economy. We put in place a research and development tax credit to help attract innovative new businesses and good jobs to the state.
And we addressed many long overdue needs and concerns, including providing the first raise in New Hampshire's minimum wage in 10 years. The price of food and gas, and rent have all risen in the last 10 years, and this increase in the minimum wage is an important step toward helping our hard-working families.
We worked to expand access to health care. The state budget makes it possible for another 10,000 children to enroll in New Hampshire's Children's Health Insurance Program over the next three years; young people will now be able to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26; and we are on track to eliminate the waiting list for services for people with disabilities over the next three years.
We acted to protect the health of our citizens. We passed a new law that will better protect children from the dangers of lead paint, one of the most dangerous - and preventable - public health hazards to kids. We protected the health of the general public, and particularly restaurant workers, by banning smoking in all restaurants and bars in New Hampshire.
We are implementing a comprehensive strategy to make it possible for more of our young people to graduate from high school with a new law increasing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 and by expanding alternative education programs for students who do not do well in traditional classrooms.
And I am proud to say we fulfilled our responsibility to define an adequate education. This definition ensures that New Hampshire's children will have the educational opportunities they need to succeed and for the first time makes clear that kindergarten must be available to every New Hampshire child.
We are helping to keep higher education affordable and accessible to New Hampshire families by significantly increasing funding for New Hampshire's community technical colleges and the University System.
We're opening the door to college for more of our children by doubling the number of high school students who can enroll in Project Running Start. This successful program allows high school students to take college-level classes right at their own local schools and earn credits that are transferable to colleges across New Hampshire and across the nation. And we are a doubling a University System program that ensures that students who receive the maximum Pell grant will pay no additional tuition costs in their freshman and sophomore years.
While previous attempts may have failed, this year we finally passed the Renewable Energy Act, which will help New Hampshire meet its goal of ensuring we get 25 percent of our energy from renewable sources by 2025. This important act provides incentives for greater renewable energy use, which will increase New Hampshire's energy independence, help build our economy and better protect our environment.
Our environment is critical to our economy and overall quality of life. That is why we came together this year to permanently ban the burning of toxic construction and demolition debris in the State of New Hampshire.
We protected the health of our citizens and our environment and made clear we will not allow New Hampshire to become the new burning site for this toxic material.
Preserving the character of our state is so essential to our economy and way of life. That is why I am pleased we provided funding for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program that will allow us to preserve what is so special about New Hampshire. Our state parks are treasures that provide countless hours of enjoyment to visitors and New Hampshire residents. That is why we are creating a new state park at Temple Mountain and making the first investment in capital improvements across our state park system in 40 years.
Despite facing major increases in non-discretionary spending, we crafted a balanced and fiscally responsible budget that addresses the priorities of New Hampshire - from expanding children's health insurance to investing in our public colleges and universities to putting more state troopers on the road. It is a budget that makes smart investments in building a better future for New Hampshire's citizens. And it does so without a sales or income tax.
During this past legislative session, we laid the foundation for a better New Hampshire - a New Hampshire that continues to be business friendly, focuses on quality education, protects its most vulnerable citizens, preserves its natural beauty and protects the public's safety.
I look forward to continue working with lawmakers on both sides of aisle as we continue to make real progress and continue to get real results for the people of New Hampshire.

[Henry]

All of this news...I don't like it very much. All of this looks to me like the direct prelude to an income and/or sales tax. There's too many police here as it is that I see, and while I don't want kids to become 'tarded by the lead paint I also am not interested in having the state snoop and record everything about the insides of my home. Everything just seems to be going in one direction.

[Ogre]

How about a more accurate interpretation:

As governor, I was proud to work with Democrats and one or two Republicans to keep the promises we made and to make real progress on building more government for New Hampshire and its families.

This year, we took significant steps to ensure the future economic success of our government workers, our regulated businesses and our socialist state. We reinstated a Job Training Fund, allowing us to spend more money to allow government to order New Hampshire companies what skills they need in this changing global economy. We put in place a tax credit to help attract the businesses and jobs the government wants, rather than letting the free market screw things up.

And we addressed many long overdue needs and concerns, including providing the first raise in New Hampshire's punitive minimum wage in 10 years. The price of food and gas, and rent have all risen in the last 10 years, and this increase in the minimum wage will help ensure those prices continue to rise and things continue to get more expensive for everyone because that's only fair.

We worked to expand government health care. The bloated state budget takes more money from working people and gives it to those who are not productive so they may have insurance, whether they deserve it or not; young people will now be able to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26, even if it costs more because we forced businesses to do it whether it was economically feasible or not; and we are on track to massively expand government to provide more services for people with disabilities over the next three years, no matter the cost.

We acted to protect the health of our citizens, whether they needed protection or not. We passed a new law that actually does nothing regarding lead paint, but it was for the kids, so it was good. We destroyed freedom of choice, by banning smoking in all restaurants and bars in New Hampshire and massively intruded on individual property rights.

Despite there being zero evidence of any possibility of success, we're forcing even the dumbest of our citizens to stay in school (or jail) until age 18 -- because we'll get to spend move government money "for the children."  And if no one gets more educated, we'll just spend more each year until they do.
And I am proud to say we made massive expanses of government by forcing every child to go to day care for 5-year olds, aka kindergarten.

We are working to make higher education more expensive by spending more government money on education.  We're spending more on high school students who can enroll in Project Running Start. This successful program (successful because it spends government money) allows high school students to take college-level classes right at their own local schools and earn credits that are transferable to colleges across New Hampshire and across the nation -- and government is picking up the tab. And we are a doubling a University System program that ensures that students who receive the maximum government Pell grant will pay no additional tuition costs in their freshman and sophomore years -- instead all the other students who can "afford" to will be forced to pay for those who are lazy and do not save for college.

While previous attempts may have failed, this year we finally passed the Renewable Energy Act, which will help New Hampshire meet its goal of ensuring we get 25 percent of our energy from renewable sources by 2025, no matter how much it costs the state. This important act provides government cash for greater renewable energy use, which will increase New Hampshire's energy independence, help build our economy, better protect our environment, and massively expand government and taxes because "green" energy costs a LOT of money -- but it makes us feel good, so that's okay, too.
Our environment is critical to our economy and overall quality of life. That is why we came together this year to permanently ban the burning of toxic construction and demolition debris in the State of New Hampshire.

We protected the health of our citizens and our environment and made clear we will not allow New Hampshire to become the new burning site for this toxic material.  Not in my backyard, baby.
Preserving the character of our state is so essential to our economy and way of life. That is why I am pleased we provided funding for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program that will allow us to take as much land as we can out of the hands of irresponsible citizens (aka property owners) and give it to the state.  It's for parks, so everyone will support this, even if it means less land that's taxed, so property taxes will have to go up to pay for the removal of land from the public scum, err... citizens.
Despite we Democrats deciding to make major increases in non-discretionary spending, we crafted a fiscally irresponsible budget that addresses the priorities of New Hampshire - from expanding government regulation "for the children" to putting more state troopers on the road "for the children". It is a budget that just spends a damn crapload of money -- and it does so without a sales or income tax until at least next year.

During this past legislative session, we laid the foundation for a better, more expensive, less free New Hampshire - a New Hampshire that continues to be business friendly (for government-approved businesses and NOT any who like evil smoking), focuses on quality education (for the money, err... children, no matter the cost), protects its most vulnerable citizens (whether they want to be protected or not, from mostly imaginary dangers, and no matter the cost), preserves its natural beauty (but not people's freedom) and protects the public's safety (mostly from themselves, not anyone else or government).

I look forward to continue working with lawmakers on both sides of aisle as we continue to make real progress in increasing government regulation and spending, and continue to get real results for the scum, I mean, people of New Hampshire.

[CNHT]

Brilliant Ogre...permission to reprint? 

Note: I would change the word 'scum' to 'sheep' since we have those here in NH too....and sometimes can't tell them from the people. And I would add "That is why we came together this year to permanently ban the burning of toxic construction and demolition debris in the State of New Hampshire...even though we did nothing to stop the cover up of the lead paint scandal"

[Ogre]

Oh sure, reprint and modify away as you desire!