Communism: a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production.
The other day Free Stater House Majority “Leader” Jason Osborne stood outside the State House with several fellow Free Staters and threw out the word “communist” in reference to Democrats.
He knows not of what he speaks, instead parroting the current “president” who also knows not of what he speaks . . .
“This election this year is a choice between two worlds. A choice between common sense and communism. We’ve seen it all across this country, socialism has taken over the Democratic party. It is no different here in New Hampshire,” Osborne stated.
He then proceeded to unveil their seven point plan:
1. Ban an Income Tax – Forever
2. Cap Your Property Tax
3. Cut even more red tape
4. Lower energy bills
5. Lower health care costs
6. Parents decide
7. Support Public Safety.
They don’t support clean, renewable energy, so how are our energy bills going to be lowered? How can they support public safety if towns can’t afford to attract and keep police and fire departments due to rising property taxes? Any cohesive plans to lower rising health care costs? Free Stater Erica Layon claimed they are going to find ways for more options “where people can find a quality doctor at prices they are willing to pay and where they are happy to work together to improve the health of Granite Staters.”
Doesn’t tell us much of anything.
Osborne wrote an opinion piece this summer for the NH Journal, where he made many outlandish claims about what accomplishments his Free Stater caucus has brought to the citizens of NH. Touting the “NH Advantage” as a quality of life not to be trifled with while simultaneously voting to repeal revenue sources (to the tune of $3 billion over the last 10-12 years) that the state depended on to pay its bills.
Is there any NH Advantage left after the Free Staters trashed it?
Also in that piece, Osborne claimed this past year Democrats voted for more than $3.98 billion in tax hikes. Hard to do as there was no $3.98 billion tax bill to vote on, whether in support of or opposition to. It just wasn’t there.
Looking to get back some form of revenue for the state, Democrats had proposed a surcharge on non-primary residences (second homes) assessed at $500,000 or more. Primary homes and long-term rental properties were to be exempted. The state didn’t know how many properties would qualify so the official fiscal note attached to the bill stated the revenue amount couldn’t be estimated. Osborne lumped every property owner into that proposal by claiming a $1.94 billion tax increase despite the state not being able to estimate an amount. And the surcharge wasn’t for every property owner. Just the wealthy.
He claimed Democrats proposed $1.27 billion in new income taxes from the 3-3 Tax Savings Plan. This was not a bill or idea brought forth by Democrats, therefore, there was never a vote. Advocates propose statewide income tax to lessen property taxes, sparking firestorm | New Hampshire Public Radio
“Sometimes you have to go on the 6 o’clock news and have to say with a straight face something that you don’t actually believe,” Osborne recently said.
And there we have it. When all else fails, lie.
Case in point; Another bait and switch bill by Republicans calling it property-tax relief. HB 1300 is poorly worded, deliberately confusing and tramples on local control. It does not lower anyone’s property-tax bill. It targets public schools (again) by locking in unequal statewide funding, potentially leading to teacher and staff layoffs or cutting more programs. It does nothing to fix the real property tax problem, which is the continued underfunding by the state (50th in the nation)! It does not cap municipal taxes, county taxes or the statewide education tax. It will, however, appear on everyone’s ballot in Nov.
“Sometimes you have to go on the 6 o’clock news and have to say with a straight face something that you don’t actually believe.”
Yes, let’s please do vote for common sense in Nov. Let’s vote to bring back those repealed state revenues. Let’s vote to invest those revenues in our people, our schools and libraries, our cities and towns, our infrastructure.
Authoritarian parties need not apply.