Well, the Boston Globe has finally noted and put number to a phenomenon we here in New Hampshire have been commenting on for some time: people are moving to New Hampshire.
It's a good article, some fascinating information and intriguing statistics and anecdotes. But it is equally fascinating to see what sorts of things are not mentioned. Things that would tend to discredit the Boston Globe's preference for the way they wish the world worked.
Things such as noting that while New Hampshire is having a little "population boom" from people moving here, Massachusetts is losing people so quickly that they are likely to lose at least one and possibly two of their Congressional delegation after the 2010 census.
New Hampshire has been for decades a conservative bastion, with small government, low taxes, and a heavy dose of individual freedom and responsibility -- but that has been changing over the past decade or two. 2006 was a watershed moment, when Democrats kept the governorship, took both US House seats, and won majorities in the Executive Council, the State Senate, and the State House -- and promptly jacked up the state budget 17.5% in a single year, threatening New Hampshire's historical and proud status as one of the states with the lowest tax burdens.
When one looks at where these new lawmakers came from, the correlation to those areas most popular among new arrivals -- especially from Massachusetts -- is unmistakable.
It's like those people come to New Hampshire to escape the conditions of their home states, then promptly started agitating for the benefits they previously enjoyed -- not recognizing that they came at a price, namely the high taxes that they fled from.
No, it's not like that. It's exactly that.
Our low-tax system is based on a simple principle: we don't want to give the state too much power over us. Even if that power means that it can do more things for us, we recognize that there is a price to be paid for that privilege -- even if it's purely financial, and not at the expense of some right we presently enjoy. As Gerald Ford famously said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
At least, we used to recognize that. And a lot of those who come to New Hampshire come precisely because they recognize that. (Yes, Free State Project, I'm thinking of you. You, too, Bruce.)
But far too many want all the benefits of living in New Hampshire, with all the conveniences they got tired of paying for back in their home states, and can't see the connection.
And in the process, their ignorance is threatening to ruin MY state for all of us.
Thanks heaps, new neighbors.
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Mr. Duckie's New Hampshire
Comments (10)
Liberals ruin just about ev... (Below threshold)1. Posted by SteveC | March 20, 2008 6:50 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Liberals ruin just about everything they touch and never ever have to be held accountable for doing so.
1. Posted by SteveC | March 20, 2008 6:50 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 18:50
2. Posted by Anthro03 | March 20, 2008 7:09 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Out here in the West we call them Californians.
They screw up their own state then move on like the parasites they are. Killing the host and then spreading out to infect new ones.
Wish I had a cure....
2. Posted by Anthro03 | March 20, 2008 7:09 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 19:09
3. Posted by COgirl | March 20, 2008 7:36 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Yep, got the same problem in Colorado. And yes, Anthro03, it's the Californians. The liberals are mucking up this state.
As an aside, the local news here had a story on all the protest groups applying for permits to demonstrate in the parks of Denver during the convention in August. I will NOT be here for that.
3. Posted by COgirl | March 20, 2008 7:36 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 19:36
4. Posted by Scrapiron | March 20, 2008 8:59 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Welcome to the new south. Millions of yankees who can't afford to live in their home state moved south. The problem is they brought their liberal give me everything idea's with tham. Now taxes are rising faster that Spitzer's hooker bill, all to satisfy idiots who ruined their home state and abandoned it. Now we have worthless agencies wasting millions and accomplishing nothing. Just like dumb yankee country.
4. Posted by Scrapiron | March 20, 2008 8:59 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 20:59
5. Posted by Oyster | March 20, 2008 9:06 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Same thing here in Florida, my friend. I'm just waiting for the day (probably not far down the road now) when we're forced to pay state income taxes too.
5. Posted by Oyster | March 20, 2008 9:06 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 21:06
6. Posted by P. Bunyan | March 20, 2008 10:11 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
I have the same problem on the local level. Chicago Democrats are moving out to the country and trying to impose city ordances on us. Essentially they want to live in the country, but have everything be exactly like it was in the city. It won't be long before I'll need a permit to plant a garden on my 20 acre lot or cut down a tree.
One the state level we always had Detroit screwing up our govenment, so not much new there. Still the Democrats (with the help of some Republicans) have, during a single state recession that has lasted for more than half a decade, managed to raise the budget by over a billion dollars a year and continued to raise taxes (focusing on the lowest income classes as Democrats are wont to do) while increasing the deficit. That the trifecta of socialism!
6. Posted by P. Bunyan | March 20, 2008 10:11 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2008 22:11
7. Posted by motopolitico | March 21, 2008 2:49 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Welcome to Vermont 30 years ago, except it was beatniks and hippies from the Village and a certain barefoot, wild-haired socialist senator-to-be who never managed to lose his THICK Brooklyn accent.
7. Posted by motopolitico | March 21, 2008 2:49 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on March 21, 2008 02:49
8. Posted by kevino | March 21, 2008 10:40 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
The quality of life in NH is clearly going downhill fast. The story from Granite Grok dissects a letter to the editor of a local paper:
http://granitegrok.com/blog/2008/03/what_happens_in_a_town_when_the_privilge.html--------
Liberals are like locusts: the swarm consumes every available resource until the swarm is forced to move on again, leaving a path of devastation in its wake.
8. Posted by kevino | March 21, 2008 10:40 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on March 21, 2008 10:40
9. Posted by Anthro03 | March 21, 2008 12:01 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Fight Fight Fight,
http://www.picadorproject.com/
9. Posted by Anthro03 | March 21, 2008 12:01 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 21, 2008 12:01
10. Posted by Oyster | March 21, 2008 12:53 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Kevino, I read your link. And wow, what a couple of self-aggrandizers. This Ms. St. Amand is basically asking residents to foot the bill for a facility. She will then apply for the job to run it and expect the residents to pay her salary. All under the guise of fulfilling their "needs".
Mr. St. Amand then makes this statement:
Now this really made me laugh. I did some reading about this great little town. Moultonborough has been there since 1763 and was incorporated in 1777 and it seems to me that any community that has been there that long hasn't exactly been in danger of losing its residents due to a lack of "quality of life". In fact, their population has nearly quadrupled since 1970.
I think Mr. St. Amand is trying to get Mrs. St. Amand out of the house :)
Moultonborough is not in any danger of losing its residents due to a lack of community events, attractions or recreation.
Some of the things Moultonborough offers are: Municipal Parks, Golf Courses, Public Pool, Tennis Court, Museum, Tourist Attractions, Youth Organizations (i.e., Scouts, 4-H), Youth Sports (Baseball, Soccer, Football, Basketball, Hockey), Campground, Fishing/Hunting, Boating/Marina, Snowmobile Trails, Bicycle Trails, Cross Country Skiing, Beach or Waterfront Recreational Area, etc.
The unemployment rate is under 3%. The average weekly wage is $614.
Man, I want to move to Moultonborough.
10. Posted by Oyster | March 21, 2008 12:53 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on March 21, 2008 12:53