I have been busy covering the primaries. I have been trying to keep up with the “issue of the day” and the favorite, “issue of the hour”.
Really the attention span of the average voter, if one is to believe the main stream media, is akin to that of a kitten.
Here in New Hampshire we had few spirited primaries and a few surprise winners. In some districts and wards moderate republicans were challenged by ‘freestaters’ in their continual quest to take over the State, some of the ‘freestaters’ won which does not bode well for the return of comity to the State House.
Unfortunately the person I had hoped to win the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary was defeated by a candidate that took, even more unfortunately, the dreaded ‘pledge’. The pledge, in NH, does not mean The Pledge of Allegiance no the NH pledge is “I promise not to try and change the present system, of not taxing income and I promise to allow property taxes to go higher and higher in order to make up the needed tax revenues”
The pledge is favored by the very wealthy and the very wealthy pay for the elections with generous gifts donations to the candidates on both sides of the aisle. Meanwhile people like myself living on a Social Security check have to pay a greater and greater portion of that check for property taxes.
The Senior population in NH is being forced to sell their properties as they cannot afford the property taxes. In addition the properties they sell are at “depressed rates” as the buyers know full well that it is a “forced sale”. Taking the pledge in NH is taking a pledge to condemn the Seniors of NH to a life of homeless penury.
As for my vote in November I will be voting for the third party, the “none of the above”, the beholden to none candidate if there is one. And that I pledge.