Opinion

Republicans have broken their promises

When elected to a super-majority last fall, Republicans in the Legislature promised to cut the state budget without downshifting costs to communities, without raising taxes and without resorting to budget gimmicks. Guess what? Six months into their reign, they’ve broken…

Give manufacturers the right tools

Step into any high school classroom on career day, or check in at an unemployment center, and you are not likely to hear discussions about "manufacturing" as a future career possibility. That's too bad, because as a New England Council…

Nonprofit housing developers: a breed apart

A recent Washington Post report on mismanagement at the Department of Housing & Urban Development described several instances in which nonprofit housing development organizations failed to complete projects for which they had received federal funding, at considerable cost to taxpayers.While…

Needed: Town meeting thinking in Concord

Political scientists point to New England town meetings as an example of direct democracy, where decisions are made by the people, instead of by mayors, aldermen, or representatives. The current political climate provides another reason to admire town meetings: the…

FRM: What happens from here?

What happens next after the Financial Resources Mortgage Inc. sentencings, hearings and reports?I think this question can be answered along two tracks: first, how does the state address the concerns of those who were truly harmed here, or the lenders…

Illinois' tax could be N.H.'s gain

In New Hampshire's quest to welcome business and job creation to our state, other states may be presenting us an opportunity on a silver platter.Last year Congress considered legislation to allow states to require "remote sellers" to collect another state's…

Has N.H. really become hard-hearted?

The faction now controlling the Republican Party and the New Hampshire House is driven by so-called "tea party" ideology. It is an ideology the founders of New Hampshire would have rejected.The settlers of New Hampshire were, for the most part,…