Opinion

Budget deficit needs immediate action

Many of New Hampshire's newly elected representatives have started to consider how to tackle the budget deficit that the state faces for the coming biennium.Some observers now say we are rapidly approaching a $900 million hole, and this issue has…

We need consensus, not partisanship

On Dec. 13, about 1,000 Americans from all 50 states gathered in New York City to make an open declaration of concern and hope for their country.These citizen leaders of a new effort called "No Labels" are Republicans, Democrats and…

‘No Labels’? No thanks

Among the many reasons Democrats took a shellacking in 2010 was the lack of brand identity. No one knows what the heck we are.The Republican brand is clear: anger, passion, as little government as possible. But the Democrats' brand is…

Cutting budgets and grinding axes

People like to compare the state or federal budget to a family's budget, and base suggestions about what government should do on the habits of regular people. For example, new House Speaker Bill O'Brien plans to switch the order of…

An unacceptable tax cut measure

The federal tax compromise is unacceptable on moral grounds and is equally unacceptable politically.It is simply wrong to allow Congress to cut unemployment benefits on which families depend. Too many good, honest people are out of work for reasons not…

Should we repeal health-care reform?

According to a 2009 Harvard Medical School study, over 40,000 Americans die each year because they do not have health insurance. More people die for lack of health insurance than from drunken driving and homicide combined.As one of the study's…

Healthy workforce, healthy economy

Every flu season, public health officials tell us that washing our hands and covering a cough are good ways to avoid getting sick or passing on the illness.It seems that nearly every office worker, teacher and nurse has a bottle…