Also on today’s menu:
Reduction In Rooms & Meals Tax
Political Gamesmanship
“What a terrible way to start the week,” begins Monday’s Facebook post. The Town of Bristol announced fresh vandalism at Bristol Falls Park, an area built around the former Bristol Depot alongside the Pemigewasset River. Graffiti was sprayed on the signs along the trail, as well as on artifacts such as the millstone. “I miss the real depot,” stated one of the painted messages. “Truly sad,” the town’s Facebook entry responded.
Later in the day, there was a more encouraging message: “Bristol has always been a community that has stepped up. We’re going to turn what happened at the Pemi Trail/Bristol Falls Park into something positive. Mark, Jim and I [Nik Coates] scrubbed down the paint on the signs as best we could, and one of Mark’s guys will be down there today to keep working on the signs.”
The town has asked for help finding sandblaster to get the paint off the gristmill wheel, a power washer to remove paint from the pavement on the bridge, and a hand sander to remove the paint on the kiosk. Meanwhile, anyone with information about the person or persons who committed the vandalism is asked to call the Bristol NH Police Department at 603-744-6320.
Reduction In Rooms & Meals Tax
Governor Chris Sununu was crowing about the reduction in the rooms and meals tax that took place on Oct. 1, bringing the rate to its lowest level in more than a decade. It was a change he proposed in his 2021 budget address, and he said Friday, “As if the main course wasn’t good enough, on top of this reduction, cities and towns will see an increase in the share they receive back from the revenue stream with up to $15 million in additional money for municipalities — money that goes directly to benefitting property taxpayers.”
The state budget also provides more than $171 million in across-the-board tax relief for Granite State families; cuts and phases out the Interest & Dividends Tax for retirees; provides tax relief to employers and small businesses; reduces property taxes by $100 million; delivers voluntary paid family medical leave; and spends more money per student for public education than ever before, according to the governor.
Not everyone sees it that way. Democrats say the budget ignores the state’s neediest residents while including tax cuts that will help wealthy citizens and corporations, along with $10 million to reimburse reckless investors who lost money in a Ponzi scheme.
Political Gamesmanship
At the nation’s capital, lawmakers appear to have given up on conducting the people’s business, instead treating their jobs as a political chess game aimed at partisan power. The Democrats have essentially killed President Joe Biden’s idea of conducting business in a bipartisan manner by holding the infrastructure bill hostage to their larger scheme of passing an expansion of social programs. The Republicans are blocking an effort to raise the debt ceiling to cover spending they approved under President Donald Trump in order to force Democrats to take the blame for the higher spending Republicans put in place.
The Morning by the New York Times explains the debt ceiling in a succinct manner. “The debt ceiling is a strange creation. In many other countries, the legislature effectively approves government borrowing when it passes a spending bill or a tax cut, and many economists consider that policy to be wise. It’s akin to the way a household budget works: You decide whether you can afford a car before you buy it — rather than buying it and later debating whether to pay off the auto loan.”
Congress can pass up to three reconciliation bills per year, but in April, the Senate Parliamentarian — an in-house rules expert — determined that the Senate can pass only two budget reconciliation bills in 2021: one focused on fiscal year 2021 and one focused on fiscal year 2022. That means that, if Republicans force the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling through reconciliation — where a simple majority can pass the measure — then they will be unable to use reconciliation to pass their social welfare initiatives that would support child care, care for seniors and people with disabilities, paid family leave, and efforts to combat climate change.
The progressive Democrats who insist in pairing the social welfare bill with the bipartisan agreement on infrastructure improvements are working the game in the other direction. By holding up a vote on the infrastructure bill, which addresses years of neglect in road and bridge work as well as addressing the need for expanded broadband and other needs, they are looking to make sure that Republicans’ support is no longer needed to advance their agenda. As important as their social agenda is, their willingness to sacrifice bipartisanship and sink any hope of winning over centrist Republicans is as damaging to democracy as the Republicans’ efforts to disenfranchise voters.
Who loses? We all do.
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