YOUR COMMENTS

i love it, one of my tenants is on Section 8, she gets free housing, free school, free everything. She has 2 new flat screen Tv's and a new car, and she sits around and smokes dope all day long.

I'm self employed and work around 80hrs a week and constantly fighting the economy and liberals that want my money, and I'm getting tired of it.

I'm thinking i should just breakdown and be a Democrat and go on welfare, I actually can't wait to be on welfare! Its the Best Retirement plan Going!

What the hell is wrong with this Country?

I know it's called Socialist Liberals "Our Current Leadership"
- Mike, Manchester NH

Getting rid of dropout prevention programs is THE biggest mistake you can ever make.
- Beth, New Lodon

Sorry Ray/Raymond, I was at work, something you don''t seem to be doing....You are obviously only looking for an argument, which you can't win. Did it ever occur to you that the SP communications worker might start his work day at 10am? Not all state workers work Mon-Fri. 9-5. You also did not state any facts in your post, you only stated what YOU believe you saw. State Workers also work weekends in case you ddi not know that either. You are basing your "facts" on your ASSUMPTIONS from what you saw. Again, no facts presented in your response. Also, management are workers too, so again your argument is mute. Do not attack me for my post, but you seem to just be jealous of what the top earners make, and offer no solution to sloving tax problems.
- Bob, Manchester

I'd still like to see welfare and food stamp recipients required to take a urine test to assure that they aren't illicit drug users.
- DBL, NH

The headline is deceiving. Typically 47m= 47 thousand. 47M is usally million. Small m being equated to mil or thousand big M equalling a thousand thousands or 1 million. just a pet peeve. sorry.
- Tom, Manchester

Bob/Manchester,

I responded with my facts and requested a retort from you, evidently you believe we should pay professors and drivers more than the governor eh?

How about their pensions and bennies for unclassified positions, any comment there Bob.

Finally Bob do you honestly believe there is no gambling going on in NH and no NH resident goes to CT or RI let alone Las Vegas to gamble?

Oh that's right we'll just tax soda but keep on selling liquor on the highways!
- Ray, Raymond

Boy, Craig benson is looking like the true fiscal hero he was. But we like olde Johnny Boy as he simply bankrupts the state with all of his democRAT cronies!
- Jeff, Manchester

As a employee of the State of NH and an auditor of some services mentioned, I find it sad that ServiceLink is contracted out. There is no known reason as to why state employees can't provide this service and save the State money. This needs to be addressed as certainly State employees already have the information at their disposal and readily available for our citizens. Having separate contracts is just adding more burden to the state and taxpayers.
- Tim, Bedford

So, would you rather families just put their loved ones in nursing homes and other like settings forcing the tax payer to pay100% of their care? The truth is families do need help. These aren't numbers, these are people. I wonder how many of you throwing these families to the wolves are "christians"
- Maria, Manchester, NH

Once again we're cutting services to the most vulnerable people rather than taking a loook, at long last, at the hack, appointees and highly paid "unclassfified" state employees who have no accountability and who all make over $80,000. Note that NONE of those people got laid off. They are the protected. They need to be UNprotected.
- Adele, MAnch

Great NH - target the developmentally disabled. After all they are an easy target as many don't speak well or at all and it isn't easy to get to Concord in a wheelchair. Thank God they have strong advocates in their families.
- Frank, Dover

Cut welfare from five years to two.

It'd stop people coming up from Lawrence as well.
- David Goss, Manchester

Stop the liberal BS. If you can not cut the defense budget, which is what needs to be done, then cut teachers, prison gaurds, town admin. I personally do not care if my 11 year old is in a class with 200 students. Stop spending. Also, when you get an increase in spending from 5% to 2%, the 2% is still an increase. Cut jobs, cut anything....reduce my taxes
- JC3, Hudson

Hey Bob/Manchester,

I don't lie Bobbie.

When I see brand new a DOT truck in a driveway on South Road in Deerfield mid afternoon and when I see state cars with families in it in Raymond on weekends and a State Police Communications truck leaving for work @10 am I conclude what I said

So Bob , logically thinking, do you conclude that we should just keep hitting the workers and not the management. Also please support your logic with a comparison of salaries on the UNH system to say St A's or any other private institution.
- Ray, Raymond

I am closer and closer to the opinion that if 99 percent of the state budget were cut, there would still be complainers out there doing what they do best. Complaining.
- Art, Portsmouth

Let's try 50% and see how it goes then. LOL

I've seen it grow that much in the last ten years.
- RM, Derry

I am closer and closer to the opinion that if 99 percent of the state budget were cut, there would still be complainers out there doing what they do best. Complaining.
- Art, Portsmouth

A huge amount of the state budget is spent on overpriced private contractors with no accountability to the taxpayers. It would be less expensive to have state employees provide the services because the state is already paying for its own overhead anyway. When the state hires contractors, the state is paying for the contractors' overhead and very little of the taxpayer dollar actually goes for direct services. Even "non-profit" contractors hired by the state have CEOs with high six figure salaries. Also, these contractors get increases with no questions asked. Transparency will show the actual numbers.
- Ann, Manchester

Bob, Manchester: You obviously do not know how NH state government's the top earners are picked for those jobs. Most are political appointees and they have only one employment criteria -- know the governor or one of the already appointed commissioners! They have no written job description that I've ever heard exists, and the only requirement of any political appointment is to make the appointing authority look good, IE: all image, no substance. Besides having the highest pay scales, they also have the perks and high retirement packages benefits.
- Gary, Chichester

It is time to formulate a real plan going forward to transition government employees away from the old fashioned retirement plans into the 401k style plans that private industry did 20 years ago.
- JAC, Manchester

Ms Smith; we are not surprised at all by your party's hypocrisy. You always push cuts which adversely effect those who do not live in Durham or Madbury or Hopkinton.

Of course Derry's democratic state rep Barbara McCarthey goes along with you as seen by her vote to end the "collar" on education aid to her own home town.

Tell me when you and sylvia release all of those inmates, will they be placed in your neigjhborhood and those of Durham, Madbury, Hopkinton, Concord? They should.
- paul needham, derry nh

As usual, the politicians FAIL to do their job, blame the public sector worker for the failures of the politician, then punish the worker by making them pay not only the worker's share but also the public employers' share of operating costs of all three layers of government! The job that is needed to be done is to FIRST establish the basic and essential services priority list and then, SECOND, fully fund that list of essential services. At present, no general agreement exists as to priorities. After that, if the will of the people is to add "protective" services, then additional revenue would need to be developed.
A "Prime Directive" that politicians seem to use is to "find someone else to pay, failing that, be as cheap as possible". The net result is that nothing productive nor progressive is accomplished, just the usual and customary actions that make the rich richer and have the needy pay for it.
- Gary, Chichester

Not enough.. until the $200,000 governor driver is cut .. the pensions scaled way way back .. this is just a start. The state, municipal employees have been living in la la land while the taxpaying citizens get beat over the head. November !! November !! We are coming .. marching on Concord ..
- Thomas, Manchester, NH

I am all for cuts that are going to lower my taxes, but Ray, how do you know the vehicles are being used for personal use? You don't, you are just assuming that, but in fact you don't know that for sure. Also, why should the top salary earners get hit, they worked hard to get to where they are. And, yes, we do need highly paid professors at UNH in order to get the best education there is.
- Bob, Manchester

Well I think of some ways to put some money back into our economy, How about we put the governors mansion on ocean boulevard up for sale. That ought to bring in a couple of million considering its hardly ever used. Its not actually the governors house, its owned by the state and used solely by each governor. Oh, and flying around the state of NH? NOPE! sell the chopper ghost rider and take an economy class car like the rest of us. Get rid of the perks of being a public figure, and save a ton of money that way. Maybe then, we could have some conflict resolution with the state budget without our special needs and educations programs getting hit. Governors do not get paid alot , but that is because they have killer perks. Get rid of the perks and I'm telling you that you will have people in office who give a crap about the people FOR the people. And a defecit that shrinks dramatically.
- Theresa, Dover

There is room to cut in every department in the state. Some good points already posted here. Start with all the little "bennies or entitlements" that have been created over the years. How many people are still waiting for the state (or somebody) to come pick up the branches that fell in their yard. The state should not be expected to do everything for people. How many people live next door to someone collecting unemployment or food stamps or taxpayer funded programs that took off on a little vacation this month - I live near one. I will say that more should be trimmed from areas that give benefits and money to people that are perfectly fine to go out and work. Might not be at the job of ones dreams but if one can work then one should be taking whatever jobs are available, not just asking for more money to set home and complain. On the opposite side of that are people that can not work or take care of themselves through disabilities that were NO fault of their own. These people were born or inflicted with something that makes it impossible to totally support themselves. There is certainly room in these departments to trim also but the actual benefit to these people should be less affected. How about putting off the new office furniture or new computers in state offices, or relocating state offices because it is more convenient for works for a couple years.
- Jim, Loudon

We have school dropout prevention money? I'd love to know how that works. Are we paying students to stay in school and disrupt the classrooms?

Here is your school. You are free to attend or not and you will abide by the rules. The world will always need dishwashers if you choose not too. Unless of course certain politicians raise the pay scale for dishwashers, then we will have to import them illegally like everything else. For a party that calls itself green and loves the laws of nature so much they certainly do their best at creating false realities and a false society based on illusion.
- RM, Derry

Well its a good start concord. But youre not finished. Get back to work and chop some more. Lets see some in the executive branch take a hit.
- brent, manchester

Yeah, let's cut the help to the disabled and brain damaged...that's the right thing to do...good grief, what an evil thing to do.
- Rachel, Exeter

I'm assuming the article is not a complete review of the proposed legislation, but cutting the courts and retirees is ridiculous. If the court system is cut anymore, there may be no more legal system in this state. Retirees earned their pensions and deserve them. If they are excessive, change the law that allowed it, not the pensions.

I didn't see any word about cuts to some of the welfare programs, such as TANF, or the new program that this newspaper featured just a few weeks ago in which people on welfare receive fully repaired cars. All at the taxpayer's expense.

Nor did we see a cut in TANF mentioned. Maybe cut the benefits (unlike pensions, people on TANF pay nothing, don't work, can continue to reproduce and get more money) from 5 years to 2, and start now, so that everyone on TANF for 2 years is off! And then we can cut all aid to the refugees that are brought into our cities.

Not in NH, because we are slowly creating a welfare state with Democrats at the helm. Federal money sets the mandates on welfare so we really can't cut the costs without penalties. (Kind of reminds us of Washington DC eh?)

Nope, our overpaid leaders in Concord are purposely cutting critical programs in a very obvious effort to get us a very nice income tax to "solve all these revenue problems".

For all of you socialist posters who want to rant about pensioners, they worked for their pensions and paid 10 percent of their earnings into the system. The state has used tens of millions of dollars from the pension system to balance the budget, while starting new and expensive welfare programs.

November can't come soon enough. Let's see if we make the same mistake again.
- Melvin, Keene

Is it still cutting, when it's budget that should never have been allocated to begin with? Sounds more like corrective budget adjustment showboating. "Look at us! We decided to not spend all the money we shouldn't have agreed to spend in the first place!!"
- JB, NB, NH

At least this is in the right direction. However so much more to do. Not enough I'd say. More cuts please.
- Bob, Salem

Dave, looking up your facts might be a great idea. The program doesn't use general fund dollars for one and for another, it doesn't buy land. Try researching facts on what the program actually does.
- Michelle, Loudon

I'm glad to see that someone is finally considering reigning in some of the benefit costs paid by the state. The five percent employees now kick in to the retirement system is peanuts considering the payout they receive at retirement. More, much more, of the health care premium costs should be shifted over to the employees too. People need to start accepting responsibility for providing for themselves rather than relying on the state to cater to their every need.
- Brian, Farmington

Not one word on any action for the top salary earners, (the UNH salaries are a disgrace!) the governor and his staff. How about all those brand new state vehicles you see parked in employees' driveways and being used for personal use on weekends? Now action here would result in a few million without even batting an eye but ...............
- Ray, Raymond

A projected 195 disabled people to be on waiting lists for services next year. It's interesting how Concord works. SB 138, also known as the waiting list bill, was passed in 2007 by a UNANIMOUS senate vote. SB 519, which is being proposed to the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow, 3/18, seeks to circumvent SB 138 by stripping the language that was unanimously approved and thus creating waiting lists for services. According to State Senator Lou Dellasandro, in an email to me yesterday, SB 519 was a request of HHS Commissioner Toumpas and Governor Lynch. I didn't realize that State Senators served the Governor and his Commissioner over the people who elected them---did you?

So, Concord agrees to place nearly 200 individuals with disabilities and acquired brian injuries on waiting lists for services. What does that mean, exactly? It means that the most vulnerable individuals of our society are warehoused to their homes. They are denied access to day program services that help them with job coaches, daily living skills, bathing, grocery shopping, etc. These are adults. Not children. The burden of care then falls to the families of these adults, when it is NOT the family's sole responsibility. Many of these individuals cannot talk; many are wheel chair bound; many cannot advocate for themselves. And so in a sneaky and backward attempt at balancing the budget, the House has decided to strip these individuals of their federally sanctioned civil rights and warehouse them to their homes on waiting lists that in the past have run 400+ people deep and 24 or more months long. SB 519 will protect the state and HHS from lawsuits...or so they think...Congratulations Democrats. You just lost my vote!
- Ken, Londonderry

LCHIP should be cut out entirely and all of the land they have "protected" should be put up for sale immediately. The State has no business buying up private property with tax dollars simply to protect the pastoral views of the politically connected.
- Dave, Claremont

This is hard to judge as the word cut is used even when it means freeze at 2010 level.
- Cathleen, Center Barnstead

It's shame there aren't creative thinkers out there that can find a way for prisons to be self-sufficient. Tax payer dollars should not go to clothe, house and feed criminals. They can do their own laundry and that's it? I disagree.

Prisons are an enormous burden across the country and something should be done to take this cost away. Cable TV, internet, gyms, classes, etc should not be choices to people who've made the choice to commit serious crimes.
- Jay, Londonderry

Democrat rule is wonderful. If only they would reduce the existing recipients of pensions, mentally disabled (not handicapped-just crazy women) and such. But that would reduce their voter base. As America falls....
- Kevin, Portsmouth, NH