PeterGlenshaw.com: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

June 03, 2009

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

While it's been nearly forever since I last posted on this blog, the absence owes nothing to a lack of issues about which to write or words written about those issues. They've just not appeared here. Why? A lot of it has to do with my new work schedule, which (owing to the economy) sees me officially at 80% of my usual work schedule. It's more like 60% of my usual work schedule, but in terms of this blog, it's meant I've needed time to get comfortable with the new routine.

Enough about me; let's jump into the fray, where I'd like to suggest that New Hampshire took two incredible steps forward tonight, and one big step backward.

The first piece of good news should be obvious: Governor Lynch signed into law today a bill which makes the Granite State the 6th state in the union to recognize marriage from same-sex couples. It's a huge step forward -- not simply on the issue of rights for all citizens, but on the issue of marriage itself. At a time when the number of single parents is increasing, this is a step forward to encourage the opposite. Marriage is not for everyone, but let's not put any hurdles in the way of those individuals who seek to establish such an important union.

The second step forward involved the statement from New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (a Republican) that the proposed budget out of the New Hampshire Senate, which would bring 13,000 video slot machines to the Granite State, would damage New Hampshire's "quality of life. As AG Ayotte put it, gambling leads far too many people to increased rates of "bankruptcy, divorce, child abuse, domestic violence, and crime."

Let the church say "amen." There is nothing positive that comes to the New Hampshire brand when 13,000 video slot machines are littered throughout the state. It's bad enough to consider gambling as an honorable means upon which to finance basic government services, but the idea that one of our most precious assets -- the quality of life in New Hampshire -- would be trashed so quickly is disgraceful. Congratulations to AG Ayotte for opposing this short-sighted measure.

The step backwards, of course, came when the New Hampshire Senate today voted to support a budget which depends upon these 13,000 video gambling machines as revenue source. By a margin of 2-1, the Senate ignored not only the wisdom of the Attorney General, but also the common sense of most voters. According to a poll from UNH taken earlier this year, only 41% of Granite State voters support candidates who support legalized gambling -- hardly an endorsement.

I'm terribly disappointed that the Upper Valley's two Democratic senators -- Matt Houde and Deb Reynolds -- support this gambling-dependent budget. As we saw with the gay marriage bill, it's increasingly clear that the most important political issues of the day defying simple political labels like Democrat v. Republican or liberal v. conservative. What we need in New Hampshire (and in the nation) are neo-realists -- politicans who make practical decisions based on evidence rather than prescribed ideology.

I'd reckon that if more such politicans existed in New Hampshire, I'd be crowing about a terrific 3-steps forward from the Granite State.

June 03, 2009 in New Hampshire, Politics | Permalink

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PeterGlenshaw.com

A blog about politics, sports, family, and life in the Granite State. This is first-draft writing, so please forgive the errors great and small.

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June 03, 2009

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

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