Seth Wheeler: Seth Wheeler running for state representative in Meredith

To The Daily Sun,

After a decade of gutting state revenues, the Free State politicians in Concord are like the kids who ate too much cake at the birthday party. They’re feeling yucky and don’t want to hear that it’s their own fault.

Did they expect praise for tax cuts that helped only the largest corporations and wealthiest residents in the state, while the rest of us saw our local property taxes go through the roof?

At last, even our Free State guests realize that they’ve overplayed their hand. By cutting state revenues to the bone, they’ve shifted more costs to town property taxpayers. As New Hampshire residents have grown wise to this taxation shell game, our “leadership” in Concord has doubled down with its most cynical ploy yet — cut education funding, then blame the local schools for spending too much.

They can spin it however they want, but it’s no coincidence that the majority party in Concord has eliminated about $2 billion in state revenue over the past 10 years while local property taxes have increased by the same amount.

I’m running for state representative in Meredith to bring a different voice to Concord. Governing the state of New Hampshire should be simple. We have small government, low taxes and a high standard of living. But for the insurgent Free State Libertarians, that isn’t good enough. They want more. Instead of improving our public institutions (like education), they want to kill public institutions. Their attempt to turn taxpayers against their schools and towns is just another way to undermine our institutions. Somewhere along the way, the Free Staters have upset the unspoken balance here between freedom and responsibility. As a result, they have lost the trust of the majority of Granite Staters who just want stability, fairness and civility in their state government.

Seth Wheeler

Meredith