Are you better off?
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?” was the question coined by Republican Party standard-bearer Ronald Reagan at a presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980. Looks like New Hampshire residents should be asking themselves if they are better off than they were even ONE year ago.
On April 30, the Union Leader published an op-ed by Ben Reynolds, financial analyst at the NH Fiscal Policy Institute, which outlined the declines in the New Hampshire labor market from December 2024 to December 2025. Key findings were 8,800 fewer jobs, more people looking for jobs, and manufacturing jobs down by 1.7%. Factoring in inflation, the average worker in New Hampshire took a 2.2% pay cut. These losses took place while Republicans have held a “trifecta” (control of the House, Senate and Governorship). In fact, the state ended fiscal year 2025 in a $67.3 million deficit after the legislature reduced business taxes. Recent decisions by this Republican-led legislature are pushing more and more of the burden onto property owners through local taxes.
Candidates are already out there asking for your votes in the primaries and the general elections in the Fall. Keep Reagan’s question in mind. Are you really better off? If not, it’s time to put new people in the seats in Concord.