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I recently attended public committee hearings at the Legislative Building in Concord on some bills being considered for a vote in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. While waiting for my turn to be called to testify before the committee, I noticed several out-of-state people being called to testify before me. This was infuriating. I asked Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Chairman MacDonald why out-of-state people were being allowed to testify before the committee before me. His response was that there were no rules as to who gets to testify before anyone. This is outrageous. I do not understand why people from out of state are allowed to come into our state to testify and influence our legislature anyway. To me, it’s akin to voting in a state in which you don’t reside. I can understand having an expert in a certain field be allowed to come in from out of state to testify about a bill, but these people were not experts. They were out-of-staters who didn’t like freedom and diversity and who came to New Hampshire to influence our legislators. This should not be allowed.

In 1939, the Nazis kicked off their purge of “undesirables” by tracking down and murdering people with disabilities. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a page devoted to this disturbing history (hopefully this page will not be scrubbed like so many other government web pages have in recent days). It therefore troubles me greatly that a powerful man, who has eugenicist leanings and publicly performs SiegHeil salutes, has gained access to my disabled loved ones’ medical records and knows where they live. There are good reasons why the Social Security Administration is supposed to adhere to the Privacy Act of 1974, which guarantees participating individuals “the right to be protected against unwarranted invasion of their privacy.” We should all be demanding more information on why a billionaire is being allowed, by our own government, to trample on this right. This may sound paranoid but the actions of the current administration make me increasingly uneasy about the path that our nation is on in terms of caring for our most vulnerable citizens.

Long ago, we should have gotten rid of these hordes coming across our borders. A million of these ne’er-do-wells – French Canadians, mostly Catholic – poured into New Hampshire and New England in the late 1800s. Sure, we needed them for cheap labor, but we failed to recognize them, as the New York Times did at the time, as “ignorant and unenterprising, subservient to the most bigoted of Catholic priests [and] caring nothing for our free institutions, civil or religious liberty or the benefits of education.” And we failed to see this Canadian invasion — again, as the Times saw — as a planned effort to create a “New France” as “part of a priestly scheme, fervently fostered in Canada, to bring New England under the control of the Roman Catholic faith.” This was seen as “the avowed purpose of the secret society to which every adult French Canadian belongs.” An invasion a generation earlier brought several million Irish Catholics to New England to fill labor needs. Their shortcomings, too, were clearly labeled: “stupid, apelike, lazy, drunks, criminals, takers…” Their depravity and Catholicism were seen as threats to American nativist culture. As foreseen, the descendants of these hordes have taken over New Hampshire; but unpredictably, they became property owners, entrepreneurs, civic leaders and civil servants. In fact, our governor is a hybrid product of these hordes, a genuine Irish-French Canadian Catholic. What surprises me is her decision to cooperate with Donald Trump’s mass deportation and turn a blind eye on the experiences of her ancestors.

Why is everyone so shocked at the devastation being wrought on federal services? This is exactly what many experts and letters to this newspaper and others tried to warn about: Project 2025! They’re getting rid of credentialed, honest, experienced civil servants (yes, that title applies to those being dropped) who will eventually be replaced with people groomed by the Heritage Foundation to be Trump sycophants, regardless of whether that would violate Congressional authority or our Constitution.

Making our billionaires into trillionaires. Making our most needy more needy, more hungry, more homeless and less healthy. Please tell me when and in what universe did such policies make America great.

Whew! Thank you Chief Justice John Roberts! President Trump’s rant, which reads like he’s a sociopathic mob boss rather than the president of the United States, is yet another embarrassing, cringe-worthy display of who some of you elected to be the leader of our nation. Is there no end to Trump’s destruction of everything we stand for? I’m tired of bumping into friends who are depressed, who feel powerless, who won’t watch or listen to the news, who feel the weight of this negative energy cast upon us daily by a dysfunctional, personality-disordered leader. I am more than tired of it… of him. So I’m asking, where are you, Democrats? Where are our leaders, past and present, who are allowing this to occur? Why aren’t you speaking out? Where are you?

Less than one decade ago, we were proud that our state had codified the protection of gender identity into RSA 354-A. Now, I watch in dismay as our legislature seeks to carve out exceptions to the law, to restrict healthcare for transgender youth and to block their participation in sports. I keep seeing Republican senators and representatives state that they wish to protect minors. I’m wondering who protects minors from these politicians.

The treatment of President Zelensky in the Oval Office and the “pause” in U.S. military assistance and military intelligence to the Ukrainians is immoral! The fact is that Ukraine is fighting for its very existence against a brutal enemy led by a dictator. Our moral compass has disappeared, and this causing death in Ukraine and giving Russia the advantage in any negotiations. This is a shameful demonstration of how not to lead the free world, and it is making us less safe from those who wish harm to the United States! This is no way to show that we value individual freedoms and the safety of people under attack from a vicious bully.

To Manhattan’s southernmost shore, President Trump carried his cultural war. To Miss Liberty, he said, ‘neath the crown on his head,”Just who do you think you are?”

Here in New Hampshire, we’ve been betrayed — not just by Congress generally but by our own delegation. Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen voted with Republicans to pass a budget that enriches billionaires while slashing vital programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ services. While the senators may have voted to avoid a government shutdown, their support of this spending bill ensures devastating cuts. If the 10 Senate Democrats hadn’t supported the bill, it would have gone back to the House, where Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats could have pushed for a 30-day extension, forcing Republicans to work on a bipartisan solution. The House, though in recess, could have been called back to do their jobs. This budget proposes $880 billion in cuts to essential services, including Medicare and Medicaid. These cuts will result in millions losing coverage, with devastating effects on hospitals and nursing homes serving vulnerable populations. The cost will be shifted to states, further burdening taxpayers. Sen. Hassan and Sen. Shaheen failed to represent us. They bowed to Trump’s administration, and despite numerous calls, I’ve received only empty assurances. We’ve been lied to and betrayed. I am calling for their immediate resignation. I’m a Medicaid recipient. Without it, I wouldn’t be alive today. Medicaid has allowed me to work, contribute and thrive despite chronic illness. New Hampshire deserves senators who fight for us, not for billionaires. We, the people, call for their immediate resignation.

President Trump’s trade war is idiotic because he doesn’t understand his tariffs are paid for by American consumers and he will never understand. That being said, the rest of the world does not have to reciprocate. The only thing the other countries have to fear is loss of market share and that loss is years down the road since the U.S. won’t have factories built to make these products for many years and labor cost will make these products uncompetitive. Companies in these countries can also sell to the U.S. at their usual prices and make the usual profits because Trump’s tariffs only affect U.S. importers and customers. These countries also have the rest of the world to sell to at the nontariff prices. These other countries would compete with the U.S. with prices that are 25% to 50% lower.

New Hampshire’s legislature keeps ignoring the expressed will of the people, particularly with respect to school vouchers. When the voucher bill was originally before the House Education Committee, and subsequently when expansion of the vouchers was before the committee, sign-ins ran around 6-1 opposed to both the vouchers themselves and to expansion of the program. Just last week, Finance Committee Chair Wyler complained that too many people came before his committee to express their opposition to expanding the program.

Very disappointed to read New Hampshire Senate passed a so-called “Parental Bill of Rights,” Senate Bill 72, a law that claims to empower parents but that will actually endanger students. As a former high school and middle school counselor, I witnessed too many cases of child abuse of students 11 to 18 years of age perpetrated by family members. The most damaging involved a teenage girl impregnated by her own father and another 12 year old girl consistently raped by a half-brother brought into the family home by her mother’s remarriage. Both girls ended up in my office because they were afraid to tell the spouse of the offending parent or that it was his son in one of the cases. As a mandated court reporter, like all school counselors, I supported each girl while she told her parent with the appropriate law officer in attendance. Tough and painful decisions were made in both instances. Tess Sumner, student at Newfound Regional High School, is right when she said in her My Turn that students need safe places and people to go to when they need help and support solving problems. Teachers, coaches and counselors are often people they turn to when their parents are not available. As to SB 72 allowing parents the right to exclude their students from sex education curriculum, that law has been in existence since I was a child 50 years ago.

As a retired principal and teacher, I have appreciated the recent articles about the Concord Regional Technical Center. I have seen the importance of these regional centers to the young people of our state and to our state economy. The most recent article focused on a visit to the Center by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who asked Principal Anne Fowler what the state could do to support the program. Principal Fowler responded that the state needs to address the state funding shortfalls. State funding for the program has decreased since 2020 and is flat-funded in the governor’s current budget under discussion in the legislature. Costs are downshifted to local communities that are struggling with rising tuition costs. Gov. Ayotte responded that increasing state funding would not be her first approach, but she did not share other approaches that she was pursuing to cover these costs. The governor supports providing Education Freedom Account vouchers to the wealthiest families in the state for children who do not need the funds to pursue their dreams. She is ignoring the dreams of another whole group of our state’s children. I have great regard for Anne Fowler’s professionalism as she spoke clearly and directly to Gov. Ayotte. I have no regard for Gov. Ayotte, who used a visit to the Concord Regional Technical Center for cheap publicity without any intention of furthering the goals of the Center.

Israel was entitled to reply to the murder of its 1,200 citizens and the kidnappings of more than 200 people by Hamas. But the Israeli army has gone far beyond a reasonable response. It has flattened hundreds of thousands of buildings in Gaza, including 90 percent of the housing. It has caged most of the people in massive desert concentration camps, moving them every few weeks to new sites, while blocking trucks with food and humanitarian aid at the Egyptian border. Millions of people, mostly women and children, face starvation. Heaven help them if the fighting resumes unchecked. They are the hostages of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an un-prosecuted war criminal, also charged with corruption prior to the war in his own country. He is our co-defendant in the court of world opinion, which doesn’t like America very much right now, thanks in large part to our rouge president. Trump is making our democracy a dictatorship like Russia and the former democracy of Israel as fast as possible.

The State of New Hampshire and Gov. Ayotte have reached a new low in their plan to help balance the state budget by levying a tax on the salaries of Medicaid recipients. A family earning approximately $68,000 per year with a single parent and two children would be levied a tax of approximately $280.00 per month, money needed for food, fuel, rent, car payments and clothing. Meanwhile, Gov. Ayotte and the Republican legislators are happy to freely provide Education Freedom Account vouchers totaling $10,000 per year to a family of four with an annual income of $110,000 in order to send these children to a religious school, a private school or to be homeschooled. These vouchers deprive our public schools of necessary money and resources and in the process will increase towns’ property taxes. This would appear to be a reverse Robin Hood: rob from the poor to feed the rich.

I am writing to express my opposition to HB 524, which repeals the NH Vaccine Association. Despite over 3000 Granite Staters signing in to oppose, the Republican members of the House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs chose not to listen to their constituents and have instead moved this proposed legislation forward. It is now being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee.

As the mom of two adult sons who live with a disability, our lives are challenging. We must think about our day in a way other families do not, from building in extra time to go out to wondering if the places we need to visit will be handicap accessible. The big challenges come when we navigate our health care system. For the most part, it is not well-equipped to treat someone who rolls up in a wheelchair. What might be a minor illness for people without a disability can turn into a serious illness. Two years ago, my son Ben and I sat in an overcrowded emergency room for hours and it wasn’t until our pulmonologist, who was away at a conference, made a call to the ER that Ben was finally admitted to the ICU. Ben’s life was saved that day. If New Hampshire legalizes assisted suicide, going to the hospital with a respiratory infection could turn into a more serious situation because doctors, according to a Harvard survey, do not all view Ben and Sam’s quality of life as equal to yours or mine. If we normalize suicide, doctors will steer people with disabilities towards assisted suicide instead of treatment. It has been proven in Belgium, Canada and in other states. We cannot accept this risk, nor should our legislature. This is especially true since we already have options to manage the end-of-life journey with hospice and palliative care.

It now appears there is no expectation of any building aid from the state to partially offset the cost of a new Rundlett Middle School, which would cost approximately $164 million. Previously, School Board deliberations included some level of aid to reduce the total expenditure. With this financial setback, I suggest that the Board pause any further expenditures for the architects until they provide Concord taxpayers with a cheaper alternative for review. It appears the contract with HMFH architects says that “If the District does not receive state funding in the next bi-annual funding cycle (2025-26, 2026-2027), the contract may be paused until such funding is made available for the project.” A pause would allow time for the Board and the people of Concord to explore all possibilities.

Ever since Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, Democrats have been organizing, mobilizing and working hard to tell the American people the truth. Just this weekend in Concord, hundreds of Democrats and even some independents lined Main Street in front of the State House holding signs and showing which issues matter most, like saving Medicaid, basic freedoms, taking climate action, gun reforms and holding extremists accountable. They were on the streets from morning until evening, waving to voters, protesting peacefully and understanding everyone’s opinions. The Democratic party will continue to organize in New Hampshire to ensure that every voter gets the correct information.