InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/author/andru-volinsky/)
It’s been a tough couple of weeks for NH’s Josiah Bartlett Center, its president Drew Cline and board member Rep. Dan McGuire (R-Epsom). Cline, who doubles as the chair of NH’s state board of education, released a report on public education spending that uses questionable economics to make the claim NH spends too much.
I am talking about dollars and cents here, not damage to our nation’s dignity, ethics or reputation as a reliable ally. That damage may be incalculable and may be everlasting.
HB 638 creates a possibility for parole for prisoners serving a legislatively imposed automatic life sentence for first degree murder; “legislatively imposed” because there is no sentencing discretion.
Why didn’t I write about the atrocities perpetrated by President Trump or his abject betrayal of law enforcement in his pardon of violent insurrectionists? Why didn’t I write about the other voting blocs that supported him who will next be betrayed?
And then there is the cost. In NH, as of the end of June 2024, the cost of imprisoning an inmate in the state prison system is about $78,000 a year.
With all of the uncertainty swirling about education in NH as a result of school funding lawsuits and cretinous efforts to micro-manage what is taught in schools and who can use which bathroom, Governor Ayotte’s leading new policy announcement was (drumroll) to ban cellphones in schools. Republicans cheered.
My former Sunday School students will recognize the name of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet. It’s important to know about her and what she accomplished, and helped FDR accomplish.
There are ten cookies on a plate. Good ones, not Oreo double stuff. The rich guy in charge takes nine of the cookies and gives them to his friends. He then tells you, “Look out, that guy in the shadows over there is trying to take your cookie.”
Have I told you the story of Croydon, NH? It’s an example of how people, working together, can make a difference at the local level.