EFA votes were clear

Plainfield joined 16 other towns in passing a warrant article calling for a hold on the expansion of New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, also known as education vouchers. Why ask for a hold on expansion? Because taxpayers want fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability for the property-taxpayer-funded EFA program that is on track for universal eligibility.

States adopting universal vouchers see huge increases in program costs, with financial strain on taxpayers and state budgets. These are already big problems in New Hampshire.

Over $70 million of public money spent so far on EFAs and we don’t know the educational outcomes of students in the program. Public expense but the public is denied access to objective data showing how students in EFA programs are doing compared to their peers.

The state EFA statute and exemptions to human rights law allow private and religious schools to discriminate against certain groups, including those with disabilities. But that doesn’t mean schools must discriminate. There must be accountability for the fact that people may have kids who would be denied admission to the very schools they are funding.

We all want students to feel safe and happy in the education environment they attend. At the same time, taxpayers have the right to a fair funding plan for EFAs, evidence that shows whether the taxes are well spent or not, and proof of common benefit before paying even more for its expansion.

Sandy Steel

Plainfield

Same old anti-choice arguments

At Town Meeting I was surprised to learn that Croydon’s long list of warrant articles contained yet another page. Atop the new page stood Article 21, the “Freedom Account” petition cut-and-pasted across Sullivan County. The uniform, political wording of the article made it obvious that this was an Astroturf, not a grassroots effort.

A Valley News article confirmed these suspicions, citing the Sullivan County Democrats as the source (“NH towns weigh in on ‘freedom accounts’ ”; March 13).

The petition contained the typical discredited arguments against parental choice in education we’ve read many times. It had the hallmarks of desperation as lawmakers seem ready to put education back into the hands of parents where it belongs.

The position espoused in their McArticle is beside the point. Compelling elected representatives to petition as a collective body when individual options exist is deceitful and unnecessary. If 51% of a town votes to affirm, as two have already done, the town representatives speak for all.

Citizens already have individualized, direct access to state lawmakers, something New Hampshire does remarkably well. This political theater weakens the democratic process by centralizing political discourse. It sets a terrible precedent that needs to go away.

The irony of this anti-democracy maneuver carried out by those who self-identify as “Democrats” was not lost on Croydon voters, who wisely refused to even entertain a vote on the matter, choosing to table it indefinitely.

Jim Peschke

Croydon

No cooperation with ICE

In a friendly and respectful phone call, I spoke with Jillian Myers, the Grafton County Sheriff, about her decision to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program that deputizes local officers to carry out ICE enforcement. Myers spoke about saving an under-staffed department’s time and increasing her ability to oversee proper procedures when/if ICE were to come to our county for an action. Her position sounded reasonably considered and I appreciate that she took the time to discuss this issue with me, but we live in un-reasonable times and we know that ICE no longer follows the rule of law.

ICE has clearly demonstrated that it is a tool for our repressive administration. It is the muscle that is imprisoning and expelling people from the country without due process. It is the organization of henchmen who are being used to silence free speech, as in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, from Columbia University. Everyone should be concerned that Grafton County’s sheriff has decided to partner in any way with an enforcement tool of the Trump administration, because they are aggressively showing opposition to free speech and human dignity and they will use (ICE) force to do it without due process of the law.

We are on a steep slippery slope toward a dictatorship. The rule of law, the organizational structure by which we live together, is being ignored and corrupted by power-hungry people who need to be thwarted at every front. The Grafton County sheriff should not be complicit or supportive of ICE’s work.

Phillip Mulligan

Lebanon

‘Normal’ life and national politics

My sister and I sat in the parking lot of our local co-op, watching our neighbors peacefully going in and out of the store — an ordinary scene we’ve lived thousands of times. But today, a kind of surreal sense of being in that moment, but also being removed from it overcame us. With the daily attempts to destroy our democracy, it felt like we were all walking around as if weren’t happening? But it is happening, and fast!

I know we all must live our “normal” lives and take care of our families. But I wanted to shout out to my neighbors in the parking lot, “Hey, are you worried too? Do you know what’s happening?” I asked my sister, “Shouldn’t we all be in the streets, screaming?”

I certainly know that I’m not the only one who feels this way, and I know many good patriots are involved in “The Resistance.” My sister and I are channeling our “screaming” into work with Indivisible, and the newly formed Upper Valley Coalition, calling our members of Congress, and attending peaceful protest gatherings. And, my sister recently proposed a resolution to the Lebanon City Council objecting to the federal funding freeze, which they passed on Feb. 19.

If you want to channel your screaming, there are many activist opportunities in the Upper Valley. You could start with going to the Indivisible site, looking up your zip code, and learning how you can participate in voicing your concerns and outrage, as well as your ideals and highest hopes for our beloved Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

Patricia Corrigan

West Lebanon

Don’t dismantle NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) faces proposals for dismantling, privatizing weather forecasting, and limiting access to climate and weather data.

NOAA has provided 55 years of free, widely used weather forecasts, helping communities prepare for extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, heatwaves and droughts. Weakening NOAA would devastate global climate research and forecasting. We would be flying blind into climate crises. Without NOAA’s data and leadership, the world would lack essential tools to track and respond to rising sea levels (a problem for our oceanside communities and naval bases), worsening heatwaves, storm-related flooding, wildfires and other climate disasters.

Gutting NOAA also would signal a retreat from the US’ role as a global leader in science and innovation. Reducing or eliminating vital research now prevents developing future generations of talented and innovative researchers, teachers and leaders.

The reality of climate change is global. In the US, we have massive forest fires in the West resulting in unhealthy air in the East; our first urban super fire was in LA this year; severe tornadoes killed at least 39 people in the Midwest just last week; Vermont suffers inland flooding; and droughts are occurring in New England and elsewhere. This is only a short list.

Denying this reality by suppressing data and canceling research will neither solve the problem nor prevent storms. It will only further expose the lie as damages to structures and the soil, loss of insurance coverage, and deaths accumulate without credible explanations. It will prevent us from understanding what is happening and what is needed to prevent severe weather and climate impacts.

“The health of the people should be the supreme law” – Marcus Tullius Cicero. Eliminating climate and weather expertise impairs our physical and social health and endangers our lives. NOAA, and similar services, need to remain intact.

Paul Etkind

Grantham

Did Trump collude with Russia?

I hope our elected officials will speak out and investigate what appears to be our government’s collusion with Putin allowing the Russian army to recapture the Kursk salient from Ukraine this past week.

Facts: 1) Since before the war, the US has been providing intelligence to Ukraine regarding Russian troop movements, 2) Eliminating the salient would help Putin by removing one of Ukraine’s “bargaining chips” in the peace negotiations but, 3) Russia has been unable to recapture it over the last eight months, 4) Trump decides to withhold intelligence from Ukraine at exactly the same time that Russia amasses more than 50,000 troops around the salient, 5) Trump resumes providing intelligence after troops are all in place, 6) Russia attacks, surprising and overwhelming Ukrainian defenders, 7) Putin declares a great victory (prematurely it turns out) saying most of the Ukrainian troops are surrounded, 8) Trump repeats Putin’s claims, which fortunately turn out to be untrue, because most Ukrainian troops were able to escape this trap, although by the skin of their teeth.

Coincidence? I doubt it. Sounds like we intentionally withheld the knowledge of the troop concentration from Ukraine in order for Russia to achieve a “great victory.” These aren’t the actions of a so-called “peacemaker” but sound more like collusion of the most un-American and despicable kind. My source of information? The Economist magazine. Read it yourself.

Stephen Alden

Lyme

Tariffs are a tax cut for the rich

To paraphase Machiavelli in “The Prince,” “the end justifies the means” Make no mistake, eliminating whole government departments, firing tens of thousands of government employees via email, canceling contracts that are completed or in process, all have one end in sight, paying for a tax cut for the wealthy, currently estimated by the Republican budget proposal at $4.5 trillion.

There’s a reason why President Trump is pursuing tariffs so vigorously, they are a flat tax paid by every consumer for everything they buy. Our income tax system moves from the current progressive tax based on wealth and income to a tax system that is regressive in that everyone pays the same, where people at the lower end of the income scale pay far more as a percentage of their income for necessities than ones at the top of the scale.

The Republican budget plan acknowledges that even with a $2 trillion reduction in government expense, which envisions an $880 billion cut to health care, $330 billion in Education and $230 billion in Agriculture, we need to increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.

There is no discussion of the elephant in the room, that Social Security runs out of the full funding in 2035, that Medicare runs out in 2036, that the interest on our current debt is $1.13 trillion and climbing, that the total budget for Defense and Veterans is currently $1.24 trillion with Senate Republicans asking for an additional $150 billion for defense. None of this matters, the end is a tax cut for the wealthy and the means is the smoke and mirrors of cutting people, labeling them guilty of waste and fraud and closing departments to show you are serious about reining in the debt while moving the burden for the expanding cost of seniors, the military and debt service to the people least able to pay for it.

Craig Young

Grantham

A very quiet swamp

So, in today’s paper one of the headlines and the story is about the blowback Republican reps are receiving from holding town hall style meetings (“Angst in spotlight at two GOP town halls”; March 17). But the real tell is in paragraph two, where the House Speaker advises against holding public meetings. Talk about a swamp!

Deb Clough

Grafton