Things I Know I Know

NH state Representative Corey Corbin has changed party affiliations from Republican to Democrat:

Example: The GOP proclaims itself the party of fewer taxes, of lower burdens on the people. Yet just last year, it was GOP-crafted legislation that led to the largest business and telecommunication tax increases in state history. In addition, the republican majority voted three times in one day, just this year, to increase the property tax burden on home owners by enacting the "C" budget in the House.

Example: The republican party advocates a good and "adequate" education for all children. Yet GOP actions in the House have repeatedly thwarted the efforts of public school systems to better educate our kids. How? By supporting legislation that ends the state's responsibility to pay for education; by pushing for funding for charter schools when the money doesn't exist; by refusing funding for programs like early literacy and programs for children with disabilities.

These are not the actions of a party that truly wishes to better the lives of the people it pretends to represent.

And so, after much deliberation and soul-searching, I decided that my efforts were better spent advancing the cause of the common-man. I decided that I would join a party that champions the family, the little guy - the work-a-day people who make this state the great place to live, work and raise our kids we know it to be. I became a Democrat.

I lived in New Hampshire for several years in the early 80's and it has, as Corbin mentions in the article, always been one of the 'leanest states in the nation'. And not in a mean-spirited way either. The citizens of New Hampshire would decide that this, and this, and this were important and all the rest was...well, not. And they knew that if they didn't pay for it, they wouldn't be getting it. Old-style conservatism is highly prized in New Hampshire, but it appears that perhaps, at least for some, radical party ideology is not.