please click on sections for more Democratic Links

Two stand-out public servants seeking re-election

Carroll County residents are fortunate to have two public officials with first-rate records of accomplishments. I’d like tell you about Carroll County Commissioner Chip Albee and County Attorney Robin Gordon and why you should vote for them.

Two years ago the voters of Carroll County elected Chip Albee to be a Carroll County
Commissioner. When he took office, the county government had been mired in disagreement, yearly budget increases, non-public (secret) meetings and questionable purchases by elected officials; the kind of government that we are all frustrated with.
So, what has Chip done in those two short years?

Since his election, all county meetings are open to the public and recorded and all county decisions are voted on in public. Only matters regarding lawsuits, employees and contract negotiations are held in executive sessions and as those issues are resolved, the records of those meetings are released to the public.

All departments of county government were reviewed for efficiency. We now have a new superintendant at the county jail, a new director of our nursing home and a new farm manager. Also, to bring more efficiency and accountability to county workers, a new IT (information technology) specialist has been contracted with and computerized timekeeping and scheduling is being installed at all county departments.

Most importantly, a new level of informed debate has developed between the commissioners and the county delegation resulting in a final agreement to replace our more than 40-year-old nursing home. It also gave us a county budget for 2010, which for the first time in decades, saw the county tax go down.

Commissioner Albee was also given the job of day-to-day oversight of the construction of the new nursing home. To date that project is on time and close to $2 million under budget. The commissioners also secured federal and state grants to install bio-mass heating and hot water for the nursing home project as well as to do a comprehensive energy audit of all county buildings. The choice of bio-mass (wood) as a heart source should keep up to 50 percent of our fuel dollars here in New Hampshire, and the energy audit has shown how we can save thousands of dollars in energy costs. The commissioners have also put in place a wind/solar study for possible future energy production.

Plans are being made to revitalize the county farm for more food production with livestock. This would offset the cost of meals for the jail and the nursing home.
Commissioner Albee believes that open, informative and creative government can
work. He has helped to lower county taxes and deliver a major county construction project under budget. Keeping budgets in check while working towards better services for county citizens.
We need to re-elect Chip Albee, Carroll County commissioner.

Robin J. Gordon was elected Carroll County attorney in 1999. She came into this position after having worked as a criminal defense attorney in Carroll and Coos Counties and after having served as the first assistant county attorney in Coos County.

At that time, the office consisted of a full time staff of one assistant county attorney,
one victim advocate, one paralegal and one office person while the county attorney position was considered part-time. The computer system was fairly new and there was no ability to access case law online. She carried a pager and had a bag phone that required an antenna on the roof of her car.

In subsequent years, the office experienced significant growth in caseload numbers. Now the office handles approximately 400 new cases a year, not including referrals that are returned to the local law enforcement agencies for resolution in the district courts. The office currently has three full-time assistants, a paralegal, a victim advocate and an
office administrator. The county attorney position finally became a full-time position in 2009 by a vote of the Carroll County Delegation. The cases prosecuted in this office include sexual assaults, child pornography, physical assault, thefts, drug sales and possession, robbery, criminal mischief, burglary, bad checks and other financial crimes.

Running the office in a fiscally responsible manner, Gordon has utilized the services of training programs that provide job placements for those trying to gain the skills necessary to re-enter the workforce. These workers have added service to the county by assisting in the day-to-day workload that keeps the office efficient and county costs down.

Robin Gordon has worked closely with the Child Advocacy Center in Wolfeboro to promote the use of a forensic interviewer in child sexual assault cases. She has worked with law enforcement and Starting Point to institute a lethality assessment tool for first responders to crime to identify domestic violence situations that are likely to end in death or serious bodily injury.

Most recently, Gordon has partnered with the Carroll County Coalition for Public Health to start the discussions around prescription drug abuse in Carroll County. This discussion resulted in Carroll County’s successful participation in the federally sponsored prescription drug take back program. On Sept. 25, ten local law enforcement agencies collected a significant quantity of prescription drugs; one estimate was that more than 150 pounds were received from citizens surrendering their unused and unwanted prescription medications.

Robin Gordon has always promoted an open door policy for law enforcement, victims of crime, and citizens in Carroll County. Her years of experience have given her what it takes to be a leader, a decision-maker and an ally in Carroll County. In short, Robin J. Gordon has the qualifications, the experience, the expertise and knowledge to be the County Attorney. We need to vote for competence and reliability.
We need to vote for Robin J. Gordon Carroll County Attorney.

Beth Funicella

Chair of the Carroll County Democratic Committee and a candidate for Executive Council in District 1. For more information about the Carroll County Democratic Committee, call Beth at 383-9303 or go to www.ccnhdemocrats.org. For candidates’ signs, brochures, etc., please visit the Carroll County Democratic Committee’s campaign headquarters at 28 Main Street in
Conway.

Facing the Facts about New Hampshire’s Business Climate by Syndi White

      Jeb Bradley’s recent column focusing on the condition of our state’s tax climate for businesses made me worry. Are we really the worst state in the U.S. in terms of being attractive to business?  I did a little research, and here is what I found. The Tax Foundation, which Jeb references as the source of his facts, ranks New Hampshire as one of the business friendliest states in the nation. In the top 10. Number 7 to be exact!

      How did our neighbors rank in comparison?  MA 32, ME 40, VT 43, RI 46. Number 7 looks pretty impressive. What data then, led Jeb to his gloom and doom scenario of New Hampshire’s business climate?  It was one index out of five that the Tax Foundation uses to analyze a state’s business climate -- the corporate business tax. Therefore, do we really have the worst corporate business tax in the country as Jeb asserts? To find out, I did some more research.       

      According to the NH Business Resource Center, a 2009 state-to-state comparison yielded the following information: NH corporate income tax rate: 8.5%, VT 8.5%, ME 8.9%, MA 9.5%.  We certainly do not have the highest tax in the region. While Jeb conveniently spins facts to fit his own agenda of attacking the democratic leadership in Concord, the truth is we have one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the region. The facts validate that NH is a low cost state in a high cost region. We offer one of the lowest tax burdens in the country for business owners and their workers. Some more comparisons: Personal Income Tax NH 0%, MA 5.3%, RI 7%, ME 8.5%, VT 9.5%. Sales Tax and Use Tax: NH 0%, ME 5%, MA 5%, VT 6%, RI 7%.  Capital Gains Tax : NH 0%, MA 5.3%, , VT 5.7%, RI 7%, ME 8.5% . Unemployment Insurance Tax/ per employee: NH $136, ME $184, MA $354, RI $437.

      Let’s look at what  NH has to offer businesses: tax exempt financing for manufacturers, loan guarantees, no sales tax, no income tax, no capital gains tax, no inventory tax, no higher assessment for commercial or industrial real estate. Wow, no wonder we rank as one of the top 10 states in the nation for best business climate! So, what is this about being ranked number 50 in the corporate tax category by the Tax Foundation? Turns out that they look at more than just the tax rate. There are indeed a few areas in which we land on the bottom and this report offers us good comparisons on which to base improvements. We are not perfect. I said it. Look Jeb, no spin!

      The Tax Foundation looked at a sub-index called the Corporate Income Tax Base, which measures the economic impact of each state’s definition of what should be subject to corporate taxation. We are ranked 50 in this sub-index  because of the limits we place on the deductions for Net Operating Losses and the Gross Receipts Tax deductions. States vary in how they allow businesses to carry their losses forward a number of years and apply losses to previous years. We scored lowest because we are only 1 of 2 states that limit the number of years business loss can carry forward. We also put caps on the amounts allowed. These deductions are important for businesses whose profits are cyclical or effected by the weather (for example, the ski industry and agriculture). These businesses may look profitable in a good year, but may have several years where they lose significant amounts of money. The deductions help ensure that over time, they are taxed on average profitability. We can do better in this area of the law.
 
     The other area that dropped our score in this sub-index was the gross receipts tax deductions for corporations. According to the Tax Foundation, while we allow deductions for costs of goods sold (which gave us points), we do not offer them for employee compensation costs.
 
     Even with these targeted areas lowering one index score, we still are ranked in the top 10 for best business climate! Hmm, then why aren‘t the big businesses flocking to Mount Washington Valley?  It is about more than taxes. When businesses look for a place to locate, they assess how the community can meet their needs. They look at infrastructure: highways, airports, trains, high speed internet, quality of education, access to healthcare, public transportation, and affordable housing.  These are all issues that we need to address and plan for the future if we want to attract the kinds of businesses that will provide us with decent wages and a fiscally healthy community.

      When you take the time to research the facts, all the facts, and not just point out one poor score in a rubric, which assesses many components, you can find the truth. It’s time to stop the rhetoric and look for real solutions to the problems facing businesses in New Hampshire.  Let’s not turn back the clock to a time when saying NO was the answer to every problem, but instead move New Hampshire forward by addressing our challenges with good old-fashioned honesty and common sense.

Syndi White is a member of the Conway School Board and a candidate for the N.H. House of Representatives in  District 1.
For more information about the Carroll County Democratic Committee, please visit our website at www.ccnhdemocrats.org.org
or call Beth Funicella at 383-9303.

     While I can’t say that I’ve ever much agreed with Jeb Bradley’s politics when he was in the New Hampshire legislature, I could at least respect his opinions. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Since going to Washington six years ago, Jeb has lost his way and even more so since his election to the state senate, where he has become little more than the mouthpiece for Republican Chairman John H. Sununu. Even worse, he has made a habit of repeating the Washington Republican insiders’ talking points, disregarding the truth about New Hampshire and wrongly bashing our great state.

     Despite his false claims, New Hampshire and our state budget are weathering this economic storm better than most other states. Governor

     Lynch and the Democratic majorities have kept spending and taxes at some of the lowest rates in the nation. The Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank, cites New Hampshire as having one of the five lowest tax rates and state spending levels per capita — one of the five lowest in the entire country!

     Since Governor Lynch was elected, spending has increased only at or below the rate of inflation. There have been no new broad-based taxes, the budgets have been balanced, and the essential services New Hampshire’s most vulnerable residents count on have been protected. Our job market is also stronger than most other states with New Hampshire’s unemployment rate at 30 percent below the national rate.

     At the same time, we are also leading the nation in many quality of life measures. New Hampshire students score in the top five in key measures of reading and math, and our high school dropout rate declined 30 percent in the last year to the lowest rate in the northeast. We have also been rated the safest state in the nation, the best state to raise a child in, and the most livable state.

     Further, Democrats have achieved a number of major legislative accomplishments to protect jobs and grow the economy.
     The Health First program is on track to reduce health care costs for small businesses by 15 percent this year. The minimum wage was raised for the first time in over a decade, and the W.A.R.N Act was installed to protect workers from unannounced plant closings and mass layoffs.

     All of these accomplishments provide a stark contrast to the New Hampshire Republicans’ record. During the last 30 years, Republican governors have increased spending, on average, by a whopping 17 percent per biennium. During the last major recession, former Republican Governor Judd Gregg followed party orders and increased the budget by 17 percent.
When he left office, general fund spending was over 27 percent higher than the day he was sworn in.

     We cannot afford a return to that kind of reckless Republican spending. Too many people are still out of work, and we are only beginning to dig our way out of the national recession caused by eight failed years of Republican policies in Washington policies which Jeb Bradley voted for as a member of Congress.

     One effect of the recession is that state revenues are down, and demand for state services are up. It’s ironic that Jeb points this out, because aside from not bringing in as much money as lawmakers from both parties expected, there is one thing the Communications Service Tax, the Real Estate Transfer Tax, and dozens of other taxes and fees in New Hampshire all have in common: they were all created or raised by Republicans in the House, Senate, and corner office during the recession in the early 1990s.

     While Jeb Bradley is busy running around the state making baseless claims about New Hampshire’s responsible Democratic leadership, whom is he endorsing to be our next governor? John Stephen, a man he called, “A big spending bureaucrat,” and who as commissioner of Health and Human Services, lost 70 million dollars in an ‘accounting error.’ That kind of fiscal mismanagement is something New Hampshire’s hardworking residents neither need nor deserve. Bradley’s endorsement of it makes it harder than ever to take him seriously.

Beth Funicella is the chair of the
Carroll County Democratic Committee
She lives in Jackson

Fixing Health Care in the Midst of the Partisan Fray (Feb. 12 2010)
by: Jim Salmon

When Barack Obama won the presidency, I said to anyone who would listen, “He will disappoint us.” By that, I did not mean that he would let the country down. I meant that we the people who voted for him heaped great hopes and expectations upon his office. We wanted him to fix the economy, stop the wars, and give us an affordable universal health care plan. One year later, the economy is struggling, the wars wear on, and health care insurance reform is in trouble.

But I am not disappointed. In fact, after the State of the Union address and the follow on meeting with congressional Republicans, I am encouraged. Both were command performances by a man of keen intellect, high principles, and consummate skill. In his one-man stand in the Republican lion’s den, he showed that he had read their proposals and understood their concepts. He parried every thrust,
and when comments were demonstrably false, he called them out.

He did not go there to demonstrate his ability to think on his feet. He went there to challenge Republican senators and congressmen to do their jobs — to govern responsibly. It is evident to me that the president is willing to work with both parties to fix health care, manage the budget, and do the People’s work to put our jobs ahead of their own, as he himself has done by making hard choices on the economy and elsewhere.

A health care reform bill nearly did make it through the congressional sausage factory before Scott Brown became the 41st NO vote. The Democrats could
have rammed a bill through before Brown was seated, but correctly decided not to. Nevertheless, reform is badly needed. The House bill, for example, would:

• Ensure that no one can be denied coverage.
• Ensure that no one can be dropped if sick.
• Ensure that no one would run out of benefits if sick.
• Cover adult children under their parents’policies to age 27.
• Expand Medicaid to cover 15 million people who cannot pay for coverage.
• Reduce the size of the Prescription “donut hole” for seniors.
• Negotiate discounts on prescription drugs.
• Help low wage earners get insurance.

Most Americans favor these reforms, yet there is resistance to more government involvement in health care. Remember the quote of the year for 2009? It was this: “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” Insurers cannot impose reforms upon themselves, but they can certainly comply with them. One insurer cannot decide to wave pre-existing conditions, for example, but as long they all have to do it, the risks to insurers are greatly mitigated.

So, if insurance companies can live with mandates, which they have done in the various states for years, and if the AMA is on board with reform, and if most people favor the concepts in the House bill, what is the problem? Simply stated, it’s Republican obstructionism. Senate Democrats could not craft
anything that would attract a single Republican vote, and so the people’s business ground to a standstill. It’s not about the deficit; the bill was revenue neutral. It was an insurgency against the democratic process. Former Clinton staffer Ira Shapiro stated on NPR, “Used to be you would have seven or eight [cloture votes] in a Congress and now you can have as many as 80 in a year. It’s a fundamental change [which is] making the Senate dysfunctional.”

The insurance industry is not going to reform itself. It is not going to cover everybody, and it is not going to contain costs. Only government can do all that. One reason Medicare costs are rising is that Medicare is subsidizing private Medicare Advantage plans. Another reason is that those plans select against the Medicare risk pool. And the main reason is that the population is growing older.

Voters are troubled by the weak economy and the burgeoning national debt. People see health care reform as an added burden for the commonwealth to bear. But done right, a good program can rein in costs without incurring additional debt. Remember somebody gets all the money we pour into health care.

While the deficit remains a formidable challenge, it is not possible to grow the economy and shrink the deficit simultaneously. When you have dug a deep hole, you have to climb out of it before you start to fill it back in.

Mr. Obama has challenged Republicans and Democrats to find solutions to the growing crisis — to rise above the partisan fray, or forever stand athwart the course of history.

Jim Salmon is a former director of underwriting for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey and holds the professional designations of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC). He is treasurer for the board of directors of Northern Human Services, the public health agency that serves the mental health and developmental disability needs for northern New Hampshire. He resides in Center Conway and serves as
board treasurer of the Conway Lake Conservation Association, and president of the Dolloff Cove Association.

At Carroll County meeting in support of Health Care Reform Dist 2 Rep. Bob Bridgham, Dist 1 Rep Ed Butler, Jim Salmon and Mike Cauble

By: Carroll County Democrat Jim Salmon
on The Economic Case for Single Payer Health Care
Also published in Conway Daily Sun on October 14 2009

If we set aside the hysteria about death panels and communist takeovers, the principal objection to health care reform is cost. Senator Baucus’s health care plan as proposed will cost $850 billion over the next 10 years. Yet the U.S. already spends twice as much per capita on health care as Canada does, even though Canada has a similar economy and culture and covers everybody. Canadians enjoy lower infant mortality rates than we do and have longer life expectancies. It is a clear case of government efficiency trumping free market waste.

How can this be? Why is it that large insurance companies, who must compete vigorously on price and performance for their customers, are less efficient and more expensive than a government-run bureaucracy?

We have right here in America the definitive case study in which a government plan competes head-to-head with the free market insurance industry, and that, of course, is Medicare vs. the various Medicare Advantage plans. Even
though Medicare Advantage plans pit private health maintenance organizations, with their restrictive networks of doctors and hospitals, against Medicare, with its full choice of health care providers, the Advantage plans always
lose. The only way these plans can stay in business is with a 14 percent government subsidy paid by Medicare to the insurance companies.

Most of us think that Medicare wins because it dictates below market reimbursements to the health care providers, but where I worked, at New Jersey Blue Cross/Blue Shield, we often negotiated reimbursement rates within our
networks that were comparable to Medicare. Furthermore, the Advantage plans can get large discounts on drugs — an option denied to Medicare by Congress.

Why then, are Blue Cross and the few remaining national health insurers so expensive? Ironically it is the very competitive environment in which they operate that drives up costs.

Forty years ago Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans had virtual monopolies in some jurisdictions. They enjoyed 50 percent provider discounts and a mere 5 percent administrative overhead. Back then an individual could buy insurance for $50 a month out of which the Blues kept $2.50 to run the company.

Eventually, commercial carriers found ways to gain market share by building their own networks and restricting access to providers. Faced with competition, the Blues began to emulate the commercial carriers, and their operating expenses skyrocketed. Health care now costs upwards of $500 per month, and Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of New Jersey takes $100 of that to run itself. That’s a 4,000 percent increase in administrative charges.

Here is a partial list of the types of expenses Blue Cross and all private insurance companies incur:
• Underwriting. As long as there is competition, insurers must underwrite each risk or take a loss. Sales operations and broker commissions.
• Actuarial analysis for every conceivable benefi t confi guration.
• Computer systems capable of adjudicating every conceivable benefit configuration.
• Claims adjudication personnel trained on all plans and systems.
• Clinical staff. A recent Wall Street opinion column that supported the current health care system stated that one large insurer — Wellpoint, which owns the New Hampshire Blue Cross plan — employs 4,000 clinicians!
• Premium taxes are paid to each jurisdiction in which the company does business. These taxes support the insurance departments of the various states.
• Regulatory compliance costs in multiple jurisdictions.
• Pooling charges.
• Risk charges.
• Profit.
• Adverse Selection losses.

This last item poses the greatest potential risk to any public option that would compete with private insurance companies. Whereas Medicare incurs almost none of these costs, a public option would have to take many of them on or risk failure.

For much of my career, health care costs were rising at an annual rate of 7 percent to 8 percent, yet insurance companies routinely added twice that much to their pricing for even their best customers. This so called “trend factor” includes many things - aging, provider price increases, greater utilization of services, technological
improvements, new drugs, and new therapies. But a big part of it is for the selection dynamics that occur over time. The people in any insurance risk pool aren’t the same exact mix from one year to the next. They come and
go based on self assessment of need vs. cost. The Baucus plan doesn’t have a public option, but some of its other features will drive costs up, such as: guaranteed contracts without regard to pre-existing conditions, non-cancellation provisions, and member-run co-ops. Such co-ops would be rife with adverse selection as people
move in and out of the insured workforce. In fact in most states, including New Hampshire, the group insurance statutes specifi cally outlaw Multiple Employer Welfare Associations, or MEWA’s as they are called, because they can and have bankrupted many insurance companies over the years.

The bottom line is this: Like national defense and public safety, public health is a natural monopoly. There is a compelling reason why such services reside in the public sector – it is simply the most efficient and cost effective solution. We Americans pay an enormous penalty for our health care system’s inefficiencies. Just the difference in administrative costs between public and private sectors would save $2.2 trillion over 10 years. Only a single payer plan can access the extra hundreds of billions of dollars that Americans waist each year in an inefficient private system that leaves one in six of us unprotected. The other main objection to a single payer plan is “choice.” But which would you rather choose — your insurance company or your doctor?

Jim Salmon is a retired director of underwriting for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey and holds the professional designations of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC). He is treasurer for the board of directors of Northern Human Services, the public health agency that serves the mental health and developmental disability needs for northern New Hampshire. Salmon resides in Center Conway and serves as board treasurer of the Conway Lake Conservation Association, and president of the Dolloff Cove Association.

CCDC Feb. Meeting was held on Monday February 23,2009 at Decades Steakhouse (second floor) on Seavey Street in N. Conway.  
Dinner was at 5:30 pm followed by a meeting with speakers at 7 pm.
Donations will be given to aid Starting Point who works locally to curb domestic violence in our County.

Don Ekberg lead a group of former County Chairs including Paul Henley, Dorothy Solomon, Mike Cauble and 2008-10 chair Beth Funicella presenting an historic look at the growth of the Democratic Party in Carroll County from 1960's through the present.
This program was interesting and informative along with bits of humor.

The Carroll County OBAMA INAUGURAL BALL - was at The Brass Heart Inn
January 20th, 2009
(thanks Don Harte and family!)

   
Thank you to Bob and Janet Bridgham for submitting these pictures

What a beautiful place to have a party for well over 100 on a blustery night in January.

The Carroll County Act Blue Donation page can be reached at http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/17077