The decline of the "New Hampshire Advantage": Part II

The Union Leader strikes back.

The good folks behind the Granite State Fair Tax Coalition must not think very highly of New Hampshire people.

Based on their public statements, coalition members have to believe one of two things: 1. The people are being duped by politicians into accepting a "morally bankrupt" pledge not to raise taxes. 2. The people themselves are morally bankrupt by insisting that politicians take the pledge.

"Morally bankrupt" was the term used by Rev. William E. Exner, vice president of the coalition, to describe New Hampshire's famous anti-tax pledge, that great bogeyman of big-government aficionados. The coalition last week launched a campaign to wipe the pledge from New Hampshire's political landscape.

"The 'Pledge' perpetuates a burdensome property tax," states a coalition resolution.

That's funny. We always thought it was the people who perpetuated the burdensome property tax because it was a lot better than an even more burdensome sales or income tax.

The clueless romantics who envision New Hampshire's people trapped in the grip of a beast called The Pledge completely ignore the actual political history of New Hampshire while fantasizing of a future in which the people are released from their misery by higher taxes.

How long can the anti-tax crowd hold out?