Concord Monitor- "State budget smells, but not like roses"

The Concord Monitor pulls no punches in describing the proposed New Hampshire budget:

Lawmakers concocted a cockamamie mishmash of regressive fees, tax increases and revised revenue estimates that theoretically balances the budget while penalizing those with the least and damaging New Hampshire's quality of life. Their budget does nothing to solve the state's long-term fiscal problems.

We agree with the Monitor's assessment of this year's budget process, though not necessarily with its conclusions:

They didn't create a tax on capital gains, which would be paid predominantly by the well-off. They rejected an inheritance tax so the dead could pass more of their money on the people who didn't earn it. They decided not to tax the refinancing of real estate - a tax that, since people in serious danger of foreclosure can't refinance anyway, would have been paid largely by people who can afford it.

Lynch and lawmakers didn't allow the name of the most obvious solution to the budget and tax fairness problem, an income tax, to pass their lips for fear of turning to political stone. The governor preserved his fealty to the anti-tax "Pledge" beloved by Republicans. But the House did have one signal accomplishment. It didn't follow monomaniacal Sen. Lou D'Allesandro off a slot machine cliff and forever change the state for the worse. Next week, lawmakers will put clothespins on their noses and their principles in their pockets, pull on latex gloves, and deal with a budget that stinks.

Then again, the Monitor believes New Hampshire has a revenue problem. We've tried to show that it has a spending problem.