Portsmouth must protect taxpayers in land dispute with Toyota dealer: Letters

Note to readers:

Deadline for submitting letters related to the Nov. 8 election is Nov. 1. Please keep letters to 300 words or less. Thank you.

Protect taxpayers in Portsmouth v. Toyota land dispute

Oct. 17 – To The Editor:

I continue to be perplexed by the ongoing legal dispute between Mr. James Boyle, the owner of Portsmouth Toyota, and the City of Portsmouth regarding the pre-existing sewer line on Mr. Boyle’s property. Mr. Boyle purchased the lot at 150 Greenleaf Ave in 2003 but the sewer line was laid 4-5 decades earlier. So why the dispute?

To me, a possible reason behind the dispute was revealed in the most recent article on the issue in the September 26 issue of the Portsmouth Herald. To remove the existing sewer line would require the City of Portsmouth to construct a pump station on Marjorie Street that would cost between $4-8 million. According to the article, Mr. “Boyle asked the city to pay him what it would spend on the pump station/sewer line removal project for the easement.” Thus, the existing sewer line could stay in place if Portsmouth taxpayers would agree to essentially give Mr. Boyle $4-8 million!

This dispute must be resolved, but a primary consideration must be to protect the resources of the Portsmouth taxpayers.

H. Dixon Turner

Portsmouth

Vote for Democrats Nov. 8 to preserve Social Security and Medicare

Oct 18 – To the Editor:

It is extremely difficult to overstate the value of Medicare and Social Security to working and middle class Americans. These programs, developed in the middle of the last century, have often been and are the difference between financial survival and failure for all too many.

History and data show that a vote for Democrats on Nov. 8 will help preserve the great values of these programs.

Peter Bowman

Greenland

Maggie Hassan is a strong supporter of public safety and law enforcement

Oct. 18 – To the Editor:

I have lived in New Hampshire since 2006 and have not seen a leader more supportive of our public safety and law enforcement than Maggie Hassan.

Not only does she talk about supporting our officers, public servants and first responders, she actually takes action to ensure that they have the resources they need to do their jobs.

As our U.S. Senator, she has voted every year to increase police funding, worked across the aisle with Republicans to add 100,000 new officers, and was the leader in passing legislation to add billions of dollars for our border security.

As Governor, she signed a law to increase criminal penalties for fentanyl dealers, abusers and traffickers, increased the number of New Hampshire State Troopers, and raised the law enforcement budget in our state.

Her opponent is trying to attack her character and credibility, but he's ignoring the facts: Maggie Hassan stands with law enforcement – and she delivers real results.

Larry Drake

Portsmouth

Chris Pappas is best choice for NH Congressional District 1

Oct. 18 – To the Editor:

The best choice for representative in NH’s first congressional district is clearly Chris Pappas.

His experience in the private sector and in public service, his understanding of issues, and his ethical, common sense approach to government place him far above his opponent, Karoline Leavitt.

A small business owner, who won the support of thousands of Granite Staters in becoming a state representative, an executive counselor, and our current Congressman, Pappas has demonstrated an ability to serve. His opponent worked as a communication staffer in Trump’s press office, and for a right-wing New York official.

Looking at independent websites (Ballotpedia, NHPR, WMUR and more), I found Pappas presenting detailed plans for addressing issues like health care, the opioid crisis, immigration, gun violence, human rights, health care, infrastructure, energy, climate change, economic issues, and more. On these sites Leavitt provided little detailed information on many of these issues and extreme positions on those she does address.  She rants against Democrats and shows hostility to unions, workers who earn hourly wages, anti- gun violence advocates, teachers, doctors, refugees, disadvantaged people, and women who want to make decisions about their own bodies.

While Pappas advocates having the rich pay their fair share of taxes, Leavitt wants to give the wealthiest even more tax breaks.  Pappas extends himself to all people and has a record of bipartisan achievements. Levitt displays a willful ignorance of gender identity and cruelly scapegoats transgender people and families to score political points with the uninformed.

I applaud Pappas’ honesty and integrity, and his defense of democracy, including refuting Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election. Earlier, Leavitt parroted the Big Lie, but now has changed her tune to acknowledge the legitimacy of that election. I want my Congressional Representative to demonstrate honesty and integrity. I want my representative to defend democratic principles.

Please join me in re-electing Chris Pappas.

Chuck Rhoades 

Dover

Democrat-controlled congress must be voted out of power

Oct. 18–To the Editor:

The current Democrat-controlled congress  must be voted out of power for our self-preservation. Combined with their “no-petroleum-products-by-2030" energy policies, they have spent us into recession.  They’re  hostile to police, faith, our Constitution, and basic needs of real people. They’re out of control with deficit spending, creating several multi-trillion dollar bills passed solely by Democrats, which drove inflation to 40 year highs. Their typically-oppositely-misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, again passed solely by Democrats, only increased prices. We were thrown a bone, while big donating corporations got the lions’ share.

Groceries are my big concern, followed by the cost of heating oil and gasoline, both of which have doubled in the past year, and will keep on increasing, as Biden’s current Democrat-controlled Congress keep creating/passing new massive, unsustainable spending.  Previous “bones” were to deceptively get the Dems through upcoming elections.  Do you honestly think you’ll afford the cost of living over the next two years with a proven financially-challenged Democrat congress?

To combat inflation:  Fed raises rates>economy slows>jobs lost>worsens current recession.

The Democratic party, fueled by the media, has tried to obscure our catastrophic economy by promoting late-term abortion, “wokeness,” and other smoke-screen issues.

Bruce Young

York, Maine

Women's reproductive rights under threat in New Hampshire

Oct. 12 – To the Editor:

Until this year, the United States moved toward protecting reproductive rights, which are integral to women’s equality. In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman seeking an abortion. With the recent overruling of Roe v. Wade by the current Supreme Court, the country has moved away from world standards leaving women dependent on state legislatures to protect their reproductive rights and their privacy.

Although in New Hampshire, a woman is still legally able to obtain an abortion up to 24 weeks, that right is under threat. The first abortion ban in over 40 years was recently signed into law through the back door, as part of a large budget bill, and numerous additional restrictions have been proposed.

A woman’s choice to use birth control, to have or not have a child, to carry a fetus to term or to terminate a pregnancy are all decisions that should be hers alone, without interference from the state. Restrictions on women’s reproductive rights have far-reaching consequences in terms of gender equality, bodily autonomy, equal participation in the economy, and the health of the woman and the fetus or child.

In New Hampshire, if the term “Live Free or Die” is to mean anything, it must include a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions. In my view, truly “pro-life” policies are those that support and nurture children after their birth, with emphasis on health, education, clean air and water, and safety from violence. It is my goal for those areas to be common ground that we can all agree on.

If elected to the NH Senate, I will fight for reproductive rights and will vote to guarantee them under law.

Ruth Larson

Alton

GOP hyperbolic half-truths on abortion

Oct. 19 – To the Editor:

Republican letter writers who apparently see "The Handmaid's Tale" as an owner's manual must think that voters are idiots.

Case in point: Mr. Pearson's recent letter chastises Senator Hassan for supporting the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022. According to Mr. Pearson, the Act "would eliminate any restrictions on abortion right up to the moment of birth."

This hyperbolic half-truth makes it clear he hasn't read the text of the Act, which provides that abortions after 24 weeks could not be barred if "in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health."  (It is also worth noting that, according to the CDC, fewer than 1% of abortions occurred in 2021 after 21 weeks).

So, here's the picture.  A woman is later in her pregnancy. Perhaps with her 2nd or 3rd child. Complications develop. Her doctor tells her that continuing the pregnancy could kill her. The family now has an agonizing choice. Maggie Hassan – and a majority of Americans – believes that choice belongs to the woman and her family. But according to the Republican Party, the best outcome here is for Don Bolduc to ride into the doctor's office on horseback and TELL the family that the decision is no longer theirs, but his. Sorry kids, say good-bye to Mom. General's Orders. The GOP's dream is nothing but a nightmare for women and their families.

Eric Kane

Exeter

Inflation is here to stay unless…

Oct. 19 – To the Editor:

We read daily about the impact of supply chain bottlenecks on inflation. Early on, the pandemic clogged seaports and railyards and caused retailers to raise prices. The ongoing bottleneck now is a stagnant and unproductive labor force relative to a growing U.S. population.

The workforce is dependent on young people and as hard as it may be to appreciate it, they now represent a smaller share of the overall population. Multi-decades decline in U.S. birthrates coupled with accelerated Boomer retirements have resulted in historically low unemployment rates but a record 10 million unfilled jobs. The labor participation rate is also down as older workers retire, younger folks stay in school for advance training and women leave the workforce to care for children and aging parents. Job vacancies encourage job hopping, thereby bidding up wages.  And the labor problem will only get worse as we refocus our supply chain away from foreign adversaries. Higher labor costs are being recouped by increasing prices.

Raising interest rates alone as a cure to inflation could lead to a recession or years of slow economic growth.  High interest rates will exacerbate the national housing shortage – limiting construction causing both home ownership costs and rents to rise – reduce investment in productivity-enhancing technology, and harm retirement portfolios. To break inflation’s grip while simultaneously growing the economy, we need to expand the labor pool while making it more productive.  We must:

• Increase legal immigration, coupling it with a pathway to citizenship (a full-fledged American is economically more productive than one hiding in the shadows),

• Encourage young women to enter and stay in the workforce by funding childcare programs (other advanced economies do this successfully),

•  Guarantee a woman’s right to abortion, allowing them to balance family formation with work,

•  Encourage older workers to remain in the workforce by raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare,

•  Decriminalize drug usage (treating it as a health issue) to reduce the number of young males incarcerated for non-violent drug related crimes and putting them to work. (The U.S. incarcerates more young men than any other industrialized economy).

•  Invest in advance education/vocational training programs at both the high school and post high school level (this will improve worker productivity),

•  Make healthcare readily and easily accessible to all workers (a healthy worker is a more productive worker),

This policy prescription requires commitment, financial resources (taxes), and political will. (Hint:  It’s not just about “drill-baby-drill” and reducing the cost of medications for seniors.)  If you don’t like these tactics, then you better get used to chronic long-term inflation and slow economic growth. Plan your financial affairs accordingly.

James T. Lalos 

Portsmouth

Governor Sununu's recent afflictions

Oct. 19 – To the Editor:

Governor Sununu seems to have lost all politically redeeming qualities. It has been reported that he suffers from Republicanfibbitis (a tendency to speak untruths).

Others suggest it might be FreeStateophilia (a condition caused by too many close encounters of the Libertarian kind).

And, there are other suggestions that he might have caught this hyper-partisan condition, found in Republican visitors to NH just before important elections, who seem to have the accompanying condition the Governor thought he had eluded...NationalGrandiosititis.

In any case, I'm sure our two treasured senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, wish the Governor a speedy and complete recovery.

Herb Moyer

Exeter

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Protect taxpayers in Portsmouth, NH v. Toyota land dispute: Letters