NH Senate debate on WMUR

We have Republican incumbent Senator Kelly Ayotte going up against Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan.   First issue discussed was cyber security.  Both candidates managed to speak for several minutes on this issue without ever mentioning the name of the cyber security problem, namely Windows.  Any Windows computer connected to the internet can be secretly taken over, everything on its hard drive transferred to the attackers, malware emailed to every address in the victim's address book, keylogger installed to capture all the victim's passwords, and DDOS attack software installed.  Plus other bad stuff.
   Windows is so riddled with security holes as to be unfixable.  If you want any security at all, you must run something else, Linux or Apple. 
   Anyhow neither senatorial candidate seemed to be aware of this.

Economic Growth in Northern NH

Maggie Hassan, incumbent Democratic governor, seeking re election, came to Littleton the other day.  She got decent coverage in the freebie local paper, The Littleton Record.  They quoted Maggie waxing rhapsodic about Littleton's economic improvements.  She cited a multimillion dollar expansion at the hospital, and a second, smaller but still multimillion replacement of a public school building, and the famous Littleton main street rebuilding (they tore up all the paving on main street, rerouted a lot of sewer and water pipe, and then paved it over)  
  All this is cool, and needed to be done, but Maggie doesn't seem to understand that all this money spent is money spent on maintenance and services.  Where is the money spent on new manufacturing plant, new mines, new farms, new electric generation, new ski areas,  investment that makes stuff we can sell to pay the bills, to pay for new hospital expansion, and nice new school buildings?  You have to make stuff to sell before you can afford health care and education and well paved streets. 
   Manufacturing and farming and mining and recreation create wealth.  Hospitals schools and roads consume wealth.  If you don't have the wealth, you cannot afford the goodies. And that is why our children, after graduating high school, leave the area to find jobs.
   Maggie, like the average Democrat, doesn't understand the difference between weath creation and wealth consumption. 
   Vote for Walt Havenstein.

Kill the Federal Highway Trust Fund

The Highway Trust Fund was set up during the Eisenhower administration to build the Interstate highway system.  It did a good job, and by 1985 we had excellent highways running the length and breadth of the land.  The federal gasoline tax paid for all this. 
   Now that the Interstate system is built, the Highway Trust Fund is doled out to the state highway departments to maintain the Interstates.  And to do favors, like the favor Congress did for good old Tip O'Neill upon his retirement.  That favor was the Boston Big Dig,  which soaked up $14 billion, of other states tax money, to produce some very nice real estate in down town Boston.  It didn't improve traffic flow, but Boston (and only Boston) is much prettier now. 
  The Highway Trust fund is running dry now and the road contractors, highway departments, and the newsies are crying for more funding.  The Trust Fund administrator is threatening to reduce payments by August this year.  Horrors.  End of the world.  We MUST  pour more money down this rat hole.  Our senator, Jeanne Shaheen, is pressing for a federal gas tax hike to pump up the Highway Trust Fund, and to round out the state gas tax hike Maggie Hassan just blessed us with.  
  Better, would be to shut down the Highway Trust Fund altogether.  Lay off all the bureaucrats who run it. Cancel the Federal gasoline tax.  Let the states, who do the roadwork, pay for road maintanance out of state funds.  The states could even hike their gas taxes if needed.  With the Federal gas tax removed, the states could take a much bigger bite without raising the price of gas. 
   The money would be better managed if the states had to raise it them selves.  If you have to pay for it out of your own pocket, you only do essential projects.  If Uncle  Sam showers money on you, you go out and spend it quick, whether you need it or not.  If you don't spend all the free money, Uncle won't give any more next year.  Despite Obama's disbelief, the ARE shovel ready projects to soak up free money right now.  Up here we can always repave I93. 
   The Highway Trust Fund is just a batch of free money, getting poured down rat holes.  We ought to shut it off, for good.