Rep. Joyce Weston
Plymouth
Published in the Record Enterprise, October 21, 2021
This is not my dad's GOP
My dad was a Republican. My granddad was a Republican. My uncle, too. They all lived in New Hampshire, attended public school, served in the war, got college degrees, and lived solid respectable lives. Even though my views, as I grew up, moved me toward the opposite party, I had huge respect for those folks served their families and communities.
That generation is all gone in my family. But I can’t help but wonder what they would think of the Grand Old Party now. Would they recognize it?
The GOP was the party of "family values", but now NH women are denied access to basic health care and even small accommodations during pregnancy and the time of breast feeding at the work place. Where are those family values now — when life is protected only until birth, but not a day thereafter?
They were the party of the "balanced budget", but both Bush2 and Trump added trillions of dollars to the national debt while expanding expenditures and reducing revenue. Where was fiscal responsibility during their terms? My dad always paid cash — he hated debt. He would be appalled.
Where is our attention to the common health? Should the Republicans not want our state to beat this virus and get back to work? One would think, YES. But here, in the midst of a national pandemic, our state is being run by conspiracy-theory nuts who don't believe in science, four of them on Executive Council. Sununu campaigned energetically to elect this Council, so he is directly responsible. They have just rejected $27 million of help (which is completely your own tax dollars, BTW) to expand vaccinations in the state. We are the ONLY state in the country to reject the money.
NH is NOT doing well financially. We are losing on a number of fronts. Our Governor ducks and hides and talks out of both sides of his mouth — a well-oiled Sununu tactic — but look closely, and you will see the truth./span>
My dad was too smart for this kind of stuff. I wonder if he would have changed his party affiliation. I suspect he might have.