Issues

JOBS – Jobs, job creation and job growth will be my top priorities if you elect me as your state senator.  Over 50,000 people remain unemployed in this state.  That is unacceptable.  As an employer, small business owner and attorney for small businesses, I am intimately familiar with what it takes to help small businesses grow so they need and hire more employees.  One thing businesses do not need is increased taxes and fees and I will do everything I can to prevent the state senate from enacting further taxes and fees on businesses and individuals, which inhibit economic growth.  My goal is to make Nashua the most attractive city in the state and New Hampshire the most attractive state in the nation to businesses and employees.

EDUCATION – Education is and always has been critically important to me and practicing that belief has helped me earn three degrees - a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biology, a Master’s in Strategic Studies and a Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors.  Additionally, my wife, Lori, and I decided to send our daughters, Katherine and Grace, to Bishop Guertin High School and St. Christopher School.  Clearly, education has always played a significant role in both my personal and family life.  I firmly believe that every child deserves the best education possible, regardless of financial status, and, if elected, I will do everything in my power to see that the children of Nashua and this state get the finest quality public education they deserve.  To achieve this goal, we must attract the best and brightest to become teachers in our state, pay teachers what they deserve, reward those teachers who excel and remove those teachers who fail to adhere to minimum standards of teaching.  We must also give parents an increased voice and choice over their child’s education and work to empower the local school boards. 

THE STATE BUDGET AND DEFICIT – The state budget is a disaster and the deficit continues to grow.  The newspapers of this state have sounded the alarm:  http://www.nhgop.org/news/detail/198.  The Concord Monitor, in its June 13, 2010 edition, put it best:  “Over Republican objections, New Hampshire House and Senate Democrats balanced the state budget with a wish, a prayer and a credit card.”  The people of New Hampshire deserve better than this.  You cannot balance your business or household budget with a “wish, a prayer and a credit card” so why should you let your state senator do so?  While every business and household in Nashua is tightening their budgets in order to make it through these tough economic times, those in power in Concord have increased state spending by nearly 30% in the last two budgets.  This cannot continue.  As a business owner, I know how to balance a budget responsibly and find new and innovative ways to reduce spending.  I am a patent attorney by profession – I deal with innovation each and every day.  I will bring the same common sense approach and innovative mindset I use in my business and home to the state senate.   

TAXES AND FEES – The state legislature has passed 38 new or increased taxes or fees during the past two years and more increases are on the way.  More about that here:  http://www.jbartlett.org/files/pdf/NewHampshireTaxesandFees2009.pdf. At a time when the average person is having a difficult time making ends meet, these increased taxes and fees are simply unwarranted and unacceptable.  Increased taxes and fees impede job creation and inhibit  economic growth.  If elected, I will vote against new taxes and fees.  I want to cut the out-of-control spending rather than increasing the financial burden on working families.

ENVIRONMENT – I have been a passionate and devoted outdoorsman my whole life.  I enjoy hiking, camping, running, fishing, hunting, skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and just about anything you can do outdoors.  One of the many reasons I joined the Marine Corps was because I knew I would spend a good deal of time outside.  Because of my love of the outdoors, I am committed to keeping New Hampshire looking like New Hampshire and protecting our precious environmental resources.  All of us are responsible for protecting our environment for our children and their children.