How does your state work?

[sadchild]

Right after midnight on election day, Dixville Notch, NH is the first town in the nation to vote.

Nov 3, 2020 — For 60 years, tiny Dixville Notch, NH, has been first in the nation to cast votes in the presidential election just after midnight.

That's right. Five whole people live in "tiny" Dixville (really, reporter??). To cover the event, the number of reporters outnumbers the residents.

Feb 7, 2020 - Every four years dozens of journalists travel to a small unincorporated township in Dixville Notch, N.H., to tally the first primary votes

I guess the point here is: NH seems to like dick, "Come vote for Dick Swett with the tiny Dix residents!!"

 

[HecticArt]

Sounds like someone’s got poll envy.

 

[sadchild]

Trivia time: What do Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have in common?

 

[HecticArt]

Sister-wives?

 

[sadchild]

Gotta add another dozen states for that criteria!

 

[scotchandcigar]

Trivia time: What do Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have in common?

They're all "Commonwealths"?

 

[sadchild]

CORRECT! And what does that mean? Nothing, apparently. Just 4 states saying we want to be called a commonwealth. As far I can find, anyway.

 

[Wolf]

Just checking out this thread for the first time. I know some states are screwed up, like Arizona. We joke and say we are the new California.

 

[sadchild]

In New England the joke is "New Hampshire: Boston's biggest suburb". That or just "Cow Hampshire"

 

[scotchandcigar]

In New England the joke is "New Hampshire: Boston's biggest suburb". That or just "Cow Hampshire"

My friends and I all call New Hampshire "The South of the North". I believe that moniker was first used by comedians and in media.

 

[sadchild]

I don't get it. I also don't get calling southern Maine 'Down East'. To get to that area from anywhere else in Maine, you can't go east. You're usually going west.

 

[machpost]

Or Lowell (LOW-ul)

Or Pawtucket (puhTUCKit)

 

[machpost]

You sound a little "old-man" -ish about pot. Having it legalized, and having a bunch of stores pop-up here seems to be all upside, with no downside. People were getting it anyway, but now it's creating jobs and bringing in millions to the state. And those who needed it medicinally, but were not getting it, are getting it now.

One really big positive effect of legal operations is that the criminal element is taken out of the equation. Organized criminal enterprises are not being enriched and nobody's getting shot or exploited in the process from cultivation to retail sales. Here in DC we have medical cannabis. They've made the application process pretty easy and the whole system seems to work very efficiently. On the recreational side, certain members of Congress have decided that nothing in our city's budget can be spent on recreational sales, so we have a thriving gray market, where you pay an overinflated price for a food item or some low value piece of ephemera, and receive a "free gift" of cannabis. Law enforcement typically looks the other way, but the strict quality control of the medical side isn't always there, and occasionally you hear about armed robberies of pop-up events that are based on "gifting" of weed. Some also speculate that this gray market may be in part responsible for the rise in violent crime here.

 

[scotchandcigar]

One really big positive effect of legal operations is that the criminal element is taken out of the equation. Organized criminal enterprises are not being enriched and nobody's getting shot or exploited in the process from cultivation to retail sales. Here in DC we have medical cannabis. They've made the application process pretty easy and the whole system seems to work very efficiently. On the recreational side, certain members of Congress have decided that nothing in our city's budget can be spent on recreational sales, so we have a thriving gray market, where you pay an overinflated price for a food item or some low value piece of ephemera, and receive a "free gift" of cannabis. Law enforcement typically looks the other way, but the strict quality control of the medical side isn't always there, and occasionally you hear about armed robberies of pop-up events that are based on "gifting" of weed. Some also speculate that this gray market may be in part responsible for the rise in violent crime here.

I agree, and in Maine, we also had legalized medical first, then recreational later. Regardless of what one thinks of pot, legalizing it certainly eliminates the crime, and cranks up the tax revenue.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I don't get it. I also don't get calling southern Maine 'Down East'. To get to that area from anywhere else in Maine, you can't go east. You're usually going west.

NH being the South of the North is pretty obvious. It's a right-wing hick state. It's the place to go for liquor, cigarettes, fireworks, and tattoos. No helmets, open carry, stand your ground law. No income or sales tax. It's the complete opposite of every other New England state. People move there from Mass because property is cheap and land is abundant, and the government is practically non-existent.

Downeast Maine is north, it's not southern Maine. Northern Maine is mountainous, except where it meets the coast in the east. Hence Downeast.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

No income or sales tax.

How does the state government get any revenue? You mention government non-existant. Does that mean no social services?

 

[scotchandcigar]

How does the state government get any revenue? You mention government non-existant. Does that mean no social services?

They earn their money the old-fashioned way: property tax. So, for example, when there was a population boom a few years back, in towns where a major highway (rt. 93) provided a corridor to Boston, property taxes tripled. And that destroyed real estate values. Now the state receives some town taxes that get redistributed.

But yes, there are no social services. No senior services, and child welfare is a joke. Police are often part-time, fire and schools are minimal. There are good school systems; but only in high-income towns.

 

[scotchandcigar]

The other sources of state revenue are liquor sales, lottery sales, and the disguising of taxes as "fees", like car registration.

 

[scotchandcigar]

I should add that the tax structure is a business killer. You'd think that a no-income-tax state would be great for business, but in other states, the tax is a write-off. But the high property tax and lack of services keeps business away.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

In Ontario, the property taxes go to the municipality. A portion of them goes to the school system. You choose which system: public or Catholic (separate). We have provincial taxes and federal taxes. Usually the provincial tax is 53% of what the federal tax is. Our taxes our higher since a good part of them go to funding our "free medicare". Combined my marginal tax rate is about 45%. Since I rent I do not have to pay the municipal taxes.