Income Tax Helps Define NH Gov. Race
An independent poll puts Republican Craig Benson 25 points ahead in the New Hampshire governor's race. Benson is speaking out against his opponent, Democrat State Sen. Mark Fernald's proposal to impose a 4 percent income tax on the people of New Hampshire.

Today's PoliticsNH.com has more on the story.

"There is a pattern in other states that have added the income tax, that spending increases and income tax rates go up," Benson said at a press conference, backing up his assertion with data from the Cato Institute, the Lincoln Center for Public Policy, and the National Taxpayers Union Federation that shows that states that faced the largest deficits as a percentage of their total budgets this year were states with an income tax. On the other hand, states with the fewest problems also had no income tax.

Weirdly, Fernald's campaign claimed the states with income taxes faced deficits because they overspend and "haven't shown fiscal restraint." Come to think of it, that is sort of Benson's point - income taxes lead to bloated budgets and, eventually, higher taxes.

Here's coverage of the New Hampshire income tax debate from the Manchester Union Leader, the Concord Monitor, and the Nashua Telegraph.