There is so much information flying around at election time that I wanted to give some factual background on some of the claims I have heard.

As a general rule, I like to find out about a candidate by checking their voting record. A good way to do this for federal candidates is to go to RollCallVotes.com; for State candidates, go to GenCourt.State.NH.us/NHGCrollcalls.

Out of control spending – overspent by $800 million. This one has been around for awhile and refers to the budget presented to the Legislature elected in 2010. The New Hampshire Constitution requires that every budget be balanced. In the 2008-2010 state budget, New Hampshire received close to $800 million in one-time Federal stimulus money. This was spending that had no revenue stream from New Hampshire taxes. Therefore, if we spent the same amount the next biennium, there would be a deficit. But the same amount was not going to be spent, because it all went to one-time efforts to boost education, transportation, the environment, health, business, and community projects.

You can see where the money went – by county and by category of spending – at NHvieww.NH.gov/oes. This claim got national attention when Politifact gave it a “False” rating at TinyURL.com/d7vt7q4.

Corporate taxes hurt the business climate and must be reduced. Usually these claims reference the studies done by the Tax Foundation and CNBC.

1. The Tax Foundation State Business Climate Index (TaxFoundation.org/article/2014-state-business-tax-climate-index) uses five separate categories to rank the states and come up with an overall Best Tax Climate ranking. The five categories are corporate tax rate, individual income tax rate, sales tax rank, unemployment insurance tax rank, and property tax rank.

It is true that New Hampshire comes in at #48 in the corporate tax rank, but high rankings in the income tax and sales tax categories give New Hampshire an overall rank of #8. It is also important to note that problems with infrastructure brought down the New Hampshire ranking. This is what the current legislature is trying to fix with the increase in the gasoline tax.

In perspective, our neighboring states rankings were: Massachusetts #25 , Vermont #45, Maine #29, Connecticut #42, and Rhode Island #46.

2. CNBC (CNBC.com/id/101758236). What is most interesting in this study is seeing that a high rank for business climate does not translate into high ranking for quality of life for state residents. New Hampshire ranks high for quality of life.

Obama eliminated the work requirement for welfare recipients. In 2006, Congress rewrote the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and took away state flexibility on how to help families move from assistance to employment. What Obama did was keep the work requirement but give states the opportunity to request a waiver and get back their flexibility. Here is the document that went to the states: TinyURL.com/9yfgtfg.

Obamacare. The excellent Web site at HealthInsurance.org/new_hampshire-state-health-insurance-exchange can answer all your questions. Five carriers offering about 50 plans covering all 26 New Hampshire hospitals will begin enrollment on November 15.

The state estimated that 50,000 people would be eligible for coverage under expanded Medicaid.

New Hampshire is a great place to live. The latest study released this month by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development designates New Hampshire as the best state to live. See TinyURL.com/kjj6ges. The Annie B. Casey Report ranks New Hampshire #2 as as the best state to raise a child.

Unlike Free Staters, Tea Party candidates, and those endorsed by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, candidates who understand New Hampshire and form their opinions by listening to constituents are the ones who have always worked in a bipartisan manner to solve the issues facing New Hampshire. Please vote to elect those dedicated people: Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Annie Kuster, David Karrick, Mario Ratzki, Michael Cryans, Kathi Guay, Jane Bradstreet, and Bronwyn Asplund-Walsh.