STORY: Americans mired in inflation, national debt as primary held in New Hampshire
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 24, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 26, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:31
LOCATION: NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.
CATEGORY: POLITICS/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of New Hampshire
2. various of the bed and breakfast inn Linda White owns
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LINDA WHITE, Owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, New Hampshire
4. various of Colebrook, New Hampshire
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LINDA WHITE, Owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, New Hampshire
6. various of New Hampshire
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): THOMAS PIETRUSZKA, U.S. citizen
8. various of New Hampshire
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): THOMAS PIETRUSZKA, U.S. citizen
10. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): PAUL HARRIS, Former fencing coach in New Hampshire
11. various of U.S. Federal Reserve
12. SOUNDBITE 6 (English): TOM TILLOTSON, Voter from Dixville Notch
13. various of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire
14. SOUNDBITE 7 (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter from Dixville Notch
15. various of White House
16. SOUNDBITE 8 (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter from Dixville Notch
17. various of U.S. street views

STORYLINE:

In a typical harsh winter, the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire is gripped by biting cold wind and covered by thick layers of snow. For Linda White, owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, a remote town in the northern region of the state, the surging cost of heating is a concern.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): LINDA WHITE, Owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, New Hampshire
"I think in terms of our business, the things that went up, food almost doubled. Heating went up. Oil went up. Propane went up. Electric went up. So all those things really impact a small business that's really operating on a small margin for profit. So those things have all been challenging."

Linda said the price of heating oil has gone up by 65 percent compared with pre-pandemic times.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LINDA WHITE, Owner of a bed and breakfast inn in Colebrook, New Hampshire
"It (oil price) was $1.50 about six years ago, and now we're at... during COVID, at one time, it had gone up almost to $6 a gallon. And now it's around four. So it's very expensive. So we spend probably close to 11,000 to 12,000 a year. So obviously more in the winter."

Inflation is one of the most-cited issues, as Xinhua talked with a number of voters in different towns across New Hampshire, which held the primary for the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): THOMAS PIETRUSZKA, U.S. citizen
"I've had a pay increase. My pay increase certainly hasn't kept up with inflation. But cost of everything has gone through the roof. Am I better off today than it was three years ago, four years ago? No way."

Apart from inflation, education is also a major concern of many.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): THOMAS PIETRUSZKA, U.S. citizen
"I think the country is in perilous times. I think the kids today have a rotten education. They don't have a clue.

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): PAUL HARRIS, Former fencing coach in New Hampshire
"I think this country needs to make a course correction in its future."     

Another critical issue on voters' mind is the ballooning national debt, which has recently surpassed a record 34 trillion U.S. dollars.

SOUNDBITE 6 (English): TOM TILLOTSON, Voter from Dixville Notch
"I think the most pressing policy is national debt. I mean, the amount of money that's being spent. I worry about my son's ability to pay his taxes 20, 30 years from now, when I'm not around or... Now that I pay his taxes now, but I worry about his or his children's economic future."

Leslie Otten, another voter from Dixville Notch, told us the two things that he cares most about.

SOUNDBITE 7 (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter from Dixville Notch
"Two things that I care about the most are the immigration issue that faces the country, and the effects of inflation. Even though inflation is decreasing and declining, now the effects of that are going to be with us for a long time."

He believes that the political division is hindering effective governance.

SOUNDBITE 8 (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter from Dixville Notch
"I think that one of the problems right now is that we're playing around on the margins, with things that aren't really important. The issues are not being dealt with, and we're finding ways of dealing with anything but the issues."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from New Hampshire, U.S.
(XHTV)