February 2012
1 post
komen's link to romney, nhgop
Much has been made of Senior Vice President Karen Handel’s possible role in the Susan G. Komen foundation’s political decision to increase breast cancer rates among women. Handel was a failed gubernatorial candidate in Georgia committed to defunding Planned Parenthood. Like Kelly Ayotte, she was endorsed by Sarah Palin.
Another Komen notable of interest to Granite Staters is Julie...
January 2012
13 posts
new bill abolishes sobriety checkpoints
Free Stater Rep. Seth Cohn, who portrayed himself as a Republican to the voters of my district, Merrimack-06, has a new bill. It would abolish the sobriety checkpoints that catch drunk drivers.
Last year our state suffered the fewest highway fatalities in 51 years. Considering the difference in population between then and now, that is quite an achievement.
Rep. Cohn’s bill empowers...
lip service
Frank Guinta in New Hampshire:
Guinta reads to St. Patrick School students
…After reading the book “House Mouse, Senate Mouse,” students in Nancy Rollins’ first grade class barraged Guinta with questions ranging from, ‘What is your favorite color?’ to “What do you like about your job?’
Frank Guinta in Washington:
Reach Out and Read - a ...
"completely intolerant"
From Rep. Frank Sapareto’s new bill:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person, including a business owner or employee thereof, shall be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges to an individual if the request is related to the solemnization, celebration, or promotion of a marriage and providing such services,...
ALEC and its granite marionette
New Hampshire House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (print only UL):
“The [health care compact] bill was absolutely not written by ALEC,” Bettencourt said. “It is a classic tactic of the Democrats to demonize every piece of legislation that they don’t like as the product of an ‘out of state group’ to avoid a substantive discussion on the real issues facing...
bettencourt endorses tucker
New Hampshire House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt in 2012 on Deputy House Speaker Pam Tucker’s bid for RNC Committeewoman:
“As deputy majority leader, Pam has the experience necessary to promote our Republican principles,” said Bettencourt, R-Salem. “She has been a uniting influence in the House and is effective in bringing all different outlooks to the table. Pam...
primary justice
Remember when Florida broke all the rules and bumped up their primary, causing New Hampshire to have to consider a December date, which no one wanted and which everyone worked like crazy not to happen?
Everyone, of course, except Mitt Romney, who did nothing, because it was in his interest to have New Hampshire and Florida go quickly so he could dispatch with this nomination unpleasantness...
poll: shea-porter, guinta tied at 41%
My how the worm has turned:
New Hampshire’s U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta is deadlocked in a potential rematch with the candidate he ousted in 2010, while U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass has a narrow lead in a rematch, according to new polling data from Watchdog.org
In New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, Republican Guinta and Democrat Carol Shea-Porter each garner 41 percent...
nh republicans dishonor constitution
So today the Republican supermajority House voted to enshrine the prohibition of raising revenue through income into New Hampshire’s state constitution.
I have a bridge I’d like to sell to anyone who doesn’t think this is an obvious, partisan, Get-Out-The-Vote move.
“You mean if I go out and vote for it and vote for the folks who put it there I won’t get...
o'keefe goons impersonated living voter
I actually got wind of this yesterday, but held back until the victim of the crime contacted the Attorney General.
TPM has the scoop:
Robert William Beaulieu is 23-years-old, lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is a registered Democrat. He’s also very much not dead.
But you wouldn’t have known that if you watched the lastest undercover sting video from James...
don't let the criminals define the crime
The homunculi who spent $50,000 trolling the obituaries of recently deceased New Hampshire veterans would like you to think that what they did was some noble expose highlighting the need for a voter ID bill. House Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt is only too happy to piggyback these cretins and echo their rhetoric.
That’s dishonest.
The Republicans who were behind the push for a...
sophisticated vote fraud
Last night, during the Huntsman “Ticket to Ride” speech:
Today, reality, as it sometimes does, outdid sarcasm:
If you’re not familiar with Americans Elect, you should be. There a (anti-NH-Primary) organization funded by anonymous hedge fund millions, and seem to want to get around that pesky democracy and elections thing by pretending they’re into democracy and...
nhgop 2012 jobs plan
Welcome to 2012. ”Several members” of the New Hampshire House will begin the second year of the biennium by focusing on the nation’s most pressing concern - the ineligibility of B. Hussein Obama to run for office.
On January 3, 2012, several members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives will hold a press conference with the primary purpose of informing New...
a PAC too far
So this happened:
Also last week, Standing Up of New Hampshire Families announced the formation of a political action committee (PAC) to support Republican candidates who support the current law and oppose repeal. The PAC is called New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality.
Sean Owen, CEO of wëdu and Printer’s Square in Manchester, is the PAC chairman. The group hopes to...
December 2011
9 posts
ron paul vs. freedom (to marry)
Richanne Petrigno has a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
She has one in part because she chose to forgo her treatment for her own brain tumor while she was pregnant. She chose life at the risk of her own.
Now it’s time to take care of herself before her tumor gets any worse. One problem:
Without insurance coverage, Richanne hasn’t seen a doctor since August. She has plans to go for...
please vote next november
I don’t typically blog about things connected to my day job (I teach), but this (referenced earlier here by Mike H.) cannot go unnoticed:
To state Rep. Jerry Bergevin, the horrors of the Columbine school shooting and the atrocities of Nazi Germany are linked by the theory of evolution, and that’s all the evidence he needs to see that New Hampshire’s children shouldn’t...
#fitn mythbusters
So UNH, paired, as they are on occasion, with the Boston Globe, put out the eleventy hundreth NH-Primary poll of the GOP presidential aspirant circus. Snooze.
Until you dig into it and see that someone made an excellent decision to ask interesting questions of the poll respondents.
Let’s start with the deficit-busting Bush tax cuts:
Leaving aside #PolitifactLogic, Charlie Bass...
well, get out then, mr. speaker
As predicted by, um, everyone, New Hampshire’s public colleges are raising their tuition in response to the dramatic budget cuts willfully enacted by the Bill O’Brien led legislature. This is awful news for New Hampshire’s college students, who already have the highest level of student loan debt in the nation:
“Paying for college has always produced anxiety for...
2 tweets, worth 1000 words
VOTE. THEM. OUT.
bob garon, #fitn hero
This is such a perfect combination of New Hampshire Primary presidential politics and local issues and stupid stereotypes and phony candidates, I could cry tears of joy. Meet Granite Stater and Vietnam vet Bob Garon:
Romney told Garon, who was chowing down on his everyday staple of scrambled eggs and shaved ham at the restaurant Chez Vachon, that he supports a repeal of the same-sex marriage...
csp and the 99 percent
One of the reasons those running for the first district Democratic nomination not named Carol Shea-Porter have a tough hill to climb is that Carol Shea-Porter’s supporters are in general an intensely loyal bunch.
You could ascribe this to her grassroots fueled, come-from-behind, unlikely victory in 2006. Or simply from the structural advantages a previous officeholder has.
I think...
perry and the indignity of losing
When Texas Governor Rick Perry was the shiny new Non-Romney, and had buckets of donors, hype and momentum, the crowd at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier:
Florida state Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) was among those spinning reporters for Rick Perry after the debate. TPM asked him what he thought of a hometown crowd booing a soldier serving overseas.
“That was very unfortunate,” he said....
The 2012 Holiday #FITN Quiz!
Season’s Greetings from New Hampshire. Ready for the Primary Road Trip….
First in the Nation Quiz – Match the candidate with the prop:
1. Tiffany’s gift ______ Mitt Romney
2. Pizza box ______ Newt Gingrich
3. Dog crated on top of family car ______ Ron Paul
4. Ooops! (Brittany ...
THANK YOU
THANK YOU, members of the NH House, who have had to deal with seven months of abusive legislative tricks from your Speaker on his obsession with overriding the veto for Right-to-Work.
You went above and beyond the call of duty in protecting your right of representation in the face of manipulation, lies, and bullying.
As for the Speaker, he will be judged by the people of New Hampshire next...
November 2011
10 posts
children in need of a leader, pt.ii
The Bill O’Brien led NHGOP supermajority decimated CHINS (Children in Need of Services) this year in their budget.
This is what New Hampshire is when CHINS exists:
Kathleen Coakley, of Wilton, said she owes her life to the state’s CHINS (Children in Need of Services) program, which was affected by budget cuts.
“New Hampshire invested in me, and I pay it back every day when...
“Concord - Thank you all for joining me here today. My name is Terie Norelli. I...”
– House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli
"all the right things politically"
Frank Guinta earned an up arrow this week:
The first district Congressman continues to do all the right things politically. This week, he was in the paper for visiting a school, and now he is holding job fairs for veterans.
Politically, Frank Guinta is doing all the right things. In terms of actual help for veterans, not so much:
I had the displeasure recently of attending U.S. Rep. Frank...
“Americans are actually upset when they find out that troops and vets are not...”
– Carol Shea-Porter
“Putting your head in the sand is not the way to lead,” said McLaughlin....”
– from the Laconia Daily Sun
pay up
So this passed the Commerce Committee:
HOUSE BILL 309-FN
AN ACT repealing certain insurance mandates. SPONSORS: Rep. Hunt, Ches 7 COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
ANALYSIS
This bill repeals mandatory insurance coverage for:
I. Certified midwives. II. The cost of testing for bone marrow donation. III. Continuation of group health insurance in the event of divorce or legal...
“This tax cut is an important step to regain our advantage and bring business...”
– New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien
rep. bates wont "let NH vote"
When Granite Staters were given the right to marry in January 2010, Rep. David Bates stood ready to take that right away with a totally-not-at-all-connected-to-NOM, completely grassroots group called “Let NH Vote.” Bates’ solution was to bring the issue straight to the people:
There is legislation in process (CACR 28) that proposes to amend the New Hampshire Constitution so...
October 2011
20 posts
bullying is part of life (revisited)
So this happened in Ohio:
For brutally beating a fellow classmate, the young man received three days suspension.
Why?
the school ‘has no policy in place that specifically protects students from being bullied or attacked based on sexual orientation or gender identity’.
The local school district does have a policy that prohibits ‘harassment based on sex, race, color,...
“To refresh and revive itself, democracy needs new leaders and new ideas.”
– Governor John Lynch, on his decision not to seek another term in office.
pledge politics and the 1%
My (contrarian) view is that taking the Bill Loeb Pledge, as Maggie Hassan did today, is a double mistake. First, it provides no electoral advantage.
Taking the pledge, I have said previously, will not prevent the NHGOP and their media allies from branding Democratic candidates for governor as income taxers. And as sure as the sun rises in the East, they began beating that drum within hours...
capitol punishment
Tom Fahey:
You’d think a bill that would expand the death penalty so prosecutors could seek a death sentence in any premeditated homicide would be pretty sober stuff. Not at the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
…”We have no way of executing someone, other than hanging,” (Rep. David Welch) said. “I’d buy the rope, but we have no place to do...
“Shortly after lunch break, [House Speaker Bill O’Brien] held a voice vote...”
– Sonia Prince in the Telegraph
discrimination of women over
Mitt Romney’s legal advisor Robert Bork:
How about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment? Does [Bork] still think it shouldn’t apply to women?
”Yeah,” he answers. “I think I feel justified by the fact ever since then, the Equal Protection Clause kept expanding in ways that cannot be justified historically, grammatically, or any other way....
he doesn't have the votes
After arbitrary special sessions, mileage reimbursement shenanigans, calendar tricks, endless quorum calls, and POTUS wannabe lobbyists, one thing is clear: House Speaker Bill O’Brien (currently, at any rate) lacks the votes in his GOP supermajority for an override of Right-to-Work.
He denies it:
If all our supporters show up, we get it overridden.
The precise reason he is so obsessed...
my how times have changed
The D-Trip chief is bullish:
“This is a very volatile environment,” he said. “House Republicans have to go back to their districts and defend the indefensible, trying to terminate Medicare in order to fund tax cuts for big oil companies. The more they have to defend that, the greater our districts of winning in states across the country.”
…Next year’s...
“Strong opponents of repealing same-sex marriage continue to outnumber strong...”
– WMUR
chaos in concord (10/12/11)
will VP biden stand with labor?
Political Scoop:
Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a First Amendment Dinner for a non-profit foundation with ties to the Union Leader newspaper.
Biden will speak in Concord Nov. 10 at a fundraiser for the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, according to a press release. It will be the second time this year that Biden has been to the state. In late ...
gop harms nh's economy (again)
Remember last summer when President Obama offered a $4,000,000,000,000 deficit cut - twice - and the party of Frank Guinta, Charlie Bass and Kelly Ayotte rejected him - twice - obstructing, delaying, and finally bringing Congress unnecessarily to the brink of a government shutdown? Remember how it earned us a downgrade from S&P?
Here’s what else it earned New Hampshire:
Jayne...
jobs creation
Colin Van Ostern:
Somewhere right now, my generation’s Steve Jobs is working relentlessly to get a startup business off the ground. #entrepreneursareheros
From Wired’s Jobs obit
:
“I grew up at a time where we were all well-educated in public schools, a time of peace and stability until the Vietnam War got going in the late sixties,” he said.
The message emerging...
“I believed [the health care law] would be a huge help for the average American....”
– from Carol Shea-Porter’s bi-weekly column
not on your side
Sunday’s Union Leader editorial was such boilerplate right-wing palaver it rightfully doesn’t even merit attention, but bear with me:
We wonder why the press releases always say “Shaheen announces.” Could it be that they cannot say “Shaheen secures?” Like so many other politicians of both parties, Shaheen announces deals that are already done in the hope...
