Manchester without the stimulus - not a good scene

by: Lucy Edwards

Sun Oct 31, 2010 at 07:47:52 AM EDT

FALLING OFF A CLIFF. That's how the mayor, aldermen and school committee members have referred to the budget outlook without federal stimulus funding. Politicians have fought over the effectiveness and worthiness of the $787 billion package throughout this election cycle, but the reality on the ground is that school officials will have $4.8 million less to work with when they sit down to craft their budgets.

Sorry Charlie

by: Jack Mitchell

Wed Oct 27, 2010 at 16:51:59 PM EDT

Digging In, Digging Out

by: susanthe

Thu Oct 14, 2010 at 23:07:18 PM EDT

All of the miners trapped for 70 days in the collapsed San Jose copper mine in Chile have been rescued. It's a remarkable story. After the collapse of the mine in early August, they were assumed to be dead, since rescuers could not reach them at all. For two weeks, rescuers tried to get in there to get the bodies out. After drilling in some deep bore holes, the rescuers learned that the miners were still alive. After many logistical problems were overcome, by people working together, the 33 miners were all rescued. This wasn't a scripted reality show, designed to tug at our heartstrings. This was the real deal - ordinary working stiffs who were part of an extraordinary series of events. We saw humans at their best, which made for quite a contrast to the current acrimonious election season in NH.

Kuster Campaign Statement & Fact Sheet on Bass' Ethics Issues

by: neilsroka

Thu Oct 14, 2010 at 16:01:51 PM EDT

"Even by Congressman Bass's own questionable account, he used his office to promote his nephew's company - then got rewarded with over $500,000 worth of his company's stock just days after leaving office, in a private deal not available to the public.  

No matter how loudly Congressman Bass denies it, the fact is that the company's own press clippings in 2006  credited him personally with setting up a one-on-one meeting between the company president and the U.S. Secretary of Energy, specifically to promote the company and urge funding for tax credits to help it.

That is what is wrong with Washington, and Bass's doubtful denials leave a lot of questions unanswered."

The campaign also released a fact sheet documenting the issues.

Full Disclosure: The author is the Kuster campaign's Communications Director

Heart attack? Sleep it off...

by: Mike Hoefer

Fri Oct 08, 2010 at 10:13:24 AM EDT

What were your reactions to Charlie on The Exchange today?

How is NHPR doing in these candidate forums? As the ONLY state wide alternative to the Union Leader are they fair and balanced?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Taking up where he left off

by: Mike Hoefer

Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 15:17:41 PM EDT

I guess since he is admitting that he is going to just "pick up where he left off" his only hope at beating Anne Kuster is to air a 100% negative ad in the enclaves hoping to depress turnout.

Nice to see this ad From Kuster today that not only reminds voters of what "picking up where he left off" means, but also spends time talking about Anne will do for the people of NH.

We have less than 5 weeks to go. Have you volunteered for your candiate this week?

Repeal This?

by: Mike Hoefer

Tue Sep 21, 2010 at 15:49:34 PM EDT

I'm not sure how popular that is going to be with stories like this coming out...

O'Brien, 52, and her husband, Matt, 55, had been uninsured for years.

"The first thing that was on my mind wasn't, 'Oh my God, I have cancer,' " Gail O'Brien said in an interview Monday. "My first thought was, 'Oh my God, how am I going to pay for it?' "

The Keene couple's jobs - she's a preschool teacher and he works part time for the city - didn't offer insurance.

It was only after O'Brien found out that the new health care reform law includes a provision allowing her to buy into a high-risk insurance pool that she knew her illness wouldn't bankrupt her family.

Please don't run on repealing "Obamacare" Kelly, Charlie, and Frank. Really whatever you do, I mean it please, don't.*

* See Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby if the snark is a bit too thick.

A Sorry Bass History: July 24, 1997 (Teenage Tobacco)

by: Dartmouth Dem

Sat Jul 24, 2010 at 23:28:17 PM EDT

On July 24, 1997, Charles Foster Bass voted against an amendment to provide $10 million to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the implementation of regulations to curb teenage tobacco use.  The money would have been spent on initiatives like:

* Requiring photo ID for the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco;

* Prohibiting vending machines from selling cigarettes;

* Eliminating free samples and the sale of single cigarettes and packages with less than 20 cigarettes, known as kiddie packs, that are known to be given to children;

* Banning outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools; and

* Prohibiting giveaways of products like hats or gym bags that carry cigarette or smokeless tobacco products.

The amendment was defeated by a 177-248 margin.  Regrettably, this was far from the only time that Bass sided with tobacco companies against New Hampshire families.  Charlie voted multiple times to defund the Clinton Administration's lawsuit against Big Tobacco, and co-sponsored legislation that would have barred HHS from regulating tobacco advertising at auto races.  Indeed, Bass even voted to elminate the Office of the Surgeon General -- a post made famous by New Hampshire's own C. Everett Koop in his fight for cigarette warning labels and anti-tobacco education.

It's no wonder that Charlie received more campaign contributions from Big Tobacco than any Northeast congressman in modern history.  Philip Morris' CEO (and his wife) even chipped in max contributions to support a Bass.  And we can't forget the influence of big $$$ contributor Bruce Berke, Charlie's longtime top aide-turned-Concord tobacco lobbyist.  

Cigarette companies invested heavily in Charlie Bass, and they received much in return.  When called out on this issue by Katrina Swett in their 2002 WMUR debate, Bass replied:

"Whether or not [tobacco companies] decide to make contributions to my campaign is based upon issues that are associated with . . . less government, lower taxes, and not having the Justice Department sue lawfully licensed businesses in the country, regardless of what they manufacture or provide."

The next time the Concord Monitor calls Charlie a "moderate", remember that comment.

(Next up: July 25 marks the 9th anniversary of Charlie's first Social Security privatization vote.  But, since this coincides with Bass ballots against renewable energy funds and HMO regulation, I'll have to think carefully about which one to spotlight. . . . )

How Quickly Bass Forgets

by: DRicher

Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 13:25:57 PM EST

Concord, NH - Former Congressman Charlie Bass has apparently forgotten his own record when it comes to government spending - a record that was defined by his support for reckless spending, record deficits, and tax breaks for the wealthy.  

Appearing on MSNBC yesterday to discuss the 2010 political climate, Bass shockingly declared, "I wouldn't want to be an incumbent congressman who had raised spending," ignoring the fact that his role as a rubberstamp for George Bush's reckless spending turned a record surplus into a record deficit.  Bass not only repeatedly voted for Bush budgets that ballooned the deficit, but he also supported making permanent the Bush special interest tax breaks that benefited the wealthiest Americans. Those tax policies would cost the Treasury approximately $4 trillion.

"Charlie Bass has no one to blame but himself when it comes to the federal deficit," said Derek Richer, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  "In Congress, Bass was nothing more than a rubberstamp for George Bush's reckless spending that turned a record surplus into a record deficit, and that Bush-Bass agenda helped create the mess our economy is in right now. Instead of trying to shift the blame, Bass should take a look in the mirror."

BACKGROUND:

The Real Charlie Bass: A Rubberstamp for George Bush's Reckless Spending
Deficit Exploded Under Bush. Although President Bush had hoped to preside over a deficit reduction in his last year in office, the New York Times reported that the FY2009 budget he sent to Congress in February of 2008 would raise the federal deficit by nearly $250 billion- bringing it to $410 billion in 2008, up from $162 billion the year before. [New York Times, 2/05/08]

In 2007, the Washington Post reported that Bush "inherited a budget surplus when he took office, but it disappeared amid a recession, the 2001 terrorist attacks and his massive tax-cutting program. By 2004, the deficit had soared to $413 billion...but it fell to $248 billion [in 2006]." [Washington Post, 10/16/07]

Voted to Make Bush's Tax Breaks Permanent. In 2002, Bass voted to make the fiscally irresponsible Bush tax breaks permanent. In the first decade after 2012, the tax breaks would cost the Treasury approximately $4 trillion. When it is fully phased in, the cost of the tax breaks over the next 75 years will be more than twice as great as the entire 75-year shortfall projected in the Social Security Trust Fund. Additionally, when all of the enacted tax breaks are fully in effect, the benefits will flow disproportionately to those with the highest incomes. The 1.3 million tax filers who make up the most affluent one percent of filers will receive more than one-third of the tax breaks. At the same time, the 1.3 million tax filers in this elite group will receive about twice as much in tax breaks as the 78 million low- and moderate-income filers who comprise the bottom 60 percent of filers. The proposal passed, 229-198. [Associated Press, 4/19/02; Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, "The Administration's Proposal to Make the Tax Cut Permanent," 4/16/02; HR 586, Vote #103, 4/18/02]

Supported $70 Billion in Bush Tax Breaks That Benefited the Wealthiest Americans. In 2006, Bass voted in favor of $70 billion tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. The bill extended the Bush tax breaks on capital gains and dividends for two years, but only included a one year patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax that was particularly painful for millions of middle class families. The Washington Post called the bill a "windfall for the rich, and a hole in the federal budget." According to a study by the Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, Middle-income households would receive an average tax cut of $20, while the 0.2 percent of households with incomes over $1 million would get average tax breaks of $42,000. The bill passed 244-185. [Washington Post, 5/11/06; HR4297, Vote #135, 5/10/06]

Voted For Budget that Would Spend the Social Security Surplus, Increase the Debt. In 2004, Bass voted in favor of the FY 2005 Budget Resolution that spent $174 billion of the social security trust fund would pay in part for $55.2 billion in additional tax breaks. The agreement also increased the public debt limit by $690 billion. The plan includes much weaker rules against red ink than the Senate approved budget. The $ 2.4 trillion, one-year agreement would require any new tax breaks to be offset by spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere in the budget. But that "pay-as-you-go" rule expires in a year under the final version, instead of five years as in the original House bill. The measure passed 216-213. [CQ House Action Reports, "The Budget Agreement," 5/19/04; USA Today, 5/20/04; SCR 95, Vote #198, 5/19/04]

Bass Voted for FY 07 Budget that Hurt America's Working Families. In 2006, Bass voted in favor of a $2.8 trillion budget that is fiscally reckless and harmful for America's working families. The budget adds hundred of billions to the already record budget deficit and includes a provision to increase the debt limit by $653 billion to $9.6 trillion. It cuts key programs like education, health and veterans programs. It does nothing to help lower gas prices and does not provide a permanent fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax, which hurts millions of middle class families every year. The budget includes a projected deficit for 2006 of $372 billion, and a deficit for 2007 of $348 billion. By 2011, the deficit could total $1.1 trillion. The budget resolution contains no plans to balance the budget, and, in fact, the Republican policies make the deficit worse by $410 billion over five years relative to current budget policies. The bill passed 218-210. [House Budget Committee, Minority Staff Analysis of the FY 07 Budget; HCR 376, Vote #158, 5/18/06]

Supported Final $40 Billion Budget Cut Bill that Cut Billions from Medicaid and Student Loans. In 2006, Bass voted for the conference agreement to cut mandatory spending programs by $39.7 billion over the next five years. The measure cut a record $12.7 billion from federal student loan programs, $7 billion from Medicaid that included increased cost-sharing and premiums for the poor, $1.5 billion from child support enforcement and $2.7 billion from initiatives that help the nation's farmers. The bill also repealed a program - known as the Byrd amendment - that helped local employers injured by unfair trade. The measure did not touch a $5 billion HMO slush fund established by the 2003 Medicare bill, and after intense lobbying from the health insurance industry, the budget saved HMOs $22 billion dollars by maintaining Medicare reimbursement formulas that favored the industry. The bill passed 216-214. [House Budget Committee Minority Staff, "Key Provisions in the Conference Report on the Republican Spending Reconciliation Bill." 12/19/05; CQ Today, 2/1/06; Washington Post, 2/1/06; HRS 653, Vote #4, 2/1/06]

(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)    

Charlie Bass Calls for Something Really Important

by: measurestaken

Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 14:06:51 PM EDT

GOP's Bob GUIDA files for CONGRESS NH-2 joining Charlie BASS & Jennifer HORN

by: kdhalloran

Sat Oct 10, 2009 at 01:33:11 AM EDT

Charlie Bass on Term Limits: A Fickle Reformer

by: Dartmouth Dem

Thu Sep 24, 2009 at 19:31:30 PM EDT

Charlie campaigned as a reformer.  He governed as a right-wing opportunist.  And he was defeated because New Hampshire deserves better.  His record speaks for itself.

If Charlie Bass decides to run for Congress, it is our obligation to communicate his fickle representation to New Hampshire voters.  I would like to start with an issue that defined the phony reformer ethos of the 1994 Republican Revolution:  Term Limits.  Bass was a fervent supporter of this flawed movement when he ran for office, but became less enthusiastic as he settled his rump in Washington.  Opportunism kicked in.

Read the record:

Twomey on robocalls: "Those were crimes"

by: Mike Caulfield

Sun Nov 19, 2006 at 23:17:23 PM EST

From Fahey's column in the UL:

While [the phonejamming suit] continues, the Republicans gave him another target -- automated calls for U.S. Rep. Charles Bass made to homes on the federal do-not-call list. That may be against state law.

Asked Friday, during a break from House recounts, what will happen on the so-called "robo-calls," Twomey said there will be court action. "Absolutely. Those were crimes," he said.

Seems pretty unambiguous to me...