Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch paper
Democracy for NH
Granite State Progress
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Pickup Patriots
Re-BlueNH
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
New Hampshire Labor News
Chaz Proulx: Right Wing Watch
Defending New Hampshire Public Education
Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Landrigan
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Campaigns, Et Alia.
NH-Gov
- Maggie Hassan
- Jackie Cilley
NH-01
- Andrew Hosmer
- Carol Shea-Porter
- Joanne Dowdell
NH-02
- Ann McLane Kuster
ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC
National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
UPDATE: The PVI for the town of Merrimack was originally misidentified. The correct PVI for Merrimack is R+4.
New Hampshire has been one of only two states (along with Kansas) still dragging her feet in the Congressional redistricting process. Gumming the works has been a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war between Congressmen Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass.
James Pindell writes that Bass has been pushing to make CD2 more Republican by adding Merrimack, Hampstead and Plaistow to his district in exchange for more Democratic-leaning towns including Plymouth and areas further north. "House and Senate leaders don’t want any dramatic change, nor does Guinta," says Pindell.
It looks like Guinta won. Rep. Steve Vaillancourt writes that last Wednesday, a House subcommittee on redistricting voted 7-3 to accept a "behind closed doors plan." The "revised Mirski/Bates Proposal" (Amendment 1162h) rebuffs Bass' effort to shift Republican voters to CD2. In fact, if this plan is adopted, his district will become slightly less Republican.
The plan moves seven reliably Republican towns, including Atkinson (R+9), Loudon (R+5) and Epsom (R+6) from CD2 to CD1 in exchange for Merrimack (R+4) and the very small towns of New Hampton (R+1) and Hart's Location (D+4).
Using the 2008 presidential voting as a benchmark, CD2 would become slightly more Democratic (and CD1 slightly more Republican) than it is today. President Obama carried CD2 by 46,325 votes (and CD1 by 21,967 votes). He carried the towns making up the redistricted CD2 by 47,110 votes, an additional 785 Democratic votes.
The folks at CREDO have formed the CREDO Super Pac with two intentions. One is turning the Super Pac concept of secret money and power around. The second (and most important ) part is the Take Down the Tea Party Ten in 2012 campaign. CREDO has chosen 6 (so far) of the 10 worst offenders from the Tea Party House. The biggest offenders in the areas of : Sexism, racism, science denial, hypocrisy, and of course sheer crazy.
So, what's the point? One of the chosen is our very own NH CD 1 Congressman Frank Guinta. Frank of the "forgotten" $350,000 bank account. Frank who would force a rape/incest victim to incubate the spawn of her rapist. Frank who voted against additional FEMA funding to help our state rebuild after Hurricane Irene devastated parts of the state. Frank whose allegiance is to the Koch Brothers, not the people of District One. Frank who got elected with the help of the Tea Party, but didn't even join their caucus.
CREDO Super Pac is going to be funded with small donations, and unlike the other Super Pacs, will also be transparent. No secrets about where the money came from. The Super Pac will be used to pay for offices in each of the targeted districts, to pay organizing staff, new media folks - who will roll up their sleeves and get to work on throwing the bums out. CREDO has over 2.5 million activists around the country, waiting to get involved.
This is a campaign to oust. Not a campaign to elect. The folks working for various candidates can take care of that.
So far the rest of the Big Ten list consists of: Joe Walsh, Sean Duffy, Steve King, Chip Cravaack, and Allan West. The remaining 4 of the Big Ten will be chosen soon.
The CREDO Super Pac is planning to put a lot of resources into ousting the odious. As we learned in 2006, committed citizen activists can have a huge impact on an election. We kicked Jeb Bradley to the curb, and voted in Carol Shea Porter. None of that would have been possible without all of the folks who went to Bradley's town hall meetings and asked him pointed questions about Social Security and Medicare. CREDO will be opening an office in CD 1 in March, hiring staff, organizing volunteers, and engaging the new media. With their help, we'll be saying goodbye to Fraudulent Frank, come November.
Charlie Bass has been one of the most successful lawmakers in Congress at leveraging his influence in the presidential race for campaign fundraising.
Prior to his endorsement of Mitt Romney last month, Bass raised $10,000 from Romney and $20,000 from Newt Gingrich. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that of the 223 lawmakers who have received donations from one of the two front-runners, only Missouri Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson raised more.
Making his $10,000 bet with Rick Perry seem small potatoes, Romney has donated a total of $743,263 to 211 current members of Congress. The 51 lawmakers who have endorsed him received $163,620. That's a better record than Gingrich, who has donated $260,560 to 42 current members of Congress without receiving a single endorsement.
If you're wondering why Congressman Frank Guinta has yet to endorse a presidential candidate this year, maybe he's waiting for someone to pony up. Guinta has received just $3,500 from Romney and nary a red cent from Gingrich.
Rep. Frank Guinta has a solution to reduce the deficit and create jobs "without borrowing a single dime or raising taxes." All we have to do, says Guinta in a letter to House leadership, is offer a tax holiday to U.S. companies that have more than $1 trillion in profits stashed in overseas subsidiaries.
“The freshman class was elected last year to get Washington’s fiscal house in order. Repatriation is a simple, direct way to help do that. We don’t need another massive infusion of additional borrowed money in an attempt to artificially stimulate the economy and create new jobs. We need genuine reforms that will encourage American businesses who are currently parking billions of dollars overseas to bring that money home and grow our economy here. That will significantly expand the government’s revenue base and free businesses to create badly-needed jobs, too, all without borrowing a single dime or raising taxes.”
Sound too good to be true?
It’s a seductive argument -- reap billions in tax revenue from money that’s currently untaxed and generate economic growth to boot. On closer inspection, though, the coalition’s argument has some logical loopholes. An almost identical holiday passed by Congress in 2004 and taken mostly in 2005 did little to boost jobs or investment, according to several independent economic studies.
The 2005 repatriation “did not increase domestic investment, employment, or R&D,” but did boost share buybacks, concludes a forthcoming Journal of Finance article by Illinois’ [Dhammika] Dharmapala, C. Fritz Foley at Harvard Business School and Kristin J. Forbes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.
One anecdote makes the point acutely: Hewlett-Packard, even as it was pulling its $14.5 billion home from abroad, announced plans in 2005 to reduce its workforce by 14,500.
Earlier this month, Congressman Frank Guinta took to the editorial pages to lambaste President Obama's jobs bill as an attack on the work of charitable organizations.
You may be surprised to learn just how big [nonprofit organizations] role is, and even more surprised to hear what some people in Washington are trying to do that would hinder their efforts to provide much-needed services. ...
[T]he jobs bill that President Obama submitted to Congress last month contained harmful consequences to nonprofit groups.
I agree our tax code needs substantial, powerful reforms. But we must ensure we don’t penalize the very groups that are doing so much to help our communities.
In a letter to the editor, Joan Jacobs sets the record straight on the jobs bill provisions -- and takes Guinta to task for choosing to protect the tax privileges of the top 1% over putting people back to work.
Mr. Guinta should know better. President Obama's proposed limitations would apply only to families with taxable incomes over $250,000. And for that top 1 percent, the change would be modest. Their tax deductions for charitable giving would be reduced from the high 35 percent they get now to the 28 percent most of the rest of us get.
Among the many good things that would result from the Jobs Act: preventing layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters; modernizing more than 35,000 schools; expanding access to high-speed wireless Internet service; and helping veterans get hired. An estimated 18,000 long-term unemployed in New Hampshire could benefits from this legislation.
Frank Guinta and his tea party Republican allies in Congress are doing everything they can to kill the American Jobs Act. Their overriding goal is to protect the tax privileges given to the top 1 percent, even if it means turning their backs on the rest of us.
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 Guinta's job fair at the New Hampshire Community College in Manchester. My son, who is a U.S. Marine, and I traveled from the Monadnock Region to attend this job fair. We arrived just before 10 a.m.
Companies with applications were nowhere to be found, not a good thing for veteran job-seekers. They had a table with some snacks on it...
It was a sorry excuse for wasting my gas money. I didn't see one representative from a company that had job applications.
Politically, this taxpayer funded Google Ad is effective:
Congressman Frank Guinta is fighting to strengthen & preserve Social Security and Medicare
The political gold of that ad, paid for by you and me, is that it omits candidate Guinta's stated support - on video - for abolishing Social Security. Or Congressman Guinta's interest in privatizing Medicare, on record even before he voted for the Ryan plan - which ends Medicare.
Politically, Frank Guinta's photo op in front of a project funded with stimulus money was especially effective. A central pillar of candidate Frank Guinta's campaign was his opposition to the American Recovery Act. Here's one of numerous examples:
"When will Congresswoman Shea-Porter finally agree with the rest of us who believe her failed stimulus was a waste of our money?"
This is the text of a letter received by several of my friends when they wrote to Frank Guinta stating their objections to the Citizens United decision and the avalanche of special interest money it allows:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the important issue of campaign finance law and the impact this ruling has.
Some have expressed concerns that this ruling is a giveaway to corporations and labor unions at the expense of the average citizen. While I understand the initial shock many have at the idea of outside groups freely advocating for candidates, I believe the real winners in this ruling are the voters.
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 O'Connor, president of White Mountains Attractions, a marketing association for the White Mountains region, said a 15 percent drop in tour bus business started as early as July, during the Congressional standoff over increasing the nation's borrowing limit and the possibility the government would run out of money.
Many people who board the usual 3,000 buses on fall foliage tours through the White Mountains are retired and on fixed incomes. They make their plans in advance, O'Connor said.
"When they could not decide in Washington what to do, those people were not confident that their (Social Security) checks were going to be coming in the mail and were not confident enough to make their travel plans," she said. "We really noticed that, and I heard from least one of the tour operators in the state who said, `My phone has just stopped ringing.'"
As a reminder, the following is from recently departed, veteran Republican Hill staffer:
A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress's generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.
Congress currently enjoys a record low 14% approval rating.
Here's the link: http://chazproulxrightwingwatc...
Blue Hampshire has been kind enough to put up a permanent link on the blog roll. A Google search will bring it up too. I hope you'll pay a visit. There's a lot of information there but it isn't time sensitive so you don't have to take it all in at once.
The first "edition" is about Frank Guinta and his tenuous relationship with the truth.
I've also worked up a strategy to put some serious heat on Mr. Guinta. The strategy IS time sensitive and needs to get cranked up now if it's going to work.
At any rate, the strategy and site go hand in hand so here's a quick overview of both:
From the beginning, my intention with the Frank Guinta piece was to show as up- close-and-personally as possible just how little regard Mr. Guinta has for the truth.
As it turns out, I lucked into a jackpot when I attended Mr. Guinta's August town hall meeting in Greenland. I ended up sitting in between Joan Jacobs and Frank Guinta with my video camera. Joan really had an inspired moment and ended up taking on Frank in an eleven minute exchange about health care.
A week later Joan and I got together so she could shed even more light onto Frank's miserable deceptions. There are some real groaners in there. We got that on video so I could cut and splice Frank's fibs and Joan's facts.
A Bloomberg investigation finds that Koch Industries -- a global empire run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, prominent financial backers of conservative groups -- made "improper payments" to win business in other countries and "sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism."
"Internal company documents show that the company made those sales through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. Koch Industries units have also rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada."
Frank Guinta received $5,000 in the 2010 cycle from Koch Industries Inc. PAC.
"My kids are six and five. They shouldn't know what Social Security is."
Congressman Frank Guinta, September 2011:
we shouldn't talk about eliminating Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. We should talk about preserving it, protecting it, making it financially sound.
People who want to represent you really shouldn't be duplicitous.
Today Frank Guinta - recently named one of the most corrupt members of Congress - was the subject of yet another FEC complaint.
Back when the Republican elite in New Hampshire were trying to show off how the money would roll in - if only they could depose of Tea Party leader Jack Kimball - someone leaked this to the Union Leader:
Guinta mentioned that he had contacted several national groups for money and that he had been hoping "to get up to $100,000 from the Republican Governors Association (for the NHGOP)," the source said.
and:
When Kimball asked for examples, the source said, (House Speaker Bill) O'Brien mentioned that he had been told by Guinta that the RGA had refused a donation request.
According to the complaint filed today, this is illegal:
The Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits federal candidates and officeholders like Congressman Frank Guinta from soliciting, directing, or transferring, or spending funds in connection with an election that are outside the federal restrictions and limits. Under those limits, federal candidates and officeholders may solicit up to $10,000 per year from federally permissible sources - such as individuals and federal multicandidate committees - for the federal and nonfederal accounts of a state party. But $100,000 is in far excess of the limits and the RGA is a non-permissible federal donor.
The RGA denies it:
"At no point did the RGA commit resources nor were we solicited to do so," (RGA spox Mike) Schrimpf said.
Frank Guinta had the same response to this as he did to being named "most corrupt":
A spokesman for Guinta said the congressman had no immediate comment.
Some questions that come to mind: Who's not telling the truth - the Union Leader's source, or the RGA? And who was the source? Frank Guinta himself? Bill O'Brien?
("...who simply can't understand that the government is us." - promoted by William Tucker)
It seems to morph into the Peter Principle. How else to explain the sheer number of incompetent public officials with which we are suddenly burdened?
While some people respond to praise by striving even harder to perfect their skills, others take any encouragement at face value and decide they've done more than was expected and that's the end of their endeavors.
Self-centered individuals blinded by their superficial optics come to mind. Frank Guinta is one, if his missive to fellow public officials in the state of New Hampshire is to be believed.
The non-partisan watchdog CREW made official what we've suspected: that both of our congressmen, Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass are among the 14 most corrupt of over 500 members of Congress.
Perhaps this renewed scrutiny into Frank Guinta's campaign mystery money (still unresolved by FEC) can bring needed press attention to a more recent matter.
Union Leader, August 26, 2011:
Guinta mentioned that he had contacted several national groups for money and that he had been hoping "to get up to $100,000 from the Republican Governors Association [for the NHGOP]," the source said.
The question here is whether the Union Leader's source inadvertently revealed illegal activity by Guinta for soliciting well beyond the federal campaign limit. Even if that solicitation was for NHGOP and not his own re-election campaign.
From Mother Jones, key piece of information on a related issue. This concerns a loophole scheme for federal officeholders to solicit unlimited funds for super-PACs, which in turn could then spend unlimited amounts in their districts bashing their opponents (quite analogous to state party spending):
Last week, the campaign finance watchdog's top attorneys quietly released a draft opinion declaring that Bopp's plan violates campaign finance law. Specifically, the attorneys pointed to the McCain-Feingold law, which bans elected officials and candidates from soliciting "soft money," or unlimited campaign contributions, in connection with a federal election. The attorneys added that it's OK for federal officials to appear and speak at fundraisers where unlimited cash is being raised, so long as they don't directly solicit it themselves.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the current RGA chair is Bob McDonnell, who is headlining a huge fundraiser for NHGOP days from now? And the previous chairman, who left the post recently because of his presidential run, is Rick Perry?
They both were! That's right. Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta were named two of the most corrupt members of Congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW's annual report on congressional corruption identifies 14 members whose actions violated the law or who otherwise engaged in serious misconduct. Both of the Granite State's Republican congressmen made the select list.
Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) fudged the numbers and cooked the books to buy a seat in Congress. Beginning in 2009, Rep. Guinta made several shady loans to his campaign committee, claiming the money was his own despite an income that seemed to preclude that possibility. ...
"It is impossible to believe Rep. Guinta simply 'forgot' about a bank account with over $250,000 - by far his largest asset. He's not exactly Bill Gates," said [CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan]. "It just goes to show, there's really no line Rep Guinta won't cross to land a seat in Congress."
Politics is a family affair for Rep. Charles "Charlie" Bass (R-NH), who abused his office to seek preferential treatment for his nephew's business New England Wood Pellet (NEWP), a New Hampshire-based company that produces wood pellet fuel for use in heating systems. Rep. Bass also appears to have lied on his personal financial disclosure forms about his interest in the company. ...
"Members of Congress should be working on behalf of their constituents not themselves or their family members. It seems some members really are just out for themselves," said Ms. Sloan. "This is exactly the kind of thing that makes Americans believe members of Congress are just out for themselves."
The White House has broken down what the American Jobs Act means for New Hampshire:
• 3,000 businesses receive a payroll tax cut.
• Immediate investment of over $132 million in infrastructure, creating around 1,700 New Hampshire jobs.
• Over $120 million in funding to support around 1700 jobs for teachers and first responders.
• Over $70 million in investment to improve and modernize New Hampshire's public schools, and resulting in a projected 900 jobs.
• Potential $20 million investment in renovating and refurbishing vital areas in local communities.
• $8.7 million in funding for our community colleges.
• Assistance for 18,000 long-term unemployed Granite Staters.
• Extending unemployment insurance for 1,700 in New Hampshire.
• A program for low income young people and adults that could create a combined 1000 jobs.
• A tax cut of almost $2000 for a New Hampshire household with the median income of $64,000
• ALL FULLY PAID FOR BY DEFICIT REDUCTION
Goodness knows New Hampshire could use assistance like that in these difficult economic times, made far more difficult by the immoral budget passed by Bill O'Brien and his GOP supermajority in Concord.
But it's clear that Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass, who represent the majority in Congress' lower chamber, are more invested in defeating the President than improving the economy.
Those suffering now will have to wait at a minimum until January 2013 for there even to be the possibility of our ruling elites' getting anything done for working families.
During these tough economic times, the last thing Congress needs to do is place more burden on individuals and small businesses. Providing small businesses tax incentives will allow them to increase their workforce, invest and create jobs.
President Barack Obama, last night:
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: ...it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business.
...Pass this jobs bill -- pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers' wages. Pass this jobs bill, and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. (Applause.) If you have 50 employees -- if you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. And all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012.
Congressman Frank Guinta, minutes later:
Americans were looking to the President for leadership and to chart a new path to lower unemployment tonight. Instead, they got more failed policy and empty eloquence.
Carol Shea-Porter, today (email release):
"After spending his whole vacation insisting that he was so bipartisan now that he was friends with Barney Frank, it did not take our current Congressman, Frank Guinta, a New York minute to condemn President Obama's Jobs Program. One of the top Republican leaders, Rep Eric Cantor, said, 'But there are some things that we can do if we transcend those differences and stick to what the mission here is,' but Frank simply refused to be bipartisan at all, flatly stating, 'they got more failed policy and empty eloquence.' New Hampshire's First District needs someone who has experience working across the aisle, and I will continue to do just that when I return to Congress."
If "the last thing Congress needs to do is place more burden on individuals and small businesses," then why did Congressman Frank Guinta choose to do that by bashing the President's jobs plan immediately after it was delivered?
This knocked me over (please go here for the backstory):
Guinta mentioned that he had contacted several national groups for money and that he had been hoping "to get up to $100,000 from the Republican Governors Association," the source said.
But Guinta told the group that "before any money was discussed, he was told by the RGA that they must put their resources where "they are going to be useful and not wasted and they think that the party is so badly run, that Jack Kimball has so little ability to get the message out that they just can't see putting money in that direction," according to the source.
Does anyone honestly believe federal officeholder Frank Guinta is calling around various groups out of the goodness of his heart to help the state party?
Likely, Frank Guinta, like all incumbents, is doing one thing with his dialing-for-dollars time - helping himself.
So that begs the question: What does a member of our federal delegation want with a group that helps gubernatorial candidates?
Oh, did I mention that, unlike with federal candidates such as Guinta, you can contribute unlimited amounts of money to groups like the RGA? Who then can give whatever they want to the state party?
In other news, in the 2010 race Frank Guinta loaned himself $355,000 that didn't appear to be his to loan. To date he has refused to produce a simple bank statement proving it's his, despite bipartisan complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Last week, GreyMike wrote about a mailer that went out across the state from the American Action Network thanking Congressmen Bass and Guinta for "protecting" Medicare.
The mailer is one of the most deceptive pieces of campaign literature I've ever seen. It accuses President Obama of "trying to radically change the Medicare Prescription Drug Program with Medicaid-style price controls." Meanwhile, Guinta is praised for joining a "bi-partisan effort to block President Obama from balancing the budget on the backs of seniors with these drastic changes to Medicare."
