Shaheen to DeMint: Stop Gambling with National Security

by: Dean Barker

Thu Dec 09, 2010 at 18:38:12 PM EST

"Senator DeMint is arguing that this treaty somehow weakens our national security and limits our strategic options. His argument has little basis in reality.  Senator DeMint is opposed by every living former Secretary of State, five former Secretaries of Defense, nine former National Security Advisors, seven former commanders of our strategic nuclear weapons, and former President George H. W. Bush.  All of these national security heavyweights argue the exact opposite of Senator DeMint, and they all agree that the New START Treaty strengthens our national security.  

"The New START Treaty has the unanimous backing of America's military leadership and America's NATO allies, and according to the most recent CBS News poll, the treaty now has the support of 82 percent of Americans.

Full release below the fold...

Will Kelly Ayotte Back This Jim DeMint Plan?

by: Dean Barker

Mon Oct 04, 2010 at 19:22:40 PM EDT

(US Senator Jim) DeMint said if someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn't be teaching in the classroom and he holds the same position on an unmarried woman who's sleeping with her boyfriend - she shouldn't be in the classroom.

So when will she be backing DeMint's idea to discriminate in the workplace against people for their sexual orientation, or, if women, their marital status?  

How to Handle a Bully, by Senator Jeanne Shaheen

by: Dean Barker

Sat Sep 18, 2010 at 08:30:09 AM EDT

During Thursday's hearing on the treaty, the South Carolina senator strongly criticized the accord, saying that it would undermine U.S. national security.  DeMint tried to win support for an amendment that would permit the United States to develop a missile defense system.

...Senator DeMint insisted that the treaty would hurt U.S. national security unless his amendment passed, angering Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

"Are you suggesting that if we vote against your amendment that we, in some way, are not defending this country and do not believe that we should defend this country against our enemies, because if that is what you are suggesting, I personally resent that," said Jeanne Shaheen.

DeMint said he did not intend to offend anyone...

When a bully calls you weak or unpatriotic because you disagree with his position, you call him out on it right then and there. Bullies don't expect to be pushed back.  When they are, they are less likely to bully in the future.

Just one more example of the quiet, but tough as nails approach to governance that Jeanne Shaheen has been providing New Hampshire in the US Senate.

My admiration for her grows every day; I only regret that it took me some time to understand her style. Now I see what a terrific role model she is to other Dems for getting good things done in an institution that has become almost completely dysfunctional.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-NH)

by: Dean Barker

Mon Apr 05, 2010 at 05:53:01 AM EDT

"On Capitol Hill, Senator Jim DeMint is preparing legislation to immediately repeal the new federal health care program. That's an effort I strongly support, and if I were in the Senate, I'd be the first to back his bill."

Do reasonable New England undeclared voters and one-time Republicans know that the leading candidate for Senate in New Hampshire in the GOP is running far to the right of even Judd Gregg?

I can't wait for the campaign signs:

"I will not rest until I have brought back pre-existing conditions!"

Shameful: Kelly Ayotte Peddles Dangerous IRS Lie

by: Dean Barker

Fri Apr 02, 2010 at 21:16:00 PM EDT

"Paul Hodes is running on this bill as a jobs bill. The only people that are going to be put to work under this bill are over 16,000 new IRS agents," Ayotte said during a speech before Grafton County Republicans. "Let's not mistake what these IRS agents have been hired to do, every month to look at our small business tax returns, to look at our individual tax returns to make sure we are purchasing the type of insurance the government is telling us to purchase."

"We are going to be looking for the real truth of what [the health care law] means. Just on something as simple as having 16,000 IRS agents chasing them around, that is going to open a lot of eyes."

Q: Will the IRS hire 16,500 new agents to enforce the health care law?

A: No. The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation.

[IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman] is expected to address the increase threats of violence towards IRS workers at the event.

The subject was thrust into the spotlight last February after Joseph Stack, a deranged taxpayer, flew his plane into an IRS building in Texas, killing himself and one of other person. Over a dozen IRS employees were injured in the crash.

The tragedy uncovered the fact that threats to IRS employees were on the rise. The new healthcare law has added to the problem.

Federal investigators are looking into threats to IRS workers by taxpayers worried that the new law will be either be too expensive or too intrusive.