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Katrina Swett's 2002 position on a tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy matched that of Charlie Bass, John E. Sununu, and John Stephen.
Here is how Swett herself characterized her earlier tax positions at last Tuesday's debate:
SWETT: In 2002 when I was a candidate for Congress, and Jeanne Shaheen was a candidate for U.S. Senate, we both supported targeted tax cuts for the middle class. And that is still my position today. And I think we need to permit the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans to expire, and we urgently need to extend the tax cuts for the middle class.
But your criticism-slash-attack on me is exactly the attack the John Sununu used against Jeanne Shaheen when he ran for her in 2008. It didn't work then, it's not going to work now. I said at the time in 2002 when I was a candidate that I would have liked to see those tax cuts targeted more heavily to the middle class. That's my position; it hasn't changed. We need to extend the tax cuts for middle class Americans and we need to let the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% expire.
Using Jeanne Shaheen as cover and casting Annie Kuster in the role of John E. Sununu is a repeat of the press release put out earlier by the Swett campaign, when her support for the Bush tax cuts was first highlighted.
Ayotte, Gregg and the NH GOP All Clinging to Tainted Campaign Contributions
CONCORD - Today, the New Hampshire Democratic Party called on the New Hampshire Republican Party to stop their disgraceful hypocrisy and return all the dirty money collected by their candidates and elected officials in recent years. News broke this morning that two Texas billionaires, both major conservative donors, were charged by the SEC with operating a $550 million securities fraud. [NYT, 7/30/10]
What's the New Hampshire connection? The brothers gave thousands to the campaigns of current Sen. Judd Gregg and former Sen. John E. Sununu [CQ Moneyline, accessed 7/30/10] .
"The New Hampshire GOP has surpassed the height of hypocrisy which is impressive, even for them. They're engaging in disgusting political stunts to try and shift focus away from the fact that their candidates sink deeper and deeper in the polls, the closer we get to Election Day," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Seeing as Chairman Sununu still refuses to dump the $15,000 they took from Indian tribe clients of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, this isn't a huge surprise."
The Kuster campaign yesterday highlighted Katrina Swett's 2002 opposition to repealing the Bush tax cuts.
I'm glad they did, because I was surprised, when researching my "War" post, to hear her on NH Outlook say the following after her support for the Iraq war, and I was interested in learning more.
"I don't favor a rollback of those tax cuts. You know, we're possibly still in a recession or in a very weak recovery, and I think that increasing taxes is the wrong thing to do at a time of recession. We want to stimulate the economy."
We are in a much deeper recession now than we were in 2002, but Swett now says she would repeal the cuts on those making over $250,000. I don't understand the difference in approach, if the idea in 2002 behind preserving the cuts was for economic stimulation.
But I'm going to leave the bigger issue of the Bush tax cuts aside for the moment and focus on a related one that resulted from yesterday's news.
When former Senator John E. Sununu announced yesterday that he has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a "policy advisor," he became just the latest player in that sorry Washington spectacle in which public service seamlessly transitions into lucrative, private influence-peddling.
Although the influence powerhouses that line Washington's K Street are just a few miles from the U.S. Capitol building, the most direct path between the two doesn't necessarily involve public transportation. Instead, it's through a door-a revolving door that shuffles former federal employees into jobs as lobbyists, consultants and strategists just as the door pulls former hired guns into government careers. While officials in the executive branch, Congress and senior congressional staffers spin in and out of the private and public sectors, so too does privilege, power, access and, of course, money.
The [NBC/WSJ] poll asked people how they'd respond if a Congressional candidate had various hypothetical attributes. Asked how they'd feel if a candidate were "endorsed by Sarah Palin," the response was....
Enthusiastic about this attribute 8
Comfortable with this attribute 17
Have some reservations about this attribute 15
Very uncomfortable with this attribute 37
So a majority, 52%, reacted negatively. And an astonishing 37 percent would be "very uncomfortable" about a Palin endorsement, more than four times the eight percent who would be "enthusiastic" about it.
Even better, there were only two attributes a candidate might have that were seen as worse than a Palin endorsement: Supporting Bush's economic policies; and supporting the elimination of various Federal agencies and/or Social Security.
So the NHGOP's answer for a fresh face after John E. Sununu and his mission to privatize Social Security?
What do Sununu and Boustany, the Republican mouth piece, whose response to President Obama was eclipsed by the rudeness of Joe Wilson on Wednesday last, have in common, other than that they're both Republicans and come from states, New Hampshire and Louisiana, that have a sizable French descendant population?
Well, first and most obviously, there's an apparent preference for the odd-man out status, which leads them to emphasize their Lebanese-born grandfathers and to designate themselves as Arab-Americans, albeit both are Christians, rather than followers of Islam.
As an immigrant myself, that strikes me as passing strange, especially now that a large segment of the Republican party seems fixated on differentiating between native and alien.
Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu resigned his position on the TARP Congressional oversight panel.
...Earlier in the year Democrats accused Sununu of having a conflict of interest of serving on TARP's board at the same time serving on boards of companies that indirectly receive TARP funds.
Of course he didn't leave because of the conflict of interest.
I'm guessing there was really no point to it after Gregg's Ayotte coup made his senate plans untenable.
During a campaign trip in October to New Hampshire, [Sarah Palin] balked at sharing the stage with former congressman Jeb Bradley because they differed on abortion and drilling in the Arctic wilderness," the authors wrote. "That same day, she was reluctant to join Bradley and Senator John Sununu for conversation aboard her campaign bus and had to be coaxed out of the back of the bus to talk to them, according to a McCain adviser."
Something tells me those two will line up with Romney anyhow. But still, nice to know how she treats members of her own party from the Granite State.
Last weekend, John "Rip Van" Sununu took his out of touch message on the road and addressed the NH Young Republican's sparsely-attended convention. "Rip Van" gave the small gathering his best revisionist account of George W. Bush's $700 billion TARP bailout-telling the group that the $700 billion TARP bailout was needed to sustain the nation during a "week-long crisis".
Yes, that's right folks, the recession isn't real. It was only a brief 7 day economic slump in October that we needed $700 billion to resolve. Forget out of touch, "Rip Van" Sununu is living in a bubble.
But the absurdity didn't end there: "Rip Van" Sununu went on to argue against President Obama's investments in our state workforce and infrastructure, calling George W. Bush's $700 billion bank bailout a better use of taxpayer money. "Rip Van" Sununu justified the $700 billion TARP bailout- which his son John E. Sununu oversees despite being a direct beneficiary of a bank receiving bail out funds-saying that the TARP funds were different from money allocated for President Obama's recovery package because they provided "loans" and "acquisitions" to banks.
Doesn't "Rip Van" Sununu mean to say that the $700 billion TARP bailout
provided private planes and bonuses to CEOs?
"Now "Rip Van" Sununu is going try and tell us that the economic downturn which has left thousands out of work and forced so many out of their homes isn't real? Clearly, "Rip Van" Sununu is completely out of touch with Granite Staters who continue feel the fallout from George W. Bush's gross mishandling of the economy, "said NHDP Communications Director Victoria Bonney.
"Of course "Rip Van" Sununu thinks we should invest $700 billion dollars into banks; his son received money from a bank that was bailed out. While "Rip Van" Sununu and his son are living the high life, New Hampshire residents are fighting to hold on to their jobs and homes. He is out of touch with the people of New Hampshire and it would seem anyone who has read a newspaper, watched the news, or checked their 401k in the last year."
"Rip Van" Sununu also told the group about his disdain for the Fourth Estate claiming that our country is headed in the wrong direction because the press cannot grasp the reality he's living in.
"Rip Van" said of the media:
"I for one am really disturbed that the press has absolutely no understanding that this President is marching the United States and marching the world down a path of chaos."
President Obama has been in office for 108 days and maintains overwhelming public support. In fact, the UNH Survey Center found that New Hampshire residents believe that the country is headed in the right direction for the first time in four years.
"Deriding the press for reporting the facts is like complaining that faucets dispense water-it's what they do. John Sununu cannot blame the press for his party's failure to gain support with the voters; he is living twenty years in the past and the voters have moved toward the party of progess," said Bonney.
"PORTLAND, Maine - Prosecutors will appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston a federal judge's dismissal of the latest charges against a former GOP political organizer ... "
"The notice of appeal was filed late Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland. Arguments in the appeal are not expected to be scheduled until the fall."
Former congressman Charlie Bass, who lost to Hodes in 2006, has said that he is considering running for elected office next year, but he hadn't picked which one.
"I may run for the Senate, and I may run for Congress, and I may run for nothing," Bass said yesterday.
I extend my condolences to Charles Bass. Although he is putting on a positive public face, I know that he must be very disappointed at being forced out of raising money and making a decision about the senate race until John E. Sununu decides what he will do - especially since he probably would have beaten him in a primary.
Today saw the announcement of the steps that the Department of the Treasury has planned for addressing the crisis in the financial sector. While Secretary Geithner's outline remains a work in progress, it does seem obvious that the Obama Administration has learned some lessons from previous TARP efforts. That they, and the general public, has a clear view of the problems of TARP is a credit to the Democratic Congress that insisted that they have their own body in place to oversee the actions of the Office of Financial Stability.
(One far-right senator down, one to go. - promoted by Dean Barker)
Congratulations, New Hampshire! As of noon today, January 3rd, we have only one Republican Senator representing us down in Washington. True, Senator Jeanne Shaheen will be waiting until Tuesday to take her official oath of office, but Section One of the Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution is quite explicit on the topic:
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
This probably is not worthy of a whole diary, but it is now nine days since the election, and John E. Sununu still has not called Jeanne Shaheen to congratulate her on her win.
While painful, it is tradition - and just plain courteous - for the candidate who does not win to make a congratulatory call to the candidate who did, just as Governor Shaheen called then Congressman Sununu in 2002. It probably wasn't easy for John McCain to call Barack Obama, but he did. So what is with Sununu's failure to call the Senator elect?
It isn't like the lines were jammed or anything...
Like Dean, I don't believe Judd Gregg will seek a fourth term, despite his claims.
Gregg is looking at minority status under a Democratic administration. He would face a tough re-election battle against a prominent, well-funded Democrat. His longtime adviser Joel Maiola stepped down as his Chief of Staff this year and returned to private life. Why not go out on top?
So that raises the question: who would the state GOP nominate to run instead? My guesses below the fold.
[I hope this is my last ever diary focusing on John E. Sununu, but never say never!]
Much of what is done in Washington is based on seniority. For that reason, you will frequently see senators who are retiring step down right after an election, so that the state's governor (in states where the governor fills senatorial vacancies) can appoint the person who won to start his or her term early,getting an early jump on seniority. It is in the state's best interest, after all, to give a boost in the delegation's seniority.
For that reason, let's see if John E. Sununu is willing to put N.H. first by stepping down early, to allow Jeanne Shaheen get a head start on seniority!
(Typical. And around the drain circles the remnants of a party that once stood for something. Flush! - promoted by Dean Barker)
Here is the type of person Sununu is happy to take a late $2,300 contribution from: Clayton Williams, an energy company honcho and former candidate for governor of Texas, who had to apologize for joking about rape while running for governor.
"The Republican gubernatorial nominee apologized today for an off-the-cuff remark suggesting that some victims of rape should ''relax and enjoy it.''
The candidate, Clayton Williams, had initially played down the remark as being a joke." [Associated Press, 3/26/90]
Republicans like John E. Sununu and John McCain are happy to take mney from this guy, but try to keep it quiet.
Sunday morning at the Shaheen central command started with an 8:30 a.m. meeting to review where we are in the middle of the 96 hour plan. I can't disclose how many doors have been knocked on this weekend, other than to say in the tens of thousands. And thousands of great volunteers and field staffers are out today continuing the effort.
We also celebrated the strong endorsement of the Concord Monitor for Governor Shaheen:
Shaheen picked her battles shrewdly and often with success. She championed an important health insurance program for needy children. She cajoled all but a dozen of holdout communities to create public kindergarten programs, bringing to a close a shameful chapter in the state's past. Unlike Gov. John Lynch, she had to do regular battle with Republican majorities intent on thwarting her wishes - and she was steady in the face of adversity.
In the race for the U.S. Senate, we are confident that her priorities are correct: making health care more accessible and affordable, ending the war, promoting alternative energy, fixing the worst excesses of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Significantly, Shaheen is pro-choice and sees a clear right to privacy in the Constitution; her opponent opposes abortion. That's not simply a philosophical distinction. The next president will likely get to nominate between one and three Supreme Court justices. We trust Shaheen to endorse those who would help steer a more moderate course.
Did anyone else see the clips of the Sununu duck who was arrested at the pre-debate viz yesterday? The Duck, who apparently works as a Sununu fundraiser, refused several times to get out of the street, and ended up arrested by the Manchester police department. WMUR has video of the peep - er, perp.
http://www.wmur.com/video/1785...
In 2002, Chuck McGee and his co-conspirators broke the law by jamming phone lines. In 2008, it has come to this: Sununu's Duck arrested for refusing to get out of the street.
It almost would be funny - well, okay, it is kind of funny to see Sununu's Duck in handcuffs being led into a cruiser while the police officer carries the big duck head. But this is the state of the campaign of the self styled smartest man in the senate: having someone dress up like a duck who then gets arrested because he can't get out of the street.
