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There is at least one reason to care about Republican pollster Rasmussen's latest GOP-spin setting tour of our state.
In it we learn that the supposedly credible Republican candidate for governor is not polling much higher than the supposedly not credible candidates for governor.
What if we woke up post-primary to nominee Jack Kimball? According to Rasmussen, it could happen.
Republican State Senate candidate favors an unprecedented hike in local property taxes
Concord - On Saturday, GOP candidate for State Senate in District 12 Jim Luther stated in an interview with the conservative blog GraniteGrok that he was in "sync" with Republican gubernatorial candidate John Stephen and his reckless economic plan.
Stephen's proposal would empty the pockets of New Hampshire residents with an unprecedented increase in property taxes. The plan, deceptively full of rhetoric and reckless policies, would destabilize New Hampshire's steadily growing economy and put more Granite Staters at risk. Specifically, Luther agreed with Stephen's idea to cut state spending 10% across the board.
"If Jim Luther is so in sync with John Stephen, he should explain to voters in District 12 what Stephen did not: what exactly would be cut?" said Emily Cashman, Communications Director with the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus. "Stephen's BPT plan alone would cost over $600 million. If that's the kind of fiscal conservatism Jim Luther plans on bringing to Concord, voters better get ready to foot the bill."
Aside from unsound budgeting, the Stephen plan would cut health care for pregnant women, children and seniors. It would eliminate millions in education and municipal aid going directly to local communities, leading to the largest property tax increase in the history of New Hampshire. In addition, the Stephen plan does not list all of the programs that it would eliminate to balance the proposal.
"The voters of District 12 need a plan that offers results, not smoke and mirrors," Cashman continued. "Jim Luther is clearly not offering any real solutions to the everyday concerns of New Hampshire citizens and blindly following Republican ideas that just don't add up."
Former Portsmouth mayor Steve Marchand on Republican gubernatorial candidate John Stephen's "First in the Nation" plan:
"It was disturbing to me that his plan would result in dramatic decreases in aid to local government, which means dramatic increases to local property taxes - the highest we have ever seen as a state... To make a statement like this without really any specifics as to how to do it - as somebody who knows the numbers, it almost certainly means dramatic increases in local property taxes."
John Stephen announced his plan to "fix" NH today. I remember the last time Stephen wanted to fix NH, by turning Medicaid into a block grant, modeled on the TennCare program. (remember Granite Care?) It seems he still wants that, since he's advocating for a "managed care Medicaid Program" which is what TennCare is. Another thing TennCare is - is nearly bankrupting the state. Facts don't seem to have any bearing on John Stephen's pursuit of a truly bad idea.
Vitale called the party an annual business event and defended the scrapped contest, saying it would have been "as classy as the 89-year-old Mrs. America Pageant."
His flier advertised it differently.
"It's July, it's HOT and we are having our HOTTEST party ever!!" it reads.
At the moment, there's a mighty good chance I won't be running for reelection to the New Hampshire Legislature this November, after a bit too many years of being there off-and-on since 1969. But in all that time, I've never been prouder of our state government than during the past five years.
There was a dark cloud over our government for many of those years I've been there, with some glimpses of sunlight now and then with Governors like Walter Peterson, Hugh Gallen, and Jeanne Shaheen. These past five years, with Governor John Lynch, and Democratic majories in the House, Senate, and Governor's Council, the sunrise has come, and especially these past few months show why that is important to us all.
My take on the current review of the Financial Resources Mortgage Ponzi scheme is government working at its best. And despite some of the news media, Democrats should feel especially proud of some of the activities at the State House in recent weeks.
Years of information and records concerning FRM have been uncovered and released publicly, and those who have been hurt by the greed of a business are seeing that sunlight and openness has been brought to the process. That is a good thing.
Yes, some mistakes and oversights have been identified by agencies that should have prevented the Ponzi scheme of FRM from going on for so long. Mistakes occur in government as well as business. No process is perfect, and years -- decades really -- of cutting staff and making fewer and fewer state employees assume larger and larger volumes of work is bound to result in oversight not always being as good as it should be, or in follow-up action being limited. Employees can only do so much with the machinery and the personnel they have.
When you look at what was done and what was missed through the years, the fact appears to be that the Department of Banking did do most of the audits it was required to do and wrote the reports it should have. The Department of Securities did what it interpreted that under the law it had the authority to do, and took most of the follow-up action it should have done.
And the Attorney General's Office fulfilled most of the functions on those matters where it believed it had an enforcement role. From my detached point of view, it's not so much a matter of assigning blame for the past as it is clarifying responsibility for the future. We need better process, specific procedures, and clearer policies.
Did anyone else notice that Craig Benson protege John Stephen's numbers against Lynch in the PPP poll are virtually identical to Jack Kimball's?
This is amazing to me, given how much more name recognition Stephen should have from his previous runs for various offices and his grandstanding at DHHS.
The PPP press release (.PDF) calls him an "unknown."
Adding: Maybe one clear way to distinguish between Stephen and Kimball is for a reporter to ask if either of them support the Republican Governors Association's new allegiance with Guy Fawkes. Or then again, maybe not so clear.
Concord - New Hampshire Democratic Party Executive Director Mike Brunelle issued the following statement in response to John Stephen's "Tax Day" tirade on state spending.
"John Stephen lecturing about fiscal management is like Tiger Woods lecturing about fidelity. Stephen is not a fiscal conservative, he is a fiscal incompetent."
"As Health and Human Services Commissioner, John Stephen consistently asked for double-digit increases in his budget. In fact, he even double-counted money creating a $70 million hole in the state budget. Now, federal auditors are demanding that Health and Human Services repay nearly $35 million federal funds spent during his tenure.
"When it comes to being fiscally responsible, John Stephen has no credibility."
(Posted by Derek Richer, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.)
John DiStaso back in February on John Stephen's "cost savings" to Rhode Island government:
In Rhode Island, Stephen worked with Gov. Donald Carcieri and the state's human services department to reform the state's Medicaid system and obtain cost-saving federal waivers
Cost savings!
The Carcieri administration had maintained for months that consultants working for the Lucas Group had volunteered their time. But in June, the administration agreed to pay a $370,000 settlement to the firm for its "significant" work on a "global waiver" giving Rhode Island unprecedented freedom in how it spends its Medicaid dollars on health care for the poor, the elderly and the disabled.
One partner in the Lucas Group was John Stephen, a former New Hampshire health and human services commissioner and failed GOP congressional candidate in New Hampshire. Rhode Island's secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, Gary Alexander, campaigned with Stephen and held a fundraiser for him.
Nothing in the New Hampshire media yet about this clever bit of Benson Era "volunteer" outsourcing.
I can't wait to see what a Stephen administration would mean for my tax dollars in New Hampshire. Maybe someone in the state media will look into it between now and November. Maybe.
(A press release, but, ummm... this is huge! - promoted by Dean Barker)
Stephen Skirts Laws to Collects Hundreds of Thousands in Taxpayer Money
In response to $370,000 in questionable payments made to John Stephen and the Lucas Group for so-called volunteer work, Rhode Island's Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts is calling on lawmakers to fine public officials who violate bidding laws. The Rhode Island Attorney General has also been investigating the payments.
John Stephen, working for the Lucas Group, consulted with Rhode Island on its Medicaid program. Rhode Island officials - including secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, Gary Alexander, who campaigned with Stephen and held a fundraiser for him - publicly stated for months that the work was on a volunteer basis.
It was later publicly revealed that John Stephen and the Lucas Group received $370,000 for this so-called "volunteer" work - money that was awarded without any competitive bidding process.
Rhode Island's Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts yesterday urged the Rhode Island Assembly to put in place stiff penalties for violating the state's competitive bidding requirements.
"I was shocked to learn that a company that offered services voluntarily to the state, that never went through an open, public-bidding process and never had a contract from the state, was able to turn around and secure payment, and the state had no recourse," Roberts said, according to the Providence Journal.
"John Stephen charged Rhode Island taxpayers $370,000 for volunteer work?" asked Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "If that's what John Stephen charges for 'volunteer' work there is no way New Hampshire taxpayers can afford to elect him Governor."
"It is not surprising that the Rhode Island legislature has to consider changing its laws because of John Stephen's behavior. New Hampshire taxpayers can't afford John Stephen's type of no-bid, no-ethics arrangements that benefit him and his political cronies."
"John Stephen worked for state government for years. He should know about competitive bidding. He should also know that volunteers are not supposed to get paid for their volunteer work for the state. John Stephen obviously doesn't think those laws apply if they stand in the way of his personal gain. New Hampshire can't afford someone like John Stephen who thinks ethics and the law doesn't apply to him."
The scandal is reminiscent of those in the Administration of Stephen's mentor, Craig Benson. Benson paid tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a so-called volunteer named Linda Pepin.
"John Stephen apparently learned everything he knows about ethics from Craig Benson - something that should scare the people of New Hampshire," Buckley said.
Click here to read he Providence Journal Story in full.
# # #
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
One of the most annoying things in political life is the failure of candidates or committees to follow the most simple legal requirements, especially New Hampshire's legal requirments, because our requirements are so pathetically few. Violating our state's campaign laws should result in stiffer penalties than we have, because you either have to be stupid or just plain don't give a hoot about following them in order to violate the laws. It is especially annoying when candidates who are LAWYERS don't follow the law.
Here is one law, RSA 664:14. "All political advertising shall be signed at the beginning or the end with the names and addresses of the candidate, his fiscal agent, or the name and address of the chairman or the teasurer of a political committee, or the name and address of a natural person, according to whether a candidate, political committee, or natural person is responsible for it."
It does not get much simpler than that: candidate's name, address, fiscal agent. How hard is it to get that right?
This was published today as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun.
John Stephen, former Congressional candidate, is now running for governor of NH. Stephen ran for Congress in 2002, and again in 2008. He lost both times, in the primaries, to Jeb Bradley, who lost the Congressional seat in 2006. Bradley will co chair Stephen's campaign.
It's long been rumored that Bradley was going to run for governor, but apparently he's decided to help throw his old foe to the wolves. The GOP hasn't had much success in fielding candidates against the popular Governor John Lynch. The last human sacrifice was former District 3 state senator Joe Kenney. The best that can be said about that matchup is that in other parts of the state people are still asking, "Joe who?"
Quietly making calls to arrange discussions with strategists and/or activists are Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who's getting lots of encouragement to run for governor or the U.S. House, Merrimack County Attorney Dan St. Hillaire and 2002 gubernatorial candidate Bruce Keough.
...Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen was seen by some as beginning a 2008 campaign for governor with his Tuesday op-ed in this newspaper.
Governor Stephen, in 2011, repealing marriage equality:
"Gay couples should be given the opportunity to enter into contractual arrangements as anyone. However, the federal government should not be forced to recognize civil unions that are attempts at marriage by another name."
As a side note, has the NHGOP yet realized what a mistake this is? John Stephen makes possible something heretofore elusive: a wildly enthused Democratic base - for John Lynch! I mean, our Stephen tag says it all; the guy was a DHHS disaster.
And furthermore, it invites welcome scrutiny into the Craig Benson era, and Stephen's and Ayotte's roles in it.
I hope someone out there will be able to tell me what John Stephen said on WMUR's CloseUp program this Sunday.
There was something wrong with my reception, and all I got was an endless loop of the same minute of play -- he was introduced for 45 seconds and then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
Then he was asked about his pending candidacy for Governor, and he said John Lynch was a nice man and that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but he offered no solutions.
No, really, it was literally at the end of the day*:
John Stephen to run for governor
CONCORD - Updated, 7:53 p.m. Confirming earlier reports in the New Hampshire Union Leader and on UnionLeader.com, the lifelong Manchester resident and former state health and human services commissioner said he'll become a candidate next week
Governor Hummer may have driven off into the sunset without paying for his gubernatorial portrait, but his proteges continue to haunt the Granite State.
Someday, I hope that yet another former NHYD President will run for governor, too. But I strongly suspect that if Garth or Jim runs, they'll do it as Democrats.
*Adding: lolz- actually earlier in the day for WMUR, who actually broke the news.
Shorter John DiStaso's Granite Republican Status (02/25/10):
I double-dutch promise you, with cherry on top: there will be a GOPer to go up against Gov. Lynch who isn't named Jack Kimball or Karen Testerman. Just be patient already!
Adding: At the end of the day, has anyone in NHGOP-Land figured out that having a second Craig Benson protege running for a major office in the fall might just be a bad thing, from a marketing perspective, for Kelly Ayotte and John Stephen?
Peter Burling has a great op-ed in today's Keene Sentinel that I wanted to share.
Recently, John Stephen has been very public and very vocal. It is obvious he is considering a run for public office - again. But his outlandish claims and partisan attacks serve as a quick reminder as to why so many were thankful when he left state government and why voters within his own party have time and again rejected him at the polls.
During his years of government service, many considered John Stephen the most untrustworthy person in state government. You could never trust whether he was giving you true information or trying to advance his own narrow personal agenda. Unfortunately, most of the time it was the latter.
John Stephen was a disaster as Health and Human Services commissioner, doing nothing to better deliver services or lower his department's cost structure and bottom line. Instead, he added layers of bureaucracy and made the organization top heavy. HHS is going through a major reorganization right now as a result. In fact, as Commissioner of Health and Human Services, he asked for $428 million - or 13 percent increase - in his budget. He claimed those were just his "maintenance" costs.
As it was with his tenure at HHS, Stephen is not only misguided in his attacks on state Democratic leaders, he is also just plain wrong. He offers nothing more than tired partisan rhetoric and again fails to offer any constructive, innovative or realistic ideas to promote meaningful reform or economic development.
Contrast that to the work of Gov. John Lynch and Democrats in the legislature. Over the last 18 months, our state has been battered by the worst recession since the Great Depression. As a result, families and businesses have struggled as the unemployment rate has steadily increased.
Yet, look around. New Hampshire's unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the region, not to mention the entire country. Economists point out that New Hampshire has weathered this recession better than the surrounding New England states and will likely lead the region in recovery.
Gov. Lynch and the Democrats cut state spending in this current budget, and balanced it without major new taxes - despite the fact that baseline revenues were projected to be at 2004 levels and demands for services were growing.
Gov. Lynch and the Democrats in the Legislature passed a research-and-development tax credit to help nurture innovative new businesses. They created a Job Training Fund that is helping thousands of workers and companies across the state. They lowered the insurance premium tax to bring new businesses and jobs to New Hampshire.
Under Governor Lynch and the Democrats, New Hampshire has worked to help address the high cost of health care for small businesses. New Hampshire HealthFirst, which launched Oct. 1st, is offering small New Hampshire businesses a more affordable health insurance option. It is a comprehensive health plan that is on average 15 to percent less expensive than comparable plans.
Gov. Lynch and the Democratic legislature have worked to help businesses thrive and grow in New Hampshire, have continued to foster a business friendly environment that will help attract new companies and emerging industries.
But for some reason John Stephen thinks Gov. Lynch and the Democrats aren't focused on economic growth. How could that be when the evidence proves the contrary?
What Stephen and Republicans seem to ignore is that this country is reeling from a recession that began under the leadership of a Republican president and a Republican Congress. They like to pretend it's not happening and blame Democrats for these difficult financial times. Stephen and his cronies are taking that same bury-your-head-in-the-sand mentality that got us into this mess in the first place.
Of course, it would be too much to ask of him to be able to recognize real leadership.
Peter Burling of Cornish is a former state senator and current Democratic National Committeeman.
(Posted by Derek Richer, Press Secretary of the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
Bass, Bradley, H. Sununu, and now Stephen. Is it any wonder Gregg was so desperate to fill his seat with a non retread?
Former state Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen met with the Republican Governor's Association at their Washington office this Tuesday, an encouraging sign for some Republicans who have been urging him to challenge Democratic Gov. John Lynch next year.
This news is worth the mental image of Governor Stephen meeting with State Senator Bradley.
