Big Government Guinta

by: Dean Barker

Sun Nov 14, 2010 at 06:48:10 AM EST

In a statement, recently elected Congressman Frank Guinta, R-Manchester, said: "I will work tirelessly to find places to cut the budget and implement savings; I have outlined many specific proposals during the campaign. I do not feel, however, that LIHEAP's New Hampshire program, which served over 35,000 households last year, is an appropriate place to cut."

Man up, Frank.  Judd Gregg had the audacity to vote against LIHEAP on the same day he won Powerball. John E. Sununu found a sneaky way to do it.  And your fellow Congressman-elect Charlie Bass voted to abolish LIHEAP altogether.

Your No Gummit supporters expect you to be a heartless fiscal watchdog.  But it appears the anatomy you are lacking is a spine.

And if it's true you have had a sudden conversion to Big Gummit, then stop complaining in papers and start getting it done. Like Carol Shea-Porter did for low-income families when your fellow Republican president slashed LIHEAP into tiny little bits.

And if you can't save LIHEAP: can you point the neediest among us to any additional mystery bank accounts that might be lying around so that hardworking Granite Staters won't freeze this winter?

Ice Scrapers: Great Idea, Bad Timing

by: Dean Barker

Sun Jan 25, 2009 at 08:04:56 AM EST

A few of the take-aways from the Republican State Committee meeting last week: Cornerstone Policy Research had a basket of little plastic fetuses. And Gregg's folk handed out ice scrapers emblazoned "see clearly with Judd Gregg."

The timing could have been better though.  The scrapers would have come in really handy, for example, when Gregg won an $800K+ powerball lottery and voted against increasing home heating assistance on the same day:

Gregg didn't let that good fortune keep him from putting in a full day's work yesterday. For instance, he found time to vote against a bill that would have helped poor families pay their home heating costs this winter. (Gregg was the only New England senator to vote against the proposal.)

A day earlier, Gregg voted against raising the minimum wage by $1.10, to $6.25 an hour. That wage hasn't increased since 1997.

Gregg wasted no time claiming his share of the Powerball prize, picking up his oversized check from the lottery commission and depositing it in his bank account.

Meanwhile, Carol Shea-Porter is Delivering Real Results

by: Dean Barker

Sun Sep 28, 2008 at 07:25:30 AM EDT

So it's good to know that while Bush League Bradley spends his time distorting Carol Shea-Porter's record, she's busy actually getting important stuff done for the rest of us in New Hampshire.

Two critical examples. Congresswoman Shea-Porter secured critical funding last Wednesday for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (you know, the one that John McCain once supported closing down?):

Today, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter successfully secured funding for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The funding, which is included in the Defense Authorization bill,  contains $20.6 million for the Waterfront Support Facility and $9.98 million for the Consolidated Global Submarine Component.

...The $20.6 million will be used for the Waterfront Support Facility.  This will allow the Shipyard to perform maintenance on the next generation of nuclear submarines, the Virginia-class.  This function is a crucial component of the Shipyard's long term mission.

The $9.98 million in funding will be used to construct the Consolidated Global Submarine Component Facility.  The building will support the maintenance, repair, refueling, and overhaul work.  New automated material handling systems and increased capacity will further improve the efficiency and safety of the yard.  The facility will house materials for both the older Los Angeles-class submarines and the new Virginia-class vessels.

As is this critical piece for the upcoming winter home heating oil crisis:

After months of urging both House leadership and the President to take action, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter today helped secure $5.1 billion in funding for the  Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The funding, which includes at least $34 million for New Hampshire, was approved by the House as part of a Continuing Resolution (CR).

...Congresswoman Shea-Porter has been a strong advocate for LIHEAP funding. Earlier this year, Shea-Porter introduced the Home Energy Assistance through Emergency Relief Act, legislation which would increase funding for LIHEAP by $9 billion.  Shea-Porter also sent frequent letters to President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Hoyer urging that LIHEAP funding be included in an appropriate legislative vehicle.

In his FY09 budget, the President recommended a $500 million cut for LIHEAP.  The amount approved by the House today not only rejects the President's cuts, but doubles funding for the program.

H/T to Mike Caulfield on John Sununu's LIHEAP scam

by: Bill Duncan

Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 09:35:39 AM EDT

And here's what came out today: http://www.seacoastonline.com/... .  The first letter is John Sununun selling his LIHEAP scam.  Then there's mine, summarizing Mike's point but with the confidence that it's well grounded.

Just thought BHers should know how leveraged your work is.

Political Posturing Won't Heat Our Homes

by: Dean Barker

Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 08:10:48 AM EDT

So hoo-ray! for Judd Gregg to rush in first on the scene with a plan, as featured prominently by the Union Leader:

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., yesterday introduced legislation that could more than double the amount of low-income home heating assistance that was available to New Hampshire last winter and nearly double the national total already included in a key 2009 appropriations bill.

"Any attempt to expand LIHEAP at this point is a good attempt," Rep. Paul Hodes said. "The President wanted to cut it 22 percent." But he said Gregg's bill "falls far short of what is really needed."

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter said doubling funding "is insufficient because we know the cost of heating oil is 74 percent higher than the level we were at last year."

..."We serve only 30 percent of the people eligible for the program," she said. "We're going to get more people now."

Which would mean that 4 out of 10 people who qualify for it this year will still be out of luck, provided that the price of oil was the same as last year!

Here's a reality check - a friend of mine called her oil company a few weeks ago, gave them the total gallons used last year and asked what that would cost this winter at the current price.  It was more than double. So the reality is that Gregg's "help" would probably keep things right at  last year's unacceptable status quo, if that much.

But what else would you expect from a millionaire who won $800K from a Powerball ticket and then on the same day voted against increasing home heating oil assistance?

Gregg didn't let that good fortune keep him from putting in a full day's work yesterday. For instance, he found time to vote against a bill that would have helped poor families pay their home heating costs this winter. (Gregg was the only New England senator to vote against the proposal.)

On the other hand, Carol Shea-Porter, as usual, is looking out for us. She is the author (prime sponsor) of HR 6538 IH, the Home Energy Assistance Through Emergency Relief Act, a bill which would provide 9 billion in LIHEAP assistance and another billion for home weatherization assistance (critical for reducing heating costs, given how many older homes New England heats). Paul hodes is a co-sponsor of this bill as well.

(Or we could spend as much money on a week or two in Iraq.)

It took me weeks to reach my wood guy this year. When I finally got to him, he apologized and said that in 15 years of selling cord wood, he's never been so busy.  New customers are flooding in, and old customers want double or more the amount of wood they've ordered in the past to offset the price of oil.  He said that when he gets home from working all day, he simply can't handle the volume of phone messages left for him from increased demand.And I've also heard secondhand that firefighters across the state are extremely concerned about this upcoming winter.  With people  scrambling to find different ways of heating their house than oil all at once, the odds for a tragic fire is increase exponentially.  I myself can recall two incidents (a deadly fire, and a near fatal explosion) in my local community in recent years that have devastated lives and families.

Which is all a way of saying that I don't care where increased funding for home heating oil comes, so long as it comes in a form other than sleight-of-hand.