State Senatoring is Hard

by: Dean Barker

Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 06:47:32 AM EST

Senate Finance Chair Lou D'Allesandro (D-Manchester) is unsure about his own party leader's approach toward controlling health care costs would actually work, but was certain that the Senate already had enough to do.

"[Hassan's proposal S.B. 505] is a huge undertaking," D'Allesandro said in an interview. "I am dealing with budget deficits, dealing with the LLC tax and gaming. My plate is full and her effort is Hurculean and doesn't have a lot of time for discussion."

If I wanted Senate leadership to pay more attention to my pet issue, I probably wouldn't try to negotiate horse trading via the "Senatoring is Hard" narrative.  But that's just me.

D'Allesandro Reaffirms Anti-Marriage Position

by: Dean Barker

Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 21:34:08 PM EDT

So he asked Lou D'Allesandro if he had changed his mind about marriage equality:

"Nope, absolutely, I never changed my position. The amendments created a position in which the churches are protected. It was going to pass, so these were put in place to give protection to the entities that weren't going to participate.

"I'm very much in favor of civil unions. But I've always been against gay marriage. I'm a traditionalist. I believe strongly that marriage should be between a man and a woman."

This just makes him look weak.

Bradley: Standing with Bush on Social Security

by: Ray Buckley

Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 20:31:15 PM EDT

(MANCHESTER) Today, Social Security expert Steve Gorin and New Hampshire State Senator Lou D'Allesandro highlighted Jeb Bradley's record of standing with George Bush on Social Security privatization, and discussed the dire consequences of investing social security funds in a volatile stock market.

When he first ran for Congress, Jeb Bradley said that he opposed privatizing social security. But he abandoned that opposition to privatizing Social Security when George Bush told him to. [AP, 2/18/05]

In the wake of recent financial turmoil, even the Wall Street Journal is asking what happens if the market is down when it comes time to retire, and workers have invested their social security taxes in the stock market.  [WSJ, 9/22/08]

"Jeb Bradley has had every opportunity to speak out against personal accounts and investing into a risky market, and he has failed to do so every time," said State Senator Lou D'Allesandro (D-Manchester). "The question is this: Where is Bradley today? And where was he when the privatization discussions were taking place? In politics we know that the record is what speaks loudest."

Steve Gorin of Canterbury was a delegate to both the 1995 and 2005 White House Conferences and Aging, and was also a delegate to the only White House Conference on Social Security.

"Social Security is the only leg that a lot of seniors have to stand on when it comes to retirement," said Gorin, Ph.D, MSW. "Officials in the highest level of government are saying that we face the equivalent of a financial meltdown. Do we really want to trust the well-being of our children and grandchildren to the market?"

"Every political figure has to be prepared, in a forthright and very specific way, to state where they stand on social security and the creation of private accounts," continued Gorin. "We can't allow people to dodge that question. Carol Shea-Porter is very clearly against privatization. Where does Jeb Bradley stand?"

There are currently 225,250 Social Security beneficiaries in New Hampshire, and 11.5% of the New Hampshire First Congressional District is over 65 years old -- over 76,000 seniors.

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Update On The Legislation Allowing 17 Year Olds To Vote In New Hampshire Primaries

by: Rep. Jim Splaine

Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 19:50:30 PM EDT

The legislation, Senate Bill 436, sponsored by several Democrats including Senators Joe Foster, Peter Burling, and Lou D'Allesandro as well as Representatives Carol Gargasz and Jane Clemons, has been "tabled" by the House so that the State Supreme Court will answer questions as to whether it is constitutional to allow 17 year olds to vote in primaries.  

IF the Court opines "yes," the legislation could be taken from the table before the end of this Legislative Session in June, but that is unlikely.  It will take perhaps until mid to late May for the Court to offer an opinion,  and it will take a 2/3rds vote to remove it from the table.  The Republicans, generally, seem opposed to passage.  NH Republican Chair Fergus Cullen made some weird comment about this being a "pumpkin bill," some reference to legislation from a couple of years ago.  I responded that he's comparing apples to oranges.  I guess he likes fruit.

Anyway, this isn't really a delay, because the bill would as recommended by the House Election Law Committee have an effective date of the end of this year, making it applicable to the September 2010 state primary at the earliest.  So a Supreme Court opinion as to constitutionality is a wise thing to request since when the legislation is reintroduced later this year for the 2009 Legislative Session, it can be properly written, and if it needs to be a Constitutional Amendment instead of a statutory change that can be accomplished at that time.  

I hope we'll see eventual passage of this bill, despite the opposition it has received from some quarters.  The fact is, 17 year olds can join the military to be trained to fight in the American wars that our President and the Congress commits our nation to.  They at least should have the right to vote in the primaries where the political parties decide who to put up as nominees.  Besides, I think a lot of 17 year olds are less biased and are a lot smarter than many of us who are two, three, four times their senior.