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(That is the Question... - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
The long thread regarding Maggie Hassan and taking the pledge reminds me to bring up a topic I meant to post on some time ago.
First let's all realize that one way or another, there will be a constitutional amendment on the ballot next November that will essentially remove the state from any fiscal responsibility for substantial support of education, maybe none at all. As Mark Fernald has told me, once you tell any given town/school district you're going to lose X millions in state dollars if this passes, and local property taxes are going to have to swallow this, the debate will take on a very vivid color. We need to be ready with a lot of options and talking points when that happens.
That the cuts in the O'Brien legislature will have already taken a toll will help us make a strong argument that something must be done.
But I digress from the main point I want to make: There's a dirty little secret in Hollis. It's the facts of what the averages in all our statistics of lowest-this and lowest-that tend to hide: The extreme unfairness of the property tax.
So much for the establishment view of waiting until Spring, 2012 to declare for governor. National Journal is reporting that Maggie Hassan will announce today.
http://hotlineoncall.nationalj...
There's a tremendous leadership void, statewide, in the progressive arena. I'm not sure that Maggie can fill that, but she can provide some leadership in attacking the GOP record and direction. If I were in her circle of advisers, I'd make sure she came out strong against anything that the Judiciary Committee produces today.
I'm just waiting for someone to sing my song - doesn't have to be in the same key. I'll harmonize.
Thank you Senator for standing up for the voiceless.
You ask us to have a conscience, something that the other team seems to have not. This budget and the Speaker who pushed it and passed it are mean and extreme.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/... State budget victims cannot be forgotten
By Maggie Hassan / For the Monitor
June 29, 2011
Last week, New Hampshire House Finance Chairman Ken Weyler said the shortcomings in the state budget are like minor annoyances in a new car that disappoint at first but in a month, we "forget about them."
But for thousands of Granite Staters there is nothing forgettable about this budget - a budget that gives more money to tobacco companies while cutting half the state contribution to the university system, eliminating private- and public-sector jobs, hurting our economy and devastating the lives of our most vulnerable.
And it's not just what they want you to forget - it's what they want you to believe. According to Speaker Bill O'Brien, those who need services should turn first to their families and churches for help, as if families, churches and charities don't already play an important role and as if the things cut in this budget were unnecessary in the first place.
As the mother of an adult son with severe disabilities, I know that no one is forgettable. As a part of a family that has worked for two decades to include our son in our home and in the community, I know that the services he has received have been necessary and effective. And as a state senator, I learned from hundreds of our state's citizens that families, churches and charities cannot by themselves provide the kind of sustained and specialized help that some of our friends and neighbors need.
full article at link
http://www.concordmonitor.com/...
"...no one is forgettable." A hurt to one is a hurt to all.
It's early, but I look forward to hearing what other www.BlueHampshire.com posters have to say about the potential candidates for offices. Since I'm a fan of both Ann Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter, I see the "action" for 2012 mostly in the Governor's race. Democrats are wealthy in that we have a strong "bench" developing.
Since November, 2012 is just 563 days from now, or just over 80 weeks, it's not too early to consider their strengths or lack thereof. Here are some of my initial thoughts, in no specific order:
1. John Lynch. John Lynch should run for a 5th term. While I didn't support his first race for the nomination -- I supported a lifelong friend, two-time Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Paul McEachern in 2004, Lynch has impressed me greatly. McEachern didn't win in 2004, but I think he made John Lynch a better candidate, who went on to smash then-Governor Craig .... I forget his name.
Last November was John Lynch's toughest election, but he won, and he won well, and he won with class. And thank goodness. Can you imagine today, with this right-wing Legislature, if it was "Governor Stephen" or "Governor Kimball?" John Lynch saved us from all that. And his vetoes of horrible bills during the next few months, and next year too, will protect the lives of real people who would otherwise be hurt by some horrible legislation. By those vetoes, Lynch will feel a renewed spirit of purpose and need. He can win big in November, 2012. Let's draft him.
We also share a belief that our country's future is in jeopardy, at least in part because our current political culture rewards hyperpartisanship rather than principled patriotism.
I tend to believe our country's future is in jeopardy because our political culture rewards big money and special interests, but for the sake of not looking too hyperpartisan, I scanned the No Labels website for the term to see if I could understand more what they mean by that label.
This piece argues that it's our hyperpartisanship that prevents us from seeing the wisdom of raising the Social Security retirement age.
I therefore conclude that I am, in terms of No Labels' labels, hyperpartisan.
UPDATE: No Labels is really into this "hyperpartisan" label (there was even a panel on it). Wear it proudly if you didn't see the "need to take action" on weakening Social Security in the deal:
Santa Claus may not be real, but this weekend, for No Label Americans, there is reason to believe that the parties in Washington can come together.
...The agreement has desirable and undesirable elements for everyone but the need to take action beat out hyperpartisanship. And that is something to celebrate.
It is odd that No Labels, which devotes so much attention to the deficit, would celebrate a deal that adds hundreds of billions more to it. Odd, that is, until you read the fine print in that link on the "entitlement crisis" and the helpful solutions presented from the Peter Peterson crowd.
Also, we hyperpartisans hate Christmas, and puppies, and such.
A road trip to the official launch of No Labels, a group with clear ties to Bloomberg, perhaps for the purpose of getting him on the ballot for an indy POTUS run:
Leaders of the College Democrats and Republicans in New Hampshire and Iowa were invited to mingle with business leaders, politicians and civic leaders, including Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware.
Among the New Hampshire attendees include former state senator Maggie Hassan, an Exeter Democrat, and independent Betty Hall, a former state representative.
What a remarkable coincidence on the choice of states - did you know that New Hampshire and Iowa happen to be a bit early in the presidential caucus/primary calendar?
Odd timing, given this:
"I'm not going to run for president." The emphatic denial stands in contrast to the coy remarks usually made by would-be candidates. When pressed about talk that he was researching a potential bid, Mr. Bloomberg was even firmer.
..."No, I'm not looking at the possibility of running," Mr. Bloomberg responded. "I've got a great job and I'm gonna stay with it."
Mr. Gregory pressed again: "No way, no how?" And Mr. Bloomberg responded: "No way, no how."
On the other hand, this authentic grassroots movement to the middle will have David Brooks and Joe Lieberman at the launch.
"Hi, I'm Maggie Hassan, and was defeated because I was too moderate," said the New Hampshire state senator.
Look, this isn't directed at Maggie Hassan or Steve Marchand (both of whom I like) or No Labels or whatever version of Broderism Triumphans emerges after a wave election, but: to anyone who thinks the Punching Hippies approach is the Democratic way to go for 2012, I'd like to introduce you to a proud progressive Democrat named Annie Kuster whose populist grassroots approach earned her GOP support and who lost by a few thousand votes in an election that was a massacre for our side.
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.
I think I've finally figured out why state media gatekeeper Kevin Landrigan's columns are so often irritating, and therefore, why I bother to read them less and less.
In Kevin Landrigan's world, Democrats have no principles and are guided by politics in every decision.
He never states this openly. Rather, it's like a natural law in the Universe According to Kevin Landrigan, and as a result, all the ink in the column devoted to Democrats falls neatly into that assumption.
According to Kevin Landrigan, John Lynch opposes gambling because it locks up the Law and Order electoral constituency. Carol Shea-Porter gives back Charlie Rangel money because she's scared of the NHGOP press releases; and when it gets explained to him that it was returned right after the Ethics Committee made their judgment on Rangel, the NHGOP still get the last word.
According to Kevin Landrigan, Maggie Hassan is targeting skyrocketing health care costs because it's allegedly going to be a tough year for a Democrat, and this will bring out the purple shirt people:
Republicans leaders insist this was a strategic blunder for "Maggie Care,'' as it's been lampooned coming on the heels of the volatile federal health care debate in Washington.
Yet, whatever becomes of this reform effort in the 2010 session, this is sound politics on at least one level.
All signs point to fiscal conservatives as energized in this election, and that could spell trouble for the Democratic majority.
Hassan's crusade will ensure those "Health Care for All'' activists, known for their purple T-shirts, are working overtime for her re-election, and for other Senate Democrats, as well.
(And, relatedly, did you notice in the passage above how in Kevin Landrigan's world, "fiscal conservative" is automatically not aligned with the Democratic party? Despite eight years of George W. Bush and his multi-trillion dollar war of choice, PayGo rules established by Democrats, and deficit-reducing health care reform that doesn't make donut holes?
Curiously, Republicans in Kevin Landrigan's world rarely fall under this guiding principle.
Addinger: Note, by contrast, Pindell's take, who gives Hassan an "UP" mention in his political standing for the week for pushing something for the public good that might be politically bad for her:
The Senate Majority foreshadowed her huge policy gamble of S.B. 505 and some predicted/vowed that this would be the week when the Hassan for Governor 2012 campaign would be derailed. But that didn't happen, did it? Setting aside the policy idea itself and focusing purely on the politics, Hassan was setting the agenda with a bold plan on the dominant issue in American politics. Could she have rolled it out better? Yes. Will there need to be floor amendments to get this thing passed in the Senate? Yes, though it passed committee days after being introduced. Could next week be a disaster for her bill and her politically? Yes, it could.
Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan(D-Exeter) has an op-ed in Foster's Daily Democrat outlining the reasons for and the goals of her bill to try to streamline the cost of delivering health care in New Hampshire.
She opens with the fact that gall bladder surgery at Frisbee Memorial Hospital in Rochester can cost twice that of the same procedure at Alice Peck Day Hospital in Lebanon. Then these fees can change depending upon which health insurance company one uses and what discounts the company has negotiated with the hospital. This puts the large insurers at an advantage over smaller ones.
New Hampshire's health care costs are among the highest in the US. Hassan asks whether there is a way to control costs without sacrificing quality. And how is it sensible to charge the uninsured more for the same procedure than those with insurance?
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."
Too busy with gaming to control health care costs.
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.
Judd Greggism and GOPer obstructionist tactics are now pervading the state senate.
SB300 will provide assistance for families struggling to pay their electricity bills this winter. Given that we are in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, you'd think that this would be something easy to get going quickly, particularly since we are knee deep in cold winter temperatures.
But fast tracking it requires a 2/3 majority, and that would require the assistance of a political party that actually cares about the people it serves:
The Senate will not be able to vote until next week on a bill providing immediate assistance to families struggling to pay their electric bills because of the decision by Senate Republicans to block the vote today on procedural grounds.
"Senate Bill 300 would provide critical aid to many struggling families this winter and I am dismayed that my Republican colleagues are willing to let 8,000 families languish on the electric assistance waitlist," said Senator Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter). "This delay - one that puts process before people - may prevent final action on this bill for a month."
..."Our constituents care about action. If you don't think a week makes a difference to those in need, you've never lived in poverty," said Senator Kathleen Sgambati (D-Tilton).
C'mon, Senator. If it's not guns, God, and gays, and the potential GOTV they bring, they're not interested.
Parroting GOP talking points, Foster's Daily Democrat whined in an editorial published on Saturday, July 18, 2008 that N.H shifts the burden onto local governments ( http://www.citizen.com/apps/pb... )
The newspaper, which is contemptible simply by virtue of its disingenuous name, having never espoused a Democratic principle in its lifetime, continues to trumpet the nonsense that NH taxpayers are being burdened by a downshifting in costs from the state level to county and municipal governments.
NH Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan fired back with a response that eviscerates Foster's propaganda.
According to a well-placed Democratic source, state Sen. Maggie Hassan of Exeter has been making calls about potentially running for Congress, should Shea-Porter seek the Senate seat.
I offer the following with little comment, except to observe that there is indeed a difference in "values" which are considered to be priorities for the future of New Hampshire between Democrats and Republicans.
The first bill is sponsored by a longtime Republican State Senator. It deals with getting people to talk all the same way. I guess "accent" doesn't matter in his bill -- I hope not, because some people I talk with don't quite get my accent and I'd have to work on that if his bill passes.
The other bill is sponsored by several good Democratic State Senators. It deals with allowing people to be able to afford a place to live in this day and age when it gets more expensive to do that.
Yes, a difference in priorities. A difference in values.
Thoughts?
SB 388 - AS INTRODUCED
2008 SESSION
08-2684 - 03/09
SENATE BILL 388
AN ACT relative to commercial driver license qualifications.
SPONSORS: Sen. Barnes, Dist 17
COMMITTEE: Transportation and Interstate Cooperation
ANALYSIS
This bill requires that commercial driver license applicants demonstrate English language skills.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eight
AN ACT relative to commercial driver license qualifications.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Commercial Driver License Qualification Standards; English Language Skills. Amend RSA 263:87 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
III. The department shall require all applicants for commercial driver licenses to demonstrate English language skills sufficient to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
SB 421-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2008 SESSION
08-2785 - 06/10
SENATE BILL 421-LOCAL
AN ACT requiring municipal land use regulation to provide reasonable opportunities for the creation of workforce housing.
SPONSORS: Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24; Sen. Larsen, Dist 15; Sen. Reynolds, Dist 2; Sen. Burling, Dist 5; Sen. DeVries, Dist 18; Sen. Foster, Dist 13; Sen. Hassan, Dist 23; Sen. Cilley, Dist 6
COMMITTEE: Public and Municipal Affairs
ANALYSIS
This bill declares it to be the policy of planning and zoning regulation in the state that:
I. Municipalities have an obligation to provide reasonable and realistic opportunities for the development of workforce housing.
II. Such obligation extends to regional as well as local needs.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eight
AN ACT requiring municipal land use regulation to provide reasonable opportunities for the creation of workforce housing.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Workforce Housing. Amend RSA 672:1, III-e to read as follows:
III-e.(a) All citizens of the state benefit from a balanced supply of housing which is affordable to persons and families of low and moderate income. Establishment of housing which is decent, safe, sanitary and affordable to low and moderate income persons and families is in the best interests of each community and the state of New Hampshire, and serves a vital public need. Opportunity for development of such housing, including so-called cluster development and the development of multi-family structures, should not be prohibited or discouraged by use of municipal planning and zoning powers or by unreasonable interpretation of such powers;
(b) The state of New Hampshire has experienced a shortage of housing which is affordable to working households. The shortage of housing affordable to working households poses a threat to the state's continued economic growth. This housing shortage presents a serious barrier to the expansion of the state's labor force, undermines state efforts to foster a productive and self-reliant workforce, and adversely affects the ability of many communities to host new businesses. Achieving a balanced supply of housing requires increasing the supply of workforce housing, serves a statewide public interest, and constitutes an urgent and compelling public policy goal. Municipalities should meet regional as well as local needs in providing reasonable and realistic opportunities for the development of workforce housing.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Does Portsmouth's young mayor have a shot? Dem party chair Kathy Sullivan thinks so:
"If Steve decided to run, he'd be an excellent candidate," said N.H. Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan. "He's a very smart, very personable and he's a very hard worker, and I think he'd be a great candidate."
Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who lost to Sununu in 2002, recently told the Boston Globe she has not ruled out a rematch against Sununu. The article also mentions state Sens. Maggie Hassan, Joe Foster and Peter Burling as potential candidates, as well as Marchand.
(They forgot the Blue Hampshire dark horse favorite, Dayton Duncan, but whatever...follow me below the fold for the Mayor's dilemma.)
