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I recently acquired a copy of a letter sent by the NH AG's office to former Carroll County GOP Chairman Maynard Thomson. The letter is dated Sept. 19, 2011. That's also the same date that Thomson announced he was resigning his position as CC GOP Chair to join the NH for Perry Steering Committee.
The so-called deadly force bill (SB 88) will be dealt with today in the Senaate. The NH media predictions are pretty much the same.Fahey:
SB 88 passed 19-5 along party lines in the Senate. That is more than enough for a two-thirds vote to override the veto. It would take four defections from Republican ranks to sustain Lynch.
All levels of law enforcement are opposed to this bill, and have been lobbying all of the Senators, and speaking out in the press.
Turning four Republicans in the face of pressure from pro-gun groups and from legislative leaders will be tough. Working in Lynch's favor is the fact that every law enforcement group makes endorsements at election time. Memories will be long on this issue.
and then there's this:
The veto of SB 129, which will require all voters to present a photo ID for the November 2012 elections, is more likely to be sustained. The bill lacked a two-thirds majority when it passed the Senate 14-9. The missing vote that day was Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, who supports Lynch. Two of the five Republicans who voted against the bill would have to switch sides. Sens. John Gallus of Berlin, Bob Odell of Lempster, Jim Forsythe of Strafford, Ray White of Bedford and Russell Prescott of Kingston, who recently editorialized against the bill, were the Republicans voting against it.
Anybody want to interpret this? I can't really make any sense of it, but it doesn't exactly look like the sort of thing that any party leader really wants to see.
"Will's decision to take this matter public is unfortunate, but yet another example of why his termination was necessary," Party Chairman Jack Kimball said in a prepared statement released late just before midnight. "More concerning has been his gross misrepresentation of the events that transpired that forced me to terminate his services."
At the polls on Tuesday's special election in Strafford County, GOP Party Chairman Jack Kimball was photographed signing a petition for the State of NH to recognize the Libertarian party.
My latest op-ed, in today's edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper:
The NH Dept. of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that due to cuts budget cuts, they are going to cut back on plowing some roads between the hours of 9pm and 4am, and allow the snow to accumulate to between 5-7 inches before sending some crews out to plow. DOT spokesman Bill Boynton pointed out that the legislature cut the DOT budget by 11.5 percent. They lost 42 employees. The budget for sand and salt was cut 25 percent.
This story sparked a huge outcry, and one of the loudest voices of outrage came from Rep. Gene Chandler, who called the DOT plan "unacceptable." If it weren't so tragic, this kind of magical thinking would be hilarious. When you cut revenue and spending, there will be consequences. Apparently he thought that those consequences would happen in some other guy's district.
There was a write up in the Union Leader about the No Jobs Fair in front of the State House yesterday. What is most interesting, however is lurking in the comment section, courtesy of Andrew Manuse and DJ Bettencourt.
From Manuse:
The people behind this protest, Judy Stadtman, Zandra Rice Hawkins and Mark MacKenzie, are radical operatives hired with George Soros's money to turn New Hampshire into another socialist haven like Massachusetts, which can barely support its own weight.
No wonder all the dogs in my neighborhood are howling. Manuse is working that dog whistle hard. Fortunately, it's a right to work dog whistle, so he won't have to pay it overtime. But seriously, read the whole thing, especially the responses from Manuse and Bettencourt.
New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing no longer plowing some roads between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. as well as allowing snow to build up to between 5 and 7 inches before turning some crews out onto the road.
The DOT plan is not acceptable, according to Rep. Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett, who also serves as the chair of the transportation department in the New House of Representatives. He hopes DOT officials will come up with a new plan because the current one could have "huge ramifications" on tourism and revenue for the Granite State.
Chandler says this is not acceptable. Bill Boynton from DOT had this to say:
Boynton said DOT lost 42 employees to budget cuts (there remain about 800 employees). Its budget was cut 11.5 percent; the budget is expected to be cut an additional 11 percent in 2012 and 13 percent in 2013; there was a 25 percent reduction in the state's sand and salt budget.
Representative Chandler voted for the budget that created the need to make these cuts. Gene allied himself with the TeaStaters, and now he's reaping the rewards. This story reminds me of the slogan of a bar called Chilkoot Charlie's in Spenard, Alaska: "We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you." Apparently Gene thought he was too important to experience any of the negatives of this budget in his district.
Governor Lynch vetoed some bills this week. One was a bill to expand the use of deadly force. From the Monitor
In the House, where the bill passed 283-89, Speaker William O'Brien and Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt characterized the veto as a rejection of the rights of gun owners.
Oh?
The leaders of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and the New Hampshire Sheriffs Association asked Lynch to veto the bill in a letter last week. They said the legislation would alter a careful balance between the right to use deadly force in self-defense and the safety of innocent bystanders.
Because O'Brien and Deej know more than the state's law enforcement agencies.
The all male NH Executive Council has voted to cancel the state's contract with Planned Parenthood. Once again, our state's shame goes national. From HuffPo
New Hampshire lawmakers rejected multiple attempts to defund Planned Parenthood during the 2011 legislative session, voting repeatedly in favor of continuing to fund PPNNE using the state's federal family planning money. But the Executive Council, which oversees state contracting and generally stays out of hot-button political issues, overturned the decisions of both the state legislature and the Department of Health and Human Services with its 3-2 vote against Planned Parenthood.
After reading reports that New Hampshire GOP is broke, Arnie Arnesen penned an open letter to Jack Kimball (paywalled). It's tongue-in-cheek, but she makes two serious points. Those who refuse to financially support the needs of this state's citizens are equally unwilling to support their party; and those who are willing to fund conservative initiatives have more attractive alternatives.
Dear Jack,
...
[T]he conservative reactionaries that control the legislature stripped a ton of cash from the state budget (unprecedented in fact) , looks like those same boys and girls walked away from your financial needs as well. At least they are consistent. But your problem is not just with your tea party fanatics who hate to part with their dineros, but you have real competition for those conservative dollars in New Hampshire....
...
Sorry Jack, the old blueblood Republicans can't imagine investing in the new Kimball-O'Brien GOP that is controlled by self righteous reactionary ideologues and, those that love yah, would rather donate anonymously because they get more bang for their buck.
From NH Journal today:The New Hampshire Republican State Committee is in disarray and Chairman Jack Kimball is reeling under the strain of a job he thought would be a piece of cake, multiple Republican sources tell NH Journal. As the Journal first reported last week, Kimball has drained state party finances to such an extent that it has a mere $1,300 left in its federal account, the account from which is pays most of its expenses
Uh-oh! But running the New Hampshire Republican party was supposed to be so easy! Now, according to Millerick, it's gotten so bad that the state party is seeking a loan of $1,000 from the Strafford County GOP so that they can host a fundraiser for Herman Cain. According to the report, Kimball's defenders are laying blame at the feet of Will Wrobleski, the executive director Kimball hired who, according to reports, "frequently rejects innovative fundraising ideas in favor of costly events." (If you are an opponent of Kimball, you'd probably say, "Well, sure, but he hired this guy."
HuffPo
The Journal can confirm a plot is indeed in place to oust Kimball. For weeks the Journal has investigated a swirling series of rumors about a plan to depose Kimball. Paradoxically, those looking to dump Kimball are actually hoping the GOP will lose a pair of upcoming special elections. The thinking is that the GOP needs to hit rock bottom before the ouster -- or "coup" as Kimball terms it -- can be successful.
Shall we send over a pizza?
(Please pardon my syntax here... got caught up in double source quoting!)
The candidates are visiting, hiring, planning their strategies for winning the NH primary. NH is the envy of the other 49 because of our first in the nation primary, and in recent years we've seen efforts from other states to take it away from us. NH is too white, to small, too irrelevant they say, to have so much power.
For decades, NH has had the reputation of being a state full of serious minded folks who take our politics seriously. We expect to see candidates in our local coffee shops and at our neighbors homes, speaking to us one on one. We expect the candidates to take us seriously.
NH has always had the reputation of being different from the other New England states - independent, and maybe a little nutty. After all, Pat Buchanan won the NH primary. As we've seen this year, NH is reaching a whole new level of nutty.
As I was reading news sites this morning, I came upon this:
It all started with this diary: Republican Representative Dismayed by Own Incompetence. In this diary, BlueHamster Strafford Dem takes a look at a story in Foster's about how Rep. Fred Leonard was upset about the budget cuts to the county budget. Budget cuts created by the draconian county budget he helped to create. Our very own Free Stater, Rep. Seth Cohn (R-O'Brien) leapt to Leonard's defense, using the vast accumulation of knowledge he's stored up in his 5 months as a legislator.
My latest op-ed for the Conway Daily Sun. As always, remember that the north country gets even less responsible media than the rest of the state.
The battle over the so-called right to work law has been going on for months now. If you read Mark Hounsell's editorial piece, you know that that right to work legislation has been coming back to haunt NH since the 1980's when it first appeared. In 1985, Nackey Loeb wrote an editorial opposing RTW, calling it the "right to low pay" bill. It has been voted down every single time, but it keeps on coming back. The out of state special interest group behind the law is relentless and well financed.
Let's be clear. Right to work is not a NH initiative. Both Governor Lynch and Labor Commissioner George Copadis state emphatically that no business has ever suggested that NH enact right to work legislation. No company interested in locating in NH has ever mentioned it as a concern.
So, if business doesn't want it - what is this all about? Who does want it?
(Once again NH is in the National News for all the wrong reasons. HuffPo has pick up the story. Link in the comments. - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
Conservative State Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker (R-Concord) appeared on WMUR's Close Up this morning as part of a "meet the rep" series. Early on in the program, the state rep and career naval officer was asked about her reaction to the recent death of Osama bin Laden.
Blankenbeker responded that she was excited about the "possibility" that Bin Laden was dead.
Possibility?
Blankenbeker stated that she had received correspondence from her commanders about heightened security needs or support expectations during major initiatives in the past, including the disasters in New Orleans, Haiti and Japan. But since she, personally, has not received an email from her commanders about the death of Osama bin Laden, it gives her "pause".
The show aired the same day as top officials appeared on national Sunday political talk shows praising the work of the armed services and intelligence community and refuting any challenges.
Blankenbeker is a commander in the Navy Reserve who will deploy for her third tour of duty in July. She will be "boots on the ground" for 210 days in Afghanistan. Someone from her command post should probably brief her on reality before that time.
Rep. Gary Wheaton has resigned, after being charged with speeding and driving with a suspended license.
From WMUR:
Police said Wheaton made a U-turn and went around a construction barricade when the officer tried to pull him over. When Wheaton stopped and the officer approached his car, Wheaton identified himself as a state representative and made some other comments to the officer, but police wouldn't say what those comments were.
Wheaton's license was suspended in January for reckless endangerment.
Wheaton told WMUR that he was headed to a meeting at the Statehouse that he was not previously aware of. He said he drove because he had no other method of transportation.
So, he was justified in being a scofflaw - he's important!
This is the best part:
Wheaton said that he does not want to accuse anyone, but he's concerned that the traffic stops happened because he is a Republican who voted against collective bargaining.
Apparently if those cops weren't out to get him, they would have turned a blind eye to his law breaking. Another shining example of the kind of Republicans elected to the legislature this term.
Once again - the party that preaches personal responsibility never takes any.
Meanwhile, in other news, DJ Bettencourt is still hanging on like a tick.
Martin Harty resigned from the NH House last week after his remarks to a constituent about sending defectives to Siberia to freeze to death.
He should have just left it there. Instead, he penned a Palinesque letter to the Monitor, to explain that he's the actual victim:
We talked about the population explosion and the fact that some of these things might come true when the food and water was pushed to the limit, years from now. She asked me leading questions, which I answered as crazily as I could. So she said "You're a lot like Hitler," or something like that. I tried to say "He wasn't all bad - the Autobahn and the Volkswagen."
That got broken off as she asked, "What can we do with these people?" or something like that.
I replied with that which got me in a lot of trouble: "We could rent some land in Siberia from Russia and send them all up there."
She said, "You're just like Hitler" and then hung up.
and then this little gem:
So I thought, "Well, that's that," not realizing that she was a political activist and got her week's pay from the money we were talking about. Omand right off started to spread all this foolishness around with the politicos.
He said it, but it's her fault. The party of personal responsibility never can take any for themselves.
This was published in the March 4, 2011 issue of the Conway Daily Sun. Remember, you are a political junkie who knows all this. It's news to the average CDS reader.
On January 13 of this year, House Republican Leader DJ Bettencourt proclaimed: "social issues must take a back seat." He said that the focus should be on economic problems like unemployment and the budget deficit. Bettencourt went as far as saying that the Republicans could not be seen as having campaigned on one set of issues, then governing on another. This was a big announcement; aimed at letting us all know that the repeal of NH's marriage equality law was not going to occur this year. The mainstream media faithfully repeated this story, serving as always, as unquestioning stenographers for the NH GOP.
For those who may not be aware, Vermin Supreme was a GOP presidential candidate in 2004, and again in 2008. Mr. Supreme appears to be gearing up for another run, as evidenced by his testimony for yesterday's hearing on HB 343. This kind of stealth move is typical of the candidate's understated campaign style.
Mr. Supreme's platform includes mandatory toothbrushing, fully funding research into time travel, and zombie preparedness. Mr. Supreme has long asserted that this nation is woefully unprepared in the event of a zombie attack - and who amongst us can disagree with that?
I attended 3 hearings today in Concord. It was a mad whirl that provided a bouquet of bizarre bills and even more bizarre commentary.
I began with HB 343, the attempt to create a NH Permanent Defense Force. Through the testimony of Rep. Itse, I learned that this was the bill's third iteration. Given that he's written, revised, and testified about this bill 3 times, one might think he'd know it backwards and forwards and be able to answer any question about it. One would be wrong.
