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Frank Guinta, who voted to end Medicare in 2011, in 2010:
What I see going on in Washington today disturbs me.... We have a new health care bill that takes billions from Medicare for our seniors
Charlie Bass, who voted to end Medicare in 2011, in 2010:
"Unlike Annie Kuster, I will fight for New Hampshire's seniors. We need to repeal 'Obamacare' and replace it with common-sense healthcare reforms that will lower healthcare costs, improve the quality of care, increase coverage and do so without forcing senior citizens to lose their coverage,"
Kelly Ayotte, who voted to end Medicare in 2011, in 2010:
Traveling up and down our state, New Hampshire citizens tell me every day that they don't want a federal takeover of health care... Seniors and those headed for retirement are worried about the bill's Medicare cuts.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) voted Tuesday night against Senator Reid's motion to block amendments to the Patriot Act extension, voted today against cloture on the bill, and yesterday proposed an amendment to extend the expiring provisions of the law for only 6 months, rather than 4 years, so that there is time for a full debate on any long-term reauthorization. She is a co-sponsor of Senator Leahy's proposed amendment to the bill.
She released the following statement:
"The Patriot Act has proven a useful tool for counter-terrorism efforts that have kept us safe since 9/11. But many in New Hampshire have genuine concerns about what it has cost us in civil liberties. Those concerns should not be taken lightly. Waiting until the last minute to schedule a vote, just as these provisions are about to expire, doesn't allow for a full and thorough debate that would respect the deep importance we assign to personal liberty as Americans.
"While I ultimately support extending the Patriot Act in some form, I know we can make it a better law. A full debate in the Senate, with the chance to consider amendments, would allow us to consider more effective ways to balance our collective security and our individual rights. Surely such a debate is worthy of our time."
(The following is a letter written by my daughter, Ariana, which I wanted to share with all of you)
You may know Paul Hodes as a public servant, a lawyer, or perhaps as a musician. I know him as something entirely different and unique. With less than a week left to go before New Hampshire decides who they'll send down to the US Senate, I want to tell you what I know about my father.
My father is a man of integrity, thoughtfulness, and strength of character who can stand behind any decision he makes because it's his own. He's smart, kind, and genuinely sensitive to the needs of his constituents; the combination of which allows him to weigh different outcomes of a situation, see the big picture, and understand how individuals might be affected by different decisions.
Out of everything I know about my father, the one thing that proves his earnest desire to do good is a simple choice he made many years ago: the decision he and my mom made to raise their family in New Hampshire.
Kelly Ayotte has chosen sides in the civil war for the soul of the Republican party. She's going with the Tea Party.
Ayotte, Judd Gregg's hand-picked successor, has been eyed by the Senate GOP leadership as a "political asset," a moderate who could broaden Republicans' appeal to women and independents. Apparently, it's a suit that doesn't fit.
Monday, Ayotte won an endorsement from FreedomWorks, the Wall Street front group led by Dick Armey that helped launch the Tea Party movement. It was an endorsement she aggressively pursued.
"We only get into races when we are asked,” said FreedomWorks spokesman Adam Brandon, indicating that Ayotte sought out the group's support. Brandon said FreedomWorks made the endorsement only after gaining "consensus from our guys on the ground -- we can’t endorse if our activists’ membership is spilt."
So now we know. But before she remakes the Republican party, there's that small matter of an election next Tuesday. New Hampshire voters have a habit of rebelling when our vote is taken for granted.
But Philip McLaughlin, the then-attorney general who first hired Ayotte as a prosecutor in 1998, said in an interview last week that while he thinks Ayotte is a "fine attorney," he was troubled by the e-mails.
"When you get on the attorney general e-mail and have those exchanges, it seems to me to be obvious that you have jeopardized the public's right to believe you do things completely apolitically," McLaughlin said.
"I don't know how any adult could read those e-mails and conclude that there was no political consideration. It bothered me to the core when I read it," McLaughlin added.
But really, read the whole thing. Fair use keeps me from quoting so many other key grafs.
According to state law, the Supreme Court must decide if the death sentence was imposed "under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor" and whether it "is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases," among other issues.
Professor Albert Scherr of the University of New Hampshire School of Law and attorney Andru Volinsky of Bernstein Shur both said the defense could argue Ayotte's e-mail introduces an "arbitrary factor" into the decision to seek the death penalty. Scherr, who is not connected to either campaign, said the defense could ask the state Supreme Court to re-examine whether the punishment was disproportionate compared with other cases or if it was politically motivated.
"If the defense can show that the only reason this was brought as a capital case and other similar cases in the state were not, simply by virtue of the fact that the attorney general's office at the time saw political advantage to bringing this as a capital case, arguably that could impact the decision," Scherr said.
The Tea Party is coming to town. Yesterday, Sarah Palin--Kelly Ayotte's biggest supporter--kicked off the Tea Party Express' national tour.
The Tea Party's final stop on their tour will be on the steps of our state house in Concord the night before the election.
Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, Glenn Beck and their friends on the Tea Party Express are working hard on Kelly Ayotte's behalf. Ayotte proudly accepted Palin's endorsement and groups like Karl Rove's American Crossroads and the Glenn Beck-backed Chamber of Commerce have spent millions of dollars to boost her campaign
The oddly named US Chamber of Commerce, in addition to taking money form foreign companies that specialize in outsourcing, recently dumped one million dollars into smearing Paul Hodes.
Today a group of "a group of former NH prosecutors--including a number of former Assistant Attorneys General and former United States Attorneys" blasted Kelly Ayotte for her politicization of the death penalty. An excerpt (via email):
The connection between her political ambitions and the application of the death penalty is clear and unambiguous. This back and forth devalued the gravity of the death penalty decision that Ms. Ayotte made. Instead of hinging her death penalty decision on notions of justice and the law laced with concern for the victims involved and society at large, her decision turned on self-centered thoughts of political gain. The fact that her analysis of a death penalty decision included the impact that it would have on her political future is a violation of New Hampshire's proud tradition where the Office of the Attorney General is not the place for political dialogue.
The fact that she turned to political operatives such as Mr. Varsalone as a sounding board during her time as Attorney General underscores this point. In Ms. Ayotte's response to Mr Varsalone, she stated nothing of the facts of the case, the proper application of the death penalty, the loss of an officer or the suffering of the family that he left behind. Instead, she responded to his description of a political opportunity by pointing immediately to the fact that her death penalty decision would be a hallmark of her political career
The signatories are John Garvey, John Malmberg, Michael Pignatelli, William Shaheen, James Rosenberg, Mark Abramson, Lincoln Soldati, Paul Maggiotto, and Steven Gordon.
Attorney General Kelly Ayotte hard at work in 2006:
"Recovering from the Democratic tsunami. With a dem gov, house and senate, its a whole new world. check out the UL front page from sunday. Future of the GOP article. Whose name is first?? Me. It must be killing Johny who is apparently already contacting people to say he has an interest in running for congress."
"Johny" [sic] would be John Stephen. Apparently there are rivalries among the spawn of the Benson Administration.
Leapfrogging the somnolent state press, Hodes himself spread the word tonight on Hardball about Kelly Ayotte's cold embrace of capital punishment as a means to burnish her political aspirations:
I'll try to get it Scrib'd in a bit (UPDATE: a pic of the email exchange is below the fold), but for now, all you need to know is Ayotte's 2006 emailed response to a question about a possible opportunity opening up in NH-02 for higher office (the spelling errors are hers):
"Have you been following the last 2 Weeks. A police officer was klilled and I hannounced that I would seek the death penalty."
And while that is obviously the big shocker, it's also worthwhile noting that this is now another position Ayotte was considering besides US senator. Back in September, we learned she was thinking about the governor's office too.
It's no wonder the FRM ponzi scheme went unnoticed. That's what happens when an AG office is used - through pursuing executions and losing Supreme Court cases - as a proxy campaign vehicle.
How many Bahrainians are contributing to the effort to elect Kelly Ayotte?
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and Rep. Paul Hodes is being targeted again, this time in a nearly $1 million two-week television ad buy by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Thank you Justices Scalia and Thomas, for ensuring that our elections will be manipulated by non-Americans.
The delicate press of New Hampshire might want to touch on this aspect of who is paying for the TeeVee deluge Granite Staters are under.
Adding: and beyond the foreigners - how much money is BP and AIG and the like funneling into our elections this way?
"I have already contacted members of the (Division 1 House Finance Committee) to ask them to reconsider their vote. I will continue to fight to restore these funds," wrote Ayotte, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race.
Two roads diverged in the yellow woods of campaigns, and Sarah Palin endorsed Kelly Ayotte took the phony one.
A frightening right-wing extremist, the $5k a plate DC crowd, and our own "independent" Kelly Ayotte:
A group of Republican Senate candidates including Sharron Angle of Nevada are gathering in Washington tonight for a $5,000 per person fundraiser, party officials confirmed.
Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John Boozman of Arkansas, Dan Coats of Indiana and Marco Rubio of Florida are set to benefit along with Angle.
