April 2012
67 posts
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Quote of the Day: How Things Are Done in Concord
Those who think that things are done in the open here in Concord need only look at progress of the education funding amendment. The committee of conference formed to hammer out differences between House and Senate versions hasn’t even met yet, but Republicans were informed by House Majority Leader D. J. Bettencourt last Friday that an agreement has already been reached.
— GOP Rep....
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People of NH Big Losers in Ideological Games of...
Last week, after the Senate had dismissed numerous House bills seeking to advance its radical social agenda, Speaker Bill O’Brien and his minions retaliated. The response was to table six Senate bills the House had just passed, and to attach the defeated House bills as non-germane amendments to Senate legislation under consideration.
In a letter to the editor, Portsmouth state Rep. Rich...
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The S.S. Bush 2.0 Greets Romney in Portsmouth
“Romney’s fishin’ off an old dock when it comes to failed Bush-economics that will once again leave the middle-class out at sea.”
— Americans United for Change on Mitt Romney’s economic platform, described by an RNC spokeswoman as the policies of the Bush administration, “just updated.”
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RGGI Repeal Redux
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a market-based program to reduce carbon pollution. It essentially charges power plants for their emissions and invests the proceeds in local energy efficiency initiatives.
Writing in the Portsmouth Herald, the CEO of Foss Manufacturing, a Hampton-based manufacturer of advanced fibers and fabrics, explains why RGGI is good for business, and good for...
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"Shake the Etch-a-Sketch and Shake It Hard"
The battle for the GOP presidential nomination is all over but the shouting. The Portsmouth Herald, which endorsed Romney earlier this year, reminds us the memories are not good ones.
We’ll remember debate audiences booing a gay Marine just returned from battle and applauding Rick Perry for executing a record 234 Texans during his tenure as governor. We’ll remember Michele Bachmann...
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House Slams Senate Over GOP Rep's Hurt Feelings
State Senate President Peter Bragdon and Sen. Jeb Bradley minced no words in condemning the House’s obstructionist warfare with the Senate as a threat to the state’s economy and job creation:
“At a time when we should be focused on helping New Hampshire employers and supporting hardworking families, the House’s actions today will ensure the defeat of critical legislative...
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Quote of the Day: The Daddy State
In the last two years, we’ve seen the New Hampshire legislature eager to regulate women’s bodily autonomy, by attempting to limit access to both abortion and affordable birth control. We’ve seen that same legislature attempt to strike down New Hampshire’s marriage equality law. Apparently the silly women and homosexuals of New Hampshire need Big Daddy to make our decisions for us. That’s why I...
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Veepstakes Watch: More Kelly Ayotte Buzz
The name of Sen. Kelly Ayotte continues to be bandied about by national political observers as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney.
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza ranks her as the seventh most likely vice presidential pick, making her the highest ranked woman on his list.
The New Hampshire Senator is still barely being buzzed about when it comes to the Veepstakes but we’ve got...
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Carol Shea-Porter: Guinta Hopes Voters Won't...
New Hampshire Congressmen Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass cynically voted to finance an extension of the current interest rate on student loans by raiding a public health fund rather than supporting the Senate version that would close a tax loophole benefiting the wealthy.
Former Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter says they are hoping voters won’t notice.
Congressman Frank Guinta and his party...
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Rep. Vaillancourt: "A Legislature Totally out of...
Wednesday, we witnessed an extraordinary House session in which the GOP-dominated House retaliated against the GOP-dominated Senate for defeating many of the more extreme bills sent its way by the House.
The retaliation included tabling six Senate bills it had just passed unanimously and attaching language from the defeated House bills as non-germane amendments to Senate legislation under...
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Bettencourt Closes Barn Door After Horse Has...
State House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt responds to WMUR Granite State Poll on public opinion regarding New Hampshire legislature:
There is nearly a 20% gender gap in support for Republican candidates over Democrats. While the two genders offset each other, leadership should avoid those issues that would turn away women voters over the coming months.
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WMUR Granite State Poll: Shea-Porter, Kuster Lead
Updated: April 26, 2012, 6:25 p.m.
Democratic challengers Carol Shea-Porter and Ann Kuster are leading in their likely Congressional rematches with Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass. In today’s WMUR Granite State Poll, Shea-Porter leads Guinta 44%-39%, with 16% undecided. Kuster leads Bass by a 40%-39% margin, with 20% undecided.
Guinta’s popularity is down slightly from...
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Concord Today: All Out War Between House and...
The House and Senate sessions in Concord today were extraordinary. The Senate picked up where it left off swatting away the frivolous, the extreme and the downright wacky legislation sent its way by the House.
The House retaliated by attaching the language from the defeated bills as non-germane amendments to Senate bills on which they were already voting and tabling six noncontroversial Senate...
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N.H. Senate Kills Reproductive Health Bills
Today, the state Senate killed four House-passed bills, preserving funding for comprehensive preventive care for women and rejecting government interference in reproductive health services, including access to contraception and abortion.
House Bill 228
The Senate tabled, and effectively killed, HB 228 by a 17 - 6 vote. The bill would have eliminated funding for Planned Parenthood of Northern New...
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"My Reproductive Health Is Up for Debate"
Today, the Senate is scheduled to vote on bills that would defund Planned Parenthood, allow employers to exclude birth control from prescription drug coverage and require a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion. Writing in the Concord Monitor, Marianne M. Jones places the legislation in historical context:
I am reminded of all the women who have stood up over the past 100 years...
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WMUR Granite State Poll: Dems Lead N.H. Gov Race
The two major Democratic gubernatorial candidates are leading both Republican opponents in head-to-head match-ups. Today’s WMUR Granite State Poll indicates, though, that all four candidates are relatively unknown and large numbers of voters have yet to decide.
Democrat Maggie Hassand leads Ovide Lamontagne among likely voters by 34%-29% margin with 36% undecided and bests Kevin Smith...
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WMUR Granite State Poll: Obama 51%, Romney 42%
There’s good news for the Obama campaign in the latest WMUR Granite State Poll. The survey of likely New Hampshire voters has President Obama maintaining a nine-point lead for the state’s four electoral votes in a presidential match-up with Mitt Romney.
Obama’s 51%-42% lead is essentially unchanged from early February when he led Romney by a 50%-40% margin in the same poll....
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Sen. Kelly Ayotte: Number Seven, With a Bullet
Christian Heinze, who blogs for The Hill, rates the strength of Mitt Romney’s potential vice presidential picks and the likelihood that they’ll receive the nod. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte weighs in at number seven on the Veep Power Ranking, making her the list’s highest rated female candidate.
When you watch Ayotte for the first time, you think she’s nervous. There’s a...
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Jack Kimball Returns to Lead Tea Party Remnants
Former state Republican party chair and Tea Party leader Jack Kimball announces his return to the political scene with typical bombast:
“We are watching the systematic dismantling of our great Republic right before our eyes. Barak [sic] Obama is continuing with his mission to ‘fundamentally change’ America into a European Socialist style country. … He is aware that in...
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Rep. vs. Rep.: "Like Calling Mary Poppins a...
Patch is running a poll asking, “Does House Speaker William O’Brien deserve another term?” The unscientific poll doesn’t hold much interest for me, but the readers’ comments are quite entertaining.
When the conversation turned to reports of O’Brien bullying lawmakers who disagreed with him, a reader identifying himself as GOP Rep. Will Smith jumped to his...
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Bettencourt Is "Absolutely, Without Question,...
House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt’s feelings were hurt when Gov. Lynch took on House members who believe the state shouldn’t have any responsibility for public education. “That’s absurd,” declared the Governor.
Bettencourt responded by dashing off a letter to Lynch criticizing his “negative comments.” Foster’s, the state’s most conservative newspaper...
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Quote of the Day: How Far Can We Get Away?
Yes, it’s true; the Senate is blocking the O’Brien agenda, almost as if the Senate is ashamed of what the House has done, almost as if the Senate is trying to signal to the electorate, “Don’t blame us for what the O’Brienites are forcing through the House.”
Even as Republican senators strive mightily to distance themselves from O’Brien’s...
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Congressman Frank Guinta: All Hat, No Cattle
Today we learned that last year, Congressman Frank Guinta spent more taxpayers’ money on franked mail than any of the other 434 House members. The Bakersfield Californian first reported that Guinta spent $164,650 on postage, several times more than the average of $33,460.
The franking privilege allows House members to send mail to their constituents using tax funds for postage. It is part...
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Senate Committee: Split Decision on Reproductive...
NARAL reports the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted today on the four reproductive health bills with mixed results.
The committee voted 3-2 to approve House Bill 228, which would prohibit the use of public funds for any organization performing abortions. A committee amendment limits the scope to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England by exempting hospitals from the...
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N.H. Senate Kills Yet Another Wacko House Bill
The state Senate continues to swat away the frivolous, the extreme and the downright wacky legislation sent its way by the House. The latest House bill killed by the Senate is House Bill 628, which would have mandated a state database to track and review alleged abuses by federal airport security.
HB 628 began life as the infamous “Don’t Touch My Junk” bill in which TSA agents...
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Q1 Fundraising: Bass Falls Further Behind Kuster
2nd District Congressman Charlie Bass fell further behind challenger Ann Kuster in fundraising last quarter. Bass came up $83,000 short, raising $269,000 for the quarter to Kuster’s $352,000. Bass reported having $790,00 cash on hand at the end of the quarter, well shy of Kuster’s $1,032,000. Nearly two-thirds of Bass’ contributions ($174,000) came from political action...
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Odds "Close to Zero" of O’Brien Returning As...
The odds of state House Speaker Bill O’Brien being back in the Speaker’s chair next year are “close to zero,” writes GOP Rep. Steve Vaillancourt. Vaillancourt outlines three possible scenarios, all of which would result in O’Brien’s defeat:
Scenario number one — Democrats take control and elect either Terie Norelli or David Campbell Speaker. … I...
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Lee Quandt "Testing the Waters" for House Speaker...
GOP state Rep. Lee Quandt, one of House Speaker Bill O’Brien’s most vocal critics, announced he is “testing the waters” for a run at the House Speakership.
Last year, O’Brien removed Quandt from the House Finance Committee after he voted against the state budget. Quandt has accused O’Brien of bringing down the New Hampshire Republican Party and routinely refers...
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Senate Vote: "A Turning Tide in War on N.H. Women"
Today, the state Senate Public and Municipal Affairs Committee voted to send House Bill 1546 to Interim Study, the functional equivalent of dispatching mail to the dead letter office.
The bill, which would allow employers to exclude birth control from prescription drug coverage, was championed by House Speaker Bill O’Brien and the GOP leadership. NARAL’s Elizabeth Hager is hopeful...
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Odds Improving for Kelly Ayotte V.P. Selection?
This morning, Ayotte received another vice-president mention in the national press, this time from the NBC News political unit’s blog, First Read:
Yesterday, learned that the former Massachusetts governor tapped his longtime aide and ’08 campaign manager, Beth Myers, to lead his VP search. … Having Myers lead this search will only reinforce the C.W. that Romney is going to zero in on...
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Bettencourt Scolds Lynch, Twitterverse Responds
[View the story “D.J. Bettencourt: Pot Calls Kettle "Uncivil"” on Storify]D.J. Bettencourt: Pot Calls Kettle “Uncivil” Storified by William Tucker · Mon, Apr 16 2012 18:30:58 House Maj. Leader D.J. Bettencourt scolds Gov. Lynch as “unhelpful and uncivil” for blasting anti-ed views of some GOP-ers. #Klandrigan Kevin Landrigan @Klandrigan DJ is...
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O'Brien Ends Speculation of 2012 Congressional Run
State House Speaker Bill O’Brien ended speculation that he might be seeking higher office this year and announced his candidacy for re-election as state representative and Speaker of the House.
Former House Speaker Gene Chandler and Finance Vice Chair Lynne Ober, both of whom reportedly have their eye on the speakership should O’Brien falter, are among the co-chairs of his re-election...
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Q1 Fundraising: Shea-Porter Trails Guinta
Former Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter raised over $101,000 in campaign contributions for the first quarter of 2012, nearly $80,000 shy of the total raised by Congressman Frank Guinta.
Shea-Porter, who refuses to accept corporate PAC money, essentially matched Guinta in individual contributions but came up well short in donations from political action committees.
With the departure of...
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Shir Haberman: Common Sense Lacking in N.H. House
Writing in the Portsmouth Herald, Shir Haberman compares the New Hampshire House with the Senate.
He describes the physical differences between the Senate chamber and Representatives’ Hall. He contrasts the differences in mood between the two chambers. But Haberman notes the recent legislative action in the Senate — where Senators killed a number of House initiatives — and says...
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Q1 Fundraising: Kuster Juggernaut Continues
2nd District Congressional candidate Ann Kuster’s fundraising juggernaut continued last quarter, when she raised over $352,000 in campaign contributions. Kuster reported having over $1 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter for her likely rematch with Congressman Charlie Bass.
76% of Kuster’s contributions ($267,291) came from individuals. Contributions from New Hampshire...
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Q1 Fundraising: Guinta Raises Over $180,000
Congressman Frank Guinta raised over $180,000 in campaign contributions for the first quarter of 2012, $50,000 more than he raised last quarter. He reported having $674,747 cash on hand at the end of the quarter for his likely rematch with Democrat Carol Shea-Porter.
$77,741, 43% of his total, came from political action committees. $17,750 of that was from insurance industry PACs, perhaps as a...
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GOP Rep: Stand Your Ground Doesn't Go Far Enough
Last year, the New Hampshire legislature overrode Gov. Lynch’s veto of a Stand Your Ground gun law, which says a person has no duty to retreat before using deadly force.
New Hampshire law enforcement officials have renewed their opposition to the law following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida. The law’s supporters, however, point out that unlike the Florida law, the New...
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Anti-Gay Organization Launches Ad Campaign
Acting on a promise to “play a significant role” in New Hampshire politics, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) launched a statewide newspaper advertising campaign today attacking 87 House Republicans who voted against repeal of the marriage equality:
The cause of marriage was betrayed by the Republican state representatives listed below. They led voters to believe they...
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"Prejudice Starts with the Simple Perception of...
When Mark Vallone read comments from state House Rep. Jason Antosz defending use of the word “defective” to describe a mentally disabled rape victim, the chair of the Epping Democrats felt compelled to write Antosz, his Representative and fellow parishioner. With his permission, the text of his message:
Jason,
After reading the Landrigan Report in the Nashua Telegraph, I am deeply...
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Today's Appalling Anti-Abortion Testimony
Annmarie Timmins covered today’s Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearings for the Concord Monitor. Her tweets describe the testimony from House Representatives in support of the anti-abortion bills.
[View the story “A Sampling of Today’s Appalling Anti-Abortion Testimony” on Storify]A Sampling of Today’s Appalling Anti-Abortion TestimonyAnnmarie Timmins...
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Tobacco Tax Cut Costs State $12-$15 Million
Last spring, when the GOP House leadership insisted on cutting the state cigarette tax by ten cents a pack, the Department of Revenue Administration estimated the tax cut would cost the state $14 million in revenue if sales were consistent with the previous year.
House Speaker Bill O’Brien, however, argued the tax cut would actually increase state revenue:
“This tax cut is an...
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Rep. Jason Antosz: In His Own Words
A Miscellany Blue visitor, identifying himself as Rep. Jason Antosz, addressed the controversy surrounding Senate Bill 274, which would change the state’s aggravated rape statute by replacing the term “mentally defective” with less offensive language. His unedited comments:
Allison, I have more courage then you’ll ever know, you were out of line on where you posted your personal opinion,...
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Right to Work Fails -- Again
Today, the state Senate rebuffed House efforts to pass so-called Right to Work legislation. In a voice vote, the Senate tabled House Bill 1677. The bill, as amended by the Senate, is virtually identical to one the House failed to pass over Gov. Lynch’s veto last year.
Senate sponsor Sen. Jim Forsythe explained, “Given the numerous bills that we have coming over from the House it is...
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Rep. Antosz Responds -- and Un-Responds
Yesterday, Kevin Landrigan reported on GOP lawmakers who object to changing the state’s aggravated rape statute by replacing the term “mentally defective” with less offensive language.
State Rep. Jason Antosz belittled the change, which has support from a broad coalition of law enforcement agencies and sexual violence advocates, as “PC nonsense” and said that words...
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GOP House Rep: Defective & Retarded "Just Words"
In an incident reminiscent of former state Rep. Marty Harty’s eugenics controversy, Kevin Landrigan reports conservative Republican lawmakers object to a bill that would remove the phrase “mentally defective” from the state’s aggravated rape statute.
Judges have complained that the term is offensive when associated with a sexual assault victim. A broad coalition of law...
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Guinta: I Actually Voted For it Before I Voted...
Today Congressman Frank Guinta wrote leaders of the House and Senate urging them to work together to prevent $1 trillion in automatic, across-the-board defense cuts. Former Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter correctly points out that Guinta voted for the bill that could result in the cuts he says he now opposes.
“Congressman Frank Guinta is once again trying to hide his irresponsible record...
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N.H. GOP Lawmakers Rush to Embrace ALEC
New Hampshire’s “stand your ground” gun law, which is based on model legislation from the Amerihcan Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is similar to the Florida law that has come under attack following the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
After Coca-Cola, Pepsi and and Kraft Foods announced they were withdrawing from ALEC, Granite State Progress executive...
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N.H. Police: Gun Law Invites Escalation in...
New Hampshire law enforcement officials have renewed their opposition to the state’s stand-your-ground gun law following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida. The law, which was passed by the Republican-dominated legislature over Governor Lynch’s veto, allows anyone who believes they are threatened to use deadly force even if they could safely retreat.
Claremont Police Chief...
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Quote of the Day: Forgive Me for Voting for This...
“I’ve asked the voters to forgive me for voting for this clown. I’ve worked for 32 years to help build up the Republican Party in this state and this johnny-come-lately Republican is tearing us apart. It’s as if he’s been planted to undermine the Republican brand in New Hampshire, because no one could do a better job of that than he is doing.”
— GOP...
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Bass Assailed over Vote for Ryan Budget
At a town hall meeting in Claremont, Congressman Charlie Bass faced a hostile crowd of constituents over his vote for the Ryan budget plan. His response? Let’s call it something else.
In Claremont, many said that they were worried that Bass wanted to lower taxes on the wealthy. They worried about his association not with Romney but with Ryan, the author of the Republican budget.
Bass...
