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edmosca Two unimpeachable conservatives seem to think so. Peggy Noonan: The beginning of my own sense of separation from the Bush administration came in January 2005, when the president declared that it is now the policy of the United States to eradicate tyranny in the world, and that the survival of American liberty is dependent on … Read more
One of the arguments being advanced in favor of the constitutional amendments presently percolating in the House, the most prominent of these being the Whalley and Smith amendments (I’ll call them the House amendments), is that they would restore the status quo prior to the Claremont decisions. This argument is stunningly wrong. The status quo … Read more
Check out Fergus’ pitch to Republican legislators to vote for the misbegotten Whalley amendment — the Union Leader says to. Pretty pathetic. From: Fergus Cullen [mailto:fergus@nhgop.org]Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 4:51 PMTo: fergus@nhgop.orgSubject: Passing an Ed Funding Amendment Dear Republican Legislators: I want to encourage you to support passage of an education funding amendment, provided … Read more
According to today’s lead editorial in the Union Leader, legislators are wrong to oppose the various constitutional amendments percolating in the House on the ground that they kill local control of public education because there is no such thing as local control of public education and in fact there never has been such a thing as local … Read more
"The muted objections to the state legislature’s approval of civil unions-the governor signed the bill last week-is one sign of the state’s deepening liberalism. ‘In five to 10 years, it’ll be a solidly Democratic state like the rest of New England,’ predicts Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center." The article … Read more
It has come down to this: Those who back the Whalley amendment are “statesmen,” while those who don’t are “screamers” and “criers.” I’m quoting from a recent op-ed by one of the self-proclaimed statesmen supporting the Whalley amendment. According to this statesman, the Whalley amendment will lower the level of judicial review of education legislation … Read more
AN OPEN LETTER TO FERGUS CULLENREGARDING THE WHALLEY AMENDMENT AND THE STATE GOP PLATFORM Dear Fergus, I’ve been comparing the Whalley amendment to the 2007-2008 Republican Party Platform. They are completely out of sync. Below are some suggested changes to the Platform to bring it into sync with the Whalley amendment. The part about “Only … Read more
n 2003 Mike Whalley repudiated the Claremont decisions by voting for "A RESOLUTION declaring the directives of the judicial branch in the Claremont cases that the legislative and executive branches define an "adequate education," adopt "standards of accountability," and "guarantee adequate funding" of a public education are not binding on the legislative and executive branches." Click here … Read more
Apparently, Mike Whalley told the House Finance Committee yesterday that his “amendment, by including the word ‘reasonable,’ would lower the standard [of judicial review]. Court review of legislative decisions would be based on whether they have a ‘rational basis.’” There is a standard of legal review known as rational basis review. As a practical matter, … Read more
Time for a civics lesson for both the Concord Monitor and the Union Leader. First, check out this gem from the Monitor today: "The Senate should embrace the task force’s definition [of an adequate education] and send the adequacy definition on to Gov. Lynch and then to the Supreme Court. The court should then say, … Read more
UPDATE: (Sorry Ed, but I could not resist!!! See below the line…. -Skip) I understand that Mike Whalley called me out in front of the Finance committee today for this post on his grotesque constitutional amendment. Well, I have this to say to Mike Whalley — let’s debate your grotesque constitutional amendment in front of … Read more
If you want to see why the Republican Party has become and will remain the minority party in New Hampshire, take a look at the constitutional amendment that Minority Leader Mike Whalley has introduced to address education funding. It is a weasel-worded bunch of drivel that writes the antiquated, failed education policy prescriptions of the … Read more
Today’s Pravda-on-the-Merrimack’s political column has this gem from Fergus Cullen on Fran Wendelboe’s plan to start a group to recruit candidates who believe in Ronald Reagan’s principles: "We already have a Reagan organization in New Hampshire. It’s called the Republican Party." Nice try, Fergus, but no cigar. Reagan Republicanism is anathema to the majority of … Read more
HOW TO ELECT ANOTHER CLINTON PRESIDENT Today’s Unioin Leader features a story on the opinions of "New Hampshire’s pro-life leaders" on the GOP contenders for 2008. Here’s a snippet: "But Darlene Pawlik, president of New Hampshire Right to Life, said she is not impressed by the front-runners. ‘How can you be pro-life if you have … Read more
Today’s Union Leader reports that NH GOP boss Fergus Cullen is ticked that Fran Wendelboe has formed a group to recruit conservatives to run for state office in 2008: The New Hampshire Reagan Network will "advance the principles of the Republican platform" and "educate people as to what the Republican principles are," state Rep. Fran Wendelboe, … Read more
THE GREAT DEBATE (NOT) In an op-ed in today’s Pravda-on-the-Merrimack, Attorney Scott Johnson challenges Governor John Lynch to "an open forum where legislators and the public can ask whatever questions they want, with the governor and me present to respond and to address each other’s response." Thankfully, that debate won’t happen because it would look something … Read more
This is from the hard-left blog BLUE HAMPSHIRE: Among the 38% of the electorate here [that was born somewhere other than Massachusetts or New Hampshire] Kerry beat Bush 53 to 47 percent…Among the 30% of the electorate that had come here from Massachusetts, Bush was ahead of Kerry by 4 percentage points…And among the new … Read more
In a recent post, I argued that New Hampshire has forfeited its claim on the first in the nation primary because its leftward lurchings have placed it outside the political mainstream. A piece today in RealClearPolitics also observes that New Hampshire has turned into a latte-sipping, Lexus-driving, what-can-government-do-for-me bastion of BLUE political thought. It argues that the New … Read more
Yesterday Pravda-on-the-Merrimack (Concord Monitor) ran an op-ed by Professor Marcus Hurn of Franklin Pierce on civil unions. He makes two points. One is "Civil unions are not like mandatory seatbelts, smoking prohibitions, insurance mandates or the minimum wage. A civil union restrains no one’s liberty. It affects no private contracts." The other is "Unlike some … Read more
Check out the op-ed in today’s Foster’s by Republican State Rep Dave Hess on education funding. Hess is part of the "leadership" of House Republicans, so you know his views reflect the views of the House Republican leadership. The gist of the op-ed is that we, the Republicans, know how to spend your money more wisely … Read more