Meet the New Press radio- shining BIG LIGHTS into those dark corners! - Granite Grok

Meet the New Press radio– shining BIG LIGHTS into those dark corners!

big light

Starting Saturday morning at 9 am!

Meet the New Press

As usual, this week’s broadcast version of GraniteGrok and AnkleBitingPundits brings an array of items and guests for your consideration– ALL STARTING AT 9AM! As always, thanks to the technical wizardry and analytical skills of Skip, if you are beyond the broadcast area of Newstalk 1490 WEMJ, simply click here for instructions on how to connect and listen on the Internet via livestream. (Podcasts here)

  • NH’s Republican National Committeewoman, Phyllis Woods (also a ‘Grok contributor) checks in with an update on the race for RNC Chair. Given the present state of the GOP both on the state and national levels, the outcome of this race is more important than ever. This week, Phyllis announced she was throwing her support in with Saul Anuzis, noting, "he has pledged to work to preserve our conservative values and believes they can be a winning strategy. We don’t need to ‘moderate’ our message – we need to ‘modernize’ it and present it in a fresh new light."… We’ll also discuss the latest on bailout mania, and the movement for a resolution opposing such measures. What’s ahead for NH Republicans? Inside baseball stuff, maybe, but it’s all important, as the government and its politicians are coming at us more than ever, and if we don’t fight them in the political arena, we’ll end up getting steamrolled.

  • Doug and Skip roll through some local stuff. As regular listeners know, while we might be talking about our town, it just might– or should– be happening in yours. Gilford’s teachers still don’t seem to get it when it comes to declining enrollment. With the school board and administration rightly trimming administrative staff, the teachers have managed to convince a number of parents this is bad for the children. Please… Because these people are so unwilling to part with one red cent from their budget, without regard for compromise, I have decided I can no longer support their contract with its generous (especially given the times) raise provisions. I know I’m not alone both in town, and on the budget committee. After all, as reported in the Laconia Daily Sun Friday, "no statistics would persuade them that fewer guidance hours or assistant principals would be acceptable to their children or students." See?

  • First it was the iron horses, and now its real ones. Is nothing safe from the fee-chargers? What is happenning to the Live Free or Die State? Last week it was onerous motorcycle rules with HB95, and now this week it’s licensing and the mandatory vaccination of all horses in NH through HB427.  Jean Lavin, motorcyclist and horse-lover is feeling like she’s got a bullseye on him lately and will join us as we sound the alarm yet again as NH’s government continues to assault our freedoms…

  • One means of protection against excessive government growth and intrusion into our lives is to know what the politicians are up to as they do their business in the first place. Here in NH, that insight and right is guaranteed and protected by the Right-To-Know law, RSA 91-A. With the legislature about to embark on its annual attempts to "fix" this most important law, we thought we’d get the straight skinny from two people who should know: Democratic state representative Jim Splaine, and Republican representative William O’Brien.

    • Jim Splaine has been a member of the House and Senate for 29 years, being first elected in 1968 at the age of 21, the youngest member of the 400 member House that year.  He sponsored two of the most important expansions of the NH Right To Know Law as a member of the House in 1977, and the Senate in 1979, (requiring a specific reason for governing bodies to go behind closed-doors, and requiring a recorded, public, roll-call vote to do so) and continues to defend the law to make it stronger. He is a frequent contributor to the NH Insider. He is the "token Democrat" co-sponsor of the bill to make actions in violation of 91-A invalid (HB135).

    • William L. O’Brien is an attorney with 32 years of legal experience.  He has been a partner in a Boston, Massachusetts law firm and has served as general counsel for three companies.  Bill holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston and a Masters of Law degree from Franklin Pierce Law in Concord. At present he maintains a law practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts specializing in litigation, intellectual property licensing, and corporate and international law. He also is an adjunct professor of law at New England School of Law in Boston. Bill O’Brien’s community involvement includes serving as an elected member of his local school and budget committees and as a state representative in New Hampshire from the Hillsborough County towns of Lyndeborough, Mont Vernon, New Boston, Temple and Wilton. He is currently in his second term as a legislator and serves on the Judiciary committee in the House of Representatives. He is the primary sponsor of the bill making the actions in violation of the Right-To-Know Law invalid (HB135).

We expect much agreement between the four of us on this subject. We all concur- we might be on different parts of the political spectrum, but open and transparent government is in EVERYBODY’S interest. And while there are some like Reps. O’Brien and Splaine seeking to strengthen the RTK law, there are others seeking to weaken it.

Where we might disagree is when, time permitting, we cover several other topics. Given that Rep. Splaine sponsored the successful civil unions bill two years back and has sponsored a gay marriage bill this year for NH, we might have some words on that. We’ll also talk about Mr. Splaine’s death penalty study bill, called a "reasonable move" by the Union Leader. I will ask him his position on abortion, and why parental notification of an invasive medical procedure like that shouldn’t be required in the case of
a minor here in NH.

Since Bill O’Brien is the Vice-chairman of Granite State Taxpayers and the co-chair of the House Republican Alliance, we’d just bet he’s got a thought or two about the present budget situation here in NH, and what needs to be done to fix it. Surely Mr. Splaine and his fellow Democrat big spenders are no help.

We’ll get the group’s take on whether or not newly minted NH GOP chief John H. Sununu is right when he says "democrats are ruining the state." This should be great fun!

  • And of course, ===============>> Your calls are encouraged at 603 527 1490.

It all starts at 9AM EST Saturday. Tune in if you’re in Central NH at NewsTalk 1490AM WEMJ or live on the ‘Net here… This is not your Poppy’s radio show. You won’t need to wedge toothpicks into your eyelids to stay awake here!

>