Political event – Bill Binnie (R), candidate for US Senate

Bill Binnie is a successful businessman from the Seacoast area of New Hampshire who is seeking (along with Kelly Ayotte, Jim Bender, and Ovide Lamontagne) to be the Republican nominee for US Senate and let Paul Hodes (who seemingly is in the seat of "his to lose (vs win)" being the Democrat opponent).

This is the first time I have seen him in person – for a newcomer to politics, he has his initial stump speech down well; fluid, peppered with factoids on the topics to punctuate his reasons for running, and he flowed fairly well from subject to subject.  He seemed at ease moving from the podium and into the crowd at the Margate, making direct eye contact with most of the folks in the room at some point during his talk.  

His main stance will be as a fiscal hawk from being a successful businessman: too much spending and the deficit being run up by the Democrats in DC will ruin this country past the point of no return.  He is in favor of securing the border and then some process of dealing with the illegals (who should not be receiving any taxpayer benefits).  He recognizes that we are at war with a movement that wishes to kill us (although he used the word terrorists instead of using the "Islamic" designation).  He prefers free trade but has no problem in defending our companies and industries against those that crudely are unfair (mentioning that China manipulates it currency to "tilt the table").  Limited Government, a shrinking govt, is an aim.  He is pro-choice but is against late term abortions.

I got there later than I wanted and not where I would have preferred to be to record his talk – thus, no real recording of the evening.  I did, however, catch a few questions asked of him by Don Ewing of Meredith during the extended Q&A time afterwards (thanks to both Don and Bill for letting me record the back and forth):

1. Supported for President?
2. Immigration – What’s next after securing the borders?
3. Can you stand up to a President of your own Party?
4. How do you get to smaller Government?
5. Can we convince people that it is necessary?

I did get one question in but his answer was cut short as we had to leave the meeting room – drat! – but had a flock more: "What is your overall philosophy of government?"   The purpose was to draw more of what he believes as a foundational philosophy vs the "point solutions" talking points and answers that had been given earlier.  No, not content with the answer – but hopefully will have a couple more opportunities during this silly season.

Please note: it was rather loud in the room as the recording first started – listen well and you can hear the question and answer but you DO have to actively listen in the beginning.

Thanks to Bill for letting us be the ones that "closed the doors and shut off the lights".

The Laconia Citizen was there to cover the event (the other daily, Laconia Daily Sun, was a no show) and has a bit more (reformatting by me):

While holding typically conservative viewpoints about spending and taxes, Binnie said he supports free market solutions to solve America’s economic woes. “We just need to put people on sale,” said Binnie, describing his idea of offering tax credits and short-term social security breaks for employers willing to add to their payrolls.

He said it is time for the United States to “level the playing field” with the rest of the world, especially China, when it comes to supporting American business and industry. “My complaint is that we don’t support free trade,” he said, noting that China’s manipulation of the value of its currency gives that country an unfair trade advantage. “We need to defend our markets,” Binnie said, citing France and China as examples of how two U.S. Internet companies — Microsoft and Google — have either been fined or punished without the U.S. government stepping in to help.

Binnie’s audience asked him a variety of questions, ranging from his stance on abortion (he is pro-choice but does not support federal payments for abortions) to the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service (he does not support that although he thinks the tax code could be simpler and fairer).

Binnie said he supports keeping the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay open, telling the crowd that he does not think terrorists should be given the same rights as Americans.

A hunter, Binnie supports second amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

While he said he the country “needs the goodwill of the people in the rest of the world,” he does not support all the foreign aid currently given to “buy their friendship.” “We trade away our economic rights for political right,” Binnie said.

Binnie also said he would like to see New Hampshire get its own full-service Veterans Administration hospital and another medical school.

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