Skip

FINALLY – a “yay! in that the boat may be swinging about.  We’ve been pounding on NH Republicans and the NH GOP on the truism: Consistency + Trust = Votes (all other things being equal).  But first, you have to ACT Consistently, and talk Consistently, and if you can master that (it really isn’t all that rocket scientist difficult), it becomes easier to “comment” on your opponents’ Inconsistency (heck, we’ve been doing it for….years now).  They may actually be starting to get with the program – and maybe can go on the offensive and not look the fools (as someone on their side is doing the same thing).

Now let’s be clear – Scott Brown may have been the most Conservative guy that could get elected in Massachusetts but New Hampshire isn’t Massachusetts (yet) and the definition of Conservative that works there is, well, rather lame here (e.g., go here).  But hey, go with me here for a bit: the NH Dems are in High Dungeon over the comings and goings of Mr. Brown thinking that he’s going to run for something here in NH, especially against Jeanne Shaheen an take her Senate seat.  So, now they’re in all-out attack mode to demonize him – but are looking like they are in All-Flail mode.  Problem is, they forgot they have a 6 to watch out for – and are now showing their lack of InConsistency, gave a wide open gateway to their opposition.  From DiStaso (emphasis mine, reformatted):

Read more

Yeah – there:

That would be the “Free State” of New Hampshire – 18th most economically free “sub-national jurisdiction” in North America (out of 60).

Even as Progressives are bound and determined to make the States completely subservient to the Federal Government Washington DC (even as much of the fight over the Constitution was to keep that from happening – see what happens when our schools no longer teach history??), we see that what happens in the States still has a big effect on their citizens.

It all comes down to “who is in control” and “who gets to decide what I can do” – the essence of Freedom. 

Read more

Simply, Bright and Shiny Objects become lost in the Memory Hole…and one wonders why President Obama is now the 2013 recipient of Politifact’s “Lie of the Year”? (emphasis mine):

Still, what are we getting for our money?

In 2008, the promise was to save each family of four an average of $2,500.

In 2009, the promise was to insure 47 million Americans who didn’t have insurance, and to save you those $2,500.

In 2010, the promise was to insure 47 million Americans who didn’t have insurance, and to save you those $2,500, and let you keep the plan you have and the doctor you like.

And then the closer we came to the start of it all, when the Shiny Objects started to gather a veneer of rust and dirt, the equivocations and hedges started:

Read more

Read through Founders notes, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist and anti-Federalists papers and it becomes clear that they believed that our Rights came from simply being human – gifts from God and Nature’s God.  They are not bestowed upon any of us by the fact that Government exists.  In fact the existence of Government was to act as a bulwark against anyone taking those Rights away – to protect that which a Higher Power has given.

Read more

Ah yes, that IS the comparison that is now being made: Kuster = Hare:

(Hat tip, Independent Journal Review.) Kuster may not realize it yet, but she’s just become the Phil Hare of this cycle. Rep. Phil Hare, an Illinois Democrat, dismissed objections to Obamacare back in 2010 by quipping, “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this, to be honest. I care more about the people who are dying every day that don’t have health care.” He then quoted the Declaration of Independence to his questioner; when corrected, he said, “it doesn’t matter to me, either one.”

By the way, it is now FORMER US Congressman Phil Hare for the video from here and as Steve pointed out, a Socialist Party member from Illinois:

Of Course Carol Seiu-Porter donor Phil Hare is listed as a member of the Socialist Party in America, and on the record as not caring about the constitution.

“I don’t care about the Constitution…I believe that it says we have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” -Phil Hare (D-Ill)

Video of that after the jump.  Now make no mistake, all  three of them, Hare, Shea-Porter, and Kuster are birds of a feather / cut from the same cloth ideologically.

Read more

…and seeing a beaming Harry Reid and Obama on the other side of the counter.  After all, by not fighting hard and not throwing sand into the gear works, Democrats have now flipped the ideological bent of the DC Court of Appeals with Reid’s nuking of the filibuster – Obama will probably not have to worry at all about suits against Obamacare regulations (or anything else) as it is the locked door to the Supreme Court.

And now, the ONE item that actually implemented the idea of “limited government” – the sequester – has been blown up with the “news” of the micro-Grand bargain of US Rep. Paul Ryan (R) with the uber-Progressive Patty Murray.  Could you praise her any more, Paul?  Bipartisanship is not giving up the only real  achievement that the Rs were able get that actually reduced spending – it’s a cave-in as nothing of real value was gained in return.  Future leverage, from the scant details available thus far (but don’t sound good), has also been removed.  No long term restructuring of entitlements, of the “non-discretionary” programs – and $20 billion “reduction” (in the realm of a $4 Trillion annual budget) isn’t even worth spitting on.

All for the sake of “no government shutdown” (PLEASE, DON’T CALL US BAD NAMES ANY MORE) and “stability” – the same status quo that has given us a $17 Trillion national debt.

Way to motivate the base, duds. Nice present for the Democrats.  UPDATE – some details from Redstate (emphasis mine):

Read more

Seems like the Lakes Region Planning Commission is distressed about all the “misinformation” being disseminated recently. During a Nov. 20 meeting, directors spouted the need to turn on their public relations machine to “…get the word out…there are efforts to divert the local planning effort for political reasons…those people write prolifically and it’s a misinformation campaign…” Not so much, really. Rather, it is an “education campaign” designed to inform our communities about the truth behind Regional Planning Commissions here in the Granite State. (The meeting can be viewed in its entirety, at www.governmentoversite.com. It’s a doozey of a meeting!)

NH RPCs are also working to come up with even more legislation/rules in Concord. They are now paying a lobbyist, Ms. Nancy Johnson, to lobby legislators on the wonderful benefits of RPCs.

Read more

Yup, just like the New Gas tax (get it – New Coke!  New Gas Tax?  Hopefully suffers the same death by embarrassment), now we get a new tax on the boats that “Every Man” can afford.  I certainly can’t afford a 45 foot cruiser for whiling away lazy summer days – but I can afford a canoe, a real dinghy (rowboat), sailboat,or kayak (e.g., anything non-motorized).  But now, yet another Republican NH State Senator (Bob Odell, R-Lempster) is proposing that you pay him $10 for each one you want to launch for a couple of lazy hours on the lake.  I imagine that my Eldest (1 canoe, 2 kayaks) ain’t gonna be happy camper.  Steve had the proper response here.  From AFP/NH:

New Hampshire (AFP-NH) today called out a new, proposed $10 fee for all small, non-motorized boats such as canoes, kayaks and rowboats. According to today’s Eagle-Tribune, a bill, sponsored by Senator Bob Odell, would establish this new charge on these watercrafts in order to increase funding to the Department of Fish & Game.

“As the old adage goes, if you want more of something, you subsidize it, and if you want less of something, you tax it,” said Greg Moore, AFP-NH State Director. “This new Dinghy Tax would send a clear message that New Hampshire is more interested in growing government than promoting tourism and outdoor activities. Especially for those individuals who might come to our state for the day to row or paddle the Saco or Pemigewasset from Massachusetts, Maine or Vermont, this new tax would rip out the welcome mat, and cost our state millions in lost tourist revenue. This proposal is penny-wise and pound foolish at best and a triumph of short thinking bureaucratic logic.”

 And here are the money line(s) from that Eagle-Tribune piece:

Read more

From the Daily Mail (a UK paper that does a lot better on reporting edgy American news than most US papers):

• The Affordable Care Act forces companies with more than 50 workers to buy them all health insurance or pay hefty fines
• The IRS says volunteer firefighters are ’employees,‘ even though the Department of Labor says they’re ‘volunteers’
• Out of more than 1 million fire departments in the U.S., 87 per cent are staffed entirely or mostly by life-saving volunteers
• Members of Congress are weighing in, but the Obama administration hasn’t taken any action yet to carve out a fire-fighting exception

Yup, pass it to see what’s in it, eh Madame Pelosi?  Nice to see that this is gonna hit New Hampshire towns and hamlets HARD!  But remember, you all voted in these Progressives – welcome to another agenda item FORWARD!  Once again, our Godlets-in-DC are absolutely convinced that they know what’s best for us out here in the ‘sticks!  Nice to see that not only is Obamacare effectively stripping us of healthcare insurance (what middle class family can afford to shell out $12,700 in deductibles on a $40,000 income?  Effectively, they will HAVE NO insurance).  Now, here’s the next shoe to fall in Obama’s plan to “fundamentally transform America”:

Now he’s about to strip us of home insurance.  And that’s not all!

And Jeanne Shaheen and Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter?  And let’s not forget Annie “Benghazi-in-headlights” Kuster!   They, too, believe that most NH town Fire Departments are optional – after all, there’s nothing in it for them, is there – NO Fire Unions with volunteers to man the phone banks and empty their wallets to make the Democrat campaigns flush with cash.  Not only that…

Read more

Let’s be clear – it seems that for Progressives, politics drives their very being, and they pursue avidly.  It fills their souls so much that they can’t begin to grok that when conservatives talk about religious values, progressives think that use of personal religion conscience is only a dodge from agreeing with something in the political realm.  They truly do not understand or accept that that conservatives really do refer to “religious values” being outside the political – they don’t care in their striving to have The State be the be all and end all of life.   EVERYTHING is political for Progressive – and they refuse to see otherwise or accept that for a lot of people, politics holds little value at all as their “managing principle”.

And so when Sally Kohn wrote this screed she called “When Religion and Liberty Collide” in the Daily Beast, several things came to mind as I read it.  However, to set the stage, what is the let’s stage for this fisking. The latest news is not so hot for Obamacare (and Zandra Rice-Hawkin’s claim that people just LOVE Obamacare) – Rasmussen:

• 38%  – believe businesses should be required by law to provide health insurance that covers all government-approved contraceptives for women without co-payments or other charges to the patient.
• 51%  – employers should not be required to provide health insurance with this type of coverage.
• 11% are not sure.

I would be one of the…

Read more

Yeah, and the NY Times keeps claiming that they are to be believed because of the “layers of fact checkers & editors” they have – we’ve seen how that’s worked out, huh?  Well, tell me, how is this real math problem going to make our kids better prepared to complete against others?

  See #15, here.  From the Daily Caller:

What, exactly, is the content of this Common Core that’s going to make American kids so much smarter? So far it appears to be a slew of worksheets and tests involving various, incomprehensible arrays of squares and circles.

There are also traditional word problems. Twitchy has found a word problem that may be the most egregiously awful math problem the Common Core has produced yet. 

Read more

• Born – 1937 (now 76 years of age)
• ROTC, Army career 1956 – 1991 (35 years)
• Chair, Joint Chief of Staff – 1989 – 1993
• National Security Advisor – 1987 through 1989
• Secretary of State – 2001 through 2005

Pretty much his entire career, Colin Powell (former Army General, US Secretary of State) has worked for the US Government. At multiple times during his career, he has sworn an oath to protect and uphold the US Constitution.  Over at Big Government, we hear of his support for the US Government to act in a “post- Constitutional” manner (or if you prefer, “extra-Constitutional”:

…“I think universal health care is one of the things we should really be focused on, and I hope that will happen,” Powell reportedly said last week. “Whether it’s Obamacare, or son of Obamacare, I don’t care. As long as we get it done.”

…The retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he thought, “Every country I’ve visited, every developed country, they have universal health care. They don’t understand why the United States of America, which uses more health care than just about anybody else, still (has) 40 million people not properly insured.”

That is because, Mr. Powell, there is that pesky 10th Amendment in OUR Constitution that

Read more