News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Skip Last night, the ‘Grok was asked to cover the Grafton County Republican Committee‘s Columbus Day Dinner which ended up having two of the candidates roaming around the State, and a few surrogates (i.e., stand-ins); here they are in alphabetical order (of candidate) except for Jon Huntsman (who was the keynote speaker – will be in a separate post):
Charlie Spano for Herman Cain:
At last night’s Columbus Day Dinner, Ovide Lamontagne was there. Although I got the sense that he was there to give the Invocation (yet to be posted), he was also given the opportunity to address the crowd as he is currently the only Republican who has entered the race for NH Governor (actually, the only … Read more
The last speaker of the evening was Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-UT) who is trying to become the Republican nominee for President. This first video is his speech to the 100 or so attendees of the Columbus Day Dinner:
The Q & A session is after the jump:
Yesterday, the ‘Grok was invited by the Lakes Region TEA Party (based mostly in Moultonborough, NH) to a meeting that hosted Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) as she is seeking to be the Republican nominee for President. THE LRTP is a relatively new group that started out with just a handful of folks a few months … Read more
In addition to speaking at the Lakes Region TEA Party meeting yesterday, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) also took a number of questions from the crowd: Question 1: How will you deal with leaders of rogue nations as they look down upon women…and stand up to them with boldness? Question 2: Underground economy pays no taxes … Read more
Continuing on from Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann’s (R-MN) talk and questions 1-4 from yesterday’s Lakes Region TEA Party meeting held in Moultonborough, NH, here are the next set of questions from the crowd: Question 5: Governor Perry is not securing the borders; an illegal came into my house (visitor from Texas) Question 6: Tort reform … Read more
And the last set of questions, 8 – 10, from yesterday’s Lakes Region TEA Party hosting Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann’s (R-MN) up in Moultonborough, NH. After that, she made two people rather happy (but wait for that post! Question 8: Your thoughts on the other states moving up their primary / caucus dates … Read more
Update: well, I expected to Jon Huntsman – I did. I expected to see Buddy Roemer – no show. I thought Mitt Romney was going to be present – his wife, Ann stood in for him instead. And there was just enough of a WiFi signal to get email but not live stream. We will, … Read more
Any person looking to dislodge uber-liberal Ed Markey’s superglued butt out of Congress is fine by me. And Jeff Semon is one determined guy looking to do just that. Now, the ‘Grok is pretty much a NH-centric blog so my interest was a bit piqued when it became known that Jeff was asking if we’d … Read more
Earlier this week, I received a press release concerning the IRS. Now, getting a "presser" is not all that unusual, but this one was prefaced with a link back to a post I had written back in 2008 ("Sure – I’LL let the IRS do my taxes for me") where then US Senator John Sununu was advocating for a small, easier understood tax code while current US Senator Jeanne Shaheen decided that "making it easier" was not to change the underlying tax code, but laughably, to have the IRS computer your taxes for you (yeah, the agency that has had its competency shown to be suspect by having its own agents answer specific questions – and they all answer them differently).
The Presser from Stop IRS Takeover:
NEW POLL SHOWS NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICANS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT PROPOSAL TO HAVE IRS PREPARE INDIVIDUALS’ TAX RETURNS
85% of New Hampshire Republican Residents Said They Would NOT trust the IRS to Prepare Their Returns, Determine Their Refund or How Much They Owe in Taxes
WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) released the findings of a new Public Policy Polling survey which found overwhelming opposition from voters to the expansion of the IRS’s involvement in preparing individuals’ tax returns, a potential backdoor plan to raise taxes on Americans.
The rest of the press is after the jump. Ed Black, President and CEO of the CCIA gave the ‘Grok an interview on the subject:
If you walk around the Right blogosphere, you will see a lot of folks talking about the "education bubble" – lots of folks who were told to go to college, took on lots of debt, and now are either unemployed or underemployed. The overriding problem seems to be the overemphasis on the credentials to do … Read more
It is clear that the attitude towards citizens reclaiming the right to defend themselves has changed for the better, and dramatically, over the last 25 years: This clearly shows that the percentage of citizens that once lived in States that restricted their Right to carry (only 10%) has flipped to 70% can carry with little … Read more
Pretty much every day gets a visit to Rassmussen’s Daily Presidential Approval index – the number of folks that Strongly Approve of the President vs those that Strongly Disapprove. All this week, the overall rating has been in the low -20s: the spread between the supporters vs opposers. Today completes the week: It must be … Read more
This is funny as all get out – once again, we have a flaming liberal demanding something be done by other people to satisfy his needs (or ego)! Just cracks me up! I’m on my hamlet’s Budget Committee and this is now budget season here in NH. Thus, we have started our meetings with the Town departments and (soon) the School Board to create the budgets that will be voted upon by the folks in town. So, what’s the beef?
It seems that Leo Sanfacon, a spending liberal who (in my previous run-ins with him) is only concerned with "the quality of life" (and not always the cost thereof) contacted the Town Administrator who relayed a message:
Today I received a phone call from Leo Sanfacon. He is requesting the Selectmen take steps to make sure the Budget Committee meetings are broadcast on cable TV. During this conversation I suggested that he submit his request directly to the Budget Committee because the Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee are independently elected bodies and neither has any legal authority over the other. He said if the Selectmen do not do something he will go to the newspapers. He then indicated he would like a call-back from Chairman O’Brien to ensure that his message was delivered.
Heh! It seems that the kerfuffle from last week’s brush up between a few of the members of the Committee over conflict of interest finally reached the space between his ears, and I bet that he is some upSET over some of what happened as the dustup hit the papers ("oh, the ignominy of it all, we just don’t behave that way in this town….").
You know, I really do wish that he goes to the newspapers – and show himself to be of the classification "moroon". You know…
An icon, and an iconic era, has just passed on. And the obligatory "I was there" moment. Yes – one of those "where were you?" moments that I will always remember the place and the circumstances. Yes – TMEW and I had purchased an Apple II+ a couple of months after it came out. And … Read more
We here in NH are at Ground Zero of the Primaries that will help to select the next Republican nominee for President. New Hampshireites take this responsibility seriously and demand that the prospective candidates work the retail end of the political spectrum. We have done likewise – we have gone to the big and small … Read more
Obama has his panties in a wad all over the fact that Eric Cantor, #3 GOPper in the US House, said his Slush Fund II Jobs bill wasn’t going to come up for a vote. First, let’s also state that NOT ONE DEMOCRAT is co-sponsoring it in the House, last time I looked. No co-sponsor, … Read more
Not a bad idea! A reader writes to me, “I have a suggestion. Instead of the formulation ‘If you believe X, I have a bridge to sell you,’ let’s say, ‘If you believe X, I have a shovel-ready project for you.’ I’m hoping for a one-term Obama presidency, but I hope he is forever memorialized … Read more
We all know that Michele has taken it upon herself to save the US from epidemic of childhood obesity (as if it were really communicative in the traditional epidemic sense of the word). Setting up new dietary standards for us all, "suggesting" that the entire food industry should follow her "guidelines" (restaurants, food manufacturers). I dunno who deserves my despise more, her or NYC Mayor Bloomberg, for determining how the rest of us should eat just because they know better what is best for us than we do ourselves.
Well, there’s a new recruit to the hectoring industry! Who would have believed that TEA Party (you know, the folks that believe in self-responsibility) supported him as he agreed with that seemingly quaint notion?
I "discovered" this PSA after this past Saturday’s Granite Oath PAC event with Governor Rick Perry – decided to see if I could get another "tall" tripod and not having had breakfast or lunch, I spied a Taco Bell and pulled in. Just as I was ready to get out, I heard a familiar voice…
Narration after the jump (if you didn’t recognize the voice). I know that I didn’t use my vote to get lectured…