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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

New Hampshire Budget Facts – an offering by the Republican Liberty Caucus of NH

There is a new site dedicated to the facts of the recently passed NH Budget bill, HB1: New Hampshire Budget Facts (nhbudgetfacts.org).    It’s purpose? The House budget is a hallmark of responsible government. Contrary to the cries of opponents, the budget reduces the size of state government—without higher taxes, borrowing, downshifting, or accounting tricks—to … Read more

Unions – bringing their Thuggish Wisconsin ways to NH

Look out NH – what has happened in Wisconsin is now about to be unleashed here in NH.  Via JP Marzullo: This guy sent this to our State Senator Andy Sanborn; anyone know him? Nice guy huh? Good Luck with throwing him out. Let the games begin. Dear Andy Sanborn,There are more of us than … Read more

Letters doodlings – a terror zone on Lake

Really – that’s what one lady, Mary Hutchins, is using for rhetoric for NH State Senator Jim Forsythe (my Senator) merely for a difference of opinion – he has sponsored an amendment to a bill allowing 55mph in the largest part of the Big Lake.  For this, they want him to resign? It is my opinion that most of these folks won’t be happy unless a duplication of the "Golden Pond" regs in place – if they had their way, nothing more powerful than a one-cylinder putt-putt outboard on a two person skiff would be allowed. 

To the Editor:

There are been numerous Letters from the "No Fun Faster than 45 on Winnipesaukee" crowd, all calling on our NH State Senator, Jim Forsythe, to resign just because he disagrees with them on the issue of speed limits on the Big Lake.  Further, they believe that everyone else sides with them on this.  When one considers ALL the far more important issues NH faces, is frothing on the keyboard simply for disagreeing over about a 10 mph difference in speed really grounds for a recall?  Hardly, and  I do believe that crowd has "jumped the shark" with Mary Hutchins’ remark of "Will the entire Broads area be considered a terror zone?".  Really, a terror zone?  In the words of Madam Pelosi: "Are you serious"?  Frankly, the State has far more important issues to confront – most important one, by some estimates, up to a $Billion deficit.  Priorities, people.

Jim, keep doing what you’re doing – from this constituent’s viewpoint, flank speed ahead as I see that my political agenda, mostly, seems to be yours – exactly what I hoped for when I supported your run and voted for you: cut the spending drastically, make govt smaller and less intrusive, and continue to limit the reach of govt that returns the real power back to the  local level and to citizens where it rightly belongs (and not in Concord where the Democrats took it). 

Ms. Hutchins Letter after the jump:

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Once again, the Nanny State says “Eat like I tell you to, not as I do”

  One more time, we have the situation of a NYC publicly elected lard-ass politician, unhappy with himself and his own kids culinary favorites, deciding that EVERYone else is in the same boat – or will be.  He has, like the busybodies in San Francisco, decided the Government knows what is best for all children: … Read more

Price – a decision point

Capitalism is under attack by those on the Left that believe that it is evil and that it discriminates against "the oppressed".  The major problem is that they try to wrap up both economics and their sense of morality into a bow.  If it (or anything else, for that matter) isn’t exactly to their liking, it must be bad and must be legislated, regulated, or adjudicated to the point that it would be. 

Yet, what would be better?  Here’s something to say "there isn’t" (emphasis mine):

…I’ve often annoyed friends by repeating my view that “Prices are beautiful.”  We have a tendency to view prices as deception, a trick played on consumers to scam us into paying more than we like.  Prices are information.  Like ants tracing pheremones, prices provide signals for the billions of buyers and sellers that we call “the market.”  These prices guide our savings, our production and our consumption.  Isn’t it marvelous how we can use a price to evaluate all 3 of those functions?  Prices are like a universal language!  (But far superior to Esperanto)

Our preferences conflict as multiple people want the same item.  How do we resolve this?  You could take it by force.  You could plead your case before a judge.  You could lobby a Senator for a favor.  You could stand in line and submit a request to a bureaucrat.  Or you could express your desire for the good directly to the person selling the item you desire.  The seller can then compare the intensity of your desire to that of other interested buyers.  We express the intensity of our desires (and our willingness to sell) with little tags of information called Prices!…

(H/T: Cafe Hayek)

Progressives BIGGEST problem with capitalism?  They don’t trust the sellers in selling a decent product or service, and they believe that most people will make bad decisions – or worse, the WRONG decision (in their minds).  It also allows us to make choices – and choice is one of the biggest measures of freedom.  The price of something is compared against my sense of it’s worth to me – am I willing to pay that price to fill either a need or a want?  Is it of sufficient utility to me (either in actual usage or perceived value) for me to part with part of my life (my labor) to obtain it?

Price – doesn’t solve everything but can solve a lot.

Operation Payback – my run for my School Board is not just because of the obstinence; we are paying almost $20,000 / student with barely above average results with respect to NECAP scores.  To me, even in a marketplace that is essentially a government monopoly (with insufficient competitors in the local market to provide a viable number of consumer choice), that is a price too high.

Capitalism is a voluntary exchange – either a vendor brings a product to market or not.  I, as a consumer, can purchase a product, or not (except in MA where RomneyCare forces me to buy a product, and ObamaCare will force us all to do so).

Like at Best Buy, last night.  It is not often that a TV starts to sound like a washing machine…

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Language Translation: Blue to Red

  CALIFORNIA TEXAS Arsenal of Weapons Gun Collection Delicate Wetlands Swamp Undocumented Worker Illegal Alien Cruelty-Free Materials Syn the tic Fiber Assault and Battery Attitude Adjustment Heavily Armed Well-protected Narrow-minded Righteous Taxes or Your Fair Share Coerced Theft Commonsense Gun Control Gun Confiscation Plot Illegal Hazardous Explosives Fireworks or Stump Removal Nonviable Tissue Mass Unborn … Read more

Notable Quote – Victor Davis Hanson

And he won a Nobel Peace Prize? I cannot think of a prior war in which all the following were true at the same time: We claimed a humanitarian mission on behalf of rebels about whom we knew nothing; started bombing without congressional approval and without majority support of the American people; sought sanction from … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – NH State Rep. Laura Jones

I can thank the self-absorbed union thugs in the Gallery for this interview, for if they had behaved in a manner congruent with the public relations personna that they push, and had not been yelling at the tops of their lungs and disrupting the House, Laura and I would not have met up.   Laura … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – NH State Rep. John Hikel

Yet another Freshman Republican legislator, I’ve gotten to know John over the last few months, and when he came up to me to say "hi!", the immediate response was "Interview?" "Sure thing!" and so we did. He emphasized the need for decorum in Representatives Hall and what was going on with with Budget.  And just … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – NH State Rep. Tammy Simmons

Tammy and I agree on most things but generally not 100% so that our email discusssions can get "lively", so I was really looking forward to get her take on the day’s activities.  Certainly she commented on the timing of the union members grandstanding, as well as on the budget process in general. Best line;  … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – NH State Rep. Dan Itse

Dan Itse – Constitutional scholar and activist, Liberty and Freedom activist,  and ‘Grok friend.  He, too, comments on the budget but not the outburst as he was not present for it.  He did quickly gave us his thoughts upon the devolvement of power back to the citizens from Concord and that the opposition is in … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview (Non-interview) Gus And Rev. Bill

Not all of the Special Interviews were actually, well, interviews. Well, here we go: social justice.  While the House was debating and the unions were screaming, there was a group of liberal pastors upstairs praying.  And giving "non-interview" interviews.  John Hinkel‘s friend, Gus, decided that he wanted to find out what was going on. Thinking … Read more

“Best Movie Line EVAH!”

From Jim Bender: You might want to throw this amusing little Bob Hope clip up on Granite Grok. the greatest movie line ever!" I thought that I had put this up before on the ‘Grok, but Jim has identified a HUGE void hiding amongst the almost 8,300 posts we’ve put up since we opened, so … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – NH State Rep. Lenette Peterson

This was a treat to do!  Another Freshman, Lenette was quite surprised when I asked her if she’d be willing to do a "micro interview" – or "shocked" would be more like it ("Who, me?")!  It was actually fun to do as we had only "met" via Facebook.  Somewhat of a two-parter as the ever … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – Jeff Chidester

Not all of the folks that agreed to do "a micro" with the ‘Grok were NH State Representatives; conservative and TEA Party activist and radio host Jeff Chidester was also at the State House not to stand in solidarity with the public union members (although he was a union member for years and years) but … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – PickupPatriots (but too ashamed to be known as one?)

I didn’t spend ALL my time inside – I did go out a couple of times.  This time, I was recognized by someone "Hey, you’re Skip Murphy!" (ah yes, infamous me!  Or, in that crowd, nefarious me!). Immediately "camera up" and started to ask what I thought were softball questions – have a name?  Purpose for being there?

Well, just like the "I’m a Healthcare Voter" campaign, the "I can’t talk to someone with a camera", you saw that she took off (if you recognize her, let us know).  My thought was ‘well, in the arena of ideas, she retreated real quick!" (must have been coached by Zandra).  And then I looked at the flyer she was handing out:

Well, isn’t this a nice, civil message being put out by the PickupPatriots – once again, we see the old tired, shop worn message that Republicans hate everyone except themselves.  Those stingy people, those EXTREMIST legislators!  They have only one thing at the heart of everything they do; they want everyone else to

DIE!!!!

Doesn’t matter that there’s no money in the till, that their bought and paid for political lackies spent it all the last few years (25% boost in spending the last few years – certainly, they are not "are you serious?" folks.  People are tired of seeing the unions getting the Dems elected and then see the Dems pass laws and regulations that benefit their voting benefactors (for what ELSE can you call the Evergreen Law?).

These self-loving fools think that only they hold the moral…

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So, union members are all “light and sweetness”? Hardly – it seems that their inner Teamsters showed up and went for easy pickings: an older Lady.

I know this lady – a class act all the way around.  Minds her manners, is polite, but firm in her beliefs and puts her beliefs into actions.  Her problem on Thursday while trying to support those legislators trying to "live within our means" and giving the taxpayers a break was her gender and her age. 

They say that they are for the common folks.  Some way to treat a Lady – you make your words a mockery of themselves – you three union thugs physically picked on a Lady who could not defend herself.  Big men, guys, big men….

Emphasis mine:

My experience in Concord today, March 31, 2011

Today I ventured into the area in front of the State Capitol in Concord, surrounded by all the union workers there to protest the deliberations in the State House over the budget!  They were intimidating and threatening to the few of us who were there expressing our differing opinions.  A couple were willing to have an intelligent discourse, but most were hateful, yelling, ugly, and confrontational.

I have never seen so many disabled and mentally-challenged people in one setting before, each with his/her "minder" in tow.  There were more wheelchairs than at a nursing home!   The entire "program" was one "sob story" after another.  For instance, a 10-year-old telling the story of how her two autistic brothers would be denied service if this new budget was passed.  And so forth . . .  This went on for an hour.  It was pathetic.

The leaders of this rally were very organized, with buses for transport and signs for everyone — including the poor mentally deficient kids who had NO idea why they were holding the signs.  One poor soul kept telling me, "Goodbye."  I wondered if he knew something I didn’t.  

When I first arrived, alone, I mingled with the crowd and held up my sign # 1 which read, "Private sector workers have rights too."  This got a "thumbs up" from the SEIU guys — so I realized they didn’t get it.  So then I held up the sign that read, "Union workers are a "privileged" class."  This, too, got a thumbs up.  They were very excited about that one.  Duh!

I realized I had been TOO subtle.  Then I held up "Power Grab + $ Grab = Extremist."  Again, they liked it.  I was really feeling quite inadequate in my sign-making.

My final shot was "Cut the Budget — Stop Spending."  THAT they got!  And I was instantly surrounded by 3 huge firefighters holding their BIG signs in a way that obliterated my sign.  

(So much for my theory that they would not attack an old lady.)

I couldn’t move, and they wouldn’t move off.  So,…

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