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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.

GrokTALK! – left over links

When we talked with NH Rep. Andrew Manuse yesterday, he talked that a number of the public union employees are unhappy with him for his Right To Work stances – you can read that here.  Certainly, the unions are trying to redefine the meme – against unions?  Their claim? "You are against Rights, you are against the Middle Class, and you are against America!".
 
Nonsense.  But, coming from the second most militant public sector union (after the Teachers), why am I not surprised?
 
I also read the following from my friend Warner Todd Huson:
Proving that there seems to have been a good reason that in many eras of American history the “Irish Need Not Apply,” a bunch of drunken morons calling themselves the Dropkick Murphys have added their off key voices to American union thuggery by writing a protest song that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has glommed onto.
Link is here at Publius’ Forum.  SEIU, the most socialist of the unions, has taken DropKick Murphys’ song as an unofficial theme song, it seems.  Lyrics?
 
    When the boss comes calling he’ll put us down
    When the boss comes calling you gotta stand your ground
    When the boss comes calling, don’t believe their lies

    When the boss comes calling he’ll take his toll
    When the boss comes calling will ya sell you soul
    When the boss comes calling we gotta organize

    Let them know
    We gotta take the bastards down
    Let them know
    We gotta smash ‘em to the ground
    Let them know
    We gotta take the bastards down
   

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GrokTALK! – a thank you

From Ed Naile, staunch Democrat and Chair of CNHT, a thank you of sorts from having him on the show yesterday over at NH Insider: Nailestradamus: Quatrain # 2010 And the son of Madis known as Walker Unleashed the thugs of girth and waist And they shouted and made great noise As benefits once bargained were … Read more

Belknap County – Employee Compensation

The "invisible" level of government in NH is that at the County level – most people "get" their local town or city level, and at the State.  How often, though, do people know about County level? Or that their NH Representatives (their "County Delegation") not only help set the spending at the State level, but at the County level as well.  Sure, the Commissioners help to craft the budget, but it is the NH Reps from that County that finalize it.

And here in Belknap County, as with all levels of Government, the largest expenditure is always labor.  Here is the total compensation (thanks to loyal reader Tom) we "bosses" pay our employees (after all, it is we taxpayers that hire and fire, and set the compensation of, our employees via our elected politicians).

So, fellow bosses – you good with what we are paying?  Or are some a bit out of line in your thinking? I’ve also sorted the data other ways as well, but I have one OBVIOUS question:  WHY are these two positions paid so high?

Citizens Council Director 104,229 7,604 111,833
Economic Dev Council Director 100,840 9,036 109,876

Remember – your property taxes pay these levels of compensation – and as you mull that question over, ask yourself, in this time of economic distress, my favorite question:

What is the Proper Role of Government?

And are these kinds of positions "absolutely necessary" – or "nice to have when thing are flush, rich, dumb, and happy?" Remember – the "invisible level of government" – did you know these folks got this?  Do you even know what they do???

Hey, you in the other Counties!  Send me your numbers – do a Right To Know if you have to!  Let’s find out who has the highest numbers!

Note: I think a couple of the position’ numbers are not quite right – that the benefit level is the same as the wages – am checking into that.

Annul Compensation Report Fiscal Year: 2009 – 2009
Gross County Paid Total
Department Description Wages Benefits Compensation





NH – Administration Social Services Director 63,267 63,267 126,535
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse 103,139 21,300 124,439
Dept of Corrections Superintendent 98,948 24,755 123,702
Finance Chief Administrator & Finance Officer 92,373 24,737 117,110
Citizens Council Director 104,229 7,604 111,833
Economic Dev Council Director 100,840 9,036 109,876
County Attorney County Attorney 89,164 19,852 109,016
Sheriffs Dept Deputy 80,554 26,274 106,828
Administrator Administrator 86,649 19,353 106,001
NH – Administration Director of Nursing 79,687 23,672 103,359
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse – F/T 76,285 22,748 99,032
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse – F/T 76,862 18,469 95,331
NH – Nursing – LPN Licensed Practical Nurse – F/T 74,751 18,657 93,409
Sheriffs Dept Deputy 67,080 25,042 92,122
Sheriffs Dept Sheriff 74,968 16,579 91,547
Dept of Corrections Correction Officer 45,593 45,593 91,186
Sheriffs Dept Sergeant 65,806 24,880 90,686
Dept of Corrections Registered Nurse 72,038 18,407 90,444
Sheriffs Dept Sergeant 69,332 20,741 90,072

Rest are after the jump:

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GrokTALK! – Podcast page for 02/26/11

GrokTALK!

Podcast – week of 02/26/11

GrokTALK!

Streaming Live! from GraniteGrok

To play (or "stream") a clip now, just click on it.  To download it to your PC, right click on it and tell the process where to save the file for you.

(Click here for the promo page)

Hour 1      Hour 2

Grokster Steve came up to Liberty Studio, bringing our first guest and…well, that person knows who…

Ed Naile, Chairman of the CNHT (Coalition of NH Taxpayers) came in studio to talk about the voter fraud bills now going through the NH Legislature as well as being a great raconteur of some of his first hand personal experience in sleuthing voter fraud cases here in NH (as opposed, seemingly, to the protestations of the NH Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the NH Democrat party).   Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

Second guest of the day was John Kalb who does advocacy work on Right To Work issues.  A most timely issue – the Right To Work bill that was passed by the NH House and will now be debated in the NH Senate.  Given the furor in Wisconsin and the class warfare of what organized labor which is simply described at "the Haves and Have-Yours" (where the Haves are the taxpayers and the Have-your where the public sector unions want what you have).  Part 1   Part 2

Andrew Manuse (who is getting to be a frequent guest on GrokTALK!) talks about his experience as a freshman legislator, having his bill ITL (Inexpedient To Legislate), and the reaction of the NH House leadership to and with the Natural Rights Council. We also had a great laugh (at least, those of us in studio) that the Derry public union aren’t much liking Andrew (heh! This should give us some blogging fodder!).   Part 1   Part 2

Recorded live stream:

Note: We lost the live video stream during the broadcast (the camera went dark).  Thus, we resort to the backup cam for the first hour – and since the discussion was all in studio, it worked well.  Given that the second hour was mostly phone based, not so much – after the jump.

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And they think that Rail Service in NH would be profitable??

Bumped: Given that Tim’s post is saying that the NHRTA (NH Rail Transit Authority) should be ridden out of NH out on a rail (pun intended), I decided to highlight the cost of the Downeaster – the most popular rail in NH could not exist without huge taxpayer subsidies. Avg % Fare per Subsidy / … Read more

GrokTALK! – Podcast page for 02/19/11

Podcast – week of 02/19/11 GrokTALK! Streaming Live! from GraniteGrok To play (or "stream") a clip now, just click on it.  To download it to your PC, right click on it and tell the process where to save the file for you. (Click here for the promo page) Hour 1      Hour 2 NH … Read more

GrokTALK! – Podcast page for 01/08/11

GrokTALK!

Podcast – week of 01/08/11

GrokTALK!

Streaming Live! from GraniteGrok

To play (or "stream") a clip now, just click on it.  To download it to your PC, right click on it and tell the process where to save the file for you.

(Click here for the promo page)

Well, we had technical issues – and as you can see from the above date, this didn’t get posted when it should have.  Add to that, the service we used for the video live stream had issues.  No audio clips for this week.  Our second guest, Jack Kimball, ran into time issues. 

Issues.

Actually, we DID talk issues, with Gary Johnson during the the first hour.  He is the former Governor of New Mexico and is now the head of Our America Initiative, an advocacy group concerned about what is going on in America:

OUR America Initiative seeks to broaden the parameters of the public policy debate of current topics in the national arena. We look to enlighten the population about civil liberties, free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values. It is our aim to increase the amount of discussion and involvement regarding all-important issues.

Issues?  You want issues?  Yes, we talked:

Balanced Budget tomorrow, Bankruptcy, Gridlock (vs uncontrolled spending), 43% cuts to Federal spending, Medicare block grants to States, Social Security (raise retirement age, means test), Defense (spending too much), Nation building, Iraq / Afghanistan, America is unsustainable financially, debt ceiling
Constitutional renaissance?, Proper Role of Govt?, States Rights, Corporate tax rate to zero?, Regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley, mark to market, Illegal Immigration

and more!

Part 1 is here:

Parts 2 & 3 after the jump:

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NH Delegation Watch: Charlie Bass


From Google Ads (of all places):

          Congressman Charlie Bass

          is holding a Town Hall Meeting in

          Salem on Feb. 26/11AM. Learn
          more.

          Bass.House.gov

That would be this Saturday. Go. Watch. Ask. Record.

He’s already gone to the middle, running away from any aspirations of being part of the TEA Party movement (big surprise, eh) that he alluded to during the campaign.  Let’s get real – the Conservatives and the Liberty & Freedom type folks in NH CD-2 barely voted in numbers to give him a victory – vote for a Republican Progressive (self-described) or a Democrat Progressive.  

Why go and watch?   Forwarded by loyal reader, Steven (emphasis mine):

UPDATED: House Fails to Adopt $20B in Additional Cuts (February 18, 2011 by Dan Holler)

Republicans Miss Opportunity to Honor Pledge to America

 

Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives voted 147-281 against an amendment offered by RSC Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), which would have cut an additional $20 billion in spending from H.R.1, the bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011.  Heritage Action for America was an outspoken proponent of the amendment.

“The failed vote on Jordan’s Amendment is a missed opportunity,” Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham said.  “This amendment would have put House Republicans in full compliance with their Pledge to America, which promised to rollback non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels.”

Currently, H.R.1 cuts non-security discretionary spending to approximately $398 billion, $20 billion shy of the 2008 level.

“We congratulate the 147 Members who voted to uphold their Pledge,” Needham continued.  “And while the underlying bill takes an important first step forward, we know they can and must do more if America is to remain an exceptional nation.”

Today’s vote was just the first of many legislative battles over spending, and the future of our country.  Heritage Action for America will encourage Congress to cut spending to put our country on the path towards prosperity and will hold Members accountable to their Pledge and their constituents.

The following 92 Republicans opposed the amendment, along with every Democrat:

 

All of the Republicans that voted against this are after the jump; for those readers that live in NH, this is all you want to know:

 New Hampshire

  • Charlie Bass (NH-02)

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What is Classical Liberalism?

Certainly, it is not those values that a Progressive / Liberal now holds (or, at least, they’d REALLY have to twist themselves into pretzels in order to justify their present rhetoric in these declarative definitions: However, if you DO do the research, one just might find out that my phrase, incremental socialism = progressivism, holds … Read more

Random thoughts – WI, unions, and taxes

You know what I think is incongruous?  I have been watching the activities, as most of us have, of the teachers union (among other public unions) assembled in Madison, WI as they have been demonstrating against the bill that Gov. Walker has proposed in order to help stem the $3.6 Billion deficit by weakening the … Read more

Random thoughts – WI, unions, and taxes; another take

The teachers and all of the other union members in WI are demonstrating against what they see as an assault on their take home pay (never taking into account that their demands will result in lower take home pay for taxpayers).  However, let me ask this against the backdrop of what the union bosses see … Read more

NH GOP Jack Kimball outlines go forward plans

Last nite, I attended an event in Hollis for a get together that was quickly put together to honor Jack Kimball.  Here, he addresses the crowd and updates them what has happened with the NH GOP since taking over as Chair and what lies ahead with his vision for the NH GOP: Doesn’t sound incompetent … Read more

NIBYs and BANANAs – Oh My!

Doug forwarded this link about the Northern Pass foo-foo.  My instant response was this:

I dunno about Jeanie, but at some point, all the NIBY’s and BANANAs will force us all to wood heat and kerosene -> and not by our choice.

But it may be their choice.

Not In My Backyard.         Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone

Let me discuss this a bit more.  I have not been happy as the enviro-wackos watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) that have infiltrated EPA and the Dept. of Interior seems to want to slowly clamp down on America’s use of energy.  We have, in the past, seeming as a public, sort of dismissed some of these folks that have decided that a de-industrialized America is a better America; the "Noble Savage" ideal taken country-wide. 

We have seen that in Texas and other southern border states this past winter when the colder weather hit those states and they suffered rolling blackouts from a lack of capability of meeting the energy demand.  And the EPA thinks it knows best as it is trying to put its own version of Cap N Trade into effect and the Interior defies court order after court order as it kills off the oil drilling industry (both on and off-shore) by not issuing permits.

And doing so with our collective permission?  I think not (although we did elect the head honcho that has put these yo-yo’s into places of power.

Certainly, I keep hearing that "America is only 5% of the world’s population but uses 40% of the world’s energy".  What I do NOT hear is that America also produces about 40% of the world’s wealth (call it GDP).  The question to be asked is NOT

"why do so few consume so much?"

It also shouldn’t be:

"Why do we use so much oil / energy / gas; in short – energy?"

The question that should be asked is:

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Wisconsin – a proper analogy

From Instapundit (who has been ALL OVER this topic since it began) : Wisconsin, what is the right analogy?  Strolling over to Rand Simberg’s link: Gettysburg was a battle in a war over federalism and states’ rights — in this case the dubious and odious “right” to treat human beings as chattel — a cause … Read more

C-SPAN: GraniteGrok interviews Herman Cain

As I posted here a bit ago, GraniteGrok had the opportunity to have a lengthy interview with Herman Cain at the Pemi-Baker Valley Republican Committee Lincoln Day Dinner.  Well, as we were conducting the interview, C-SPAN was taping us.  No big deal; I figured that it would end up on the cutting room floor.  Much … Read more

GrokTalk! Saturday February 19th, 2011

GrokTalk!Live Streaming local and National News with opinion you could only get from GraniteGrok.

It’s GrokTalk!

This Saturday from 9-11AM…

 

NH State Senator Andy Sanborn comes into Liberty Studio to talk about his vision for his 2011 Modernization for NH Government and its relationship to business. 

Michael Boldin of the 10th Amendment Center comes on to talk about States rights, the value of Federalism, and how those basic concepts can play a vital role in todays political roiling seas.

Learn More About Our Guests after the jump

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