Skip

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.

NH GOP Annual Meeting – one of the winners: “The Camera”

Heh!  One of the moments of levity was early in the day when the results of the Area Chairs (1 – 5, covering NH): Vicki Schwaegler Jack Thorsen J.P. Marzulo Rob Casper "The Camera" Heh again!  That would be Alan Glassman, who is as omnipresent with his love of taking stills with his camera (yeah, … Read more

NH GOP Annual Meeting – Intro Speeches

OK, let’s face it – when ever a bunch of political folks gather, people are going to give speeches (even those that aren’t running at that particular moment).  The NH GOP Annual meeting was no exception.  This year, NH State Senator Jeb Bradley, newly minted NH Speaker Bill O’Brien, newly minted Congressman Frank Guinta, and … Read more

NH GOP Annual Meeting – Micro-interview with Leigh MacNeil

Leigh MacNeil, Merrimac GOP Chair, sat down with GraniteGrok at the end of the NH GOP Annual Meeting to dicusss the day’s happenings with Jack Kimball being elected the new NH GOP Chair, possible future scenarios, and the upcoming event with Tim Pawlenty on Monday night at the Grappone Center in Concord, NH  

“Bold & Brash” loses to “Send me reinforcements!”

A tale of two tales – "Bold & Brash" was the phrase that Gov. Sununu tried to use to characterize Jack Kimball as being unfit to be his replacement.  "Send me reinforcements" was the battle cry of NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien (who also noted that Jack is the guy that the NH Democrats fear most) gave in nominating Jack to the next Chair of the NH GOP.

  

  

On the left is Gov. Sununu’s last Chairman’s speech.  While he did review the immediate past good results, he spent the majority of the time speaking to the future in that the minutiea is of the prime importance and needs to be managed, that the "watch is now ticking well".

Unfortunately, that "future speak" very much also included his determination to determine the outcome of that that day’s upcoming election to replace him.  Several times, it was evident that he was disparaging the Liberty & Freedom candidate, Jack Kimball, by using the phrase "Bold & Brash" and by the "below the surface" political slur" meme that Prez candidates might not be welcome in NH due to a litmus test (picked up from NH Journal in a political questionaire that was then used against Jack).

On the right is NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien’s nominating speech for Jack.  The obvious comparison almost does not need mentioning (but hey, why not?): where Sununu’s could be construed as "anti-Jack", O’Brien completely avoided the negatives of either candidate and was a rousing "Pro-Jack" stemwinder.  He realizes that we are still in a war against the Democrats and they will try anything to regain power.  Bill knows Jack, knows his stances, and agrees with the political philosophy.  He realizes that in this time to come with attacks on the way, the NH GOP needs a person on the parapets willing to take on all comers and defend the Party as the "face of" the Party.

The Sununu’s contention was that…

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friday Humor – Senior texting

Sure, we’ve all been there.  As teens, we had our slang that our parent had clue zero about.  We laughed. Then we had kids.  We heard them laughing at us, especially as they verbalized their slang, and the the texting shortcuts became the slang. So, we fight back – why CAN’T we make them go … Read more

“Bad form, Facebook”

Well, an update to the Facebook ad caper that I blogged about here and that John Distaso picked up.  I have received but a small amount of satisfaction: Hi Skip, The ads in question that were using your photo and name without permission have been removed from our system. Political calculus – one day before … Read more

Gordon Humphrey endorses Jack Kimball for NH GOP Chair

Republicans won a landslide victory in November, because our message was conservative and it was clear:  we believe in freedom from excessive government and freedom from excessive taxes; we believe freedom best promotes widespread prosperity. If we are to deliver on our promises, we must now insistently stick to our principles.  We must insist those … Read more

Because it’s funny….and then it’s not…

Too much texting! This clown has decided to go after the Security folks for "not helping here".  Ah yes, one more classic case of "I screwed up and YOU are going to pay for it!" (she was on ABC with George this morning; I could not believe the "victimhood" card she played!). And yes, some … Read more

Republican Liberty Caucus of NH: Endorsements for the NH GOP Executive Board

At the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire (RLCNH), we have been working feverishly since well before the 2010 GOP primary elections to ensure that the number “New Republican,” conservative legislators is increased in the state house. As we know from the results of the mid-term election, then the subsequent Speakership and Majority Leader elections, … Read more

A request from Frank Guinta (R-NH) on the Debt Ceiling

We sent him to cut spending, cut the size of Government, and cut its intrusiveness as well.  Already, Frank and his staff are putting things into place to try to keep his promise: to be the peoples’ Representative. 

He completed one item – he voted to repeal the deficit inducing / Government Growing / Liberty killing Obamacare:

“I repeatedly told the people of New Hampshire last fall that I would vote against this misguided piece of legislation, and today I delivered on it…It exceeds the limits of the Constitution, places unfair and unrealistic burdens on small business owners, inserts the government into your relationship with your family doctor, and sinks Washington even deeper into debt.”

An associated item that Obamacare does is accelerates the growth of the Debt Ceiling (remember, it was sold on 10 years of revenue but only 6 years of spending – TILT!).  We are now over $14 Trillion in debt and the Obama Administration is on track to add another $1.3 Trillion this year – 3 years of Trillion+ dollar deficits!  The problem is that Obama is framing this as an all or nothing venture – either we keep spending at that rate or the Government shuts down.

Nonsense – they could do what my family does or when I ran a small biz when money got tight – line up the bills, schedule them as needed, pay those on time, and cut the rest.  Certainly, Obama could do the same thing; just ask yourself -> when it snows in DC, why are all non-essential US Govt workers told to stay home – and then DC looks like a ghost town?  If they are non-essential then, why have them the rest of the time?  If the jobs they do are not absolutely necessary (want, not need), isn’t that a sign that Govt is doing too much with too many at too high of a cost?

In this case, Frank is looking input:

  • Vote a higher debt ceiling?
  • Shut it all down?
  • A better answer?

Frank and his staff have reached out to GraniteGrok and asked us to spread the word – he wants to know what you think and how YOU would handle the problem in a typical NH common sense way.  We’ve asked, however, that if you do send in your ideas and suggestions, that he list them so you can see yours and your fellow NH citizens’ ideas.  You can be sure that the ‘Grok will be doing the same!

The request:

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Prez 2012 – Tim Pawlenty back in NH

Even though our short term focus is on two days from now, the NH GOP Annual Meeting and the voting that will be taking place, we know that we are also in the real beginnings of the next election cycle – Presidential Primary season is now in play.  We’ll probably have one or two of … Read more

So, did Julian Bergeron authorize this Facebook ad?

Just another Facebook ad, you say. Looks like it came from us, doesn’t it.  But, this has Pat Hynes written all over it in my opinion.  I’ve only called him despicable…not stupid.  He certainly is the master of dirty tricks and this is one example of such (so, if you’re into winning at all costs, … Read more

It seems that RedHampshire fell hook, line and sinker….

UPDATE:  I got an email from Matt, the Managing Editor over at RedHampshire asking if a clarification could be posted – Sure! Skip, I saw your post earlier concerning a post that was posted in the Community Section of Red Hampshire this afternoon from one of our users.  I should note that "Red Hampshire" did … Read more

Even a stopped watch is right twice a day:

Not often do I agree with Blue Hampshire (yes, we do affectionately call them Boo-Hoo Hamsters from time to time), but on this, I will (emphasis mine): The latest Pat Hynes/Shawn Millerick right wing smear machine masquerading as a news site takes a quote out of context and makes stuff up that isn’t in the … Read more

GrokTALK! – Podcast page for 01/15/15

Podcast – week of 01/15/11 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 Skip … Read more

Congressman Guinta:

Issa Announces Oversight Subcommittee Structure, Names Chairmen and Vice Chairmen

WASHINGTON D.C. – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced today the members who will serve as Subcommittee Chairmen and Vice Chairmen for the 112th Congress.

“The American people deserve and have a right to expect that the money Washington has taken from them is well spent and well accounted for,” said Issa.  “These subcommittees are a reflection of the substantive agenda House Republicans have promised to pursue one that is focused on identifying and reforming waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement within the federal bureaucracy.  The American people have a right to an efficient and effective government.  They have a right to a Congress and White House that is held accountable and acts transparently.   This is our committee’s mission and this is what Oversight Republicans will work tirelessly to deliver to the American people.”

The Committee will be organized into seven subcommittees with different legislative and oversight jurisdictions as follows:

Well, look where Congressman Guinta landed!  One of the items that drove the TEA Party movement was the seemingly never ending handouts and bailouts of those that were judged "too big to fail": 

The Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs
Chair: Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (NC-10)
Vice Chair: Rep. Frank Guinta (NH-1)

Finance.  Money.  Glad to see a TEA Party Freshman get that assignment.  You’ve got the opportunity, NOW

Stop the spending, Frank!

“Congressman Guinta’s experience as a mayor and his commitment to accountability in government convinced me he was the right candidate to serve as vice chair for this subcommittee,” said Issa. “In this position, he will play a leading role in sorting out still unanswered questions about the financial meltdown and federal programs that are failing to achieve measurable goals to help the economy while wasting taxpayer dollars.”

Frank:

“Granite Staters have told me they are unhappy with the billions of dollars spent on bailouts.  They want to know where all that money went, what it produced, and cases where it was wasted.  When waste is identified, they want it stopped immediately. My goal is to do everything I can to keep the money paid by hardworking taxpayers from being needlessly squandered.  I was sent to Washington to help get our nation’s financial house in order, and I look forward to working on this important subcommittee to do just that.”

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Frankly Speaking: It’s Time To Lay “Obamacare” to Rest

Guest post by Congressman Frank Guinta (R-NH-1)

It’s Time To Lay “Obamacare” to Rest

Welcome to the first installment of “Frankly Speaking.”  Every two weeks, this column will let you know what I’m doing in Washington and explain what it means to people here in New Hampshire.  It’s important that you know the steps your Congressman is taking to fight for your interests, and to maintain an open dialogue with you about it.

Our country has just come through the national tragedy of the Tucson shootings.  Our thoughts and prayers remain with Congresswoman Giffords and the others who are still recovering, as well as the families of the fallen.  It was proper that the House paused from its activities to honor the victims of this senseless crime.

Now the House is turning its attention back to the people’s business, and the first major bill of the new Congress: repealing last year’s federal takeover of our nation’s health care system, commonly called “Obamacare.”  It’s disturbing to many Granite Staters not only because it will lower the quality of the health care your family receives, but it will also kill jobs –1.6 million according to an estimate by the National Federation of Independent Businesses– at a time when we need to be creating jobs, not losing them.  (In fact, I never stop looking for new opportunities to help encourage the creation of more jobs for our citizens.)

You sent me to Washington to do something about this dangerous law.  That’s why I proudly added my name as a co-sponsor of House Resolution 2, Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.  Ending Obamacare is so important, I made it my very first piece of legislation in Congress.  I have mixed news to share with you about our progress on it.

The good news: there is broad support for repealing Obamacare in the House.  The bad news:

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