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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.
Budgets

Tales from the BudComm – Policy trumps appropriations?

Yep, now ’tis the season – budget season for the town and school district in my little hamlet.  Per normal, the school district is the larger by twice even as enrollment is going down – that percentage never seems to change.  However, we do the town budget first calendar wise and we’ve already started doing our subcommittee investigations.

My first one was “chaired” by another BudComm member and the town department (e.g., Administration et al) was handled by the Town Administrator.  Now, I really do wish that I had brought my camera (have been doing the “real” meetings but not the subs, as this season I backed off compared to last year).  Why?

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Notable Quote – Dennis Prager (on young men)

“…if the government will take care of you and…”

…In my time, young guys — I can speak with greater knowledge about men — had hobbies and passions. And ambition. If I were 25 years old and had a job selling cars, even if I had other aspirations for my life, I would still aim to be the best car salesman in America. That’s what we refer to as ambition.  I would learn everything I could about the cars I sold. I would learn how to advocate for the cars without being pushy. During the test drives, I would say a lot more than where the customer should turn next. In addition to talking about the car, I would ask customers about themselves.

I detected little ambition in the sex previously known for professional ambition — men.

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Data Point – Poll on an assault weapons ban

Emphasis mine:

Snapshot: Majority in U.S. Now Oppose Ban on Assault Rifles

Americans’ support for a ban on semi-automatic guns in the U.S. has dropped eight percentage points from a year ago, when opinions were more evenly divided after the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Last year’s measure was unusually high for the trend over the past several years; the current 40% is back to within a few points of where it was between 2011 and 2016.

…The current 40% support for an assault rifles ban is below the historical average of 47%. The latest data provide further evidence that public opinion typically shifts to higher support for tougher gun laws in the aftermath of a traumatic national event such as a mass shooting, but gradually reverts to prior levels as the memory of it fades.

I understand the numbers but the phrasing is AWFUL and once again, we see that folk yammering about stuff they don’t know about.

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gender vs sex

So Trump is going to reverse Obama’s re-definition of what gender is?

Hey, it was the Progressives that decided that gender had nothing to do with the chromosomes you had and only depended on the thoughts in your head and went ahead and decided to redefine our common language (AHgain!) in support of their agenda in wiping out all traditional values and view points.  Now, wait for Progressive and Gender Warrior heads to ‘splode in 3…2…1…

‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration

The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a governmentwide (sic) effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.

Funny, we’ve had the definition of gender as your biological sex for thousands of years.  The redefinition has only been in force for a few so after a mere handful of years of redefining it as NOT that, this is “drastic“? Just like what the Left did with the fundamental definition of what marriage was? Yet another case of the Left having a hissy fit because they aren’t getting their way?  How DARE we!

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ABOUT page updated with our Privacy guidelines

Frankly, and to be blunt about, we really don’t have one (ABOUT, Policies and FAQs): Privacy Your data is your data – frankly, we’re not actively collecting anything (other than we have turned on Google Analytics and THEY may do something with your info but that’s between you and them because, frankly, we don’t care … Read more

Dem Party Chair Ray Buckley’s Failed Virtue Signaling Pretends it has Moral Authority

Corey Lewandowski will be featured at an upcoming Steve Negron fundraiser. This was, apparently, too much for Democrat State Party Chair Ray Buckley: “It shows how far the Republican party has fallen that Corey Lewandowski is considered one of their big-ticket headliners. Steve Negron should cancel this fundraiser and denounce Lewandowski’s heinous comments and every … Read more

Quotes

Notable Quote – Eammon Butler

There is actually plenty of planning in capitalism: individuals and firms make plans all the time. Those plans get constant and instant feedback from the daily decisions of customers on what they will or will not buy, and producers quickly adjust their plans accordingly. If they make a mistake, it is only they who suffer. … Read more

EmptyChair

I’m now betting that the NH GOP wished Jane Cormier had won

I’m speaking of the race now between Ted “The Empty Chair” Gatsas, who beat Jane in the primary, and Democrat Gray Chynoweth for NH Executive Council.   (reformatted, emphasis mine): The debate over debates has infiltrated the open seat for Executive Council that Pappas is leaving to run for Congress, the 4th District. Democratic nominee and Manchester … Read more

Data Point – who pays MORE than their “fair” share?

That would be the 50% of Americans who pay the 97% of the income tax taken by the Federal Government:

Bloomberg looked into the 2016 individual returns data in detail for some additional insights illustrated in the charts below:

  • The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (37.3 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (30.5 percent).
  • The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97 percent of total individual income taxes.

That’s just the Feds. Now crank in all of the income taxes taken in by

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Chris Pappas – Spoken like a true Collectivist! He’s not grooving to “Live Free or Die”

UPDATED and BUMPED (from 10/16/2012): Chris Pappas, now running for Congress instead of NH Exec. Council back then, hates our “Live Free or Die” motto – said so himself. He’s all about putting the “Common Good” above your Freedom. You need to send him a message of “no, it isn’t”:

“…it is clear that the idea of Freedom necessarily is subservient to what he believes to be the constant Progressive Ideal: “the Common Good”.

(H/T: Tom for reminding me I wrote this back then)

**********************

Got a tip from a loyal reader of an article that appeared on FaceBook – one that shows that one Democrat Progressive Chris Pappas would be self-righteously fine with New Hampshire getting rid of our State Motto, “Live Free or Die”.  He said so himself in a Hippo Press article back in Dec 15, 2005.  True, a long time ago both in real time and political epochs. But when you read what he wrote, you may take the attitude of “Humpf, this is an ‘tude not easy to ditch or change” (at least what my takeaway is).  That article is after the jump.

Now, at some sundry times, do make a wee joke about that New Hampshire’s beloved icon [The Old Man In The Mountain] lays in rubble at the bottom, but the motto is not just a phrase or a marketing blurb.  It is not just a motto – it is a philosophical statement.  Sure, it was a toast uttered by General John Stark, but it is one of the most succinct and pithy summaries of what Freedom is all about.  It is a truism from one that was willing to lay down his life for Freedom – the complete and all encompassing meaning of the word “Live Free or die – death is not the worst of all evils”.  Would you be willing to compromise your life, nay, lay it down, for a faux version of it?

Apparently, Chris Pappas would.  Read that article – it is clear that his idea of Freedom necessarily is subservient to what he believes to be the constant Progressive Ideal: “the Common Good”.  The article was written around the time that smoking was banned in many public spaces here in NH – especially restaurants.

He confuses what he perceives to be the tyranny of a few taking away a Right of the many (a few smokers, a lot of people “forced” to endure their “freedom”.  He, and the others that passed the law, truly believe that their “seeing the future benefit for all” was sufficient to take away just one more Liberty from those that do something with which they disagree and take away just one more aspect of owning, well, what used to be Private Property (you know, the ability of restaurant owners to actually set their own policies.  He also believes that the well-to-do should have to give up more of their Private Property (er, their money, which when you get to the blunt point, time from their lives) simply because they are “privileged” (and he has better ways to spend it than they do).

What concerns me the most, being a candidate for the NH Executive Council, is that he will continue this errant philosophy – that the Common Good always should trump Individual Freedoms, and that Private Property, when needed by the Common Good, is subject to the will of the Common Good.

Which doesn’t make it all that Free, nor all that Private, does it?

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Supreme Court Building

GrokTV – This Week: “The Court has NO authority in the country except the confidence of the people.”

“The Court has NO authority in the country except the confidence of the people.”

That was the line, along with one other, that caught my ear this past Sunday while listening to “This Week with George Stephanopolous”‘s  “Supreme Court forum” as they discussed not only what had happened during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing but what effect they thought it was going to mean with Kavanaugh being confirmed. The message from the two Progressives, Elizabeth Wydra (President of the Progressive Constitutional Accountability Center) and ABC’s Terry Moran (long time reporter and absolutely a Republican Hater) was that Kavanaugh would severely damage SCOTUS with his elevation. For those of you not intently involved, this is the current screed of the Democrats which you will be hearing now and MUCH more in the future – that SCOTUS has now no longer legitimate because of 1) Gorsuch, 2) Kavanaugh, and 3) Trump.  Really, it’s more the case of trying to crudify SCOTUS because with originalists on the bench, their problem is 1) They no longer have the Power, 2) the Court will stick to the Constitution as written instead of finding new Rights and Powers  that never had appeared before since it written, and 3) Trump!

From Elizabeth Wydra concerning Kavanaugh:

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GrokTV – Chris Christie dances a verbal jig over the Politico reporters word on This Week

I watch the Sunday shows (now that I have DVR capability back) so you don’t have to. I’ll tell you, Chris Christie (former NJ Governor and former Prez wannabe), was absolutely beside himself (no small order, that) and full of glee after the words of Politico’s Rachel Baid’s description of what would happen if the Democrats DO take over the House (as their dreams of taking over the Senate seemingly have set sail).  First, her words:

His gleeful response with advice to the GOP:

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GrokTV – Throwing the “Race Card” in the Kavanaugh confirmation? Juan Williams did just that

I sat there in amazement at the utter hypocrisy that Juan William showed on Fox News Sunday a couple of days ago.  Seriously, you threw the race card?  How did race matter at ALL, there Juan?  Was Brett Kavanaugh…black?  Was Christina Ford….latina?  Or the former Native American and the latter Islamic (after all, the Left keeps calling Trump racist for limiting Muslim majority immigration from suspected terrorist States)?

Nope, just white.  Both of them – beyond the shadow of a doubt.  The question that was the kickstarter was:

Juan, given the fact that Democrats were clearly saw in that poll, already mobilized, a lot of their in their opposition to President Trump. Does this, if it does energize the Republican voters, the conservative voters, is this a net plus for the Republicans? The Kavanaugh fight?

His answer just had to bring in the Democrat Identity Group politics:

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Supreme Court Building

And the Demcrats have given us…..The MOST Conservative SCOTUS since 1934!

Law of Unintended Consequence is how the Democrats did it – starting with the passage of Obamacare when they owned the Presidency, the House, and the Senate by majority proof  margins. The TEA Party movement flashed into being and the pushback on the Right hasn’t stopped. With the recent capturing of all three by Republicans because of the Democrat overreach during the Obama years, we got one of its goals:

Saturday’s confirmation marks more than the dramatic conclusion to a political battle that has waged for more than three months, and instead could mark an inflection point in a philosophical war that has raged for decades. The Supreme Court has not had a conservative majority since 1934, when the New Deal took hold and the Court moved to the left, giving the federal government vast new powers over economic issues. The Court massive broadened federal powers over commerce, taxing, and federal spending.

The New Deal did turn from being a court into being a supra-legislative body and the New Deal also started the process of turning the lower part of the Judiciary to the Left as well. it also served as a bulwark for Democrats that when they lost those New Deal majorities, they could always depend on the courts to uphold its agenda (re: the decisions against Trump shutting down immigration from suspect countries).  Now that is at risk:

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The Pence Rule – Vindicated!

And the GREAT thing about it is that the US Senate Democrats proved Pence was absolutely correct without any prodding. They just went out and did it by themselves.

Updated: related:

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Notable Quote – Jim Treacher

I’m not going to gloat over Kavanaugh’s confirmation*, but it’s a relief. It’s a major victory in the war for the truth. I’m glad that the Dems and their enablers didn’t get away with their repulsive, dishonest behavior this time, but I don’t look forward to seeing what they do next. They’ve all lost their … Read more

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