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.

Live blogging: SOTUS thoughts

 Update: Incoming from Rep. Frank Guinta’s office, if you are so inclined:

 Representative Frank Guinta will be interviewed live on the C-Span cable TV network’s “Washington Journal” program about his reaction to President Obama’s State of the Union address.  He will be interviewed by host Greta Brawner, and viewers around the country can call in their questions.

WHO:     Representative Frank Guinta (R, NH-01)      

WHAT:   Live interview on his reaction to State of the Union speech      

WHEN:   Wednesday, January 26,  9:10-9:30 a.m.       

WHERE: C-Span’s “Washington Journal” cable TV program

===============================================

Thoughts on SOTUS (oldest first):

  • Empty seat – for Gabby Giffords – totally appropriate.
  • Robust debate?  Gee, didn’t he stifle a debate with the Republicans with a quick phrase "I Won"?
  • Common beliefs?  Not all that sure of that…
  • "Work together tomorrow" – consiliatory or a challenge?
  • Shared Responsibility – gee, does that mean he’s going to make a "shared sacrifice"
  • No sir, the stakes ARE in who wins the next election.
  • Progress – small biz guy growing his biz?  Such irony as they cut to Soldis, Sec. of Labor.  Reminder – the NLRB is cracking down on small biz that doesn’t want to unionize.
  • TMEW – Why is Biden’s mouth corners downturned?  Is he always mad?  Me – looks an awful lot like  Jeff Dunham (the ventriloquest) dummy – Walter
  • Oh, here we go with the "invest" word….
  • International competition – no, it is not the international competition that is scaring biz; it is their government and the unknown that it brings.
  • The future is ours to win.
  • Uh-oh; a fault of the free enterprise system that govt HAS to spend for.  Internet, chips, space – doesn’t he realize that those were related not to the private market but to defense (a proper role of govt)?
  • Invest in biotech, IT, clean energy – here we go with the Govt-centric economy…  
  • Yeah, solar shingles – but what happens when the subsidies run out – I saw this ALL back in the 80s when I tried to get that stuff fixed after the companies went under when the govt $$ stopped.
  • 1,000,000 electric cars by 2015?  Is he insane?  Has he looked at the latest sales figures?  Crap – he’s going to tax the oil companies.

Read more

Live Blogging: Merrimack County Republican Committee

Am at the Grappone Center in Concord, NH where Tim Pawlenty will be speaking.   Hopefully, will also get a chance to talk with him afterward.  As always, follow us on Facebook (LIKE us, please!) or Twitter.

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…

Read more

NH GOP Annual Meeting – Gov Sununu announcing the New NH GOP Chair: Jack Kimball!

Yesterday was the 2011 Annual Meeting of the NH GOP Party where several internal Party positions were up for grabs including the Chairman’s position (Sununu was retiring).  Here is the announcement:

And yes, the entire auditorium EXPLODED in cheers – I apologize for the quality of the video as I also got caught up in the moment…

We’ll leave this one up on top for a bit…

Read more

NH GOP Annual Meeting – Nominations for NH GOP Chair: Lynn Blankenbeker, Peter Angerhofer, Maureen Mooney

I already posted the nomination of Jack Kimball for NH GOP Chair that NH Speaker Bill O’Brien gave here.  Each of the candidates, however, had two folks nominating them for the position: Lynn Blankenbeker for Jack Peter Angerhofer and Maureen Mooney for Juliani Bergeron Lynn Blankenbeker   Peter Angerhofer    Maureen Mooney The "seconding" nomination … Read more

NH GOP Annual Meeting – text of Phyllis Woods’s address.

I need to amplify what Tom said here before you read Phyllis’s words:

Ever-sympathetic to the grassroots, Woods was the ONLY speaker (aside from Jack Kimball), who praised the work of the activists and the "Tea Party", who helped make the successes of 2010 a possibility.  As time goes on, I find more and more reasons to appreciate Phyllis’ contributions.

Indeed on both counts.  She has been a tireless worker for Conservatism and hasn’t always received the thanks she has earned.  I also agree much of the self-aggrandizement said about the Republican victories on Nov 2 was totally unearned – the absence of the reality that Republicans were the beneficiaries of the TEA Party movement and the groups that worked hard to put Republicans into elected seats NOT because they were Republicans but because they weren’t Democrats.  I note with no small amount of irony that it was the Strafford County Committee, consisting of many Rochester 9/12ers, put the virtual smackdown on the person who should have been singing their praises (and I’m not talking about Ms. Bergeron).

Kismet.

Gosh, Phyllis is gonna kill me…

Guest post by Phyllis Woods, RNC Committeewoman from NH, at the NH GOP Annual Meeting:

The RNC is under new management!  The members of the Republican National Committee met in DC last week to elect a new Chairman. Reince Priebus is a young, dynamic, tireless fundraiser and proven leader. He’s already making changes and changing faces. He began work immediately on his plan to restore our donor’s faith in the RNC. He’s not a rock star – but he’s a rock-solid conservative. And today, as we mark the 38th anniversary of Roe v Wade, it’s notable that our new Chairman describes himself as a 100%, Psalm 139, pro-life Republican!

Congratulations on becoming a member of one of the largest Republican State Committees in the country! Ronald Reagan once said, “A political party is a mechanical structure created to further a cause. The cause, not the mechanism, brings and holds the members together.”  We stand united today because our cause is the very salvation of our Republic.

With our basic freedoms at risk, the stakes are high. We must elect a Republican president in 2012.  America can’t continue to slip toward becoming the land of the “partially free.” We took back our state last year; we’ll take back our country next year!

Our state will play a key role in this effort. The eyes of the country will be focused on our First In The Nation primary. We have a responsibility to…

Read more

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

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:

Read more

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

Share to...
BufferCopyFlipboardHacker NewsLineLinkedInMastodonMessengerMixPinterestPrintRedditSMSTelegramTumblrVKWhatsAppXing