Steve MacDonald

Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, an award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance and the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, and more (yes, there's more) at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, the Republican Volunteer Coalition, and has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

Hassanosaurus Rex

State Senator Maggie Hassan has taken the bit on the issue of corporate speech and written an amendment to HB1459 that would shove her jackbooted hoof down the throat of any corporation that might want to make a public comment on any matter…   “”Advocating in favor or against any New Hampshire statute, legislation that … Read more

Bordering On Insanity

From the Patriot Post.us Bordering on Insanity If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor. If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely. If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot. If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed. If … Read more

HODE$

Is Paul Hodes an addict feigning recovery when it comes to big money from big places?  No.  He’s just pretending because it’s an election year.  But he’s happy to pay lip service to the faerie tale that Republicans are the party of big bankers, big business, and big money.  First up, this lovely graphic from … Read more

More Out Of State Money To NH Democrats

Nothing says “out of state money” like EMILY’s List (EL) a single issue ideological PAC interested in only one thing—women who will support all abortion, all the time, on your dime.  And could you have guessed that EMILY’s List loves New Hampshire democrats?  Would you be more surprised at the qualifications these liberal women must … Read more

Serendipity

  When I bought my wife a box or Good Earth Vanilla Chai Tea (one of her mothers day gifts) I was not expecting anything other than tea.  After lunch I offered her a cup and much to my surprise the first bag I removed from the box–yes, it was a tea bag–had the following quote … Read more

Want To Buy A Bridge?

Some liberal talking heads are already toeing the narrative that Elena Kagan is a little bit conservative.  That she could (possibly) shift the court to the right.  Really?  Hardly. This narrative is deployed to impress upon the disinterested, distracted, or dumbfounded that any opposition by the right to her nomination is evidence of just how right wing … Read more

Does Palin Still Owe McCain?

I have to wonder if Mrs. Palin Still feels an obligation to John McCain, and if it’s going to be a problem for her conservative supporters in the future.  NRO’s "The Corner" grabbed a message of Sarah’s facebook page in which she endorses Carly Fiorina for the California Republican Primary to challenge Senator Barbara Boxer.  Carly has … Read more

The Peoples Republic of Hodesistan

  In the People’s Republic of Hodesistan (PRH) unemployment always hovers around 9-10%.  That’s the new normal.  And it has to be.  No matter how many bail outs and prop ups and incentives Mr. Hodes conceives to redistribute your earnings, there is never enough of other peoples money.  As the tax dollar pool from which his … Read more

Unemployment is 9.9%

This months Bureau of labor statistics (BLS)report issued every month on the first Friday (at about 8:30 am), reads like there is a positive trend afoot, except that 15.3 million Americans (and some unidentified number of illegal immigrants) are not employed.  They make no mention of unemployed illegals.  I just tossed that in because it will piss off … Read more

The Suns Also Set

  Here’s an appropriate letter to the editor of a Phoenix Newspaper regarding Suns Owner Robert Sarver’s approach to illegal immigration law.   What if I sneaked into a Suns game? May. 6, 2010 12:00 AM So, Mr. Sarver, if I can sneak into a Phoenix Suns game without getting stopped and occupy a seat … Read more

“Chinese Curse”

“May you live in interesting times.” That’s the old curse. And wow, are we doing just that. These aren’t just interesting times, they’re downright fascinating…and verging on grotesque.

I follow political and cultural trends. These days odd patterns are emerging…heading off the charts, in fact.

For instance, on April 21, 2010 Las Vegas casino zillionaire Steve Wynn sent the political class into a tizzy. He said something baaaad. “It’s just talk,” said a University of Nevada professor. “Symbolically it would…send a really bad message about Las Vegas.” The congresswoman from Las Vegas, a Democrat, called it “A devastating blow to southern Nevada and our economy.” The mayor of Las Vegas said he hopes Wynn “isn’t serious.” Nevada governor Jim Gibbons intends to “reach out” to Wynn, and Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority liar—errr…leader—said “I’m not going to get into a dispute with Mr. Wynn…but I will say that taxes are at an all-time low.” (LOL! See? Grotesque!)

What exactly did this guy Wynn say? Not much, really. Just that he’s thinking about moving his corporate headquarters from Las Vegas to a more capitalist location, with more economic freedom and dynamism. That is, to Macau, a special administrative zone in China, where he just opened a $600 million expansion of one of his existing casinos.

As Wynn said in a Bloomberg News interview, “The governmental policies in the United States of America are a damper, a wet blanket….They retard investment; they retard job formation; they retard the creation of a better life for the citizens in spite of the rhetoric of the president.” Well gee, Steve, why don’t you tell us what you really think. He did: “The economic outlook in the United States, the policies of this administration, which do not favor job formation, do not encourage investment at all.”

So instead of “Viva Las Vegas,” it may be “Zai jian, Las Vegas” (Goodbye Las Vegas in Chinese)

But that’s not the bad part. The truly weird is that…the UNV professor can’t figure it out; the mayor of Las Vegas can’t figure it out; a member of Congress can’t figure it out; the governor of Nevada can’t figure it out; and the majority leader of the United States Senate can’t figure it out. Only Steve Wynn and everyone else in the…

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Get This Man A Space

Two weeks later and Rep. Peter Schmidt (D-Strafford 4) still has to park in the No Parking Zone when other spaces are available.  Yes, this is a follow up to my earlier post–Peter " No Parking" Schmidt.  Apparently Peter is a real stand up guy.  Veteran.  Works hard.  Always shows up in Concord.  I appreciate … Read more

Give It Back

From this morning’s Union Leader; the Legislature is looking at an insurance premium tax change.  Apparently someone was granted decreases in exchange for a promise of creating more jobs.  Jobs were not created to their satisfaction so the elected officials see no reason to continue to support the reduced taxation.   Neal Kurk (R-Weare) was quoted … Read more

From Day One

"Let me be clear” may be giving way to “From Day one.”  “From Day One” is the new backstop in the absence of physical evidence.  "From day one," the Obama administration was working behind the scenes on a response to the BP oil rig explosion.  You’re damn right they were.

Day one began with the same meeting they have every time something happens; how can we blame Bush or Republicans, and if not them who?  No "national" response is possible until that narrative has been worked out, and a plan is in place to turn whatever it is into some political advantage, unless it fits an existing grievance narrative already in place like "racist!"   The Narrative seeps out, the media and the administration regurgitate it, add spin and stir. 

And if you look over the short list of possibilities, Fort Hood, The Panty Bomber, Bonus announcements, Voter intimidation case involving Black Panthers, Tea Party protesters, Illegal immigrants rioting, things said by republicans, things said by democrats, scandals involving democrats, body counts, comments about clean black men, the difference in response time and the actions taken—or not–reveal their actual priorities.  It’s not jobs or growth or cleaning up corruption or clean energy.  It’s all politics, power and payback, all the time.

AIG bonuses—the ink isn’t even dry and the entire left side of the congress along with the White house is barfing class warfare rhetoric from every media orifice they can find about how they need to reign in big "whatever," new legislation already in hand.  An al Qaida trained terrorist tries to blow up a plane and is thwarted by passengers….need a week before we can even comment.

Of course we know why they need more time.  We’ve seen what happens when they are forced to comment on something before the ritual three day minimum.  They put their collectivist feet in their collective mouths.  They really have no clue what they are doing, especially when someone else craps on America before they can and they have no narrative in place.

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When Life Begins

This is horrifying. The UK Teleraph reports on a 22 week old abortion survivor left on a table to die that was found alive a day later.  The child survived for two days outside the womb on its own. I’d be interested in the opinion of liberal abortion supporters (and small ‘r’ social liberals in … Read more

George Soros Loves New Hampshire

George Soros likes to move his money around like he’s playing chess, mostly by supporting organizations or foundations who then support others and at some point that money finds it’s way into issue advocacy or campaign war chests.  Direct contributions are not exactly common for George.  But for some reason he’s quite taken with New Hampshire … Read more

The Liberals Creative-Destruction of Faith

In all secular-humanist or socialist Marxist regimes, it is necessary to first utilize pre-existing institutions to advance the agenda and then, systematically destroy them so that they cannot then be used in the same manner to overthrow the central government.

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Gay Lobby Money From Out Of State?

Jon Stryker, (here and here for starters) is a Michigan billionaire who has been credited with helping the liberals (they call them democrats over there too) take over the Michigan House.  That’s right Michigan.  Can’t find no job, taxes through the roof, people can’t move out of the state fast enough Michigan. The train wreck of the rust … Read more

Avatar

  “Dances with Wolves” meets the “Lion King,” only instead of hyenas coming to rob the available resources away from the soldier who has gone native and his new BFF’s we get GIJOE Rise Of Cobra meets Blackwater—and maybe toss in a few minutes of Altered States for good measure.  That’s my take on Avatar, … Read more

No Gambling

In the smoldering ruin of SB 489–this years gambling bill, even after a massive campaign by Millennium gaming and its big-money FixItNow NH campaign quarter-backed by their Public relations goo-roo Richard Killion, (whom I suspect is this guy), we get comments like this, from this morning’s Union Leader.

“What’s clear is that today’s vote runs contrary to the will of the people, who, overwhelmingly support expanded gaming and see it as the only acceptable new revenue option,” he said. “The people do not want higher taxes.”

The people do not want higher taxes.  But nothing else he says makes any sense unless he means the will of "the minority of" people who overwhelmingly support expanded gaming, and see it as the only acceptable option."  Isn’t language fun?

Richard really should have been around New England long enough to know that the one thing you can count on in New Hampshire is for voters to contact their state reps and let them know how they feel about an issue.  So from square one this statement is at the very least disingenuous.  Before we even get to square two we know that that is exactly what the people did, and the product of that opinion (how the House voted) is clearly represented in the roll call.  Consider the following.

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