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.

GraniteGrok Q & A Series: Senator Sununu

Senator Sununu meets with military families early last year. (GG file photo)

Senator John E. Sununu was kind enough to participate in GraniteGok’s Congressional Candidate Q & A Series. We thank him for taking time from his busy schedule to do so, and further appreciate his acknowledgement of us and our readers here in the Blogosphere…

As promised, here are his answers as provided to us. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the "comments" section…

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QUESTIONS

1. If you could ask General Petraeus any question, but only one question, what would it be?

Sen Sununu response: Has Congress provided you with the necessary resources to support your troops, enable them to complete their work, and bring them home safely as soon as possible?

2. Do you favor Oil recovery in the newly found fields in Montana & the Dakotas?

• Drilling in ANWR?
• Drilling in the deep waters off Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico?
• Creating a fast track process to license and build new nuclear plants?

Sen Sununu response: Conservation and support for renewable energy is very important, but reducing our dependence on foreign energy requires allowing domestic production of oil and gas and minimizing unnecessary delays in building nuclear power plants.

3. In the area of healthcare, are you in favor of:

• Giving tax credits for policies to individuals / families as well as businesses?
• Allow policies to be purchased across state lines?
• Allow individuals to buy lower cost policies by "unhooking" legal mandates

Sen. Sununu response: I have voted for legislation allowing small businesses to join forces to negotiate better rates and strongly support legislation to give individuals a full tax deduction for all health care costs, and allow insurance policies to be purchased across state lines.

4. British Prime Minister Brown said that the US must give up the idea of absolute sovereignty in order to better cooperate in the global community.  Agree or disagree, and why?

Sen. Sununu response: No. United States sovereignty is not something to be conceded to any other government or international organization.

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Defending the New Hampshire Advantage Pledge unveiled Tuesday

. Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Senator Joe Kenney at yesterday’s New Hampshire Advantage Coalition’s official rollout of their "Defending the New Hampshire Advantage Pledge" (photos by GraniteGrok) The pushback begins… Yesterday morning in Concord at the Legislative Office Building, putting the proverbial money where his mouth is, Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, along with … Read more

Guest Blog Post by Grant Bosse: Energy

Congress Needs New Energy and a New Energy Policy by Grant Bosse As oil prices reach record highs, gasoline and diesel prices make every fill-up painful, and New Hampshire continues to pay the highest electricity prices in the nation, we have to ask ourselves; why does Congress keep making energy more expensive? Last year’s Energy … Read more

What a ride! It’s Meet the New Press radio.

Starting Saturday morning at 9 am! . ….              .Pat Hynes                                  Skip Murphy                                  Doug Lambert . As usual, this week’s broadcast version of GraniteGrok and AnkleBitingPundits brings an array of items and guests for your consideration– ALL STARTING AT 9AM! As always, thanks to the technical wizardry and analytical skills of Skip, if you … Read more

Spending Cap Pledge Debuts in Lakes Region

tax bill

In what is most likely the first public action involving the recently unveiled spending cap pledge promoted by the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, members of the Gilford Municipal Budget Committee found themselves voting on a motion to adopt such a cap at its initial meeting of the 2009 FY budget season. As reported by the Citizen (Laconia) newspaper,

Budget committee member Doug Lambert has challenged the elected officials in Gilford with imposing a voluntary tax cap on governmental spending.

The idea for a voluntary tax cap came out of an initiative started by the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition. The reason the coalition began the challenge is two-fold: first to lower the burden on New Hampshire families and secondly to encourage government to maximize the value of every dollar.

Lambert took the pledge and modified it slightly, though the principle is the same.

The Gilford Pledge to Defend the New Hampshire Advantage reads, "I believe that low taxes are the result of low spending. I believe that a government can only be fair to its taxpayers when it is actively looking for ways to run more efficiently. I hereby pledge: Not to vote for — or lend my support to — any budget raising government spending that causes taxes to be raised more than the rate of inflation, as it is defined by the Consumer Price Index-Urban, plus new construction growth."

[snip]

"I printed it; I signed it; I will adhere to it. That will be my actions on the committee," promised Lambert.

Skip Murphy, a budget committee member and chair of the Gilford Republican Town Committee, also signed and promised to follow the voluntary tax cap pledge.

Recognize those two guys? While it turned out we weren’t able to convince a majority of the Budcom to adopt the voluntary cap, besides myself and Skip, two other members agreed to conduct all of our actions in line with the "cap." We will be working on a spreadsheet program in order to keep a running account of the budget process, identifying exactly how much the school, town, and (hopefully) county portions can increase under such a cap.

Please read the whole Citizen article, as reporter Cutter Mitchell does an excellent job in his reporting of what went down last night. It’s my belief that this is but the first salvo in what will be a rising movement here in the Granite State as we seek to preserve and protect our special "New Hampshire Advantage".

Below is the pledge as I submitted, signed, to the chair of our committee. I shared a copy with every member, and will be presenting them to the school board and selectmen for them to sign as well.

 

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“Well, uh… you see Chief, a funny thing happened on the way back to the station…”

[UPDATED] The NH Union Leader has the NH AG’s full statement regarding this matter, determining there was no wrongdoing involved. I’m glad of that. But I stand by the points I raised in the post. As a commenter at the UL site wrote,

I don’t think anybody expected this to be a criminal matter. Negligence? A judgment call. It’s not surprising that it went the way it did.

But didn’t these guys go a bit overboard in thinking that they could use private property for their training exercise without getting permission from the owner? The Constitution is pretty clear about this.
– Bruce, New London

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The story about the cop shooting in Concord has been simmering just below the radar since word first came out. Here’s how I view this, being an ordinary citizen exposed to the available media…

First, I heard on NewsNine that a cop got shot during the night in a bank by another cop, but his bulletproof vest saved him.

The next day, reading the Union Leader newspaper, I learned it was accidental.

"This is not a case where a police officer discharged their weapon in pursuit of a suspect or in the midst of an arrest or something like that," Strelzin said.

Four Concord police officers were inside the building when one officer’s handgun discharged, striking a fellow officer in the chest. Strelzin would not say why the officers were in the building.

"I can tell you the only individuals involved were those four officers," he said. Their names are being withheld while the investigation continues.

At this point, I thought, well, what exactly were they doing? Maybe something like this…

cops training?

At work, tongues flapped about a cop "accidently" shooting another cop. Everyone was asking the same question I had intially thought– "How does that happen?" Someone mentioned this guy:

 

Barney

He was only half-joking. So it went. What were they doing at 4:30 in the morning in an unfinished bank?

Another morning, and I’m getting dressed for the day, watching NewsNine again… On comes a report with an interview with some guy that either owns or is running the project at the building the cops were in during the "mishap." He says he has no clue what the cops were doing in the building, that nothing appeared amiss. The reporter notes the Concord police still aren’t saying what happened. Hmmm. You can imagine the watercooler discussion THAT day, as almost everyone I work with saw the report.

And then nothing for a few days. The conspiracists among our bunch began to surmise a coverup was in the works. The local rumor mill coughed up a story that perhaps something really bad was going down. "One thing’s for sure," one local wag said, "We’ll never find out what really happened." And everyone agreed, even those of us not so prone to believing wild conspiracy tales.

Well, nearly a week has gone by, and finally, we find out some of the "facts." Guess what? It was simply a training mission accident the whole time! As reported by the Concord Monitor,

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Gore assaults reason… again.

You just knew this was coming… The BMI reports Using tragedy to advance an agenda has been a strategy for many global warming activists, and it was just a matter of time before someone found a way to tie the recent Myanmar cyclone to global warming. Former Vice President Al Gore in an interview on … Read more

Meet the New Press radio. Come and get your fill. We’re 100% domestic, always a good value, and totally tax-free!

MTNP: A real gas! Starting Saturday morning at 9 am! . ….              .Pat Hynes                                  Skip Murphy                                  Doug Lambert . As usual, this week’s broadcast version of GraniteGrok and AnkleBitingPundits brings an array of items and guests for your consideration– ALL STARTING AT 9AM! As always, thanks to the technical wizardry and analytical skills … Read more

Why?

What WOULD Thomas Jefferson think? . What happens when a group of twenty US citizens celebrates the ideas of Jefferson by silently dancing by his memorial for ten minutes? Arrests. And we think we’re a liberty-loving people?  

Biting the hands that feed. SEIU on the attack…

SEIU

SEIU

For the nearly two years that GraniteGrok has been open for business, we have written a fair amount about the ongoing union assault on successful American companies like Wal-Mart. We have covered both the philisophical questions raised by such tactics in a free-market society as well as exactly who comprises the instigators behind such ongoing attacks. The common thread is, of course, labor unions. In their quest to maintain power and relevance, they will do almost anything, including destroy the very companies that employ them– biting the hand that feeds.

Leading the charge these days are the henchmen of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). As reported by Matt Lewis writing at Townhall.com, the practices being used in the advancement of their cause are likely to invoke the images among many folks of the classic "union thug" from some bygone era:

Just this past weekend, the SEIU sent hundreds of "members" to disrupt a labor conference in Michigan.  They were apparently shoving people to the ground and apparently even went so far as to inflict a head wound on a retired woman (story here, video). In California, they are stalking nurses in a rival union by going to their homes with cameras — and even made a YouTube video of themselves doing it.

A  California judge even issued a restraining order against them.

What some people might not know is that in addition to routine thuggery, the SEIU has found new ways to disrupt, cajole, and otherwise shakedown their intended targets. Obviously, when physically beating up corporate execs as opposed to hapless commoners and lowly workers, there comes an added risk to the unionists: deeper pockets to pay for legal actions. As reported in Friday’s Washington Post,

Big labor is relying more on guile and theatrics than blunt force to attack the ascendancy of a new form of corporate ownership: private equity.

And tactics often get personal. Union allies staged a satire outside buyout king Henry Kravis’s lavish Long Island home, asking passersby to sign a petition giving him a break on his property taxes. Weeks later, protesters in business suits sneaked into a private-equity conference at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York, where Carlyle Group co-founder David M. Rubenstein was giving a speech. They sought to shame him with a banner that read: "Why does he pay taxes at a lower rate than the hotel’s doorman?"

Then on Halloween, union members wearing Rubenstein masks paraded in front of Carlyle’s offices, handing out Sugar Daddy suckers.

The unorthodox protests are part of a campaign by the Service Employees International Union and its allies to position themselves as a check on what they regard as a new economic order, one dominated by the big private buyout firms.

And what is their problem with this "new economic order?"

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Butts, Bulbs, and the Family Truckster. And we claim to be a liberty loving people?

Family Truckster

Satire.

truckster redux?

Reality, as dictated by government?

Smoked any good cigarettes, lately? No, really—have you smoked any GOOD cigarettes lately? If you’re like most smokers I know here in New Hampshire, the honest answer is “no.” While I am not a smoker myself, I admit I do have a bit of sympathy for the plight of those who do. By now many of us have grown accustomed to seeing hapless smokers, thanks to government rules and regulations, huddled outdoors in the elements seeking to gain some small amount of pleasure in the simple act of having a smoke.

It was bad enough to have to watch them relegated to standing in the wind, the rain, and the cold as if being punished. Now, again thanks to the government, it’s even worse, as the damn things don’t even stay lit– even in the absence of foul weather. As Granite State smokers all know, beginning last October, New Hampshire joined several other states in requiring that all cigarettes sold be self-extinguishing or “fire safe.” Such cigarettes are wrapped in special ultra-thin paper with “speed bump” bands that inhibit burning unless a smoker draws in air. What this does is basically require a smoker quickly hyperventilate it down to the butt, or continuously re-light numerous times for a single cigarette.

I don’t know of a single person who smokes that actually thinks this was a good idea. But what the consumer thinks is of no matter to an ever-growing nanny-state government. “But Doug, it will save lives! Why, according to statistics, unattended cigarettes cause somewhere in the neighborhood of seven to eight hundred deaths per year nationally! Surely you care about them?” That may be, but what is that number compared to the total number of persons that do smoke? And of those that do suffer and die from such tragedies, how many will simply find some other way to be careless enough to cause themselves harm? For these, statistically a small percentage of the total group that chooses to smoke cigarettes, we are mandating products that would never be wanted by its consumers, given a choice?

Retailers here in the “Live Free or Die State” that are found to be violating the law face civil fines of up to $1,000 per sale depending on the number of cigarettes sold. Selling products people would choose to buy, given their druthers? VERBOTEN!

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McCain to VFW: “What they [Democrats] are really proposing, if they mean what they say, is a policy of withdraw and re-invade.”

John McCain

John McCain (GG file photo)

JOHN MCCAIN ADDRESSES MEMBERS OF THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS (VFW)

 

Today, John McCain will make remarks in Kansas City, Missouri about the mission in Iraq. Ahead of this week’s testimony by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, he will outline the progress being made in Iraq, the work left to be done and the consequences of withdrawal. Here is the text of the speech as prepared for delivery:

Thank you. It is an honor to be here today. I’m always grateful to be in the company of Americans who have had the burden of serving our country in distant lands, and the honor of having proved your patriotism in difficult circumstances. Your example is a constant reminder to Americans that we have obligations to our country that are greater than our personal ambitions, and that our self-respect will owe more to how faithfully we keep those obligations than any other success we achieve in life. Among those obligations is to debate honestly issues that involve America’s future security because so many Americans have sacrificed everything to keep us secure. All that is asked of the rest of us is that we do not dishonor their sacrifice by treating the cause they served so bravely as an opportunity to argue without wisdom; to divide us without care for the consequences; to advance our individual or partisan interests at the expense of America’s security .

At the beginning of last year, we were engaged in a great debate about what to do in Iraq. Four years of a badly-conceived military strategy had brought us almost to the point of no return. Sectarian violence in Iraq was spiraling out of control, life had become a struggle for survival, and a full-scale civil war seemed almost unavoidable. Al Qaeda in Iraq was on the offensive. Entire Iraqi provinces were under the control of extremists and were deemed all but lost. Faced with the prospect of defeat, we had two fundamental choices. We could retreat from Iraq and accept the horrible consequences of our defeat. Or we could change strategies and try to turn things around. It was, I believe, a critical moment in our nation’s history, and a time of testing for our nation’s political leadership.

In the year that has passed, our nation showed its strength, and its deep sense of global responsibility. Instead of abandoning Iraq to civil war, genocide, and terror, and the Middle East to the destabilizing effects of these consequences, we changed strategies. We sent to Iraq additional troops, many of them on their third or fourth tour, and a great, seasoned general to lead them, with a battle plan that, at long last, actually addressed the challenges we faced in Iraq.

Within six months, the men and women who have made such enormous sacrifices for the rest of us dramatically turned around the situation in Iraq. From June 2007 through my most recent trip last month, sectarian and ethnic violence in Iraq has been reduced by 90 percent. Civilian deaths and deaths of coalition forces fell by 70 percent. The dramatic reduction in violence has opened the way for a return to something approaching normal political and economic life for the average Iraqi. Political reconciliation is occurring across Iraq at the local and provincial grassroots level. Sunni and Shi’a chased from their homes by terrorist and sectarian violence are returning. The "Sons of Iraq" and Awakening movements, where former Sunni insurgents have now joined in the fight against Al Qaeda, continue to grow.

 

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“Complete Disregard”

WASHINGTON – Today the RNC released a new Web video, titled “Politics vs. Petraeus.”  The video highlights Senators Clinton and Obama’s politicization of the War on Terror and complete disregard for the facts and the warnings made by General David Petraeus during his last congressional hearing on September 11, 2007.   After consistently promising to “always … Read more

Mr. Dean, have you no shame?

Earlier today I participated in a Bloggers’ Conference Call with senior members of Senator McCain’s campaign team in which they outlined his upcoming "Service to America" tour, or as our friend Pat Hynes called it, McCain’s "bio tour." As reported by Hugh Hewitt,   McCain Senior Advisor Steve Schmidt outlined next week’s "Service to America" tour.  … Read more

Jeanne Shaheen: Aiding and Comforting America’s Enemies (Again!)

Osama bin Laden.Jeanne Shaheen.Mohammed Khatami

Jeanne Shaheen & a couple of friends…

Oh that Jeannie, there she goes again! Despite the fact that at one time she claimed to support the President’s action and responses to the September 11 attacks, and the Iraq war that followed, as we all know, she now wants to end the war and bring the troops home. Being a Democrat in the Clinton mold by changing her "core beliefs" depending on what will curry the most favor at a given moment, this is certainly no surprise. Given the rabid antiwar peaceniks that make up a good chunk of the Democratic Party base here in the Granite State, what other position could she possibly take? By playing it safe on this, she has avoided any serious primary challenge in her quest for the US Senate seat presently held by John E. Sununu. In Democrat circles, this is a smart move.

As reported by our friends at PolitickerNH.com, in an article the Valley News, a spokesman for Mrs. Billy Shaheen stated

"When it comes to the war in Iraq, John Sununu is taking a page from George Bush and John McCain," said communications director Kate Bedingfield.  "Sununu continues to support the Bush-McCain agenda in Iraq while ignoring both the advice of military officials and the facts on the ground.

Like the time she blamed President Bush for the wildfires in California, this is pure hogwash. Which military officials? What facts on the ground? Maybe she should read more of Major Luedeke’s Dragon Soup writings from Iraq to get some real facts from the ground about the progress that’s being made. Maybe she should click here to watch the video interview I did with Senator Sununu nearly a year ago to find out where he stands on the war. While generally supportive, I would not say that his level of enthusiasm comes close to some like Senator McCain. No, Shaheen has no basis for the above characterization other than it’s what the DNC talking points have been over and over again practically since the war’s inception. Ms. Bedingfield went on:

 

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Catholics for McCain

Catholic Church

Anybody that watches TV and follows politics at all knows that the Democratic candidates seemingly spend inordinate amounts of time campaigning in churches and would have to admit we don’t see the same on the Republican side. While we generally associate faith and Christian values with conservatism, we just don’t find Republicans as publicly mixing it with politics– at least within houses of worship with cameras rolling.

As Catholics, we just don’t do politics in Church. It’s God’s house, and of course, the purpose of Mass is to worship Him– period. But that doesn’t mean that people who are Catholics cannot still have an opinion when it comes to politics. In fact, we are encouraged to be active and involved– we just don’t bring it into our Churches. Instead, we are asked to seek out politicians who will best reflect our beliefs and values in line with the teachings of our faith.

Yesterday, the McCain campaign released the following report announcing he has won the support of many Catholics from across America. And why not? When you look at the core teachings of the Church regarding life, forgiveness, and respect for our fellow man, Senator McCain stands head and shoulders above the Democrats candidates who are, after all, representing "the Party of Death." I am glad that our religion is more low key when it comes to politics within the confines of our Church walls. I am glad that my pastor won’t stand in front of the Church and tell us who to vote for– that way there, it is up to US to venture forth into the world and make our own decisions using our best judgement. I am proud to call myself a Catholic, and I am proud that many of my fellow brothers and sisters have joined with me in publicly announcing support for John McCain.

ARLINGTON, VA — Today over 100 prominent Catholics nationwide have come together to support John McCain for president. The National Catholics for McCain Committee, led by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Former Governor Frank Keating (R-OK), is growing rapidly. The group is represented by elected officials, businessmen and women, grassroots organizers, students, and Catholic leaders from over two dozen states.

"John McCain has a common sense vision for America based on faith, freedom, and families," said Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), National Co-Chair of the National Catholics for McCain Committee. "Committed to the protection of innocent human life, he is a leader Catholics will be proud to support. John McCain knows from experience what it means when a society tramples on the truth of the value of the human person. He is committed to defending the dignity and value of every person, regardless of their status."

John McCain expressed his deep appreciation and stated, "I want to thank Catholic voters today, who have played a vital role in electing me as the Republican nominee for the presidency. I am humbled by the support of such a diverse group of Catholic leaders who are dedicated to the defense of traditional marriage, advocate for the protection of innocent human life, and share my vision for a stronger, safer and more prosperous America. I stand firmly with those Catholics who believe that human rights are natural rights for all people, in all places, and in all stages of life."

The National Catholics for McCain Committee is actively recruiting Catholics at the national, regional, state, local, and parish levels to help share John McCain’s vision and pro-Catholic message. 

Here is the list of those officially signed on: 

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Bizarro Republicans

Bizarro World

Republicans ‘destroying’ Belknap County… (and themselves, in the process)

Fans of the various Superman incarnations might recall the minor character, Bizarro, failed clone of Superman. After being hit by a meteor, Bizarro’s “powers” were the reverse of Superman’s. Leaving Earth, the evil clone moved to a world known as “Htrae” with “Bizarro-Lois,” creating “Bizarro World.” According to the Wikipedia

In the Bizarro world, a cube-shaped planet known as ‘Htrae’ (Earth spelled backward), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code, which states that it is a crime to do anything well or to make anything perfect or beautiful. In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling ‘Bizarro bonds. Guaranteed to lose money for you.’

Simply put- it is a world where up is down and in is out and good is bad. Come with me as I pay a visit to “Bizarro World…”

Writing in a post at our local blog, GilfordGrok, I noted that here in the Granite State, it is the job of the County Convention– comprised of the county’s delegation of NH house representatives– to review and approve the county budget that is proposed to them by the members of the County Commission. The Convention has much the same power and function as a municipal budget committee, with one difference: Unlike a municipal budget committee’s decisions, which are subjected to one final layer of checks and balances– the voters, who get the last word, the Convention’s vote is the ultimate and final authority. As our elected representatives, the Convention members form a purely republican (small “r”) form of government, in that we completely rely on them to act on our behalf. They are the eyes and ears of the taxpayers of the county. Let me repeat what I wrote last week at GilfordGrok: “Based upon my recent observations, they have failed us miserably.” After what I witnessed this past Tuesday night, I stand pat by that observation.

It is no secret that fiscal matters at all levels of government are facing extra scrutiny lately. With a slowing economy, and rising costs of energy and other necessary items of life, taxpayers are getting pinched, and are looking for relief wherever possible. In Laconia, the citizens have enacted a tax cap, vowing to live within their means. The practical result is that the city is now choosing how it spends its resources carefully, in some cases going without—much like any average family. Dittoes for neighboring Gilford, where the Selectmen, the School Board, and the Budget Committee have all worked to lighten the load on the taxpayers. Not so for the County. Over there, it’s “taxpayers be damned, business as usual.”

 

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