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.

NH House Candidate Denny Ruprecht is Jeff Woodburn’s Campaign Manager. What Did He know, and When Did He Know it?

September 26, 2018August 6, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Denny Ruprecht Jr. (pictured above, far left) is quite the Progressive political climber. He’s hob-knobbed with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, retiring Democrat Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, and for several months he was a finance intern for CD-2 Democrat Ann Kuster. And he’s only a Freshman at UNH.

Dennis ‘Denny’ Ruprecht is also a candidate for State Representative for Grafton District 15, and he is State Sen. Jeff Woodburn‘s Campaign manager (May of 2016 – Present). Woodburn has been arrested for multiple counts of domestic and sexual abuse.

So what did Denny know and when did he know it?

David Hogg Continues to Protest Gun Rights with Armed Security

September 26, 2018August 6, 2018 Steve MacDonald

The NRA took a few “free shots” at the Media Hogg after he showed up to “protest” the NRA with armed security.

“Our social team chatted up the crowd and ended the day with ice cream paid for by @Everytown! Stay tuned for video interviews,” the NRA wrote.

Kyle Kashuv, a Parkland high school shooting survivor who supports gun rights, chuckled on Twitter, “When @NRA employees take ice cream from @Everytown to own the libs.”

Minnesota’s Minimum Wage Hike Costing Kids Jobs

September 26, 2018August 6, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Broken record, meet Minnesota.

Employment in fast-food restaurants in Minnesota and Wisconsin were growing at the same rate in 2014. The rate of growth in employment in the fast-food sectors in Minnesota and Wisconsin began diverging around the same time Minnesota began raising the minimum wage, Williams said.

Could This Be The Perfect Gift for the Hypocritical Left-Wing Democrat in Your Life?

September 26, 2018August 5, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Democrats sell stuff online and take the money. That exercise in capitalism is hypocritical enough given the direction the party has gone these last few years. And we think it damages what little credibility they have left. (Get it! Left?) So, we’re here to help.

If you’re going to engage in free market profiteering at least have the sense to sell things with a patina of honesty to them. Like this custom cotton “wife-beater” t-shirt.

How Mad Would the Left Be If…

September 26, 2018August 4, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Dr. Darrell Scott: Donald Trump is the “Most Pro-Black President We’ve Had in Our Lifetime”

September 26, 2018August 4, 2018 Steve MacDonald

You probably didn’t hear about this from the corporate media. It’s Dr. Darrell Scott, remarking on how he believes that President Trump has been very proactive about helping the urban community and that he may be the most pro-black president in our lifetime.

Mr. Trump has undoubtedly done more for black employment than any previous president “in our lifetime.”

Potential Terrorists Still Walking into US Across Our Southern Border

September 26, 2018August 3, 2018 Steve MacDonald

We have cleared a small corner of the digital forest to bring you reports about drug and gang activity seeping into the US from Mexico. Human beings are trafficked as sex slaves. Criminal enterprises are run out of sanctuary cities and states as close to home as Lawrence Massachusetts.

Mr. Trump has done yeoman’s work trying to keep his campaign promise to plug the holes in our border security. But the Left, the press, and the courts continue to fight him at every turn. Neither the threat of gang violence against our citizens nor the drug deaths from the opioids they peddle are enough of an incentive to stand with the majority of Americans. So, is it safe to assume they don’t care about terrorism threats either?

What Did NH Democrats Know About Jeff Woodburn and When Did They Know It?

September 26, 2018August 3, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Yesterday, when news broke that Democrat State Sen. Jeffy ‘Bumpstock’ Woodburn had been arrested for sexual and domestic assault, I observed two things in particular.

First, State Democrat Party Chair Ray Buckley was quick to announce/denounce, which is way out of character. And second,

Who knew what before it became a liability?

The State Republican Party want’s to know that too.

Dem Party Chair Asks NH Sen. Jeff Woodburn To Resign Over Charges of Assault

September 26, 2018August 2, 2018 Steve MacDonald

The Democrat party has been talking up a good game about their chances this fall, but I’m beginning to suspect they’re not that great. New Hampshire State Party Chair Ray Buckley has wasted no time in the wake of accusations of sexual assault in asking Sen. Jeff Woodburn to quit. Now.

CONCORD – The state Democratic Party called on their highest ranking member at the State House to resign immediately in the wake of criminal charges related to “sexual assault and sexual harassment,” according to the Chairman Ray Buckley.

“Ax The Property Tax” and Replace it With What?

April 11, 2021August 2, 2018 Steve MacDonald

Mark Fernald is a Democrat running for the New Hampshire State Senate. His campaign signs say “Ax the Property Tax.” If that sounds too good to be true it is because it is.

Why New Hampshire’s ‘hurried’ Internet Sales Tax Solution Had to Die

September 26, 2018August 2, 2018 Steve MacDonald

The recent scramble to “do something” after the Wayfair decision said states could tax internet sales was big news.

When the New Hampshire House killed the ‘bipartisan’ draft language that was big news.

What should be even bigger news is that the language the committee used to draft the proposed legislation could hand some measure of “tax administration rulemaking” over to an out-of-state third party.

Albuquerque Forfeiture Case Could Have National Implications

September 26, 2018August 2, 2018 Steve MacDonald

New Hampshire has made great strides at the state level with regard to Asset Forfeiture. But many states, and more importantly the federal government, still engage in the practice of seizing property for themselves. A federal judge in Albuquerque, New Mexico just wrote a decision that while limited to local seizures, makes a great case for why the practice should be prohibited from sea to shining sea.

GraniteGrok’s Top Ten Heavy Hitters for July 2018

September 26, 2018August 1, 2018 Steve MacDonald

It’s Already August, and you know what that means? There are only 145 Shopping Days ’till Christmas. It seems like a long time, so we’re here to help fill some of that in with the latest installment of Heavy Hitters!

It was an excellent month for blogging with another 200+ opportunities for you to get fresh content from the Grok. Among that multitude of news and opinion rose the ten posts for July 2018. The stories you viewed or read the most.

Here we go.

When a Group that Claims to Defend the 2nd Amendment Steps on the 1st

September 26, 2018August 1, 2018 Steve MacDonald

The crossfire continues over the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition’s survey with the “fine print” declaration that failing to return that survey would brand you as anti-gun. Skip took them to the woodshed here, pointing out that it is both ridiculous and unproductive, and while Skip inferred it he never actually says it.

They are attempting to compel speech.

Trump Tells Sessions To End Mueller Investigation. Trump Must Have Something Big!

September 26, 2018August 1, 2018 Steve MacDonald

The Washington Times is reporting that President Trump has asked Jeff Sessions to put an end to the Mueller Probe.

The president’s comments came after he quoted Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who suggested that Mueller is trying to protect his team at the expense of the investigation.

The left will go nuts, but what about Trump doesn’t make the left go nuts? The Democrats will come out and scream obstruction, and the water-carriers in the media will carry their water. And Trump knows that.

So what’s he got?