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.

How Do You Say “Fast and Furious” In Arabic?

Back in the spring, the Arab spring that is, the Libyan Arab Spring to be more precise, the Obama administration had this great idea.  They had this plan where if they let weapons sneak across the border into Libya, and end up in the hands of terrorists, they’d be able to use that as an … Read more

Mohamed Morsi Has Left The Building

Talk about overreach.  Less than two weeks after declaring himself king (even just interim king) protesters have stormed the Presidential palace (two words that should never be used in the same sentence to begin with) and forced Morsi to make a hasty retreat. No one knows where Morsi has fled, but opposition coalition spokesman Hussein … Read more

HHS Gets Coal in Its Stocking

DRU486 The Abortion pill -Religious conscience arguments winning in court against HHS mandateemocrats insisted that business owners not only had to provide insurance (or get fined) but that the insurance had to cover contraception and abortion (day after) pills, even after Bart Stupak  voted yes! claiming…”There will be no public funding for abortion in this legislation. We’ve all stood on principle.”   That would be the principle of believe the lie to get them to leave you alone, or if you are the other side, lie until you get what you want.

The Federal Department of Health and (in)Human services has since dutifully complied and made “The Mandate” part and parcel with the Patient Affordable are Act.  So when a business owner in Missouri filed a suit claiming that the mandate violated his religious rights the court had to answer the question–can the government make laws that force you to act in direct contradiction to your religious beliefs under threat of penalty?

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WTF.gov

Green Energy Loan crack pipe
80 Billion dollars up in smoke..but hey, make sure you use energy efficient light bulbs!

Your government floods the AM band with public service announcements (PSA’s).  Back in the day I used to have to read them when I did radio in High School.   We didn’t have them pre-recorded.  But now they have them canned and you can just play them with a mouse click or program them into the content.  And there a lot of them.

There are spots for the Forest service, home loans, emergency management, you name it.  Remember Ready.gov during hurricane Sandy? Not so ready if you don’t have Internet.  No surprises.  This is the government we’re talking about.

Well they also have PSA’s on saving energy.  The newest in that series points out all the things you could have bought if you had not wasted that money of inefficiency.  Like throwing money out the window.

That’s right.  The US government and the Obama Department of Energy are schooling us on how to avoid wasting money when it comes to energy.

Go ahead and laugh.  I did.

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The Meaning Behind The ‘Holiday Tree’

It’s time we simplified this whole debate with an image I like to call “The Real Meaning of The Holiday Tree.” It’s like an x-ray that visualizes the deeper meaning of each.  Merry Christmas!

Georgia on My Mind

Before 9am yesterday morning I had no idea who Foss Manufacturing was in Hampton New Hampshire.  Now, I’m something of an expert.  For example, back in 2008 Foss managed to get a grant for $450,000 dollars (Hampton Union) to help them buy some equipment.  In exchange for that they promised to create 25 new jobs with 60% of those earmarked for low to moderate income workers but as of 2010 they were seeking a second extension and had not yet fulfilled the requirement.

When Foss got approved for the Block Grant, which I believe was wrangled as usual through the NH-Business Finance Authority, the town itself, and the Coastal Economic Development Corporation (CEDC, aka; a local Federal sphincter for disposing of handouts), the Hampton facility had 435 employees.  So the goal, at least in my mind, would be to get to 460 employees in Hampton. They were not, after all, getting free money to have fewer employees.

They got the money, the equipment, and have opened new lines and product options since, but in 2009 dropped down to only 321 employees; in June of 2010 Foss was back to about 357 employees; as of September 2012 were at around 375.

That’s not 460.  So would you be surprised if I told you they just got a $1.6 million dollar loan in March 2012 and have promised to add 45 more employees because of that?

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Ayotte Leads Measure To Block Gitmo Transfers to US Soil

New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte sponsored a measure that would (again) prevent any funding from being used to transfer Gitmo detainees to US Soil.  The measure passed the Senate 54 -41.   (More at Hot Air) Michelle Malkin has some details here about how the Administration is still attempting to make their dream a reality despite … Read more

So What If It’s Technically Impossible to Administer…

woman-spraying-perfumeNew Hampshire Democrats are ready to get serious about legislating matters that are important to New Hampshire’s future…so hey, how about we try to pass a perfume ban? (For state employees).

The important point to remember here isn’t that  a perfume ban was brought up in the last legislature and failed, and it is not that there is a need to discuss whether or not “how state employees covering their BO” might create an unpleasant environment–into which some citizens may be inconvenienced, it is how quickly can we use the power of the state to regulate it regardless of whether or not it would even work.

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Talk About Having No Idea What A Conservative Is… (Updated Again & Bumped)

John B. Heroux is reported to be a resident of Bedford, New Hampshire, and a chronic contributor to the Union Leader Editorial page (if Google can be trusted), but he has absolutely no idea what a conservative is.  In his recent “Your Turn” contribution to the public discourse (Union Leader) he starts with this:

The first order of business should be to take the party back from the conservatives. Republicans are the minority party, and the party’s success depends on appealing to independent voters and conservative Democrats. The radical Tea Party and the Rush Limbaugh/Ann Coulter faction do not appeal to these voters.

That’s all well and good as opinion–to which he is of course entitled–except that as he proceeds to storm his way down the laundry list of “consevatives” he blames for all that seems to ail him, he fails to name anyone who has actually behaved like a Conservative.

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Notable Quote: Harvey Mansfield – On Goodness and Justice

“…goodness or justice in our country is not merely the transfer of resources to the poor and vulnerable. We have to take measures to teach the poor and vulnerable to become a little more independent and to prize independence, and not just live for a government check. That means self-government within each self, and where … Read more

NH Journal – I Have A Question

Pat Hynse flunky and NH Journal editor Shawn Millerick went to bat for the progressive (r)epublican establishment the other day by fabricating a secret meeting, with a select guest list, for the purpose of agitating the voting members to support the anointed NHGOP chairman of choice, Jennifer Horn–because hey, we have to come together and … Read more

With This Bunch Failure Is Always An Option

I’m torn between thinking this is just sad or that it’s just funny.  Maybe ironic is a better word? First, the NHGOP establishment power brokers (who forced Jack Kimball out) just cleared the field to make sure that the preferred, groomed, in-debted (and in debt) to them, moderate-insider was the only candidate left running for the NHGOP chairmanship.

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Un-Un Breaking News: Stacie Laughton Resigns Again

Convicted Felon and recently elected New Hampshire House Democrat Stacie Marie Laughton has ended the roller-coaster ride since her extensive criminal history was released by the Laconia Sun and resigned…in writing….to the Secretary of State.  (Story went public, she resigned, un-resigned–sort of, then resigned again.) So reports the Union leader. In the same piece (UL Editorial) … Read more

If There Is Only One Candidate Left for NHGOP Chairman….?

FRIENDS – WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need you to attend your local GOP Caucus (listed below) and offer your name as a candidate for delegate (State Committee) . There will be a vote at the caucus, and if you win, you will then attend the January 26th Annual Meeting and will have the opportunity to vote for Jennifer for NHGOP Chair. If you have any questions let us know!

This was posted, I am told, on Jen Horn’s Facebook page. Seeing as no one else is currently (publicly) left to oppose her, this seems like an odd thing to post.  Perhaps there are other contenders waiting in the wings to oppose the establishment?

That might make it worth getting involved.

If you’d like to vote for someone else–and I suspect there will be someone else–then you too must attend and offer your name as a candidate.

The county Caucus dates and times provided by Horn are on the jump

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Feds Close 100 Year old Business…Because They Can

What the government wants the government gets.  Even if they have to make it up. This is the story of how the Federal government railroaded a 100 year old company, recognized as an outstanding Environmental steward by the national parks service, out of business. (more preamble here c/o Hot Air).  

Prelude to November 2010 All Over Again?

Charles Krauthammer brings home the bacon on the White House Fiscal Cliff Deal effort to screw Republicans for nothing in return. Synopsis- Republicans are expected to detail every cut.  Democrats can just toss out a number with no details at all.  The whole deal stinks and while Obama has nothing to fear, other elected Democrats … Read more

Blood and Water – The Return of Democrat Rule in New Hampshire

Skip broke the news (on the Grok) about New Hampshire State Government’s department heads making budget requests that would increase state spending by 26% in 2013.  If you had any delusions about who or what state agencies represent, you just got your answer.

It ain’t you.  It’s them.

In the current economy, with no regard for whose money they are spending, incoming governor Maggie Hassan would have to raise taxes and fees by at least 19% to fill all the requests.   AFP-NH estimates that this would extract around 700 million dollars from the people of New Hampshire to pay for new spending that would never go away. So that’s 700 million from every budget henceforth and anon, plus new new spending each budget there after….these are Democrats if you recall, there is no enough when it comes to spending your money.

And that $700, 000,000.00 (million) is ironically close to another sum we readily associate with New Hampshire Democrats.

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Breaking News: Laughton Resigns

The union leader is reporting this morning that newly elected Democrat House member Stacie ‘The Beloved‘ Laughton (Hills Dist 31/Nashua) has decided to resign.

Laughton is disappointed, and states that no one asked her to resign, but that she was asked to consider all the things that have been presented.

Call me cynical but if you are elected to a post, and some unpleasantry from your past emerges, and people ask you to ‘consider’ things…they want you to resign.  They are just afraid to say it because their identity politics prevents them from going on the record.

Personally, I’m not done with this and it has nothing to do with Laughton.

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Is Kelly Ayotte Just Another White Meat Racist?

It is quite obvious from these remarks by New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte that she prefers white meat at Thanksgiving, why else try to put a hold on the nomination of UN Embarrasador Susan Rice as a potential replacement to Hillarity Clinton? Yeah, she has these facts about Rice misleading the American people on Benghazi … Read more

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