After the jump is a copy of a recent letter sent out by Rep. Bill O’Brien (R – Mt. Vernon), a leader of the House Republican Alliance in the NH State House. The letter announces his run for Speaker of the House, and is well worth reading. O’Brien is a "New Republican." That is, he hearkens back to "Old Republican" values, with a philosophical grounding in Republican principles that were and are upheld by real Republicans of the past and present, including Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, as well as today’s Jim DeMint, Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and, yes, Ron Paul.
O’Brien has a 100% House Republican Alliance score for both 2009 and 2910. He was awarded an A+ score by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA) for 2009 (and I would expect will get the same grade for 2010 when the scores are released at the NHLA annual dinner in July). He comes from a state house district that in 2008 had one Republican and four Democrats, with NHLA scores of "B" (the Republican), "F", "Constitutional Threat," and "F". Then O’Brien and his co-candidates engineered a victory in that district (Hillsborough #4) in the 2008 elections where only one Democrat remained. The 2009 NHLA scores for the district are "D-" (the one remaining Democrat), "A", "A+", and "A+".
Rep. O’Brien speaks in his letter of the Republican Party becoming "the party of our promise — one that will first and foremost govern this state according to the highest standards, and with fiscal prudence and respect for the rights of individuals." He also pledges to reverse the repeated rules violations that State House Democrats have repeatedly used to get excess spending and other harmful laws passed. "With respect to process, there can be no favorites and no violation of rules," says O’Brien. "That must end."
Finally. An honest Representative who will clean up the cesspool of lies, financial gimmicks and political scams that have been utilized by Gov. Lynch and the state legislature over the past six years in Concord. I highly recommend to everyone that you read Rep. O’Brien’s attached letter, send him some money for his own campaign, and urge your own representatives—whether Republican or Democrat—to support and vote for him for Speaker of the House in January 2011.
If you have not met Rep. O’Brian, watch here (he comes on after Jim Forsythe).
May 24, 2010
Dear Fellow Republican:
Along with many of you, I received Representative Packard’s letter and see that the Speaker’s race for next term has begun. Many members have approached me and asked if I am going to run for Speaker. After a great deal of soul searching and discussions with fellow representatives and their expressions of support, I have decided to announce that I will be a candidate for Speaker this upcoming term.
This upcoming session is of crucial importance to our state and our party. We each need to acknowledge that the New Hampshire Republican Party is at a crossroads. In one direction lies the choice to return to the policies and practices that failed us and have led to the political wilderness of the past four years. In the other direction is the choice to demonstrate that we have become the party of our promise – one that will first and foremost govern this state according to the highest standards and with fiscal prudence and respect for the rights of individuals.
I seek the position of Speaker so that we will make the right choice and show that we indeed deserve the responsibility for governing the fiscal policies and affairs of our great state. I promise to help House Republicans prove exactly that to our constituents and, in doing so, achieve a continuing majority in the House.
The Speaker runs an operation that has as its first responsibility to ensure that every voter in New Hampshire is fairly represented in the House. A successful Speaker must make sure that the voices of all members, their ability to scrutinize issues of interest to their district and their state, and their ability to speak for and vote on behalf of their constituents are never diminished. This means that the institution that is the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the needs of its members comes first. With respect to process, there can be no favorites and no violation of rules. That must end.
The next Speaker must focus on what can be done to improve the capacity for each and every member of the House to best serve his or her constituents. Decorum and respect for each House member must be a hallmark of the New Hampshire House. Here are some of the things that I would do as Speaker to accomplish these goals:
1. Reduce the workload of individual legislators. The New Hampshire House is a volunteer operation. We know that it is not easy to serve. We must work to reduce the number of hours and days members must spend in Concord so more can serve. This means we must spread the workload and make the days easier. How would this be done?
a. We should divide the scope of oversight of many of the most burdened
committees. Finance has three divisions, for example. The Education Committee and others are overworked and may benefit from such a distribution of tasks.
b. We should increase the number of committees by reinstating useful
committees that were terminated in years past, such as the Constitutional and Statutory Review Committee.c. We should increase the number of committees and reorganize others in
order to focus on developing areas of public interest. If the House chooses to reflect the concerns that we hear from our constituents, in particular those who will be the basis of a new Republican majority, we should consider new committees more closely focused on such areas as, Statutory Reform; Regulatory Reform; Tax Reform; Government Competitiveness, Operations and Efficiency; Sunset Review for Agencies and Statutory Committees; Judicial Oversight; Economic Growth and Development; Strategic Resources; and Banking, Economic and Financial Affairs.
Since most committee rooms are vacant a good portion of each day, we can schedule for these increased number of committees, each with fewer members. Doing so will allow us to work more efficiently with fewer burdens to those members who struggle to balance personal, business, and employment needs with legislative duties.
2. Work with our Majority Leader to establish a Republican Office for Constituent Affairs to assist members of our caucus with constituent service – especially with reaching out to agencies and agency heads concerning issues of interest to constituents – and ensuring a flow of information from the House to constituents on each member’s
accomplishments.
3. Accommodate requests by working or physically challenged legislators for less intense committee assignments.
4. Help legislators educate themselves on the principles of government. Presently, members attend conferences where sponsors have an interest in writing even more laws and in growing government. We need to refocus paid or reimbursable trips toward foundational ideas.
5. Scheduling hearings on bills to prevent members from having the bills for which they are the Prime Sponsor from being heard fewer than thirty minutes apart.
6. Schedule bill hearings to accommodate work schedules.
7. Regularly confer with the Clerk’s Office and with staff to seek efficiencies in operations that would not simultaneously compromise the capacity of individual legislators to serve the needs of their constituents.
9. Schedule one lunch hour a week for informal presentations of issues or legislation of interest at the State Library or other nearby location. This will be part of an effort in conjunction with the Majority Office to ensure that the legislative agenda of the
Republican caucus reflects a consensus of its members.
10. Reinstate the Sergeant at Arms Office to its traditional role as the true protector of the House and its individual members, while eliminating new rules and statutes that falsely cast our State House as a dangerous, unwelcoming place.
11. Parking – Negotiate with the City of Concord for control of the parking spaces immediately around the State House in order to provide older and physically challenged members with a shorter walk. As Speaker, I will set the tone for this always sensitive issue by choosing the Storrs Street parking garage as where I park.
12. Confer with the Secretary of State, who is a strong advocate of our system of checks and balances, on the matter of judicial oversight and judicial interference in the affairs of the Legislature.
13. Develop a plan for ongoing education of members on the history, procedures and decorum of the House. This would include establishing a mentor program where new caucus members can be paired with volunteer veteran members to improve the cohesiveness and effectiveness of our caucus. We need to make each House member proud to serve as a contributing member of the finest legislature in the country.
A great Republican once expressed a goal for our caucus and my goal in the next legislative session. He said, “We must, and we shall, return to proven ways – not because they are old, but because they are true.” The voters want us to return to the proven ways that are at the core of the New Hampshire Republican Party to solve today’s problems. As candidates, we will be running hard to earn from them a mandate to do just that.
Republicans need to unite behind our fundamental ideals and when we do we will reestablish confidence with voters in the promise of Republican governance. I want to be a Republican Speaker of the House who will enable our caucus two years from now to point to accomplishments that reflect those ideals and show the voters that they were correct in placing their trust in us. New Hampshire needs us to be successful, and I want to contribute to that success.
I respectfully ask for y
our support for my candidacy as Speaker. I will be working hard throughout the coming months to help Republican members to promote hope and belief in our mission and the Republican Party.
Please join me.
Sincerely and best wishes,
Bill O’Brien