I’m betting that Ronnie Abbott will either have a cow over Spec’s post and this OR, perhaps (a “slight” perhaps?) a brightening bulb will appear over his uppermost? He’s the commenter that is unhappy with me because I continue to write Republicans that won’t talk, act, and legislate like Republicans here in Belknap County. After all:
The Tennessee Star picked up something that I had written at the very end of this post:
If the NH Republican Party wants to win, and win Consistently, act like you believe in the Platform. Speak like you do and at each and every turn. Vote like you do at each and every opportunity. And Legislate like there’s no tomorrow because two days ago was that “no more tomorrow” – and you blew it.
Accountability. I’ve been doing so for the Belknap County Republicans that are part of the Belknap Convention (or “Delegation” if you prefer) in how they’ve broken NHs Open Meeting / Records Law, RSA 91-A, holding three illegal “Budget Review subcommittee” meeting such that they now have to pack everything into a single meeting – a budgeting process that normally takes a number of meetings. Three months wasted thanks to the ditherings of Delegation Chair Harry Bean and Subcommittee [unelected Chair Steven Nagel.
Sidenote: final Delegation Budget meeting is this Wednesday at the County Complex (34 County Drive) in Laconia starting at 6:30pm
Thanks, Citizens for Belknap (“CfB”), with your massive PR campaign in which political mud, “FREE STATERS!!!”, “EXTREMISTS”, and other political epithets, that you aimed at the Conservative / Liberty minded (since when did “Liberty” and “Freedom” become negatives?) over the man-made disaster called Gunstock. What a smoke screen that turned out to be! And what will be the expensive outcome of that campaign that put incompetents in charge?
Yep, an inability to overrule the MASSIVE increase in the County Commissioners’ proposed budget that will cause a 35.4% rise in taxes to be raised by taxation. Instead of protecting we taxpayers, who are having financial issues ourselves, they have put Government over taxpayers.
Tax us FAR more, right CfB? Isn’t that “the Democrat way“?
But even worse – now we know that these self-righteous, self-indulgent Republicans, endorsed into office by Citizens for Belknap, are doing the same to us down in Concord. You expect when you vote for Republicans that they’d ACT like your idea of what a Republican should be doing. Especially in major issue items.
A Watcher who is open about his methodology in analyzing the voting records of NH State Reps, he’s showing us how bad the damage is and how it has skewed Belknap to Democrats. Sure, they only got two Democrats elected to the Delegation (David Huot and Charlie St. Claire) but in putting in controvertible designated RINOs by their voting records, the Citizens of Belknap multiplied the Democrat presence here in the County. In crunching his numbers, those that SHOULD be held Accountable can be. After all, Interesting what Spec’s number-crunching has brought to light here in Belknap County. A quick recap:
Most Republicans only rarely vote with Democrats against other Republicans. Looking at all Republicans, the median RINO score was 5.1%, meaning that on average they voted with Democrats only 5.1% of the time. Anyone who voted as much as 10% of the time against fellow Republicans is a bit out of the mainstream. Anyone with a RINO score above 15% is definitely outside mainstream Republicans.
Dispassionately, Spec gave summary in Belknap County; from being one of the most solidly Republican Counties, we no longer are:
For most of the last 10 years, Belknap Reps had the best voting records of all counties. This year, they have one of the worst.
Citizens for Belknap is laughing all the way through your ballot box. They have also said that they are going to finish the job in 2024 as there are still some Conservatives that stood up to them (not Harry Bean as it seemed he was supporting their election efforts hard): Peter Varney, Paul Terry, Barbara Comtois and Nikki McCarter).
For instance, last session, the Fetal Life Protection Act was passed that prevented abortions after 24 weeks of gestation (life in the womb).
- HB224, Wolf, Nagel – repeal the criminal and civil penalties of the Fetal Life Protection Act (Voting to pass: Nagel, Bordes)
- HB10 – a Republican bill to codify and centralize Parental Rights: Voting with the Democrats (and ALL Democrats voted against it): Mike Bordes, Travis O’Hara, Mark Proulx, Dan Wolf
- HB557 – A Republican bill over Legislators legislating being preempted Executive Branch’s bureaucrats rulemaking requirements: All Democrats voted against it. David Nagel voted with them. Mike Bordes, too.
That latter bill is just one in a years long process by which Legislators have abandoned their Powers and Responsibilities “over the wall” with a “the Secretary shall establish Rules” instead of doing their complete job. You know, the Democrats’ end game of the “Administrative State” that started back in the early 1900s by which we would be ruled by “non-partisan” expert technocrats rather than as a Republic. Seems like Nagel learned that lesson quick (as a freshman).
There are other bills in which they showed they aren’t with the Republicans and that will come out next week.
Afterthought:
I got asked the question: Does Ronny Abbott pay property taxes?
Response: everyone does!
Asker: While they may not know it, renters pay property taxes through their landlords. As the owner of many rental properties in Belknap County, Chair Harry Harry will be increasing rents on his tenants to cover his 35% tax hike.
Response: To keep profit margins up, I would not doubt it.
Asker: Who is Abbott carrying water for?
Yes, the “Asker” is not fond of the Citizens For Belknap and what they have done to turn Belknap from Red to Blue.
