So, are Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass Conservative heros or zeros for their voting records?

Over at RedState, I learned of this new site, The Madison Project, whose purpose is to measure our Federal Representatives to see if they measure up to their districts.  Put it another way, are they acting as Conservative as their District is, worse, or better.  For instance, if a Rep is very Conservative Republican but is from a very Democrat leaning district, consider them a hero (for as long as they can stay elected, that is).  Or, if they are underperforming (i.e., in a district that is evenly split, but as a Republican, their votes show them to be a squish or vote like a Democrat) consider them a Zero.  Especially when election time comes around:

Worse yet, during every election cycle, nearly every single Republican candidate is quick to promote cherished American values such as free enterprise and individual liberty while out on the campaign trail. However, once elected, a disheartening majority of these elected officials end up abandoning the very principles that got them elected. They talk the conservative talk at home and walk the statist walk in D.C. Worst of all, many of these members of Congress represent strong conservative states and districts. They’ve been able to hide their not-so-conservative performance…until now.

Through conservativevotingrecords.com, the Madison Project is committed to putting an end to this duplicity by exposing Republicans whose liberal voting actions speak louder than their words. Our goal is to give voice to the millions of Americans who demand that their elected representatives govern by conservative values … and to aggressively primary out those that shamelessly pander to them during elections.

Indeed!  So I looked up Frank Guinta (R-NH CD-1) and Charlie Bass (R-NH CD-2; hey didn’t he promise to NOT run this term last time???).  Based on their methodology (using, in part, Club for Growth and Heritage Action scores):

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Data Point – So, are Americans grooving on Public Education Schools

No, Teachers’ unions, you are not the “be all end all” you might think that you are.  In fact, not even close.  Gallup is saying that the jig is up – and getting worse.  I’m afraid that your claims and rhetoric about the mission of public education, and that your emphasis that the ONLY way … Read more

RightOnline 2012 – Breitbart is Here

Breitbart is Here - From RightOnline 2012Plenty of things happened at the RightOnline conference in Las Vegas last weekend but not one of them occurred without the understanding that there was something we all had to do.  Something more important than anything we had done previously.  Wherever we were as bloggers or new media journalists we had to step up our game.

Andrew Breitbart was no longer there to give us a rhetorical kick in the backside or more importantly to simply lead by doing.   Breitbart would no longer be strolling amidst union protesters or walking into NetRoots to challenge the left or their ideas to their faces.   Andrew Breitbart was no longer there to challenge us to do those things.  Or was he?

In reality, Breitbart was everywhere at RightOline, telling us to get off our asses and expose the left for what they are, not just yesterday, or today, but tomorrow and every day after that.  Imploring us to get out of our comfort zones and challenge everything.  Reminding us that all we had to do was show up and they would expose themselves.

It reminded me of the moment when I decided that I was done with my years of lurking on blogs and posting or commenting anonymously.

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Well, it’s about freaking time…..

Looks like the NH Democrat Party is finally following GraniteGrok on Twitter.  Nice to have you aboard – we’ve been waiting for you! You know, this causes me great joy!  Why?  Because with every tweet they read (and post they then go and read), they’ll slowly be pulled, nanometer by nanometer, to the Right.  Or … Read more

Public schools are government schools, government schools are monopolies, and thus…

…government schools don’t work. Did you know that 2,000 high schools in America constitute “‘dropout factories,’ where more than 40% of the freshman class fails to graduate. Most are in poor or minority zip codes wehre kids and parents have no other options. These 2,000 schools produce—if that’s the word—51% of U.S. dropouts.” How can … Read more

EMail Doodlings – Amnesty by ignoring Congress; Rule of Presidential Fiat

Well, my friend Julius emails me from time to time on various topics just because he knows that I.Just.Cannot.Resist in either to let him grumble a tad (hey, we all do it, right) or he wishes to push a button of mine to see what comes out.  This one, I’m not sure which one he was aiming for so here goes:

Hi Skip – I trust Father’s Day was kind to you, and you didn’t have to work

I have mixed feelings about this article, and was wondering what your take was.  I would normally welcome anyone willing to work and pay taxes vs someone who wants their unemployment benefits extended.  After all, who doesn’t want more workers willing to pay taxes? We can only hope Romney will reduce the 99 wk benefits back to 26…

PS – here’s hoping OH makes progress toward becoming an income-tax-free state.

The link he sent was (in part, go read the whole thing) this:

Obama’s move on immigration is an unconstitutional disaster for the unemployed

President Obama thwarted the will of Congress and shunned the 20 million under-employed and unemployed Americans by announcing he will grant work permits to 2 million to 3 million illegal immigrants.

This appears to be an unconstitutional fiat that not only usurps congressional authority to set immigration policy but directly contradicts what Congress has already decided. The president suggests that his new policy is designed to enact as much of the DREAM Act amnesty as possible because Congress hasn’t acted on its own.  But Congress indeed has acted — three times in votes that rejected granting these illegal aliens the legal residency and work permits that the president now says he will deal out all by himself    Sure, the kids either came here under protest (few kids want to leave their friends behind) or outright dragged with their parents.

Some thoughts:

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NH House Redistricting Plan Stands

The State Supreme Court does not believe the redistricting plan passed by the State legislature violates the State Constitution.

PER CURIAM. These consolidated cases are before us on interlocutory transfer without ruling from the Superior Court (Brown, J.). See Sup. Ct. R. 9. The petitioners, New Hampshire voters and the towns and municipalities in which some of them live, seek a declaration that Laws 2012, chapter 9, the law redistricting the New Hampshire House of Representatives (the Plan), violates the State Constitution. We conclude that such a declaration is unwarranted.

Emphasis Mine.

I confess that I am not familiar with all the intricacies of the debate, but whenever the State Supreme Court opts out of meddling with something a majority of the elected legislature has passed–and then passed again after the Democrat Governor vetoed it–it is usually a good day.

But it gets better.

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Income Inequality On The Left…Where’s the Outrage?

Where is The Liberal OutrageFrom the Desk of two for one, we have reports that some of the “protesters” showing up at Romney events are getting paid to heckle the candidate.  Now I have no problem with that.  People need jobs, and it is nice to see the union spending its money (maybe even our money) on the legal act of protest,  just as long as they are filing out the proper state and federal forms I say go team Marx.

Let’s just be clear that this is AstroTurf™.  And let us also admire (perhaps ‘bask’ is a better word) in the inconvenient hypocrisy resulting from the unveiling of another case of faux-protest, plastic-grass, left wing activism with an income inequality twist.  Apparently the  left wing protesters who admitted to being paid to disrupt the Romney event are  receiving substantially different sums of compensation.

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It’s Time for the IRS to visit the NHCAA

I just mentioned this, about Shaheen asking the IRS to go after 501(c) (4) groups, and look what falls into my lap.

Historically, the IRS has stayed out of politically charged battles over campaign spending. But lately the agency appears to be giving nonprofits a closer look. IRS rules permit 501(c)(4) social welfare groups to engage in politics, but not if it’s their “primary purpose.”

An Exempt Organizations Division work plan for fiscal 2011 outlines a new project examining the activities of 501(c)(4) groups. A recent IRS move to strip a nonprofit known as Emerge America and its local affiliates of their tax-exempt status has alarmed some in the nonprofit sector. The agency’s explanation to the group, which helps elect Democratic female candidates, hints that overly partisan organizations may not pass the “primary purpose” test.

I think the IRS is being used to harass legitimate non-profit activities, but…I also think that Sarah Warner’s New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action PAC fails to pass the smell test.  They have only ever advocated for Carol Shea-Porter for Congress making it their primary political purpose.  Based on his article they are in violation of the law.

Anyone out there interested in bringing this to the IRS’ attention?  (Please?)

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Not So Fine

Obama has a lot of problems, but for most of us, it’s just the economy that is not doing fine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7VLSnI2DAw&feature=player_embedded

Heckling, you say….

Somehow, when it is a Republican President, journalists are doing their job…. (H/T: Liberal Logic)

When Progress Now Speaks – No One Should Listen

Zandra Rice Crispy-Treats Hawkins (ZRCTH) was on WGIR AM 610’s Political Roundtable the other morning with Andrew Manuse, Andrew in Studio, Zandra by phone–a strategic move that allowed her to suck up all of Andrew’s time because Andrew (in my opinion) was too polite to just talk over her.  And Suck she did. But she is trained to suck.  As the Progress Now sock puppet in New Hampshire she follows their plan to use whatever language is necessary to dupe the people in New Hampshire into embracing the Liberal/statist tax and spend agenda.

ProgressNow State Partners serve as non-stop, multi-issue advocacy organizations. Year-round, we promote progressive ideas and causes with creative earned media strategies, targeted email campaigns, and cutting-edge new media.

…

Political campaigns are relatively short-lived; they come and they go, leaving little behind of lasting value. ProgressNow’s presence in our states never ends.

…

ProgressNow State Partners excel in this area. Each ProgressNow State Partner organization has full-time staff who are experts in media communications, online campaigns, earned media and new media.

Put simply, ProgressNow (funded by progressive millionaires with more money than the Koch brothers) supports the state partners (like ZRCTH) and trains them to be experts in left wing propaganda tactics across all forms of media, with an emphasis on using local issues to advance national Democrat statist party goals.

So how did that work out?

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Paul Krugman on Greece: It’s Europe’s Fault!

“Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.”  —Herbert Hoover

Paul Krugman of the New York Times

Paul  Krugman over at the New York Times is an unapologetic Statist, Keynesian and Progressive liberal who does well to technicratically argue for strong centralized governments in the area of economics. Krugman is an ardent advocate for income redistribution through governmental means (by force) and a closet anti-capitalist. In plain words, “A Marxist.” Chances are you already knew that about Paul Krugman, but hey…I just like to point it out. Call it my way of yet again putting my thumb into the eye of the rank and file Kool-Aid drinkers out there in liberal land.

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RightOnline Reloaded

I’m still getting my bearings but here’s a picture of the New Hampshire contingent at RightOnline.  The State was well represented.

GrokTV Special Interview: Josh Youssef for NH State Senate. Question 9: Proper Role of Government – Too big, just right, or too small?

Of course, my favorite question has to be wedged in somewhere during an interview, and with Josh Youssef, it was (and is) the last question of the series.  One of the most telling differences between Statists / Big Government folks and Conservatives / Liberty and Freedom folks is what their idea of what Government is … Read more

GrokTV Event: Part 4 – Jack Kimball and Carson Springer on Sustainable Communities Initiative / Granite State Future Plan

Last Wednesday, Diane Bitter (Chair, Rye Republicans) decided to hold a meeting on the “Sustainable Communities Initiative” here in NH.  Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Fed. Department of Transportation, and the Fed. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it seemingly is becoming a way to Federalize our local communities by first entering with “free … Read more

G20 and Comrade Obama

“Collective states are constitutionally incapable of reliably producing anything but corpses.” —L. Neil Smith

Needing an economic boost, President Barack Obama goes to the G20 Summit in Mexico…hat in hand…looking for some commitments  from the European Leaders, trying to land assurances that Europe is fomenting a plan to bolster markets and prevent Europe’s challenges from sucking the rest of the world into its’ economic abyss. Hypocritically, Comrade Obama pressed the Euro-socialist leaders to hasten economic demand,  while the Europeans want Obama to promise the United States won’t fiscally tank at the close of 2012.

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The Worldwide Decline of Democracy: Post-liberalism and the emergence of “Pre-liberal” democracy

And now, coming to us courtesy of "post-liberal democracy"...

From today’s Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens opines on what “post-liberal” democracy is bringing to this world. “Much of modern European democracy,” he writes, “is of a post-liberal variety. Post-liberalism seeks to replace the classical liberalism of individual liberty, limited government, property rights and democratic sovereignty with a new liberalism that favors….

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2012 NH Elections – random thoughts on NH Senate District 4

OK, this is going to end up being a VERY busy summer season doing and talking politics here in NH.  Some of the events will be full blown posts, and some will just be a couple of thoughts.   NH Senate District 4 is open – no incumbents.  Republican Phyllis Woods (former NH State Rep and RNC Committeewoman)  and Democrat David Watters (UNH Professor and NH State Rep).  So, what’s going on?  Well, Ray Buckley is burning off his fingertips on Twitter – showing his real personality.

  • Right out of the box, Ray “Hitler should have bombed them” Buckley, NHDP Chair, immediately started in with the ad hominen attacks (I keep looking – there has GOT to be some sub-sub clause in there that causes the Dems to immediately have to resort to such – no other ideas or clues as to what to do, I guess); on Twitter:

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