Data Point – Selling those electric cars

As I pointed out here, President Obama has decided that: With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. That’s 4 years for now.  Thinking that’s about a quarter million cars / year, that … Read more

Moultonborough, NH edition: Scary leanings of Teachers

As I pointed out here, there seems to be a side of teachers to believe that they are of more importance to a child’s well being and success than their parents.  Yes, I know about how some parents are doing the best they could (according to teachers) to help their kids through school and the like; I get that.  Having run a daycare center, I saw it first hand and gently shook my head at some parents.  But that was a minority, a real small minority of parents.

Sidenote: Sometimes, parents give up trying to help.  I’ll admit – I’m not a math major as I only got through multi-variate calculus and I do computers instead of my major, biology (where I concentrated on energy transfers within sub-cellular mechanisms).  I figured that SURE, I can help my kids with their math and science homework.  But I’ll tell you, all I ever got was “THAT’s not how my teacher teaches me!”.  And when I finally figured out the cockamamie way it was being done, I finally learned why Johnnie and Janie can’t read and make change in the 7-11; I admit, I stopped trying to “help” my kids – it caused more problems than it solved.  It brought back memories of trying to teach a Education student what Y=MX+b was.

But I would never, not even in my wildest dreams of megalomania or delusions of being “Emperor for the World for a Week”, would presuppose to believe that I was better for their kids than they were – my staff were paid to watch over and teach age appropriate lessons.  Never did I think that we were that important to believe that we should or could supplant parents.

Unfortunately, like the teachers in that post, there are others that need to relearn that lesson – like these words uttered by teachers in Moultonborough, NH back in October, whose words were similar to that of the WI teachers:

…students are WAY ahead of the times, way ahead of parents on multiple issues especially when it comes to openness and sexuality…I disagree with having parent being allowed in.  I think that students are willing to talk about this because they have different views than their parents…a huge disservice to the community and the school.

And I wonder why they have different views…as another teacher admitted (also speaking against letting parents into that workshop:

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#2 Semi-Occasional Quote: Democrats brought us to this….

From Red Meat Conservative via RedState.com:  As we prepare for battle over budget and entitlement reform, we must remember who originally orchestrated our fiscal ruin. We must ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. Let’s punish the plunderers, not the new generation of taxpayers. To be sure, Republicans must share the blame: They have been complicit—and … Read more

Local Fish Wrapper Concord Monitor Editorial On Asylums And Witch Hunts

When assertions come to the forefront accusing the government and the courts of corruption, misconduct and oppression…and those assertions are made by those who might be well-considered, “conservative,” those people are wing nuts…nut jobs, extremists, fascists and, as the Concord Monitor characterizes them, “Witch Hunters.”

JudgesGoneBad_Grok.jpg

And, when accusations of government of corruption, court misconduct and oppression are made by those who of a liberal progressive bent, suddenly the conversation devolves into the plight of the poor oppressed and persecuted individuals and their plight before a corrupt right wing government consisting of the, “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Oligarchy,”…usually followed by the requisite hue and cry, “We must rise up and stick it to, ‘the man.'”

How an issue is couched depends largely on one’s world view. But to read the Concord Monitor editorial, accepting what is written at face value, one might easily opine that the actions of Representatives Itse, Ingbretson, Baldasaro and Seidel are patently without merit. But in typical liberal fashion, the editorial staff at CM banks its assertions on the notion that people are not going to critically think about what is being done in the name of justice and accept their notion that this is nothing more than a witch hunt.

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Smoking Weed With Dignity

Chuck Weed is back again to take another shot at the death with dignity bill. This year it is called HB531 and according to this morning’s paper it is about to die without much dignity. I think we can call that smoking Weed. (Sorry medical marijuana advocates, this is not a story about pot.)

MicroInterview: author Dr. Tom E. Woods

Dr. Tom Woods is the author of 11 books, holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard and a Masters of Philosophy and Ph.D from Columbia University.  A senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, ("…the world center of the Austrian School of economic [free markets] and libertarian political and social theory…". He is … Read more

Press Release: Congress Frank Guinta on the Continuing Resolution

For Immediate ReleaseContact:  J. Mark Powell(202) 226-8530 GUINTA STATEMENT ON A SHORT-TERM CONTINUING RESOLUTION “I won’t vote for a stopgap spending bill that doesn’t contain meaningful cuts in federal spending.” (Washington – February 28, 2011)    Rep. Frank Guinta (NH-01) released the following statement on a short-term Continuing Resolution. Background:    On February 19th, the House passed … Read more

House Bill 29: What we have here, is failure to communicate

Upon reading the House Journal Majority report on this Bill, I am reminded of Strother Martin’s line in Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here…is failure tomonkeygun.jpg communicate…” House Bill 29, was deemed “Inexpedient to Legislate” this past week for reasons that can be best characterized as, “Bizarre.” The bill was an adjustment to the N.H. RSA 159:6-c which addresses Appeal, denial and Revocation of pistol and revolver licenses. Under current law, such actions are heard only in District Court.

In writing for the majority, State Representative Larry Gagne confusingly writes, “RSA 159:6-c was designed to allow a denial to be heard in a district court. This allows the applicant to appeal the decision of the issuing authority either pros or cons with an attorney.” I haven’t the foggiest idea what this means! The Bill has nothing to do with the particular merits of a denial or revocation of a pistol revolver license. Moreover, this bill has absolutely nothing to do with the representation an appellant has or does not have in seeking a remedy under this chapter. HB 29 deals instead with the “forum” in which a remedy is sought from denial or revocation.

Representative Gagne in reporting for the majority continues, “If the issuing authority did not follow the procedure outlined in RSA 159:c, License to Carry, the procedure then is outlined in RSA 159:6-d, which allows the applicant to file in superior court…”

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The RLCNH Report: Be Sure to Sign the Anti-Groping Petition!

February 27, 2011: Your weekly access to happenings in legislative committees. Is this email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser.   The RLCNH Report  | subscribe to this list    ACTION ALERT!  Stop TSA Sexual Assault! Victims of sexual predators and women who have had mastectomies may be the loudest group to complain about the TSA … Read more

Two Congressmen And A Free Throw

HR 1 The US House just finished it’s work on HR1, cleaning up after democrats who in 2010 abrogated yet another  obligation when they found themselves incapable of writing the budget they really wanted right before an election.

The liberal-progressives wanted more spending but that was not politically advantageous.  And since the single driving-force behind all Democrat decisions is politics the budget got relegated to the back of the bus, where the electorate’s short attention spans were meant to forget that democrats were never fiscally conscious representatives–they just tried to play them on the campaign trail. 

But avoiding the high profile budget battle was more evidence that they had something to hide. The Democrat House majority was appropriately sedated and placed under observation, while the Senate saw minor adjustments but no change in leadership.  So the process of changing our spending ways would still have to go through a Democrat controlled Senate and across the desk of a President who thinks the words "spending cuts" are just a rhetorical flourish used to provide cover for more spending.

Obama’s budget is proof enough of that.

But Obama only proposes a budget.  The House is in charge of spending.  So the new Republican congress went to the back seat of the Hopey-changey bus and picked up the budget obligations abandoned by the 111th congress.  This wwas a free shot at changing the fiscal direction of the country before writing their own first official budget, which was not due until later in 2011.  It was a gimme, a free throw, but one that had to survive the democrat Senate and the Spender in Chief.

So how did it turn out?

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Obama and Jobs

President Obama says he is focusing on jobs.  Is that good or bad?  In 2009 and 2010 he said he would “focus like a laser” on jobs.  Yet we suffer from the longest high unemployment since the great depression with no end in sight.   


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The Economic Power Of New Hampshire

I’m a strong supporter of Vermont’s sovereign right to hold the line on taxes, and for them to try because of New Hampshire–well, it doesn’t get much better than that. It is as if we are projecting economic power throughout the region.

Nationwide Union Protest a Flop. But Not to the Lamestream Media

Failure. The rapacious, greedy, plundering unions failed. Good. From the excellent Legal Insurrection blog, a few words about the national protests that were supposed to occur in support of the public employee unions in Wisconsin: The 50-state protest was a failure, plain and simple, although the images from Madison may create the false impression of massive … Read more

The intersection of public employee unions and politics: We Win.

Something quite unusual is happening in New Hampshire. To coin a phrase, you could say that "a spectre is haunting New Hampshire—the spectre of freedom from the rapacious political classes." In politics, the conventional wisdom says that "the most organized group wins." That is, the group that can turn out the most warm bodies "on the street" will ultimately prevail. This is false: The ability to put bodies on the street…

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Speaking of dogs…uh…this IS a dog, right?

And what’s he smiling about? And what’s that up in the upper right hand corner? h/t to Mackenzie Condon’s blog, Look Mom. (Original source: Weirdfriends.)

TEA Party influence? Certainly!

Seated is Bill O’Brien – Speaker of the NH House – signing the first bill of this session (and the first bill as Speaker).  Mazel Tov!

But what was more interesting was the picture Gadsden Flag (the adopted icon of the TEA Party movement) behind him.  According to Seth Cohn, the signatures are of those new folks from the Liberty & Freedom wing of the Republican Party (among others) that helped to vote him into the Speakership.

I’ve listened to the jounalist based pundits here in NH that stated that most people here in NH voted for anyone with an R after their name (as opposed to D in 2006 & 2008), yet, they admit that these "less conservative voters" certainly did vote for candidates that espoused much more conservative (and in many cases, much more libertarian) than themselves.  I wondered about that statement – was it true?  Or whether this was part of the TEA Party movement ramifications that has, in part, caught up the general public?

No, not in the overall fervor and sturm und drang, but more in the question of "where is this country and state headed?".  Is this our heritage – what ARE our founding principles?

And a backlash NOT just against Democrats, but the overall sliding of the Dems to the Left (aka, Progressive socialism) even as many Republicans didn’t move to the Right but burrowed down to bedrock fundamentals like archeologists seeking buried truths (or miners, seeking that shiny gold and sparkling diamonds of limited govt, individual freedom, and self-reliance)?

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GrokTALK! – after thoughts…

During yesterday’s GrokTALK! show, we discussed the Right To Work bill  (HB 474) making its way through the NH Legislature.  After the show, I received this from GrokTALK! listener, Barbara: "…why does the public sector think they deserve a pension when pensions have largely been eliminated for the private sector?" Here were my 10 quick … Read more

Belknap County – Employee Compensation

The "invisible" level of government in NH is that at the County level – most people "get" their local town or city level, and at the State.  How often, though, do people know about County level? Or that their NH Representatives (their "County Delegation") not only help set the spending at the State level, but at the County level as well.  Sure, the Commissioners help to craft the budget, but it is the NH Reps from that County that finalize it.

And here in Belknap County, as with all levels of Government, the largest expenditure is always labor.  Here is the total compensation (thanks to loyal reader Tom) we "bosses" pay our employees (after all, it is we taxpayers that hire and fire, and set the compensation of, our employees via our elected politicians).

So, fellow bosses – you good with what we are paying?  Or are some a bit out of line in your thinking? I’ve also sorted the data other ways as well, but I have one OBVIOUS question:  WHY are these two positions paid so high?

Citizens Council Director 104,229 7,604 111,833
Economic Dev Council Director 100,840 9,036 109,876

Remember – your property taxes pay these levels of compensation – and as you mull that question over, ask yourself, in this time of economic distress, my favorite question:

What is the Proper Role of Government?

And are these kinds of positions "absolutely necessary" – or "nice to have when thing are flush, rich, dumb, and happy?" Remember – the "invisible level of government" – did you know these folks got this?  Do you even know what they do???

Hey, you in the other Counties!  Send me your numbers – do a Right To Know if you have to!  Let’s find out who has the highest numbers!

Note: I think a couple of the position’ numbers are not quite right – that the benefit level is the same as the wages – am checking into that.

Annul Compensation Report Fiscal Year: 2009 – 2009
Gross County Paid Total
Department Description Wages Benefits Compensation





NH – Administration Social Services Director 63,267 63,267 126,535
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse 103,139 21,300 124,439
Dept of Corrections Superintendent 98,948 24,755 123,702
Finance Chief Administrator & Finance Officer 92,373 24,737 117,110
Citizens Council Director 104,229 7,604 111,833
Economic Dev Council Director 100,840 9,036 109,876
County Attorney County Attorney 89,164 19,852 109,016
Sheriffs Dept Deputy 80,554 26,274 106,828
Administrator Administrator 86,649 19,353 106,001
NH – Administration Director of Nursing 79,687 23,672 103,359
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse – F/T 76,285 22,748 99,032
NH – Nursing – RN Registered Nurse – F/T 76,862 18,469 95,331
NH – Nursing – LPN Licensed Practical Nurse – F/T 74,751 18,657 93,409
Sheriffs Dept Deputy 67,080 25,042 92,122
Sheriffs Dept Sheriff 74,968 16,579 91,547
Dept of Corrections Correction Officer 45,593 45,593 91,186
Sheriffs Dept Sergeant 65,806 24,880 90,686
Dept of Corrections Registered Nurse 72,038 18,407 90,444
Sheriffs Dept Sergeant 69,332 20,741 90,072

Rest are after the jump:

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