Grokster Delivers NH TeaParty Note to Rhode Island Compatriots

 

I had the honor to be asked to speak at the Rhode Island 9/12 Project’s September 12 rally in Providence on the State House steps. Below is the speech I delivered, and the note I read to our RI brothers and sisters from the NH TeaParty Coalition, along with a few pics. It wasn’t Washington DC, but the messages, and the enthusiasm were the same. People I had conversations with were shocked to hear that NH is talking an income tax and forced sick pay for businesses of 10 or more people.
 
I assured them that the big government/ big spending sickness afflicting them and Washington is  affecting us here in the Granite State, too.

All in all, we felt like we were here in NH, listening to the messages and reading the signs. Different states, maybe, but we are all on the same page. That is the amazing thing about the Tea Party movement all across America. Nobody needs to be "organized." Those who take part simply know what to do. Liberty is at stake and must be defended…

RI Tea Party.RI Tea Party

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When I was asked to speak here today, I thought, what am I going to say? After all, I left this state, the state of my birth and youth, to create a new life with my young family nearly 25 years ago. But, the great people of the movement to preserve liberty here in Rhode Island saw fit to invite me, so here goes. After all, we’re all Americans, no matter where we might happen to live. It’s a great honor to be here, and I am humbled for the opportunity to speak at this event as we stand in solidarity with like-minded fellow citizens gathered down in the Nation’s capitol, and all across this great land today.

A few words about myself—I was born in Woonsocket, raised in Cumberland, and was schooled by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart at Mount Saint Charles. Those were the good old days–ones in which worries about losing freedom and squandering the precious and fragile gifts bequeathed us by the Founders never really entered my mind. And why should it have, really? I was a young American pursuing life, liberty, and happiness as the Founders intended. In his famous work, Democracy in America, the famed Frenchman Alexis DeTocqueville remarked that 

“Nothing is more striking to a European traveler in the United States, than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration.”

And so it was, at least for me, at that time.

 

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The “lion’s” final partisan shot…

   Guest Post by Michael Swartz When the Massachusetts legislature next convenes it’s possible that their very first order of business will be to complete the final chapter in the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s legacy and preserve the precious 60-seat majority the Democrats currently hold in the Senate. The story dates back to 2004. Senator … Read more

Sen Jeb Bradley: When Dems tout “truth and responsibility” while talking about the budget, they mean taxes

 

Guest Post by State Senator Jeb Bradley 

Budget Storm Clouds Looming 

The ink is barely dry on the New Hampshire budget signed into law by Governor Lynch on June 30. Only 2 months have elapsed in the 24 month spending blueprint, but problems Republicans warned about are intensifying like a hurricane ready to make landfall. More ominously, a Plan B strategy dealing with budget problems is not even discussed in the polite company of Democratic legislative leaders.  In fact the chair of the House Finance Committee said publically a Budget Plan B is not even necessary.

Here is why Budget Plan B is more urgent every day. Tax revenues are well below expectations.  When the budget was negotiated among House and Senate Democratic leaders, a funding gap between desired spending and available revenue was papered over when budget negotiators inflated revenue expectations by $75 million in the dark of night. Observers warned this $75 million was optimistic. Two months into the budget, those warnings are reality. Action needs to be taken now but Democratic leaders seem smug with happy talk that the budget will magically balance.

Here are the facts: July’s revenue was $4.7 million below expectations.  August was even worse with total revenues $17.6 million below expectations. Rooms and meals was $3.7 million under estimates – even after the tax was increased from 8% to 9%. Tobacco taxes were $2 million less than predicted – even after a huge 45 cent increase on a pack of cigarettes.  Business revenues were off by nearly $3 million.

To be fair, the July and August $22.3 million revenue hole needs to be taken in the context of not being historically large revenue months. However, September’s revenue figures will be a bell-weather as many businesses and individuals make estimated quarterly payments.  If September underperforms and continues the July / August trend, New Hampshire is staring down the gun barrel of a very large revenue deficit.  And no one should forget that the $22.3 million hole comes despite 38 new or increased taxes or fees in this budget.

Revenue deficits are only one part of the problem. The state is in a losing streak in court cases. Superior Court Justice Diane Nicolosi ruled in favor of the New Hampshire Health Care Association and blocked the State from keeping $9 million that nursing homes claim they are entitled to.  Belknap County Superior Court Justice Kathleen McGuire ruled that a budget provision, which transferred $110 million from a fund controlled by the Joint Underwriting Association to the State’s General Fund to balance the budget, is unconstitutional.

Justice McGuire’s well researched, clearly written and completely unambiguous ruling, held that the politicians who supported this proposed $110 million transfer, are in violation of both the ‘takings’ and ‘contracts’ clauses of the New Hampshire Constitution and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

While the State has appealed Justice McGuire’s decision, nobody in Concord —- except the Democratic cheerleaders who proposed this $110 million sleight of hand transfer —- believe the state will win the appeal.

A third lawsuit is about to be filed by the New Hampshire Municipal Association over the budget downshifting of state expenses to towns and cities. The Municipal Association has estimated the downshift will increase local property taxes by $90 million which is why nearly 150 towns and over 50 school districts will join this lawsuit.

 

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A warning to New Hampshire

  Just in from Paul Jacobs, who notes in the latest edition of Common Sense: Connecticut used to be one of the go-to places for escaping state income taxes. But in 1991, Governor Lowell Weicker hatched the novel idea of burdening Connecticut residents with the same direct tax on income with which Americans have been saddled … Read more

People Died. Obama Lied.

  Why am I not surprised? From the Yid With Lid: Do you remember how the US had a fit when Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the terrorist responsible for the Lockerbie bomber was released? Well apparently the POTUS knew all along, and the British government is not playing along.  They have told Obama to quit bitching … Read more

Pulling the trigger on socilaized healthcare: “If Olympia falls for the Snowe-job, she will do so knowing full well that her sell-out is a charade.”

  Olympia Snowe-job
Guest Post by Robert Romano

As bipartisan negotiations in the Senate have failed to trick Republicans into supporting a vigorous government-run takeover of the entire health care system, Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are making a last ditch effort to sway at least one Republican member: Olympia Snowe of Maine.

Reports CNN Politics,

“For the past months, Snowe has been pushing the idea of a safety net plan, or ‘trigger,’ for a public health care option as part of a key compromise. A source familiar with her negotiations with Obama said that’s one of the things they’re talking about…The idea would give insurance companies a defined period to make changes in order to help cover more people and drive down long-term costs. But if those changes failed to occur within the defined period, a trigger would provide for creating a public option to force change on the insurance companies.”

Concern over a government-run medical system has galvanized citizens nationwide in opposition to let their voices be heard in town halls. And they’ve left the members of Congress ducking for cover. The political damage has been so extensive that Barack Obama is preparing an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to in yet another attempt to sell his latest scheme for ObamaCare.

According to FOX News, White House aides have said that Obama

“will deliver the message that Democrats are willing to go it alone if it cannot get Republicans behind it.”

The joke is that he does not actually need a single Republican vote to pass what he wants if his own party would just rally behind him.

The true trouble that ObamaCare faces is that Democrats believe that they are on a political Titanic—and vulnerable members in both chambers are stampeding to get to the lifeboats.

The reason Democrats want Snowe—or somebody like her—is so they can parade her around as the token Republican brokering a grand compromise, thus providing what they believe is political cover. And so, now they are ready to give Snowe what she has been asking for: a delayed implementation of the government takeover of the health care system in exchange for selling out her own party.

And if Olympia falls for the Snowe-job, she will do so knowing full well that her sell-out is a charade. After all, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already played the socialist hand.

 

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Paid Activism. It’s good work, I guess, if you can get it. “Let’s Do a Chant!”

So I’m at the Carol Shea Porter town hall style meeting in Portsmouth last Saturday, and, while watching the passing scene, I started to notice a few people that appeared to be "working" the crowd pretty heavily. Following the event, there was quite a spectacle out front that made for some interesting political street theater. Many … Read more

Hodes: I believe it’s important to be open and accessible”

  Here’s a video showing NH’s 2nd Congressional District representative Paul Hodes taking heat before and after press conference for not allowing constituents accessibility in an open town hall style meeting. With the canned response obviously stuck in his head, the hard to find Democratic Congressman claims he has "spoken to thousands of constituents in … Read more

Gang of Six, ObamaCare DOA?

Obama Health Care 

Guest Post by Robert Romano 

The wheels have come off the wagon.

As reported by the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, “The Gang of Six Appears to be Dead,” and the overall death of ObamaCare cannot be far behind.

If one recalls, the Gang of Six was the posse that had strolled through the dusty streets of the District of Columbia, promising a so-called “bipartisan” plan on health care. It was one of those grand compromises that feels just like a knife in the backs of the American people. But now the Gang has turned in their spurs—and the members have returned to their formative partisan camps.

The Gang had included Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Mike Enzi (R-WY). Said the Baucus Kid on Monday, “I talked to them, and they all want to do health care reform. But the sad part is a lot politics have crept in. They are being told by the Republican Party not to participate.”

But really, there’s a lot more to it than that. The lack of compromise in the Senate in particular is the end result of an overall public backlash to Barack Obama’s government-run health care scheme—and the “politics that crept in was the grassroots variety in total opposition to the Administration’s plans for no less than a complete takeover of the nation’s entire health system.

Remember, it was not so long ago that Barack Obama and his own grizzly gang were demanding that Congress pass socialized medicine into law before the August recess. Before anyone even had the chance to read it (including members of Congress).

Nancy Pelosi was just sure of it. “We will be on schedule to do as we have planned to vote for this legislation before we leave for the August recess,” she proclaimed breathlessly.

So was Harry Reid. “We are going to do health care before we leave,” he pronounced after being kicked in the guts by Obama at a Capitol Hill meeting.

When questioned about the rush, Obama said it was “because if you don’t set a deadline in this town, nothing happens.” This from a man who had barely been in town long enough to find his way to the Capitol men’s room.

 

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Playing Congressional Whack-A-Mole. Hard to catch Hodes eludes NH players…

2nd CongressionalDistrict Representative (and aspiring US Senator) Democrat Paul Hodes continues his elusive ways as he seeks to avoid getting "whacked" by angry constituents. From the NHGOP: HODES LETS DOWN NEW HAMPSHIRE, WON’T HOLD TOWN HALL MEETINGS Embattled Congressman Won’t Hold Traditional, Face-To-Face Meeting With Voters CONCORD – The Union Leader (9/2) reports that Paul Hodes announced … Read more

Breaking News: About that “big” Move-On.org rally… er, never mind!

  The email breathlessly announced the big happening scheduled for today: We Can’t Afford to Wait Vigil We’re organizing "We can’t afford to wait" vigils nationwide just days before members of Congress return to Washington, to make sure they know that an overwhelming majority of voters are counting on them to act quickly to pass health care reform. … Read more

Man ejected from Town Hall forum by Shea Porter gets chance to speak at Guinta event

Carl Tomanelli, the retired veteran and NYC policeman from Londonderry who Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter had removed from her Manchester Town Hall meeting on Saturday finally got to speak his mind without disruption Monday evening in a forum hosted by Mayor Frank Guinta. First, the Shea-Porter fiasco:      What a difference a couple days makes. … Read more

You’d think a public servant would be more inclined to “hear” from the people. Not Carol Shea Porter

 Yesterday I attended the so called "town hall meeting" with our Congresswoman, Carol Shea Porter in Manchester.  Let me first start off by saying, the venue she chose could only hold 100 people.  While there were two scheduled "town hall meetings" Saturday, both had a limited capacity.

Knowing that town hall meetings have been packed across this country over this issue, it was disappointing that she chose a venue that held such a small amount of her constituents.  It left many wondering if she simply wanted to make the argument that she had a town hall without really giving her constituents the opportunity to voice their questions/concerns.
 
This was proven again once the town hall meeting began.  Ms. Shea Porter began by asking two individuals to tell their personal stories of how they felt disenfranchised by the health care or insurance industry.  This took a valuable 20 minutes in a ONE hour town hall meeting. 
 
We were given tickets and those who were able to ask a question did so if they were chosen in a lottery type of system.  I felt this was a fair way to draw questions.  Each person was given 2 minutes to ask their question and/or voice their concerns.  Again, I felt that was a fair amount of time. 
 
About 20 minutes after the meeting began and after listening to her chosen speakers, people were allowed to ask their questions if their number was drawn.  One thing I observed throughout this meeting was, how much Carol Shea Porter loves to hear herself speak.  With a limited amount of time, I would have thought a public servant would be more inclined to "HEAR" from the people, rather than sell us this legislation.  That was not the case.  It was her opportunity to sell this legislation to the people rather than hear from her constituents.
 
AS the questions FINALLY began, I noticed people had 2 minutes to ask the question, but Carol Shea Porter took several minutes to answer them.   Because she rambled on with each answer, only a precious few questions were asked.  Some of the people attending were clearly getting irritated by her long-winded answers, knowing they had little chance of speaking .
 
While a few of those chosen to speak seemed to favor a govt. run option, the majority appeared to be in opposition. At one point, the lady sitting next to me, having worked in the health care industry asked what was being done to bring down costs, for instance, by addressing things like Tort Reform.

Ms. Shea Porter’s answer seemed to imply that while Tort Reform is not included in the bill, it wasn’t that important, either.  She referred to Texas and quoted stats that made it "APPEAR" as if Tort Reform wasn’t working in Texas. 

AS I sat there with my information in hand on how Tort Reform WAS working in Texas, I could clearly see she was not giving people all of the facts.  A few minutes later, I was one of the rare few to be called upon.

Standing up and referring to her misleading statements on Texas Tort Reform, I read from the post I wrote last week here on GraniteGrok, Hey Carol, DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS and quoted the excellent op-ed from the San Francisco Examiner:

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Carol Shea Porter: “Not going back and forth on the Constitution”

Here is 1st CD Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter –in response to a question at Saturday’s Portsmouth, NH town hall meeting– reading a prepared statement provided for her as to why nationalizing the health care system and mandating insurance is, in fact, Constitutional. This comes days after a blunder in which she took heat for claiming the Constitution … Read more

Perhaps they should just have a big cup full?

Congresswoman Shea Porter calls attendees at Seacoast GOP gathering "teabaggers." Buckles the Clown, AKA Dem Party Chair Ray Buckley calls Jack Kimball, who will be announcing a bid for the GOP nomination for Governor, part of the "radical fringe." Both know NOTHING about the people they criticize. It’s no surprise Ms. Che Porter would say such a thing, … Read more

VIDEO: Carol Shea Porter on socialism: We are not going in that direction

During Carol Shea Porter’s town hall meeting today in Portsmouth, one questioner asked about the corrupt government in Washington run by unelected czars and what she was going to do about the loss of liberty. I guess Congresswoman Shea-Porter doesn’t see much news, being so busy travelling the state and meeting with constituents, because she … Read more

Framed!

From our friends at Americans for Limited Government…  

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