Welcome to the Gay State. It’s all up to…

What WILL he do? Now that the Democrat-controlled Senate has followed in their House comrades’ footsteps and passed gay marriage for New Hampshire, the hot potato lands in Gov. Do-Nuthin’s Lynch’s lap. The big question is whether he will remain true to his word and stop this garbage? The NHGOP Chair John H. Sununu puts … Read more

Sarah Palin blows opportunity to shine on national stage

Et tu, Sarah Barracuda? The Juneau Empire.com headline bore the news that pretty much capped an already sad political day for this Granite Stater: Palin to accept most stimulus funds, aide says Oh, great. The one bright spot for conservative Republicans joins the rest of the lemmings diving off the cliff of fiscal reality. Has … Read more

Washington’s Great Bait and Switch

Please note that Bob Bestani is now going to be a regular contributor to the ‘Grok – giving us a bit academic outlook than what Doug and I can.  We are thrilled to have him on board!

Washington’s Great Bait and Switch

In a period when the nation’s trust in government is at a low point, one would think that the new Administration and especially the Congress would at least make an effort at keeping their word. Sadly this was not to be in the largest and most important action they have taken to date – the economic stimulus package. They sold the stimulus package as one that was largely oriented towards the infrastructure and other important public works to rebuild the nation’s crumbling physical base. What emerged was anything but.

Analysts at the Engineering News-Record (ENR) have just finished sifting through the 1,000 page bill that was used to frame the $787 billion in stimulus package – something the House of Representatives neglected to do. What emerged from this careful analysis shows that the stimulus package just approved by the Congress contains merely 16.5% of spending for infrastructure projects.

For all the reasons listed in previous articles by this author, this action is bo th tragic and misguided. At a time when the country’s infrastructure is in need of roughly $2 trillion in new spending, $130 billion is merely a token effort that we will long regret.

Here is how it breaks down according to ENR:
 
TRANSPORTATION [$49.3 billion]

  • Highways: $27.5 billion
  • Transit: $8.4 billion
  • New discretionary grant program: $1.5 billio n for highways, transit, rail, seaports, other projects. U.S. Dept. of Transportation will choose which projects will be funded.
  • Airport Improvement Program construction grants: $1.1 billion
  • Rail: $9.3 billion, including $1.3 billion for Amtrak, $8 billion for high-speed rail
  • Port, transit, rail security: $300 million
  • DHS/Transportation Security Administration: $1 billion to procure, install airport explosives-detection, baggage-scanning equipment
  • Coast Guard, bridge alterations: $142 million
  • Coast Guard, ac quisition, construction, improvements: $98 million

DEFENSE/VETERANS [$7.8 billion]

  • VA: $1.25 billion for hospital and other medical facility construction and upgrades
  • DOD: $4.24 billion for "facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization," includes energy-efficiency improvements, plus repair and modernization of DOD buildings, including medical facilities.
  • DOD: $2.33 billion for facilities projects, including housing, hospitals, child-care centers, other military "quality-of-life" projects.

HOUSING/HUD [$9. 6 billion]

  • HUD Public Housing Capital Fund: $4 billion
  • HUD redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes: $2 billion
  • HUD energy retrofits, "green" projects in HUD-assisted housing projects: $250 million
  • HUD Community Development Block Grants (housing, services, infrastructure): $1 billion
  • HOME investment partnerships: $2.25 billion
  • Lead-paint abatement: $100 million

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Tea Partiers defined

tea party

Most polite "unhinged mob" ever?

Earlier this week New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley characterized the people that attended Tea Parties here in the Granite State and across the country as an “unhinged mob” that “didn’t even know what they were protesting.”   Further, he opined that they appeared to “have lost their minds.” 

Perhaps if Mr. Buckley had spent time actually attending one of the several taking place statewide at different times, or if he got some of his news from someplace other than WMUR or the Concord Monitor, he would have known that the truth was in fact completely opposite from what he claimed—That those in attendance are in fact among the most informed folks around. You know the type, because it’s many of you, my dear readers. And me. Regular people too grounded in reality to get lost in the razzle-dazzle and hoopla that is the Obama Administration as glosses over the spread of poisonous, anti-American ethics and ideas up and down the political food chain. People like you and me that have stopped for a moment and pondered some of the consequences of what we are presently doing. We know you can’t borrow your way out of debt or blindly spend your way into prosperity. Indeed, most of the Tea Party participants are well aware that we are taxed enough already and that there can be a better way.

But of course, Chairman Buckley and his comrades know all this. That’s why they are so fearful of the Tea Party movement growing beyond its respectable numbers demonstrated on April 15th, tax day.  You see, in America, at all levels of government, the power always has– and still does– lie with the people when we exercise our right to vote. We ultimately choose who will govern and wield delegated powers. Sadly, with apathy spread far and wide, too many people, for whatever reasons, choose to opt out. This allows for the political class to more easily work and manipulate the process, often times ending with special interests carrying the day with agendas that run contrary to the beliefs and wishes of most people.

And so it is today here in New Hampshire where, rather than actually grabbing the proverbial bull by the horns and trying to deal with the present economic realities in a frugal, intelligent way, the Democratic majority, with the help of a few of the “usual suspect” Republicans, spends its time restructuring our state’s laws in accordance with the wishes of the very powerful gay network. As the state teeters towards a broad based sales or income tax, our “leaders” down in Concord are making Granite State bathrooms a potential safe refuge for perverts and deviants. While reports indicate our Live Free or Die state checks in with a higher percentage of seat belt usage than our cousins in the Bay State featuring a system of government-mandates and fines, our overlords have decided to sell any free choice in the matter for a few million dollars of federal monies borrowed from the communist Chinese.

This is not what people had hoped for when they voted for change in the last election. Buckley and the Democrats know this. And they know that the people at the Tea Parties know this. What they don’t want is any MORE people coming to realize that what has been happening is very wrong, and could actually destroy everything we cherish. Unfortunately for them, while they might be able to propagandize to a certain degree, thanks in no small part to a compliant mainstream news media, there is only so much they can do to hide the growing amounts of money they are taxing away from peoples’ paychecks. More and more, people are realizing that they are, to use the acronym “TEA”— Taxed Enough Already. 

And that, in a nutshell is what the Tea Party movement is all about:

 

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You just don’t understand…

No, it’s the DEMOCRATS that don’t understand. They might be the majority party, but they don’t represent majority values. Used with the artist’s permission, this pretty much sums up NH’s future if we allow the current "leaders" to have it their way: Bathroom Bill Loophole by D Rano [H/T NH Insider]

Tea Party stops tax increase in its tracks. Unplanned, unscripted, and NOT orchestrated from on high… Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the Tea Party movement and it’s potential!

Woonsocket Tea Party

Mere days after the largest nationwide anti-tax rallies the likes of which haven’t been seen since prior to the start of the American Revolution, the City Council of Woonsocket, RI (Yes, THAT RI, with a sales, income, AND property tax, basically the highest in the country…) stood poised to stick the taxpayers with a "supplemental" tax bill to fund a budget shortfall in it’s school department. Essentially, the property taxpayers– with commercial owners paying 2-1/2 times the rate– would be sent a so-called "5th Quarter" tax bill. Normally, taxes are billed and paid in quarterly payments in the year.

The citizens of that fair old city in Northern Rhode Island have apparently decided that enough is enough and they weren’t going to sit by any longer and get steamrolled with yet another tax. Faced with a new "fee" on trash pickup and steep increases in water and sewer bills, the step of a supplemental tax bill was just a bridge too far. With a head of steam generated at the eleventh hour by angry business people, residential homeowners, and plain citizens, fired up by a spirited local talk radio program a few scant hours before, suddenly,

A TEA PARTY BROKE OUT…

The local paper, The Woonsocket Call described the events:

Harris Hall was so packed that admittance was closed after about 130 spectators filled the room. People were standing against the back walls because there weren’t any more seats left and there was a line of speakers behind the lectern waiting to address the council that snaked out into the foyer. More than two hours after the session began, people were still waiting for their turn to speak, and the council hadn’t even recited the Pledge of Allegiance to mark the formal start of the agenda.

But, points out, it didn’t start there…

[T]he tenor of the meeting actually began on the sidewalk outside, where a gathering of homeowners and proprietors of small businesses waved signs as they waited, before the meeting, for council members to arrive at City Hall. The signs bore slogans that included, “No Supplemental Tax Bill,” and “We Follow Our Budget.”

A sign-toting Jeanne Budnick, proprietor of Pepin Lumber, a family-owned business for generations, said the city should be forced to live within the constraints that everyday property owners and merchants deal with. In difficult economic times like these, Budnick said, another bill for the owners of businesses and homes will only make things worse for people struggling with unemployment, cuts in hours and higher health care costs.

“We all know these are difficult times,” Budnick said . “We’re making cuts left and right. I think it’s time the city lived within its means. We have to live within our means and this supplemental tax bill is the easy way out. It’s one more thing to make people lose their homes and businesses.”

I was able to listen to City Council meeting itself, thanks to the Internet and a local radio station (the City Council stopped simulcasting it’s meetings live– gee, I wonder why? Wink). What a meeting! Many people spoke their piece, the likes of which hasn’t been heard for quite some time. One business owner stated that this unplanned, unexpected, and unbudgeted action means a $3,000 tax bill. Said another hapless taxpayer,

"Too often I’ve sat down and shut up. No more. Now I’m gonna stand up and speak out… I’m angry. I’m frustrated."

Prior to the meeting, the scuttlebutt was that the supplement was a done deal, with a strong majority expected to vote for it. A councilor was heard on the radio one day last week saying the people can come, but it won’t matter. "It’s all just noise."

Tea Time

Really? As the "noise" unfolded, one Councilor changed his mind:

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Who were those guys, anyway?

We don’t often engage in shameless self-promotion, except when circumstances warrant. Both Skip and I were honored to have been asked to address the Tea Party this past Wednesday in Manchester. All my life I’ve wanted to announce the start of a revolution in front of several thousand people. If only I had brandished my … Read more

A primer on the relationship between spending and taxes

The son of the late great Governor Meldrim Thomson, Jr. gives Manchester Tea Party attendees a reminder that taxes and spending are directly related to each other. He warns the present spending by both the state and federal governments are "unsustainable." He also offers Governor Lynch the use of a special tool used by his … Read more

To boldly go where no taxman has gone before…

The road to economic recovery is not paved with new taxes. And yet, Congress is set to end the tax-free Internet. As our friend Jack from the Granite State Patriots noted in an email: Well, we just finished our Tea parties and here comes another outrage. He accompanied it with a link to a FoxNews.com story … Read more

Video: Manchester Tea Party

Here’s a news report you WON’T see in the mainstream. Heh, who needs ’em when we’ve got our "watchdog" on the scene. From the NH Watchdog, AKA Grant Bosse:

Manchester Tea Party: Signs ‘o the times…

One of the bedrock principles our Nation was founded upon is the ability to criticize the government without fear of redress. Many of the folks in attendance at yesterday’s Tea Party in Manchester took full advantage of this basic right… . . . . .   CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?!!   More great pics … Read more

Aerial Footage of Manchester Tea Party

This is some nice video shot from the parking garage to the rear of the main stage of the rally. It was taken just at the start time of 5:30. The crowd kept growing as the event rolled on…     [H/T Now!Hampshire.com]

Tea Party Warm-up Video

This is a good vid that’ll get your juices going as we experience tax day and TEAPARTY DAY: See you in Manchester!

Pics from Manchester Tea Party…

Doug & Skip address the crowd. Reports are there were upwards of 3000 people! More later. Stay tuned for vids…  

Taxpayer Tea Party Agenda Update

taxpayer tea party

NHAC to hold Taxpayer Tea Party with 700 hundred of their closest friends

Concord, NH- The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition in cooperation with cosponsoring groups from across the state will host a NH Taxpayer Tea Party. The Taxpayer Tea Party will include local leaders, who will be speaking, a sign contest for the best sign determined by a judging panel, and a non-perishable food drive to benefit New Horizons.

“The message of these ‘Tea Parties’ is simple, low spending equals low taxes. Our government taxes too much and spends too much; it is time for a real change of attitude in our state house and in our capitol”.

The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition works with grassroots activists across the state on local and state spending issues, and works at the State government level to fight against sales or income tax, the creation of new taxes, and increases in current taxes on New Hampshire Taxpayers.

Sponsors: NHAC, Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, Cornerstone Policy Research, Granite State Taxpayers, Granite State Patriots, GraniteGrok.com, NH Federation of Republican Women, Manchester GOP, NH Citizens for Leadership, Glenn Beck 9-12 Project NH, NH Reagan Network, NH Liberty Alliance, Americans for Prosperity NH, Americans for Limited Government, National Taxpayers Union, Murphy’s Taproom, NSP Graphics and Portsmouth Tea Company

  • Rally with local speakers, sign contest, video contest, non-perishable food drive.
  • April 15th @ 5:30 pm 
  • Victory Park, Manchester NH 119 Concord St.
  • Event Start Time: 5:45 pm
Speaker list, in order of appearance:

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