News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
While putting in a few hours at the Concord GOP tent at Concord Market Days at the request of a fellow Team Lily member, I got to talk to several known people, like Reps Alvin See and Matthew Pitaro, and County Commissioner Lovlien. I also got to meet 2 of the 3 candidates for county … Read more
We’ve been teasing this here or there for weeks, but the time has come. Starting July 1, for every $50 to GraniteGrok, supporters can choose one PDF edition from the entire Bare Minimum Books collection by Ian Underwood. 19 books. Short. Provocative. Deeply thought-provoking. For each 50$ of support you can request another thought provoking … Read more
Legislation was passed in my town of Kingston during the March election and recently at the NH State House offering “tax caps” as a solution to exploding town and school budgets. These measures – while tempting – resemble the “price controls” economists normally condemn. Economists routinely oppose price ceilings. The best outcomes are achieved when … Read more
At the request of Gov. Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department has paused a proposed increase in fishing and hunting license fees. Department officials say the increases are needed to shore up the budget. The last fee increase took effect in 2016. A decade’s worth of inflation has eroded the value of … Read more
I stumbled across an article at Townhall written by Derek Hunter. It’s titled “How Democrats Sell Themselves. I’m not even sure how I ended up there, but the featured image is our very own Sock Puppet Chris Pappas. He’s the lead in the article. And how does he sell himself? According to Derek, well, he’s … Read more
Today, on the Morning Update, SB464 just became law, and it has quietly amended New Hampshire’s civil rights law to protect Free Speech (IMO) from spurious hate-speech and hate-crime prosecutions by the AG and whoever else might think to leverage imagined victimhood to suppress protected expression. 00:00 Pretending at Hate Speech and Hate Crime01:15 Civil … Read more
A missed opportunity for true leadership: Choosing repetition over courage while leaving privacy, fairness, and safety unprotected. As the NH State Representative for The Independent Women’s Network, an athlete, a girls’ and women’s gymnastics coach, and an advocate for women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, I expected more from our first female republican governor. This was … Read more
Some people know me as a “numbers person,” and I might irritate many with my “today in history” posts, but let’s get the following item out of the way. June 27 is Kelly Ayotte’s birthday. There will be tweets, posts, and comments by her operatives and members of her fan club claiming how great she … Read more
A New Hampshire case study in vetting failures, sex-based privacy, and why women and girls deserve real boundaries in law. When Warning Signs Are Ignored: Laughton, SB 552, and the Failure to Protect Women New Hampshire women and girls should never have been put in the position of having to warn the public about a … Read more
For years, Seabrook schools within SAU21 have faced ongoing concerns regarding academic performance, bullying, and special education services. Parents, taxpayers, and community members have repeatedly brought these issues before the School Board, yet many feel meaningful improvements have been slow to materialize. Several years ago, I addressed the School Board with concerns about curriculum quality … Read more
In the last election, Hillary Badlander, using millions of dollars she received from mostly non-New Hampshire donors, did what most politicians flush with cash do: she ran a hip, slick, and cool campaign to sell not herself but an image. Note: If you were unsure, Hillary Badlander is Maggie Goodlander. In the last election, Hillary … Read more
This week, on The Independents with Carla Gericke, 25 years after libertarians began migrating to NH, young politicians are now deciding to embrace or resist the vision. PorcFest, now with 10 mini-fests, gives you an opportunity to check out the buzz for yourself! Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those … Read more
New Hampshire’s primary elections have long been a cornerstone of our democratic process, especially for offices like the State Senate, which represents multiple towns and cities. A primary is where anyone can step forward, where voters get real choices, and where competition sharpens candidates and strengthens the final ticket. The best ideas and the strongest … Read more
Independent media matters most when it says what other outlets won’t. That’s why Granite Grok exists. And it’s why Bare Minimum Books fits so naturally with it. Both are built around the same idea: Question assumptions. Follow evidence. Think clearly. Speak plainly. We’re putting together a July fundraiser that brings both together. GraniteGrok and Bare … Read more
Granite Staters — girls, women, boys, and men — we stand at a crossroads. New Hampshire’s motto is “Live Free or Die.” Today, that freedom includes protecting the hard-won rights of women and girls in sports. I walked away from the Democratic Party because they abandoned biological reality—allowing biological males into women’s sports, erasing fair … Read more
This week, on GrokTALK, my guest is Beth DiPasquale. The subject is HB1215, a bill to help people with communication disorders, and how, despite unanimous bipartisan support in both chambers, some greedy State Senators made it unpassable and refused to fix it so it could. 00:00 Introduction to Communication Rights01:08 The Journey of Spelling to … Read more
New Hampshire’s unique state tax structure is hard to understand, especially for people who don’t own a business. More than a third (36%) of the state General Fund and Education Trust Fund revenue comes from business taxes. The vast majority of that comes from the Business Profits Tax (BPT), but the lesser-known Business Enterprise Tax … Read more
In this installment of The Granite Discourse, the guest is Tom Mannion. Tom is a NH state rep for Hillsborough County District 1. He also served in the USMC for 4 years and was deployed in Iraq twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom. We talked about foreign policy as well as a wide range of NH … Read more
Dear Mr. Conforti, You state that “the City plays no formal role in State Legislative activity”. This is contradicted by the following: Councilor Schultz is an elected official for the State House. Mayor Jim Bouley’s firm Dennehy & Bouley is a paid lobbyist for/against bills presented to the legislature. Steve Shurtleff was both a councilor, … Read more
Bad actors sadly exist everywhere, even in institutions we want to think are exempt. Government is not one of those institutions, but we’d like to think that there’s a higher standard for Team Red in all government bodies, and we’re repeatedly disappointed. Let’s focus on our state legislature and note that the Senate is much … Read more