Another question from the audience related to that big bug-a-boo from the Maker / Productive class (as opposed to the Taker / Moocher / Socialist class) – taxes? They see it as unfair that some are forced to pull the entire weight of the cost of government for all, and that it is used for behaviorial modification according to ideological grounds (instead of just evenly distributing the cost of a limited govt across all beneficiaries of that limited govt).
Question 2: Should the Federal tax code be reformed and if so, how?
OK, time to play catch up on video not yet posted – this from last weekend from the Americans for Prosperty Foundation’s Defending the American Dream. I met first met Duane Lester (AllAmericanBlogger.com, LibertyNews.com) in Providence during a joint event held in Providence, RI by the Franklin Center and the Heritage Foundation where, among training sessions and going over to annoy the Lefties over at NetRoots Nation, Duane was awarded the first annual Brietbart award for bloggers. So when I saw Duane strolling around, I figured he’d be willing to sit down for a while and yak for a while (and he did!):
Part One:
Interested in joining and helping to defend Free Markets, Economic Freedom, Individual Liberty and Freedom, and Constitutional values? Click here for the NH Chapter of AFP.
This winds up our interview series with Jane Cormier (running for the NH House in Belknap 8 – Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton) against Peter Bolster (one of the worst RINOs in the NH House, IMHO, who boasts of being a Democrat who changed registration to Republican just to vote against the Republican Platform on many, many occasions).
Question 13: Expansion of Medicaid in NH as a result of Obamacare: take the money?
Question 14: What is your outlook on Founders version of the definition of “protect”?
Last night, the ‘Grok had been invited to cover the Congressional Forum sponsored by the Seacoast Republican Women – a well respected non-partisan (with respect to the Republican Party events) organization whose events are usually open and well attended as their execution in having an event is normally flawless. The event, held at the most beautiful Elks Lodge I have ever been in (on an inlet in Portsmouth, NH), had six four Candidate attendees:
NH First Congressional District – Rick Parent, Vern Clough
Incumbent Congressman Charlie Bass – who declared “I am not coming; it would be a waste of my time”
The videos of the Opening Ceremonies and Candidate Opening Remarks after the jump. There were six questions asked of the Candidates – they will be in subsequent posts.
The questions for the four Candidates at the Seacoast Republican Women Congressional Forum were contributed before and during the event duration by the actual attendees with the lone exception of the last Question by Stella Scamman, the moderator. The Candidates in attendance were: NH First Congressional District – Rick Parent, Vern Clough NH Second Congressional … Read more
This past weekend was the Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit; a gathering of free market and Liberty and Freedom loving activists who came to go to workshops to sharpen their skills and to listen to an impressive list of well known (and loved) Conservative and Liberty speakers. GraniteGrok was invited to come and spent the weekend on Radio Row where, obviously enough, radio talk hosts came in to do their shows remotely and to interview some of the speakers and notables that were at the event (we were the only blogsite allowed and the only ones doing live video of our interviewees!). So besides the first interview series (“What is your American Dream – and Obama’s?“), we had a fair number of folks to yak with. What was curious were the number of NH folks that came down from NH to attend the workshops, listen to the speakers, and of course, stop by Radio Row and yak with us! Imagine that – travel over 500 miles just to be with GraniteGrok!
And one of them was a surprise to see: NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien. Part 1 here, Parts 2 and 3 after the jump.
Interested in joining and helping to defend Free Markets, Economic Freedom, Individual Liberty and Freedom, and Constitutional values? Click here for the NH Chapter of AFP.
Just talked about this Yesterday…and I’ve been asking pointed questions for weeks (years?) about the fatal character flaws of Democrats who ignore the hate and violence in their own party that they would never tolerate from anyone else. It is hypocritical. And it is a cultural feature of the politics of the left that shows … Read more
Well, it has been a wee bit of time since the last post of our interview series with Jane Cormier (running for the NH House in Belknap 8 – Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton) as we spent half of last week / weekend in Washington DC at the Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream event. Thus, time to ramp it up again and finish up.
Question 9: can the NH Budget be further trimmed? How much if yes?
Question 10: Right To Know – For or Against?
Also after the jump, it turns out that Jane was also in DC for the AFP event (I did not know that she was going), so when she strolled by in Radio Row, I invited her to sit.
This past weekend was the Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit; a gathering of free market and Liberty and Freedom loving activists who came to go to workshops to sharpen their skills and to listen to an impressive list of well known (and loved) speakers. GraniteGrok was invited to come and spent the weekend on Radio Row where, obviously enough, radio talk hosts came in to do their shows remotely and to interview some of the speakers and notables that were at the event (we were the only blogsite allowed and the only ones doing live video of our interviewees!). So besides the first interview series (“What is your American Dream – and Obama’s?“), we had a fair number of folks. Most notable was Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of Florida; I learned two things quickly:
I’m a wee bit late but got into the booth later than I expected (had to wait for the previous occupants to clear out). Am lining up the guests and will be yakking live in a few minutes!
#7 Are Government and Society interchangeable terms? #8 Should they be?
Continuing on with our questions for with Jane Cormier (running for the NH House in Belknap 8 – Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton), we wanted to know which should be the driving force in the land: Government or Society? Are they two different entities? If not, should they be looked upon as such? Jane did answer the question but we split the answer into the Federal level and then at the State level:
Question 7: Proper Role of Government-Progressive conflate Govt & Society; Conservatives split them. Your outlook?
Question 8: Same as Q7, but bring it to down from the Federal level to the State of NH.
Govt vs Society: Difference? Ditto, for State level?
We always try to spend “a little time with GraniteGrok” and with Andy Sanborn (running for reelection to the NH Senate in District 9), we came to the realization that we had spent a lot more time than just a little. So, we decided to end our interrogation interview with him with this last question.
Question 8:
What things have you accomplished since our first interview last cycle? Not get done?
We did all agree that we needed to come back and yak with Andy strictly on some issues rather than on the concentration on how the State does what it does – but it is nice to know that SOMEBODY has this in their head that not only do Legislators create laws for the rest of us but also how the “back of the house” (as Andy the restauranteur would put it) is doing as well. After all, they ARE supposed to be serving us, the citizens.
Question #7: Adversarial relationship between State agencies vs ordinary folks?
To fix a perceived problem (which Questions 5 & 6 brought up), you have to know all about the problem – or at least the biggest and most influential parts of the problem. In discussing State Agencies, we wanted to know if there was a sense of “us vs them”, if State Agencies had drifted into a condition of reversing the proper role of government serving the people and morphing into one of “we will ensure that YOU follow OUR rules”.
Question 7:
Adversarial relationship between State agencies vs ordinary folks?
# 5: Where on the Political Spectrum are you? #6: Proper Role of Government – Your outlook?
Labels, while not always completely describing who what is in politics, can generally give others a good idea of where one stands on the issues. For instance, Democrats generally spend more and are more liberal than Republicans, who trend to greater fiscal frugality and more conservative social issues. However, there are exceptions to the rules (like Zell Miller, who was a Blue Dog Democrat for years, being more fiscally tighter than most of his Democrat contemporaries)
On the other side of the aisle, there are also Progressive / Big Government Republicans that vote more in line with Democrat philosophies and, in the case of some, use the “R” next to their name as a cover. A GREAT example of this is current NH State Rep Peter Bolster who calls himself a Republican but his voting record screams “I AM REALLY A DEMOCRAT!!” and has admitted to such to some. (think I’m wrong? Do a search just on GraniteGrok and review the times he shown up voting AGAINST the Republican Platform!)
Fortunately, Jane Cormier is running against this “RINO to the max” in the primary in Belknap District 8 (Alton, Barnstead, Gilmanton).
Question 5: Where are you on the Political Spectrum (from Jim DeMint on the Right and Carol Shea-Porter on the extreme Left)?
Question 6: Should politicians be held accountable to their Platform?
Political Spectrum? Adherence to Party Philosophy / Platform?
In our last question, we were curious to see why Andy Sanborn thought about State Government and if the State Agencies in the Executive Branch were doing the right things and in the right ways. Continuing on in that vein, we then extended that question to try to understand why no one else had yet … Read more
Having gone over the preliminaries questions of “have you done this before” and ‘why are you running” with Jane Cormier (running for the NH House in Belknap 8 – Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton), from her answers came the next two questions (heh! It is ALWAYS better to ask questions from what people themselves have already … Read more
Most people want to see that the potholes are filled, the snow is plowed, and that the police and firemen are there when needed. That’s how most decide who to vote for – its the stuff they see. To us, however, philosophy counts as well – for that leads to the next “upward” step of … Read more
Increasingly, we see NH State Agencies setting their own level of taxation (fees, fines, et al) outside of authorization of the Legislature. It is the Executive Branch to self-fund and making itself independent of the taxation authority of the Legislature. And of course, it goes without saying that while Legislators are accountable to the voters, … Read more
A little while ago, we were directed to a video that was taken when the “Values Bus” rolled into NH (sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council). While I recognized Karen Testerman and Phyllis Woods in the video, the person that was behind the podium at the time was someone that I had never seen before. As I listened to her, I realized a couple of things:
This person speaks well
This person knows her mind and what she believes
She’s a first time candidate – this could be a good thing!
My gosh – she’s a female version of Jack Kimball!
Why that comparison? Forceful, a take no prisoner style of speaking, and you’d be hard pressed to not understand what she is for. So, we got in contact with her and did an interview with her.
Question 1: From the Values Bus talk, you seemed well at ease behind the podium and in front of the camera; where does that come from and how will that translate in answering the question of “Why are you running”?
Question 2: “A Change of Course”: Where did we start from and where are we heading to, and why is where we are going, dangerous?
Why Running? Why is “where we are heading” dangerous?
