OK, I’m touting my own horn here. Sure, I am in favor of a Voter ID bill that requires a picture ID. Given the two bills, I think I would favor SB289 over SB318. Yes, the latter tries to cover more areas but I think that SB289 is more tightly focused on the major issue … Read more
Rep. Timothy Horrigan is a frequent commenter here at the ‘Grok; we may not agree and I think that he ofts “misses the point”, but I’m glad he visits, glad he comments, and seems to take our repartee (and retorts) with good humor. Or, he at least keeps coming back. So when I heard he … Read more
Right after the NH senate committee heard testimony on SB289 and NH State Senator Russell Prescott (here, here, and here), they started right to discuss SB318 which also addressed the need for voter verification at the ballot box as a necessary tool to help prevent voter fraud and to protect the integrity of the votes … Read more
Committee hearings are just that – be they of the NH Senate or NH House (or your local government) – the committee members are there to listen. Sure, they may have already made their decisions, but they owe it to their constituents to sit, listen patiently, and question those offering testimony.
David Scanlan, NH Deputy Secretary of State – in opposition
Patricia Piechuh (City and Town Clerks Association) – in opposition
NH House Representative Perry spoke – in opposition
Melissa Madden (America Votes) – in opposition
Thomas Bazinski Jr – in opposition
Harriet Cady – in favor
David Scanlan, NH Deputy Secretary of State speaking in opposition to the bill:
Patricia Piechuh, President of the City and Town Clerks Association speaking in opposition to the bill:
Along with his testimony on his amendments SB289 concerning presenting a valid picture ID in order to vote here in NH, the other NH State Senators on the committee had a few questions for him: The details on the bill can be seen here.
This post has all of the other testimony, pro and con, on SB289 relative to having to present a valid picture ID in order to vote in NH elections. This first one is NH Deputy Sec. of State David Scanlan bringing the news that his department is supporting this bill and its amendment by Senator Prescott
In addition, President Patricia Piecuch of the City and Town Clerks Association was also testifying in favor of the bill (after the jump).
Also testifying were the following:
Doug McNutt (AARP) – in opposition
Skip Murphy (why, that’s ME!) – in favor
Melissa Madden (America Votes) – in opposition
Sam Langley – in opposition
Charles Balban (NH Alliance for Retired Americans) – in opposition
Ryan Donnelly (Granite State Independent Living) – in opposition
Michael Skibbie (Disability Rights Center) – in opposition
Claire Ebel (NH Civil Liberties Union) – in opposition
Karen Ashwell (?) (League of Women Voters) – in opposition
Caitlan Rollo (Granite State Progress) – in opposition
Please note that the loud typing clacking came from the committee aide, Debra Martone, and especially from Kevin Landrigan (Nashua Telegraph); nothing I can do about it…
Yesterday, I had to go the State House on a personal matter. Seeing that I had to wait to complete that errand, why not spend the time wisely? With the coverage that the Grok has spent on the Voter ID / fraud issue here in NH since the James O’Keefe / Project Veritas video that … Read more
Last night, GraniteGrok went to the reception for Ovide Lamontagne. It is our understanding that about 80 odd folks had RSVP’d but by my count, over 160 were in the room as the evening’s proceedings played out. The downside to trying to live stream the event was that Windows 7 just would not attach to the WiFi at the hotel (as usual with all things Microsoft, reboots fixes most all ills). The upside is DaTechGuy showed up with his lovely bride so we were able to have some chit-chat in between everything (and we did a bit of a GrokTALK! commentary which I will post later once I process the audio from the evening. He also posted up some pictures and interviews here (even got my good side!).
Jeff Chidester served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening – and given he is a political activist himself, he can always add “commentary quips” that most cannot. In this clip, NH State Senator Jim Luther gave the invocation, Di Lothrup lead us all in the Pledge, and the Peters children played their violins “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”:
One of the speakers in favor of Ovide’s candidacy was Sandra Ziehm – video after the jump:
Following on the heels of the Intro Ceremonies and speech by Sandra Zimm, ‘Grok (and personal) friend, Jack Kimball, was the Keynote speaker of the night. Previously having endorsed Ovide, he gave one of his classic stemwinder of a speech:
Well, if the reception was for Ovide Lamontagne (thrown by Grokster Mike and Mar-Mar Rogers), it would be great and fitting for Ovide to speak, and indeed, he did. Topics centered on his background, his guiding philosophies, and how he would carry out the duties and responsibilities of NH Governor:
Mike Rogers (Grokster!) decided that he also wanted to speak on Ovide’s behalf (and why not, it was his event!) and made it clear that Ovide is his choice for NH Governor:
There was also one other speaker at the event: Nancy Elliot (after the jump):
This past Saturday afternoon, GraniteGrok covered the New Boston Taxpayer’s Town Hall event, hosted by NH House Rep Pat Murphy and where NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien, Deputy Speaker Pam Tucker, Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt spoke on issues like the Budget, Voter Fraud, redistricting, traditional marriage, and education.
In this clip, Pat begins the meeting with some introductory remarks and the Pledge while Pam Tucker discusses the budget and voter fraud:
After the jump, NH House Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt gives his talk to the crowd at the Whipple Library (numbering about 100 folks):
Following Pam Tucker and DJ Bettencourt, Bill O’Brien spoke for about 30 minutes on the budget, jobs, creating a pro-business environment here in NH, reforming public pensions, the process of redistricting, and a new site, ConcordFactCheck.org:
Question 6 (which was asked by a young girl): you are going to abolish 3 Departments including the Department of Education; how are you going to replace them? I believe the underlying “gotcha” question was “and how will I get a decent education if the Feds are not involved?” (an adult formulated question, I presume):
Question 7: How will lowering corporate taxes bring back jobs to the US where many corporations already don’t pay [income] taxes?
And the “Press Gaggle” ( aka “press availability” or it can be called “the time when reporters and MSM Press can ask silly questions to show their Editors they are actually doing something to earn their expense accounts / salaries”) – added after the jump!
LAST OF THE QUESTIONS!
Question 11: What is your policy on Israel?
Question 12: Will my sick child have to stand in line at a charity hospital under your administration?
Given that it is the day before the NH First in the Nation Primary, that the ‘Grok is NH based, and the number of my recent Ron Paul posts, most of you are probably thinking that I am going to vote for Ron Paul. No, I am not (much to the dismay of my friends that are Ron Paul supporters).
In fact, I still don’t know who I am vote for – given that I originally was backing Herman Cain, I have not yet decided on a candidate (it still surprises me and a lot of my friends – WHAT? You?). I will admit that it will be either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich – but every time I think my thinking has settled down, it shakes again. Regardless of which it is, I am proud of the fact that in addition to the commentary, punditry, and all out bloggish snark we serve up here, we also do straight “citizen journalism” with the use of either recorded or live stream video. All I can hope for is that the hours and hours of time putting up entire events (vs the 30 second sound bite you get from most MSMers) helped you, our readers, to make your decisions based on what you thought of the candidates’ actual words vs the ‘filter’ inserted into the process by the MSM .
Here are some “after event” interviews right after Ron Paul finished his event. Sorry for the poor audio quality of my questions, but it was loud! Most of the interviews went like this: Ron supporter or undecided, domestic policy that attracts you to him, foreign policy item that attracts you. And yes, two of the folks there were undecided (and one from LA)!
First, Barbara (who lives in my home town, as you will see):
This afternoon, the 2012 Presidential Primary campaign came to Church Landing in Meredith, NH where a 500-600 strong contigent of Ron Paul supporters from all over (4 gentlemen standing next to me had come from Holland). TMEW and I arrived about 40 minutes before the start of the event and even at that, we were relegated to the back of the room, so good thing I had brought the “tall” tripod. It is a good thing that the Fire Marshall didn’t come strolling by -he would have shut down the event for overcapacity and when I realized that folks were still trying to come in, I was glad that the “back of the room” also meant “in the corner next to the double exit doors”.
The intensity level: high (is there anything other than that at a Ron Paul event)? The event was a bit different from the normal stump speech in that there was no stump speech from Dr. Paul – only introductions by NH State Senator Jim Forsythe (my state senator and the Ron Paul State Director) and Ron Paul’s son, US Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY). Right after that, Jim started off with asking questions of Dr. Paul followed by questions from the crowd.
This clip is the intro ceremonies and the video of Question 1 is after the jump:
Q1: How has medical practice changed since you started, and how has that change affected your view of Government?
