Think of this installment as “Part 2” to my previous article asking if our Senate is compromised. As HB649 makes its way to the Senate, I’ve already pointed out some “problem donors” and some of their disturbing amounts donated to Senate Transportation committee members and the Old Battle Axe, Queen Sharon (Carson).
Let’s first look at Queen Sharon’s head lady-in-waiting, Regina Birdsell, where ‘Regina’ happens to be Latin for queen. Senator Birdsell, as members of polite society call her, was bought by the NH Automobile Dealers Association (NHADA) for $7625, according to the most recent data available from follow the money dot org, making her their 3rd highest “paid” senator. She also has $8G from that pesky entity listed as “Motor Vehicle.” Like her roll call vote isn’t influenced by any handlers!
Anyway, what I want to present now is how much money the NHADA has poured into the “place where good House bills go to die,” as Mr Sylvia says, because some senators are quick to say that they never vote the wrong way because of a donor. I remember when Marylyn Todd, a former Rosenwald constituent, blasted my former senator, a pureblood, for taking $1500 from Pfizer and his resulting righteous indignation. (No subsequent Pfizer money has appeared on his records.)
I also remember Harold French telling me in the presence of a witness that he “would even take Planned Parenthood money,” assuming they would give it to him without strings attached. Forget all the climate change lunacy out there; one should consider hell as being frozen over if Kevin Avard takes their money, but I digress.
While senators technically might not be lying, keep in mind how many bills meet their fate (success or failure) by circumventing the roll call. Even worse than an ordinary nontransparent voice vote is the Consent Calendar, which I’ve discussed in an earlier article on SB255. So let’s get down to business and take a closer look at this $49,675 price tag that the NHADA has bought our senate for, once again keeping in mind that it’s based on the most recent aggregate data available in follow the money dot org. I will list how the pie was split up and in descending order:
- $11,600 Watters (Yes, he beat Queen Sharon by $150.)
- $11,450 Sharon Carson
- $7625 Regina Birdsell
- $5600 Ruth Ward
- $2500 Gannon and Gray (a tie)
- $1950 Rosenwald
- $1500 RPK and Howard Pearl (a tie)
- $1000 Suzanne Prentiss and Donovan Fenton (a tie)
- $500 Abbas, Avard and Alderman Long (a 3-way tie)
No records were found for NHADA money donated to Rochefort, Lang, McConkey, Innis, Ricciardi (Transportation chair), McGough, Reardon, Murphy, Sullivan, or Altschiller, most of them being freshmen and sophomores. I suppose we should be grateful that almost half of the senate didn’t take that money, but at the risk of being too repetitive, I encourage double-checking with Sec. of State David Scanlan for accuracy, if desired.
In addition to the above, there’s a big chunk of change listed as just “Motor Vehicle” which totals $29,385.
That data is also subject to verification, if desired, and it’s split up among the body with the exceptions of Rochefort, McConkey, McGough, Reardon, Murphy, Sullivan, Long and Abbas. All of them are also on their 1st or 2nd terms. Hey, if you’re a numbers person, that’s 16:8, meaning the senior 2/3 of the senate took that money.
What is one to do with all this crudely compiled data? One suggestion would be to consider 24 public servants collectively paid $2400/year by YOUR tax dollars to serve We the People, meaning YOU, the reader. At the same time, think about those same people being paid (as campaign contributions) about 20 times that by the NHADA to prevent you from getting the permanent “sticker tax” relief (HB 649) enjoyed by motorists in 40 other states, which include countless routine users of our roads. Please remind your senator that s/he works for YOU, not those “associations” who cannot vote in the next election.
