Mac Donald – Granite Grok

HB 146 – Should NH Have Jury Nullification?

Jury box The New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee has come out against HB 146, a bill that would give the jury in any trial the power of nullification.

In this context a unanimous jury could present a not-guilty verdict despite the evidence in the case, or the letter of the law as written or applied, if it agreed in total that the law itself or the circumstances of its application are not compelling grounds for a guilty verdict.

The application of the law could be too narrow or to broad. The punishment might seem excessive given the details of the charges. It might be a bad law, or just unclear. Jury Nullification sends a message to the practitioners of the legal system, and the General Court, that something is not right.

Picture of the Day 2-19-11

by Steve MacDonald

Smoke Em After You Buy Em…In New Hampshire

by Steve MacDonald

Right off the bat, thanks to Matt at Red Hampshire for reminding me about Ken Wyler’s bill to cut the cigarette tax by $0.10 cents per pack. (HB 156) I’ve been queuing up a post on this having written about it often and what better time than now to unload it.

First the basics. Wyler thinks cutting the tax by a buck a carton will actually increase revenue by attracting more out of state traffic. Ken is correct. A larger cut would be better, but I guess we can crawl before we walk. And with that in mind, lets review why it will raise more revenue. And I’m not even going to have to go back very far for a decent flashback.

Who Voted Against HB 474? The Right to Work Bill

by Steve MacDonald

Right To Work Map You can probably guess who voted against HB 474. Democrats. In fact not one single Democrat voted for it. But they are not beholden to the unions. Nah.

The Final Roll Call was 221 for, 131 against. My original post, with a margin of 221 to 121 was incorrect, (which means I need to find a second tweet source in the House for verification purposes.)

Of those voting no 40 were Republicans. Of those not voting, 11 were democrats and 36 were Republican. So while a veto is promised, an override is still very possible.

But is it likley?

The Republicans can’t just hope the entire caucus shows up, they need to flip a chunk of those 40 Republicans to make this happen. But can they herd cats like the left?

We’ll probably get to find out.

Until then, here are the lists of those Republicans who voted no, and those who did not vote. (on the jump.)

NH House Passes Right To Work Bill

by Steve MacDonald

By a vote of 221 to 121 HB 474 passes the NH House. While this is not a veto proof majority 58 House reps did not vote leaving plenty of room for a veto override.

Picture Of The Day 2-14-2011

by Steve MacDonald

Atlas Shrugged – The Movie?

by Steve MacDonald

Someone said this was one of the most anticipated movies…..I….no, I was not anticipating it. In fact I didn’t know they were making it. And having watched the trailer, the first two words to come to my mind were ‘Red Box.’

But who am I? Certainly not a qualified movie critic. And this has to be at least as good as most of the crap that Hollywood makes. And Hollywood makes a lot of crap. So will this be more crap? I can’t tell you that from the trailer. Movie trailers are like airbrushed models in print. That’s about as good as it is ever going to look. So does it look good enough? Red Box.

I realize the books continued appeal is why we have a movie based on it. I get the whole idea of going Galt. And that will appeal to a slice of the movie-going public, but how big a slice. Ayn Rand is provocative but can it be translated onto the big screen, and since this is part one, how many more parts must we endure to resolve the driving question of this trailer. Who is John Galt?

One bonus I can comment on is that it is NOT scheduled to be released in 3D. Movies are made in 3D as an excuse to charge 50% more for a ticket, turning a nice family outing to the cinema into another reason to refinance. The movie is not supposed to cost more than dinner is it? For that kind of cash you should get live actors and sets and an intermission so you can hit the restroom and not miss anything.

But that doesn’t get us any closer to the trailer for Atlas Shrugged Part 1. So here it is, on the jump, one of the most anticipated Movies….well, we talked about that already. I watched the trailer. I’m still not anticipating it. Sorry.

Another Wheel Off The Bus

by Steve MacDonald

Usually the wheels come off the bus before it goes into the ditch. But here we go. Another wheel falls off the Obama bus. (Must be one of the Dr. Seuss buses, given all the wheels this thing is losing). Obamacare, the Patient Unaffordable and Un-accessible (all we really) Care (about is government power) Act will require another 800,000 Americans to give up their jobs. Put another way, it will cost 800,000 jobs.

So when are Shaheen, Ex-Porter (That’s ex congresspersonista Carol Shea-Porter) and Paul ‘Hot Dog’ Hodes going to come out and clear up the record? They have all argued that the loss of jobs was some right wing fear mongering.

The same CBO the left swore was non-partisan when it claimed the bill would save money, then that it would cost money if we ended it, can’t suddenly be partisan can it?

Obama Stooges These are democrats. Of course they can. So should we wait for the "Big Pharma, and Big Health care" bought the congressional Budget Office narratives?

And how will Obama’s Bureau Of Laboring Statistics every hide another 800,000 lost jobs? Though they are doing a fine job with the millions they are hiding now–except from the people who are actually unemployed.

So many unanswered questions.

While you are waiting. Here’s some video courtesy of Town Hall.com (On the jump) where the CBO admits there will be employment casualties in the war for universal coverage. Which makes you wonder what would happen if Obama waged war on universal employment?

My bad. He’s already waging that war.

One more distraction before you jump. Queen, the Band? Song–“another one bites the dust;” change the lyrics to..”another wheel off the bus.” CArry that around in your head until November 2012. Ok. Go ahead. Watch the video. I’ll keep quiet. (for a minute)

Can You Smell The Campaign Fires?

by Steve MacDonald

After two years of extravagance on the taxpayer dime. Week after week of high priced parties with expensive food and high priced entertainment. Date nights that shut down cities. Frivolous trips (in his and her jetliners complete with entourage) to various parts of the globe. Vacation, after vacation, after vacation. And despite the glamor of a designer wardrobe, pimped by the adoring media for the past 24 months, we are now supposed to be impressed by this?

Hey, Hodes Campaign! Riddle Me This…

by Steve MacDonald

The larger problem for Mr. Bergman is this; if in fact, he has evidence to prove his otherwise vague remarks, he might be subject to investigation for violating federal law himself by obstructing, concealing, or failing to promptly report legitimate violations of federal election law.