Democrats claim the world hates America because President Bush has behaved like a global bully. But we don't recall him ever ordering an ally to rewrite an existing agreement on American terms -- or else.

Yet that's exactly what both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are now promising to do to our closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada. At their Ohio debate on Tuesday, first Mrs. Clinton, followed ever so quickly by Mr. Obama, pledged to pull America out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if the two countries don't agree to rewrite it on Yankee terms. How's that for global "unilateralism"?

Democrats sure have come a long way from the 1990s, when Bill Clinton pushed Nafta through a Democratic Congress. And the truth is that both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have spoken favorably about Nafta in the past. Yet now they are sounding the loudest protectionist notes by a potential President in decades. More dangerous, neither is telling the truth about the role of trade in the U.S. economy. If either one makes it to the White House, he or she will carry the weight of this campaign protectionism while trying to lead the global economy.

(H/T: Dissecting Leftism)

Once again, the  County Republicans will be commandeering the M/S Mount Washington cruise ship.  Leaving from its dock in scenic Weirs Beach (Laconia, NH), we'll be water-borne for a few hours of meet-and-greet, conversations, speakers, and good food.

Start planning for it now!

From PolitickerNH:

Mike Hamilton named new NH GOP Executive Director

Mike Hamilton has been hired has the new Executive Director for the New Hampshire Republican party.

Hamilton is a former field representative for Mitt Romney's campaign and a graduate of Dartmouth College. He replaces Steve DeMaura who left the position to take a job in Washington D.C.

"Mike has practical campaign experience in
New Hampshire and has deep roots in the state," Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen told PolitickerNH.com.

A New Hampshire political strategist said, "Mike is a highly organized individual and will be great for the party."

The Executive Director is responsible for day-to-day operations of the state party.

We wish him good luck!

During the past week, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:


HB 1328—relative to disciplining school employees.(oppose)
HB 1330—relative to the process for nonrenewal of teacher contracts.(oppose)


HB 14945—relative to parental notification.(support)
HB 1588—relative to the verification of the state of residency of an unemancipated minor seeking an abortion in New Hampshire. (support)

During the 2006 Session, the Democrat-controlled House supported numerous new taxes and higher fees while increasing spending to the tune of billions of taxpayers’ dollars. Last winter we urged the passage of a reasonable budget—one that was based on accurate revenue projections and economic forecasts. And yet, we still witnessed the State’s first $10 billion budget—the result of a 17.5% increase in General Fund expenditures. House Democrats also ignored Rep. Norm Major’s warning that a “Perfect Storm” would result from their inflated revenue projections, in the face of an economy that was about to take a serious downturn. Today we are faced with a huge deficit that has the governor scrambling to find a solution.. In fact even his own agency department heads, appearing before the House Ways & Means committee, predicted that we are facing a revenue shortfall of anywhere between $140 and $195M. Rep. Major reports this week that the committee has been reviewing revenue projections for the biennium and he expects to have some substantial information for us in the next Republican Report.

2007 has also seen a number of Democrat-sponsored social issues passed in the House, including Civil Unions and the elimination of parental notification for abortions for minors. This week we resumed the fight for parental rights in a public hearing for HB 1495, a bill which would restore the parental notification law and add a medical emergency exception. It would also afford the pregnant minor 24-hour access to a judge for waiver of notification.

The parental notification law was repealed last session by Democrats who had argued that the law was unconstitutional, when in fact the US Supreme Court did not rule the parental notification law unconstitutional. They vacated the federal decision and remanded it to the federal court to issue a declaratory judgment to allow the law to go into effect with an injunction only in the area the US Supreme Court felt inadequate—a specific emergency health exception instead of the implied competing harms protection. The Supreme Court was also able to establish legislative intent.

This legislation is clearly constitutional on the emergency medical health exception. Not only has the language been upheld a number of times at the US Supreme Court level, but so had the language on judicial bypass.

As Rep. Fran Wendelboe, the prime sponsor of HB 1495, pointed out in her testimony before the committee, “at the heart of the issue are parental rights. Do we really think so little of New Hampshire parents that we would stand between them and their daughter?”

Recent surveys indicate that 70 percent of Americans support parental notification laws, while a number of studies have shown that parental notification laws, informed consent laws, and public funding laws all reduce the incidence of teen abortion.

Currently there are 42 states that have issued parental involvement laws. Every case dealing with parental involvement laws have specifically stated that the basic tenets of Roe v. Wade are not impacted. There have been six United States Supreme Court cases upholding parental notification or parental consent laws. In each of these decisions the justices affirmed and reaffirmed the validity and importance of parental involvement. This bill is fully constitutional and preserves the right of parents and those of our teenaged girls consistent with the Roe v. Wade decision.

The State of New Hampshire restricts our youth on smoking, drinking, driving access, seat belts and bicycle helmets—all because they are too young to understand the dangers, or are too influenced by peer pressure. We require parental involvement for tattoos, ear piercing, tanning and the administration of medication. As Rep. Wendelboe reminded the committee, “it seems ludicrous to support legislation preventing a parent from receiving notice of their child have a surgical procedure that could have serious physical or emotional consequences.”

Governor Lynch has indicated the he could support a parental notification bill if it met constitutional muster. HB 1495 clearly meets the governor’s criteria. I hope that he will now join with us in returning these rights to the parents of New Hampshire. If you need further talking points with regard to this issue, they are available in our office.

Next week HR 24 will be heard in front of the State-Federal Relations committee and our office will be opposing it. HR 24 petitions Congress to commence impeachment proceedings against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The charges in this resolution are outrageous at best, completely unfounded and nothing more than a political ploy during an election year. This resolution is similar to HR 26 (which we were able to prevent from passing this week) in that it wants us, as a state legislature, to ignore the business which we were elected to do by the citizens of this state, and focus our attention elsewhere. The language of this resolution is completely biased, is not based on fact and is so extremely partisan in nature that it is simply not in the tradition of our body. The Republican Office opposes this resolution and would ask all members to stop in and testify or sign in against this resolution on Tuesday at 1 P.M. in Rms 305-307 in the LOB. (please note the room change)

Our next House Session will take place on Wednesday, March 5, however there is still much work to be done on the committee level. If you have any concerns about legislation that you feel leadership should take a look at, please contact our office. Thank you.

Mike

Note: in addition to helping out here, I am also a partner at GraniteGrok.  We were quite pleased when Major Kirk Leudeke, US Army, decided on GraniteGrok for his "DragonSoup" series  with the goal of getting news of what is going on in Baghdad in his area of operations.  Frank Tilton asked that his latest dispatch be posted here:

Getting to know the local leaders is critical to success here; finding out who the real men of influence, the neighborhood power brokers and getting them on board has been an essential element of Task Force Dragon’s ability to get past the dark days of early and mid-2007 when we averaged more than 30 attacks per day against our Soldiers and were in the fight of our lives (as of the 13th of Feb., we’ve not had 30 attacks total for the month yet).

While every neighborhood in the Rashid Security District is distinct and different, one common denominator is that the local tribal and religious leaders have a major say as to whether progress will take root there by how actively they work with our troops and the various elements of the local and national-level Government of Iraq (GoI) functionaries to improve quality of life.

Muoyad, a member of the sizeable Sunni Jubori clan,  is a cardiologist by trade, a medical doctor who once successfully treated one of Saddam Hussein’s sons (Uday) for a gunshot wound during one of the several attempts made on the eldest Hussein’s life before he was killed by U.S. forces in July 2003.

Not one attack has been launched against U.S. or Iraqi Security Forces in the area since September, 2007 and under Muoyad’s guiding hand, the streets are clean, electricity and power runs nearly 24 hours a day, which is a drastic improvement over the 2-3 hours per day that we saw when the 1-4 CAV first showed up there in mid-summer. 

Read it all!

From RedState:

Rasmussen NH:

Clinton 43
McCain 41

Obama 49
McCain 36

SEN:
Shaheen (D) 49
Sununu (R) 41

FAVs:
Obama 62/36 (+26)
McCain 58/40 (+18)
Clinton 48/51 (-3)

Shaheen 55/41 (+14)
Sununu 47/47 (+0)

NH is a swing state. It was one of the closest states in 2004. And in 2006 it become a solid Democratic state with both state chambers switching from R to D and both R Congressmen were defeated. McCain runs ahead of most Republicans in NH and could help the Rs there. Nevertheless, the Obama approval numbers are huge and he could take this off the competitive map.

SEN Sununu is one of the most endangered Senators this cycle and being down 49-41, while not a death sentence, is a really bad place to be in a re-election bid.

This can change but only if the ground work starts now and in earnest.  Will you decide it will be "all for one and one for all" and get motivated?  Or have to say "President Obama"  or "President Clinton" (again???) or "Senator Shaheen"?

You can make THE difference....time to get to work.

Greetings,

Welcome to the Belknap County Republican Website. This has been established to provide an additional source of information and a tool to assist all of us in communicating our important message, that we have work to do to restore the Republican legacy of The New Hampshire Advantage.

 
You've all seen the dreadful results of the 2006 election on the national level with the Reid/Pelosi Congress. Less publicized has been that occurring in New Hampshire with the Democrat control of both houses of the legislature and the Governor's Office. Among their first "accomplishments" was a 17.5% budget increase ($475,000,000)  in conjunction with totally unrealistic revenue projections (so that it appears to be a "balanced" budget on paper). Their game plan was to defer various deadlines and hope that the impact of this will not be seen until after the 2008 election. Whether or not they can hide the magnitude of this deficit that long, the ramifications on the New Hampshire way of life is alarming.

Please visit this site often and take heed from what you find here. Please participate in adding to the critical information that needs to be communicated, not just to Belknap County Repubicans, but to all in the County. And I invite you to participate in the work necessary to restore The New Hampshire Advantage!  

Warm regards,

Frank Tilton, Chairman Belknap County GOP Committee
(603) 528 8466
franktilton@gmail.com

CANCELED!

 

Due to the weather, tonight's meeting has been canceled.  As soon as we have a date and time, it will be posted here.  Come back often!

 

We got a little boost from the Citizen today - we thank them very much.  If you are visiting because of the article, let us know (FrankTilton@gmail.com, Belknap County Republican Chair).

Here are some excerpts:

Politics in New Hampshire are on fire in the wake of the Jan. 8 presidential primary and Republicans in Gilford and the rest of the Lakes Region are taking a technological approach to kick-start their party.

Gilford Republican Chair Skip Murphy recently created two websites to meet this goal.

"We just want to try and drag Republicans into the 21st century," said Murphy.

As Murphy pointed out, most people today seek out their information through the Internet, which includes information about their local political parties.

"At our last meeting we finally agreed to bite the bullet and get (the website) established," said Rep. Frank Tilton, R-Laconia, chair of the Belknap County Republicans.

The Gilford Republicans' site, GilfordGOP.org, and the Belknap County Republicans' site, BelknapCountyRepublicans.org [This one! -Skip], have been in operation for a few weeks and are now really starting to pick up some steam.

Murphy, who is the webmaster behind these two technological creations, hopes to build the sites into powerhouses that are home to everything from meeting information to news about the republican party and videos of party speakers and other events.

More than that, Tilton said what the websites do is really provide a way to bring some local attention to serious state issues.

One of those issues that Tilton says could use some daylight is the state spending. With a 17.5 percent increase, Tilton said it is time for people to get involved statewide.

"It's one more forum (we can use)," said Tilton.

With local elections coming up in March and state elections following in November, these new sites will play a particularly important role.

Murphy says he hopes to have the sites set up in such a way that, while not endorsing a candidate specifically, they would let people know about each candidate and who is running for what, both at the state and local levels.

The other benefit the party is hoping to attain is increased participation within the localized party. Tilton explained that about 10 years ago the local town committees for the party really went dormant

"We are making an effort to really activate town committees (again)," said Tilton.

Murphy said that at the last Gilford Republicans meeting only six people attended.

"Now we have to do more of a push to get more people active. I see (the sites) as a way to boost Republicanism," said Murphy. "We have good ideas, we just need to get them out there."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Thursday the Gilford Republicans will hold a meeting at the Gilford Town Hall. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and feature guest speaker Fergus Cullen, chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Er, not so much....that was our LAST meeting - it has already happened!!.  To see what did transpire, click here and see!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Hampshire Republican Party also has a website, www.nhgop.org.

Bumped and Updated!

________________________________________
Our next meeting is in two weeks!

Date:   2/13/08
Time:   5:30 pm Buffet
           6:30 pm Meeting

Place:   Shang Hai restaurant
             331 South Main Street
             Laconia, NH  03246


Also attending will be Grant Bosse who may well be a candidate in for Congress. If you do not know Mr. Bosse, try reading this.

I just got the chance to read The Gilford Steamer's and saw the media's take on the meeting, and on Fergus Cullen himself:

Some might think it is odd that the chairman of the Republican Party in New Hampshire would come to a little town like Gilford to speak to a crowd of very few, but for Fergus Cullen that is just part of his job, and, after all, Gilford is his hometown.

Cullen was raised in Gilford and graduated from its school system in 1994. He went on to Yale College and then earned a master's in public administration from Harvard Business School. Since then he has served on many political campaigns serving in such positions as political director, financial director, deputy press secretary and deputy campaign director. His current elected position allows him to use all those skills. Cullen manages an office, fund raises and speaks to crowds looking to form republican groups. He is the second youngest republican state chairman in the country at 35 and got interested in politics very young as well.

"People get into politics because they believe in policy," said Cullen, "and that the ideas or groups that win make a difference."

Cross Posted over at GilfordGOP.org; go read the rest!

Robert Novak:


True freedom can be measured by the range of choices that ordinary individuals can make; government taking more and more money in the form of taxes reduces the financial choices they can make for themselves and their families. 

Latest political registrations in Belknap County.  Scary....and ugly.

01/08/08	NAMES ON CHECKLIST				Reg.
Belknap County	Rep	Dem	Und	Total	at polls	Rep	Dem	Und
Alton	1,545	606	1,731	3,882	174	438	542	606
Barnstead	654	249	2,302	3,205	200	243	425	533
Belmont	1,649	1,152	1,741	4,542	323	418	524	392
Center Harbor	381	216	249	846	52	87	153	124
Gilford	2,428	1,524	2,304	6,256	199	561	812	894
Gilmanton	891	562	910	2,363	168	245	415	515
Laconia  1	693	363	767	1,823	140	152	192	345
Laconia  2	478	338	583	1,399	161	132	232	184
Laconia  3	452	331	622	1,405	152	134	245	201
Laconia  4	468	355	602	1,425	170	144	268	152
Laconia  5	384	321	530	1,235	152	98	204	186
Laconia  6	686	430	794	1,910	131	195	236	194
Meredith	1,616	851	2,480	4,947	316	435	723	313
New Hampton	547	384	576	1,507	95	143	274	324
Sanbornton	778	623	927	2,328	157	192	346	289
Tilton	814	777	846	2,437	156	176	365	325
Totals	14,464	9,082	17,964	41,510	2,746	3,793	5,956	5,577

And who did Belknap County Republicans vote for (major candidates only)?  More after the jump

The latest from Mike Whalley!

Last Wednesday, Democrats in the House once again attempted to pass a regressive sales tax on to the citizens of New Hampshire. Last year it was a tax on milk; this time around it’s a tax on bottles (HB 503) through an amendment on a bill to establish a solid waste management fund. Fortunately the bill was killed, but we must continue to hold their feet to the fire when it comes to new taxes and additional spending.

CACR24, a constitutional amendment that would “ prohibit a new tax, levied directly or indirectly, upon a person’s income, from whatever source it is derived,” will be coming to the floor of the House this week. As it is written, it would also include such taxes as Capital Gains and the Interest and Dividends Tax. If the committee report of ITL is defeated, we ask you to carefully study an amendment that will be offered by Rep. Bettencourt which will bring more clarity to this legislation. Under his amendment, “no new tax shall be levied, directly or indirectly upon a person’s personal income.” This would prohibit the State from adopting an income tax at anytime in the future.

Democrats are also attempting to pass a new tax on cigars through HB 1309. The bill came out of the Ways & Means committee in a partisan vote of OTP, 11-6. This legislation clearly represents a new tax and would adversely affect sales at stores along the New Hampshire border, the very same stores which have already been hurt by two huge cigarette tax increases in the past two bienniums. Since so few of these so-called minicigars are sold, the benefit to the State would be less than $1M. We ask you to oppose the committee report and support the minority report of ITL when the bill comes to the floor on Wednesday.

During the past week, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:


HB 1195—relative to health care provider reimbursement for services to patients without health insurance. (oppose)
HB 1602—relative to dependent health insurance coverage. (support)
HB 1608—requiring insurance coverage for colorectal screening for adults in New Hampshire.(oppose)


CACR 29—relating to education. Providing that the recognition of local control of education in the New Hampshire
constitution is reestablished. (support)
HB 1281—prohibiting public schools from requiring health insurance as a condition of enrollment. (support)


HB 1643—relative to medical benefits payment by the retirement system for eligible group I teachers and political
subdivision employees in the retirement system. (support)

Broken words and broken promises...

For Immediate Release:                                                                  Contact: Press Office
February 7, 2008                                                                            (202) 479-7070



Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) made it clear today that she has no intention of supporting real and comprehensive earmark reform and fiscal responsibility in Washington. Instead she voted to allow Members of Congress to continue frivolously doling out taxpayer-funded earmarks to boondoggle pet projects in order to score political points.

Carol Shea-Porter voted today in lock-step with her Democrat leaders to block a bill that would create a Joint Select Committee on Earmark Reform to review and report on how to fix Washington’s mess of an earmark process (H.Con.Res.263). Shea-Porter also rejected a Republican proposal to impose an immediate earmark moratorium on the consideration of all earmarks until members of both parties come together to fix the earmarking process once and for all (House Roll Call 32).

Shea-Porter broke her promise to bring reform to Washington:

“I will fight this fiscal irresponsibility and work towards a budget that is financially sound and morally fair to all.”  (2006 Campaign Website)

“Today, Carol Shea-Porter put her partisan politics over the interests of her constituents in New Hampshire when she voted to block a real opportunity to bring honest reform to the broken earmarking process,” said NRCC Communications Director Jessica Boulanger.  “Shea-Porter's blatant disregard for the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars will haunt her through the Election Day, when voters will hold her accountable for her reckless actions.”

A newspaper in Speaker Pelosi’s home state of California, called the Democrats to finally make good on their campaign promise to bring real earmark reform to Congress:

“…earmark abuses have contributed to record-low approval ratings for all of Congress… House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should work with Republicans on curbing earmarks…. But Americans need to be able to trust Congress to prudently spend their tax money.  Curbing earmarks is crucial to restoring that trust.” (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 02/05/2008)

Just before Congress adjourned in December, the Democrats were successful in air-dropping 54 secret earmarks, totaling nearly half a billion dollars in additional spending, into three appropriations bills.  These earmarks were never subject to the scrutiny of a public hearing, and were forced to be voted on the same day they were introduced:

“When Democrats won the House majority in 2006, they promised reform… And Democrats are using loopholes to flout the spirit of new rules… It is a lack of public scrutiny and debate that allows stealth spending projects to divert money from real budget priorities to low-priority earmarks.  The public will have to demand that Congress reverse this return to business as usual.” (Victorville Daily Press 02/05/2008)

Carol Shea-Porter and the Democrats have sent a message to Americans that they will continue to break their campaign promises of earmark reform and fiscal responsibility in favor of doling out taxpayer dollars to support their colleagues’ pet projects. 

Published in the Citizen was this letter attempting to pat Governor Lynch for a "fine job done":  Lynch's Hard Work

Editor, The Citizen: What a welcome State of the State speech given by Governor Lynch this past week. I was especially impressed to hear how Governor Lynch is dealing with revenue shortfalls and the State's budget.

It is now very clear to all of us that the failed national economy is having a direct impact on states and unfortunately, New Hampshire is not immune. It's important to realize however that the Granite State is in a much stronger position than many others states to emerge from the current economic downturn in good fiscal shape. Since Governor Lynch took office three years ago, we have built up our Rainy Day Fund from $17 million to $89 million and we have a surplus from last year of $33 million. In addition, taking into consideration the changes in the national and state economies, John Lynch is working hard to re-evaluate the budget and make sure we end the biennium with a balanced budget.

Great leaders are defined by how they handle the hard challenges thrust upon them, and in his dealings with the current economic situation and budget, Governor Lynch has shown real leadership. Thank you, Governor Lynch, for your hard work, steady focus and dedication to the people of New Hampshire.

Joyce Davis, Chair
Wolfeboro Democratic Committee

Enough of this pap and nonsense - it passes as truth only if not challenged: No Time For Kudos

Editor, The Citizen:

I read with mild amusement as Joyce Davis, Wolfeboro Democratic Chairman (Citizen, 1/31) tried to promote Governor Lynch's lame financial handling of the impending fiscal blowup of the State's budgetary finances as being "impressed". What she failed to mention is that while the slowing economy is playing a role in this mess, the greater responsibility is owned by the majority Democratic legislators, led by Gov. Lynch, that deliberately created this fiasco. By instituting overreaching revenue projections (ignoring the objections of the more experienced Republican legislators in this regard) coupled with a 17.5% legislated rise in expenditures equal to $475 million, we are now looking at a looming $50 million deficit (which may well end up at $150 - $200 million). Lynch's efforts are to be rated as "hard work"? This rates "kudos" for fixing what he caused in the first place by signing off on a misguided budget? Nay, that is failing to do proper homework. In the end, all NH taxpayers will pay for this "F" in financial restraint by the Democrats.

This is not the case where bravos are called for - instead, try apologies to the NH taxpayers that will pay for the Democratic (the majority in the House and Senate) ability to spend the State into debt. Mark my words, this Democratic Chair is spinning the issue just as fast as the bikes during Motorcycle Week and they will use their own failing as the basis for bringing in a broad based (think income) tax. After all, think about it - Democrats cutting spending to where it should have been in the first place? Governor Lynch taking a hard stance on a tough issue? Oh please, he can't even take a non-waffling stance on speed limits on the Lake - another issue where individual freedom is being lost one slice at a time under the guise of "for the common good". Or is that 'the collective"...

Skip Murphy
Gilford Republican Town Chair

Each time a Letter that espouses a Democratic slant is made public is an opportunity for we Republicans to shout out the truth.  We have the opportunity to really show what we believe in.  We need to take those opportunities and  DO something with it and not just shake our collective heads and let someone else do the work.....

We have the real philosophy, the only one, that has shown itself to work over time.  We cannot persuade the untaught, however, unless we do the teaching.  As opposed to ceding that opportunity to the Democrats.

“Senator Clinton said she would support our troops in Iraq, but then she voted against critical funding. Senator Clinton says she’s fiscally responsible, but she’s proposed nearly a trillion dollars in new government spending, and says she wants to quote ‘take things away from you on behalf of the common good.’ How can we trust Senator Clinton to lead America?”                                                                   



“Barack Obama was elected to the US Senate just three years ago and has had his eye on the White House ever since. Now he’s calling himself an agent of change, but what kind of change? He voted against funding our troops, he voted in favor of the largest tax increase in history, and he wants new government bureaucracies to play a greater and more expensive role in our health care system. That’s not the kind of change voters are looking for and it’s further proof that Barack Obama is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief.”                            



“It looks as if the Democrats may take weeks or months to choose their nominee, but the American people have already made their decision clear. They’re going to support principled leaders who support our troops, keep taxes low, and keep government out of their hair. Unfortunately, Senators Clinton and Barack Obama both voted for the largest tax increase in America, attempted to choke off funding for our troops, and proposed massive government spending increases. That’s not principled leadership.”                                                     

Tax dollars paid for slick mailings...

The full-color flier that arrived in the mail has the shiny look and smooth feel of the campaign mailers Granite Staters became accustomed to during the presidential primary campaign...Click Here to Read More (Union Leader, 2/4)

Mailings targeted to boost political fortunes?

New Hampshire's two U.S. House members say through their chiefs of staff that they do not target their taxpayer-funded mass mailings in a way that promotes their political fortunes...Click Here to Read More (Union Leader, 2/4)

Hodes won't say how much he spent...

While Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's chief of staff disclosed that her office spent $143,000 on production and mailing costs for four franked mass mailings in 2007, his counterpart in Rep. Paul Hodes's office refused to provide similar information...Click Here to Read More (Union Leader, 2/4)



10 Water Street | Concord, NH 03301 | Phone: (603) 225-9341
E-mail: Allison@nhgop.org

“The report of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Costing an Adequate Education, released today, clearly goes well beyond adequacy,” said committee member Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett), following a 6-3 committee vote at the State House in Concord.

The committee, created by the passage of HB 927, was charged with defining an adequate education as the specific criteria and substantive education program—defined and identified as the school approval standards in nine specific areas.  In doing so, the law adopted, in their entirety, more than 30 pages of the Standards of Public School Approval in existence on the effective date of the bill.

According to Hess, “The Express reference to those standards, in the context of the charge to the committee, evidenced clear legislative intent.  In the end, the Majority ignored this directive and, in many critical areas, substituted its own opinion for the standards, universally resulting in increasing and inflating the costs of education.”  Republicans on the committee believe that the continuity in public policy and past definitions are very important in this effort to cost an adequate education.

Republicans on the committee also disagreed with the Majority of  Democrats over the appropriate funding levels for other elements of the costing formula, e.g., the per pupil allocations for educational materials, technology and transportation, targeted aid for free & reduced lunch recipients and special education students.  The disagreements between the two sides appear to create a difference of more than $200M between the statewide cost of adequacy based on the Majority’s assumptions as opposed to the standards espoused by the Republicans on the committee.  The most significant in this regard concerns the qualifications used to determine the salaries for the professional positions used in the formula.

“In the end, this report represents a significant difference in how targeted aid is calculated and how the dollars are distributed,” said Ken Weyler (R-Kingston), a member of the committee.

Contact Rep. Hess    485-9027
            Rep.  Weyler 642-3518

Last night was the latest meeting for the Gilford Town Republican Committee (new website can be seen here).  The special speaker was Fergus Cullen, Chair of the NH GOP.  His message was that while the Party in NH took a body blow during the last election, there are real reasons why we should be looking at an upswing.  In fact, he had 10 of them!  With a nod to David Letterman's Top Ten:

10) More than twice as many people voted in the recent Republican primary than did in the 2006 election.

9) The presidential campaign will be competitive. New Hampshire is an important swing state, and much attention will be paid to us. This will help set the stage for competitive races up and down the ballot. We will not see, as in '06, that same sort of "tidal wave" but instead more "equilibrium."

8) John E. Sununu's polling data and approval numbers are solid and improving. He has a 3 to 1 advantage in cash on hand over probable opponent Jeanne Shaheen.

7) The party has had candidate recruitment "coups" in all of the major positions

• Gov- Giunta (maybe); Keough (maybe); Sen Joe Kenny
• Cong- Jeb Bradley; John Stephen; Jim Steiner, Jen Horn, and maybe Sen Clegg.

6) Hodes approval: 35%; CSP approval: 33% (UNH survey)

5) The emerging Democrat scandal over the sale of the state voter files. Look for big news to come soon.

4) National issues are moving our way. With the success of the surge, the Iraq War is secondary. When people worry about the economy, the Republican message beats that of the Democrats.

3) State issues are moving our way. With the looming deficit, and Democrats in charge across the board, Republicans are positioned to benefit. They were right to criticize the 17-1/2% budget increase and were right on their call of using "overly rosy" budget projections. Lynch and his party are very vulnerable here.

2) 2008 is a "change" election. Given the current majorities and the governorship are Democratic, in NH, if people want "change" they'll vote GOP.

1) The Democrat Party has been taken over by the angry left wing. They have abandoned the center, proven by their record of "nanny-state" bills that most ordinary people find overly excessive.

(H/T: Doug, for taking better notes than I did)

For the webcam video of his talk, click here.