Democracy for New Hampshire - Growing the grassroots in New Hampshire's political landscape

Anatomy of an Attack Ad

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:14:51 -0400

Anatomy of an Attack Ad
How Dick Morris Is Making Seniors Feverish About Health Care Reform

By Ben Protess and Lagan Sebert
Huffington Post Investigative Fund
4:40 pm | 24 Sep 2009

Standing in a medical exam room, a neurosurgeon in a white lab coat stares solemnly into the camera and warns that President Obama’s health care plan “will hurt our seniors” and “end Medicare as we know it.” Two networks, NBC and ABC, declined to run the 30-second ad, but it has probably reached millions of people on Fox, CBS and local stations as well as on the Web.

How this ad – one of dozens of health care spots making the rounds -- came to be produced and distributed provides a case study in modern American political advocacy. It shows how a quickly assembled group with uncertain origins and funding can make a mark on one of the most contentious public policy debates in memory.

Explaining the ruckus over the 'LLC Tax'

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:33:17 -0400

By Mark Fernald

Most of what has been written about the so-called LLC tax is not true. A recent change in the law to close a loophole is being characterized as an unfair tax on the self-employed and small businesses, even though the change is unlikely to affect them.

New Hampshire has never taxed earned income (wages). But in 1923, New Hampshire started taxing unearned income with the enactment of the interest and dividends tax.

The intent in 1923 was to tax the wealthy; they were the people with substantial interest and dividends. In the intervening 86 years, more people have become subject to the tax, as the interest and dividend income of the middle class has increased, and as the legislature has failed to adjust the personal exemption amount ($2,400) for inflation.

New Hampshire also taxes business income through the business profits tax. Small businesses are subject to that tax, but most do not pay it because salaries paid to the owners are a deduction. A small-business owner typically sets his salary so that the business income is reduced to zero. The business owner paying herself a salary pays no income tax because New Hampshire does not tax earned income, and the business pays no income tax because all of the profit of the business is paid out in salary.

Senator Ted Kaufman takes on Wall Street

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:22:48 -0400

SOURCE:Senator Kaufman Floor Statement

The Rule of Law and Wall Street

March 15, 2010

Mr. President, last Thursday, the bankruptcy examiner for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. released a 2,200 page report about the demise of the firm which included riveting detail on the firm’s accounting practices. That report has put in sharp relief what many of us have expected all along: that fraud and potential criminal conduct were at the heart of the financial crisis. Now that we’re beginning to learn many of the facts, at least with respect to the activities at Lehman Brothers, the country has every right to be outraged. Lehman was cooking its books, hiding $50 billion in toxic assets by temporarily shifting them off its balance sheet in time to produce rosier quarter-end reports. According to the bankruptcy examiner's report, Lehman Brothers’ financial statements were "materially misleading" and its executives had engaged in "actionable balance sheet manipulation." Only further investigation will determine whether the individuals involved can be indicted and convicted of criminal wrongdoing.

Top Twenty Programs--Fed Assist Spending in NH, 2008 *2Q

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:20:29 -0400

SOURCE:Fedspending.org

96.002: Social Security_Retirement Insurance $957,389,942
93.778: Medical Assistance Program $381,061,171
93.773: Medicare_Hospital Insurance $365,646,078
83.100: FLOOD INSURANCE $313,952,300
96.001: Social Security_Disability Insurance $293,211,724
97.022: Flood Insurance $282,465,300
93.774: Medicare_Supplementary Medical Insurance $273,827,706
96.004: Social Security_Survivors Insurance $237,767,698
14.117: Mortgage Insurance_Homes $146,720,214
64.109: Veterans Compensation for Service-Connected Disability $72,210,458
20.205: Highway Planning and Construction $43,708,150
96.006: Supplemental Security Income $39,162,968
14.871: Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers $37,458,507
10.551: Food Stamps $34,732,934
10.760: Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities $27,063,000

Granny D Goes to Washington” will air at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) on NH Public TV

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:10:15 -0400

Lyndeborough passes warrant article prohibiting concealed vote counting by computers or any other method

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:56:43 -0400

SOURCE: OpEdNews

Any citizen in New Hampshire can bring a petition article to their Town Warrant by securing the signatures of at least 25 registered voters. The article is then added to the Town Warrant to be voted on in Town meeting. Today, the citizens of Lyndeborough resoundingly approved enacting into the town's laws the following warrant article regarding the counting of votes. I hope that NH citizens all around the state will enact the same law in their town at next year's Town Meetings.

Here is the petition citizens signed to add the article below regarding the counting of votes to the Town Warrant:

To see if the Town of Lyndeborough will prohibit vote counting concealed from the human eye by method of computers or otherwise, and require that all methods used for sorting and counting the votes in an election be publicly observable for full citizen oversight of the entire voting system (with the exception of the voter’s casting of the secret ballot).

Obama Focuses on 3 To Fill Fed Board

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:14:04 -0500

SOURCE:New York Times

By SEWELL CHAN
Published: March 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — Moving quickly to put its mark on the Federal Reserve, the White House on Friday identified two economists and a lawyer as its candidates to fill three seats on the central bank’s board of governors.
The economists are Janet L. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, who is the top choice for vice chairwoman, and Peter A. Diamond, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and an authority on Social Security, pensions and taxation. The lawyer, Sarah Bloom Raskin, is the Maryland commissioner of financial regulation.

ES&S election monopoly blocked. Still at least 17 ways to steal or botch your next election

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:19:37 -0500

OpEdNews

SOURCE: OpEdNews

March 12, 2010 By Lani Massey Brown

If you've been following recent news reports concerning Elections Systems & Software, Inc.'s monopoly of America's voting process, you know ES&S will now be required to sell the Premier Systems/Diebold assets they acquired last year, pending approval by a federal judge. (See Brad Friedman's DOJ TO REQUIRE ES&S TO SELL OFF ASSETS FROM DIEBOLD MERGER CITING ANTI-TRUST CONCERNS and DOJ: Voting machine maker must sell some assets, Pete Yost, Associated Press.)

Have we dodged a bullet on that one? Maybe. The block to ES&S's nationwide election grab is one major victory for all Americans. It does restrict the propagation of a host of voting errors that have long afflicted ES&S voting systems.

However in no way does this ensure honest and accurate elections. It simply restricts ES&S's influence from 70% of Americans to 50+% of Americans. It does nothing to protect your vote from intentional or unintentional mishap. Particularly since the ES&S solution controls each election from beginning to end with little or no viable external checks and balances to keep the results honest: ES&S manufactures the machines, outlines the testing process, produces the test data, manages the voting process, tallies the votes, pronounces the winner, then produces the reports to declare the election valid.

Gov. Lynch Announces Workers, Businesses Will Be Able to Enroll in First Part of NH Working on Monday

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:16 -0500

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch today announced that starting Monday workers and businesses will able to enroll in the first part of New Hampshire Working, the Governor’s jobs initiative.

Gov. Lynch, joined by lawmakers and Employment Security Commissioner Tara Reardon, announced the launch of the enrollment process that will allow workers to participate in up to six weeks of on-the-job training from a potential employer while continuing to collect unemployment benefits. This launch represents one part of the Governor’s three-part jobs initiative.

“This initiative will reduce the upfront costs companies bear in training new workers – making it easier for them to hire. And it will allow workers to get their foot in the door at company looking to hire, giving them the opportunity to show their skills,” Gov. Lynch said.

New Hampshire Working leverages existing resources to help businesses and workers recover from the recession.

“The funding required for these programs is money we are already spending – but with New Hampshire Working we’re spending it better, in a way that is helping companies and workers, and reducing costs for taxpayers,” Gov. Lynch said.

Key senators balk at adding student loan overhaul to health-care legislation

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:05:00 -0500

SOURCE: washingtonpost.com

By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, March 11, 2010; A03

As they push to finish health-care legislation by the end of the month, Democratic leaders in Congress are weighing whether to add another of President Obama's priorities to the package: a popular proposal to overhaul the federal student loan program.

The move could clear the way for Obama to claim victory on two of his most significant domestic initiatives in a single signing ceremony. Administration officials and House leaders have pressed aggressively for the addition in recent days. But key senators are objecting to the move, arguing that political resistance in the Senate and the rapidly rising cost of the education measure could jeopardize efforts to push health-care reform to final passage.

"I think it threatens the health-care bill," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) "It would threaten to sink them both."

Senator Patrick Leahy tackles "Citizens United" SCOTUS decision

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:34:38 -0500

SOURCE: Senator Leahy email

Today we begin the process of undoing the great harm done by a narrow majority on the U.S. Supreme Court in its recent Citizens United v. FEC decision. I just returned from our first Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused specifically on how, in light of the Court's misguided decision, we can protect our political process from excessive corporate spending.

The Founding Fathers crafted a Constitution and adopted a Bill of Rights to guarantee the fundamental rights of the American people, not corporations. After all, corporations are different from individual citizens. They do not have the same rights, morals, or motivations. They cannot vote. They are legal constructs designed to conduct commerce, nothing more.

The differences between people and corporations are obvious, and they were not lost on the great Chief Justice John Marshall when he wrote in 1819 that, "A corporation is an artificial being ... the mere creature of law, it possesses only those properties which the charter of its creation confers upon it..."

Lynch promises veto of medical marijuana legislation

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:46:07 -0500

For Immediate Release

Gov. Lynch Statement Regarding Legislation to Decriminalize Marijuana

“Marijuana is a controlled drug that remains illegal under federal law. I share the law enforcement community’s concerns about proliferation of this drug.

“In addition, New Hampshire parents are struggling to keep their kids away from marijuana and other drugs. We should not make the jobs of parents – or law enforcement – harder by sending a false message that some marijuana use is acceptable.

“That is why if legislation to decriminalize marijuana were to reach my desk, I would veto it.”

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Governor and Council Approve Funding to Expand Real World Learning Opportunities for Students

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:03:32 -0500

For Immediate Release

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council today approved the use federal Workforce Investment Act funds to expand a successful program in Grafton County that offers real world learning opportunities and high school credit for students.

The $234,678 contract with the Grafton County Economic Development Council will help to expand the existing North Country Work Place Education Project.

“We must continue to create new opportunities for real-world learning, where students can gain on-the-job training and the basic skills they need to graduate from high school and get a good job. These funds will allow us to expand a successful program, where students are learning valuable lessons, as well as high school credits,” said Gov. Lynch. “This program represents the state’s growing efforts to provide greater alternative education programs that are helping more of our young people graduate from high school.”

Gov. Lynch has made increasing New Hampshire’s high school graduation rate a priority, by increasing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 and expanding alternative education programs. In just the last year, New Hampshire’s high school dropout rate decreased by 30 percent. This initiative builds on those efforts.

Governor and Council Approve Funding for North Country Business Launching Pad, NH Talent Team

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:02:06 -0500

For Immediate Release

Federal Funds Will Be Used to Implement Two Innovative Workforce Development Programs

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council today approved the use federal Workforce Investment Act funds to establish two new innovative programs to help North Country residents build their own businesses and connect North Country workers with jobs.

White Mountain Community College in Berlin will administer the two new programs: The North Country Business Launch Pad and the New Hampshire Talent Team.

“Even before the onset of this recession, the North Country’s economy lagged behind the rest of the state. We must work to ensure economic recovery comes to every part of New Hampshire, which is why are launching these two new efforts to help North Country citizens build their own businesses and to connect North Country workers with jobs,” said Gov. Lynch.

The North Country Launch Pad will assist residents of Coos, northern Grafton and Carroll counties in starting their own businesses. The college will work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans, to help them develop marketing plans, and to connect them with financing and other resources.

Governor Lynch Statement on the Death of Granny D

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:34:17 -0500

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch today issued the following statement regarding the passing of Doris “Granny D” Haddock:

“Granny D was a true New Hampshire treasure, embodying the spirit that makes this such a great state. Granny D proved to us all that one person really can make a difference. Granny D's passion and commitment inspired tens of thousands of Americans to get involved and push for change to the campaign finance system.

“My wife Susan and I send our deepest sympathies to the Haddock family.”

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