I'm writing on behalf of the Borgen Project- a seattle based non profit organization working to bring political attention to severe poverty. You can learn more about our organization through theborgenproject.org.

As you will see we have created the Global Poverty Act which has passed in the House and now we're trying to pass in the Senate. The way you can help is severly important and takes only thirty seconds to help pass this act.

We need roughly a dozen people (however the more the merrier) in New Hampshire to call Senator Sununu's office at (603) 647- 7500 and simply tell the staffer on the phone: “I’m a Borgen Project supporter and I would like the Senator to cosponsor the Global Poverty Act.” People can also email his office here:

sununu.senate.gov.

If you and your members can make the call or shoot an email it would greatly help the cause. You can see here (sample call log on right) how political offices tally each call and why it’s so important. Thank you so much for your consideration and let me know if I can answer any questions.
Thank you,

Candice Hays
The Borgen Project
theborgenproject.org

SOURCE:FOSTER'S DAILY DEMOCRAT

It took a week, but the local press finally reports on Seacoast citizens lobbying their junior Senator.

Sending a message: Citizens tell Sununu funds should be spent at home, not on war

By GRETYL MACALASTER

Article Date: Friday, May 2, 2008

PORTSMOUTH — About 15 area residents turned out at Sen. John Sununu's office recently to present a new report from MoveOn.org that shows New Hampshire voters think federal money would be better spent on domestic issues instead of the war in Iraq.

SOURCE: Foster's Daily Democrat

Making the prison prosper: Developers of defunct Navy facility convene in closed forum

By ROBERT M. COOK

Article Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2008

DURHAM — Luxury condominiums, a high-tech office park or even a new correctional facility represent some of the potential new uses for the 100-year-old prison at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

As many as 40 to 50 prospective developers from the Seacoast and elsewhere will converge Wednesday on the New England Center for an all-day forum where they can learn more about lease process, according to Deputy Shipyard Commander David Kelly.

I am a new member of DFNH and a native Vermonter who moved to southern NH 18 months ago. To begin with, I'm an avid hunter and angler and frequent listener to talk radio as well as NPR. I am a registered independant who doesn't go for the politics of party but rather votes on issues which are important to me. I'm probably not what you would call your "average" DFNH member as a result.

Having said that, I would also like to add that I am a public school teacher and musician who is pro-public education and an advocate for the Arts as well as Environmental conservation. I'm extremely confused by some of this state's "traditions" regarding taxes, politics, etc. Specifically:

1) Members of our legislture, from what I understand, get something like $300 a year to do their job. Forgive me for my ignorance, but WHO can live on $300.00 a year?!?! The answer is NO ONE! So then, who can afford to be a NH legislator? It would appear that only those who are independantly wealthy. So we have a system where a bunch of rich people are making laws for the state. I wonder who will benefit from laws that are made exclusively by rich people?

On March 13-14, a conference unlike any other will take place in Pittsburgh, PA. The event will launch a nationwide dialogue about moving our country rapidly toward leadership in promoting the benefits of a new green economy. Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A National Green Jobs Conference will bring together advocates representing local, state and federal policy makers; labor; business; the environment and public health; economic and workforce development specialists; investors; and scientists and technology experts.
We envision a confluence of big ideas and innovative strategies to help jump-start a nationwide green economic renaissance. Participants will share best practices about how we can revitalize our manufacturing sector, drive green building, promote safer chemicals, and realize the economic benefits of global warming solutions.
Join us.
http://www.greenjobsconference.org/site/c.rvI3IiNWJqE/b.3820537/

Dear Friends,

Today I'm announcing with regret my withdrawal from the campaign to represent New Hampshire in the US Senate. I remain committed to the goals of our campaign, but I do not have the financial resources needed to campaign full-time for the next nine months, which is what would be required to beat John Sununu.

I would like to thank all the people who have volunteered their time, money, and energy to support the campaign. I'm proud that our campaign has brought the need for an Apollo Program for Energy to the forefront of the Senate debate here in New Hampshire, and I’m going to continue to work for the issues that have been the foundation of our campaign, including:

• Promoting the awareness that America’s energy policy is crucial to our national security and economy as well as to our environment.
• Keeping our nation a leader in the global economy by investing in education, supporting science and technology research and development, and providing affordable, portable health care for all Americans.
• Eliminating the excessive power of special interests in our political process.

SOURCE: Concord Monitor
Home prices, sales down, say Realtors, By KATE DAVIDSON, Monitor staff, January 19. 2008 12:01AM

The real estate market in New Hampshire declined for a second consecutive year in 2007, as median home prices dropped slightly, sales lagged and houses stayed on the market longer, according to data released this week by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.

Jim Lyons, the association president, said the market appears to be stabilizing. But one New Hampshire economist said the price decline may be steeper than the numbers suggest and could drop further.

The number of single-family homes sold in the state last year dropped more than 10 percent, from 13,364 sold in 2006 to 11,989 sold in 2007. And the median price dropped 1.6 percent, from $265,000 in 2006 to $260,800 in 2007.

The average number of days on the market increased 17 percent, from 107 days in 2006 to 125 days last year.

Come ring in the Iowa caucus vote with progressive political author Glenn Hurowitz.

Glenn will be speaking at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH on Thursday, Jan. 3rd, 2008 at 7 p.m. His new book, "Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party," challenges Democrats to show more political courage and embrace confrontation.

Is the American Dream -- that bedrock belief that if we work hard, we can get ahead and make a better life for ourselves and our children -- alive and well?

It depends on which Americans you have in mind.

A series of studies by The Economic Mobility Project (www.economicmobility.org), a bi-partisan initiative, reveals that while some groups continue to move up the ladder of success, others are facing a tough time. And for two significant groups – children born to low income parents and middle-income African-Americans – the picture appears even bleaker.

What is the Economic Mobility Project?

Funded and directed by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Economic Mobility Project is a consortium of prominent scholars from four public policy institutions that cut across the political spectrum – the American Enterprise Institute, The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, and The Urban Institute.

The Project’s primary goal is to expand the current national economic debate about economic inequality to also include a fundamentally uniting discussion of opportunity and mobility. As such, and particularly in the lead-up to a presidential election, it is critical that candidates and policy makers are informed by the hard facts about mobility in America today.

SOURCE: New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN

“What were they smoking?” asks the cover of the current issue of Fortune magazine. Underneath the headline are photos of recently deposed Wall Street titans, captioned with the staggering sums they managed to lose.

Jim Wallis tells NH audiences: Creating change requires more than your vote

Progressive Evangelical leader calls on NH voters to create a political movement to address poverty, AIDS, global warming

DURHAM – (Oct. 16, 2007) The Rev. Jim Wallis last night challenged people of all faiths, as well as those who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious,” to create a movement to address the major global issues of our time, including poverty, AIDS, genocide and global warming.

Wallis told a crowd of about 200 people in Dartmouth College's Rollins Chapel Monday night that “people of faith should be the ultimate swing voters,” who use their moral compasses to evaluate candidates. But he also cautioned that regardless of where the next U.S. President stands on these issues, he or she will not be able to solve them without “a social movement pushing them from the outside to make it happen.”

“Power concedes nothing without a demand,” he said, quoting abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Source: NHInsider

By: Chaz Proulx

Republican Representative Fred King of Colebrook has filed a bill to raise the NH gas tax by six cents a gallon. Thank you, Representative King for having the courage to file this no-brainer legislation. The alternative is a toll hike that penalizes NH drivers who happen to live near toll booths.

The Big Lie And The Rightwing's Neo-Feudal Vision (A Supplement To The Political Duality Series)

by: Paul Rosenberg

Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 01:44:56 AM EDT

One key to why movement conservatives are so successful is that they are playing a different game than everyone else-even most conservative voters, who really have no idea what they've signed on for.

What they are after, at a minimum, is a return to the Gilded Age system, when big business owned Congress outright, and the country was run directly for their benefit, and little else.

I'm going to be talking about this in an upcoming diary, but to illustrate it a little more fully, I created this standalone diary.

Two trends have been particularly destructive to the people of our nation who make things with their hands. One is privatization and the other is outsourcing.

The supposed reason for promoting privatization was the promise of more efficient and lower cost goods and services than government agencies traditionally delivered. That promise hasn't been realized, as we all now know.

But, the reason it hasn't been realized, I would argue, is because it was never intended to. The real impetus for privatization was to evade public scrutiny of government functions that became increasingly intense as a consequence of the passage of civil and consumer rights legislation and government-in-the-sunshine legislation. When people started paying close attention to how their money and resources were being used, government officials were easily convinced that it was time to hide behind the "private corporation."

Jay Buckey has continued (in the opinion of this biased staffer) leading the Senate field in policy ideas and understanding by releasing 3 new policy perspectives, covering a broad range of topics.  These papers include exciting features such as "actual research," "critical thinking," "real statistics," and even "citations."  Unorthodox, yes, but we believe that you'll like it.  You can see them all as well as videos on the issues at buckey08.com/issues,  and I have provided direct links to the three specific papers below.

Energy
Iraq
Global Trade

Buckey sent a letter to supporters a few minutes ago announcing the new papers.  Here's the text:

United States GPN Report 2007
Sylvia A. Allegretto

Introduction:

The current expansion of the U.S. economy is well into its sixth year—a relatively mature stage compared to recent cycles. The last recession in the U.S. was in 2001 and officially lasted eight months from March to November. As of this writing, Spring 2007, many of the underlying fundamentals of the economy look good. This recovery has seen some stellar productivity numbers, output has expanded at a decent clip, and unemployment has been relatively low. However, how individuals fare in the economy is greatly determined by where they are situated within it. This report focuses on the labor market and the workers that drive the U.S. economy. Workers across the economic spectrum are analyzed in a historical context, as well as, within the current economic cycle.

This introduction briefly addresses two troubling issues that emerge from this report. The first concerns the persistent and increasing gap between productivity and wages. Second, the long term trend of increased inequality in the United States has continued to worsen in terms of wages, family income, and overall wealth.

Million-dollar washers recall platinum-plated toilet seats

Campaign pressures Presidential candidates to reduce wasteful Pentagon spending

CONCORD, NH – Yesterday's report that the Pentagon spent nearly $1 million to ship two 19-cent washers illustrates why Presidential candidates need to get serious about protecting American taxpayers from ongoing Defense waste.

The latest example of wasteful Pentagon spending became public when a South Carolina defense contractor pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. The company was paid $20.5 million for bogus shipping costs over a six-year period.

"This 20 million dollars is the tip of the iceberg," said Steve Varnum, PrioritiesNH director. “Despite absorbing half of our nation’s discretionary budget, the Pentagon cannot even pass a simple standard audit. Wasteful Defense spending is rampant and robs money that could be used to improve America’s education, health care and job training and energy independence.”

Success! Today, over a thousand miles away from each other, marchers in Iowa and New Hampshire converged on the capitols of each state. Here in New Hampshire, there was a great turnout. But more than the numbers, it was the spirit: hopeful yet determined, loud and joyful, united in our vision and our call - we are the leaders we've been waiting for to create a clean energy economy here in this country and around the world. There'll be more reflections to come, but for now, check out our videos from the New Hampshire march - and thank you to all who made this journey possible!

View the March at YouTube, and click for more info