“Things got a little lively” in Concord this week, notes Charles Pierce. In his semi-regular This Week in the Laboratories of Democracy column (where “the real work of governmentin’ goes on and the skies are not cloudy all day”), Pierce provides the context for Rep. Vaillancourt’s “Nuremberg flashback.”
It should be noted here that Mr. Vaillancourt’s unfortunate Nuremberg flashback took place during a debate over one of those phony voter suppression bills that have been coincidentally popping up all over the landscape ever since we elected a black president and all….
Supporters of the amendment said it was needed to prevent voter fraud, citing cases from New York’s Tammany Hall in the early 20th century, Chicago and Acorn.
The New Hampshire Legislature: Keeping The Granite State Safe From Boss Tweed, Richard Daley, Sr. and a community organizing group, each of whom is as dead as the other two. Only the latter, however, was murdered.
An editorial in the Portsmouth Herald declares, “There seems to be a gap between House Republican leaders’ words and their actions.”
House leaders say their top priorities are jobs and the economy.
But if that’s true, why in the world would they attach an amendment requiring a woman to wait 24 hours for an abortion to a bill approved by the Senate raising the research and development tax credit pool from $1 million to $2 million? …
This is a case of House leaders’ words saying they value jobs and the economy while their actions show that social issues such as abortion are more important.
“This is just one more example,” the Herald concludes, “of why the House needs new leadership.”
Agenda 21 is a United Nations plan for sustainable development that encourages resource conservation and preservation of open spaces.
Right-wing extremists from the John Birch Society to the NH Tea Party Coalition have latched onto the program as evidence of a worldwide conspiracy to destroy private property rights and implement a one-world government.
Today New Hampshire lawmakers joined them. By a 207-99 vote, the GOP-led House approved a bill that would prohibit the state, as well as any town or county, from implementing Agenda 21.
No agency or department of the state shall implement programs of, expend any sum for, be a member of, receive funding from, contract for services from, or give financial or other forms of aid to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), and its derivatives, in furtherance of the United Nations program known as Agenda 21.
Senate Bill 217, as amended by the House, now heads back to the Senate.
It took three tries, but Rep. Vaillancourt apologized to the New Hampshire House and the Speaker for his use of “inflammatory” language on the House floor and the regular business of the House resumed.
When the New Hampshire House is in session we’ve come to expect fireworks, but today was one for the record books. We’ll pick it up during the debate on Senate Bill 289, which would require voters to present a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. GOP Rep. Vaillancourt had questioned House Speaker O’Brien over his ruling prohibiting discussion of committee deliberations.
The Legislature is approaching what could be called Hell Week in the House and Senate, where there’s a flurry of action, but not a lot gets done. House and Senate leaders, like two raging bulls, mark their territory in advance of financial negotiations on key bills.
Cherylyn Harley LeBon — who established her partisan Republican bona fides working for archconservative Sen. Orrin Hatch and serving as deputy press secretary and spokesperson for the Republican National Committee — notes efforts by the New Hampshire GOP to eliminate the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and declares the party has lost its way.
Some Republicans in the New Hampshire state legislature believe that the IB program is a pilot program of the United Nations and UNESCO that promotes a socialist agenda. I have my share of criticisms for the UN and UNESCO, but they are a non-issue in this instance and don’t control the IB program.
The IB program prepares our children to function in a global society. The curriculum is challenging and encourages students to hone critical thinking skills, engage in community service, and learn a second language. … We should be proud of and encourage education through programs like the IB program.
WMUR has reported on the email from GOP state House Rep. Jerry Bergevin, in which he blasted lawmakers supporting medical marijuana as “potheads” and wrote that those who supported same-sex marriage had “legalized the rectum as a sexual organ.”
In the broadcast video, anchor Josh McElveen reported that Bergevin made “what some may see as an offensive reference to same-sex marriage law.” Apparently, someone decided that characterization was a bit timid. The print version was changed to say Bergevin made “what was called an offensive reference to the same-sex marriage law.”
Bergevin denied any controversy, saying the email was just a “straightforward analysis.”
After slashing state spending for higher education and cutting services for seniors, the disabled and at-risk children, state House Speaker Bill O’Brien says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
O’Brien told Kevin Landrigan he anticipates cutting another $400,000 from the 2014-2015 budget. State Senator Lou D’Allesandro, who serves on the Senate Finance and Ways and Means committees, wants to know where the cuts will be made.
“Will they eliminate all funding for higher education, pushing through another double-digit tuition increase? Will they cut additional aid to cities and towns, raising local property taxes? Will they cut health care for seniors, people with disabilities and children? The people of New Hampshire deserve to know.”
Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen and Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, a member of the House Finance Committee, called on the GOP gubernatorial candidates to level with New Hampshire voters about their plans for the budget.
“Ovide Lamontagne — and Kevin Smith — should tell us now if they support Bill O’Brien’s radical new plan,” said Larsen, “and if so, they should tell New Hampshire what they would cut.”
“The people of New Hampshire deserve to know what Republican leaders plan to cut in order to pay for their next round of tax giveaways,” echoed Rosenwald.
In an interview with Kevin Landrigan, State House Speaker Bill O’Brien conceded that more than 50 Republican members of the House are “extreme” — even by his standards!
O’Brien said passing an educational funding amendment will require 239 votes from the “moderate middle.” He acknowledged that the 293 House Republicans cannot provide all of those votes.
Getting a 60-percent super majority, or 239 House votes for this amendment, will require the moderate middle of Republicans and Democrats to support it, O’Brien said.
“It has to be that middle 60 percent. We can no longer respond to the extremes of either side,” O’Brien said.
GOP state House Rep. Marie Sapienza has missed 85 percent of the roll call votes in the House this session. The Hampstead representative tells the Eagle Tribune that her absences are a consequence of being “disappointed and disheartened with the makeup of the House.”
“Do I have absences? Yes, I do,” Sapienza said. “To a certain extent, my absences can be described as a protest.”
She said there are first-term lawmakers displaying disrespect for colleagues, as well as a House culture that disregards the work and recommendations of committees.
“I’d say we have an edgy leadership. I’m not sure this particular leadership is representative of the majority of the House,” Sapienza said. “There is a choice I can make every day. As a single mother and small business owner, there are times I have to ask myself, ‘What is my duty today?’”
