Patch is running a poll asking, “Does House Speaker William O’Brien deserve another term?” The unscientific poll doesn’t hold much interest for me, but the readers’ comments are quite entertaining.
When the conversation turned to reports of O’Brien bullying lawmakers who disagreed with him, a reader identifying himself as GOP Rep. Will Smith jumped to his defense:
[N]one of the so called “bullying” episodes EVER occurred! Emerson is a liar, the Senate Sargent at Arms is a union hack and was FIRED and he wasn’t even in the room and Tim Copeland is a union hack liar who also wasn’t there and never even had a conversation with the Speaker or majority leader.
That was all too much for Rep. Lee Quandt. “Is Rep. Will Smith unhinged?” asked Quandt.
Calling Emerson and Copeland liars is like calling Mary Poppins a hooker, just doesn’t fit and not credible.
At a time when most politicians are focused on creating jobs and avoiding a recession, Rep. Frank Guinta today called for more layoffs in the federal workforce.
U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-Manchester, today called for cutting the number of federal workers to save money.
Government workers “take money out of the private sector,” Guinta said during a forum at the RiverWoods senior citizen community this afternoon. About 50 seniors were in attendance.
Guinta … argued there should be a spending/hiring freeze for all government departments.
Tony Schinella provides a fascinating account of an approaching train wreck involving Concord’s redistricting plan.
Two candidates vying for Concord city council ward seats –- Jennifer Kretovic and Kris MacNeil -– are living in areas of the city that will be moved from one ward to another, in the wake of voter approval of the redistricting plan. Kretovic lives in Ward 2 but the plan moves her into Ward 3; MacNeil lives in Ward 3 but the plan moves her into Ward 4.
If approved, the redistricting plan will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2012. New city councilors and the mayor will be sworn in on Jan. 9, 2012. But if the voters approve the redistricting and both candidates win, they will not be seated, according to City Solicitor Jim Kennedy, because they will no longer be residents of the wards they were elected to serve.
City officials admit they have “no idea what to do” to address the issue.
Kretovic stated that at first, it was suggested to her that she run in Ward 3. Later, she was told she could only run in Ward 2, because that is where she lives now. Then, she was told “the unthinkable — that I shouldn’t bother running at all because I would never be able to serve in either Ward.”
When President Obama proposes increasing taxes on high-income individuals to help reduce the deficit, Republican critics are quick to accuse the president of inciting “class warfare.” It’s a charge 1st District Congressional candidate Joanne Dowdell embraces.
When Joanne Dowdell talks about why she is running for the First Congressional District in 2012, she says it is all about “class warfare.”
The Portsmouth resident and Democratic candidate says the future of middle class families hangs in the balance as Republican lawmakers in Congress continue their assault on labor, healthcare, and try to shift more of the tax burden onto their shoulders.
“The Middle Class is under attack,” Dowdell said.
32 years ago, facing gas lines and a dispirited nation, President Jimmy Carter gave an important speech that became known as the Malaise Speech. In it, he described the energy crisis as a symptom of a larger “fundamental threat to American democracy.”
The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.
In an opinion piece for Patch, Rep. Frank Guinta describes his constituents’ state of mind in terms that are eerily reminiscent of that speech.
People tell me they remain worried about the slow pace of job creation. … People tell me they’re concerned by the recent volatility and wild swings in the financial markets. … Others tell me they’re frustrated by the partisan sniping that has paralyzed Washington and is delaying meaningful change and reform.
Add up all the anxiety, frustration and uncertainty, and Granite Staters are on edge. It’s making some people angry; in others, it’s causing despair.
That is where the similarities end.
Carter then presented a six-point plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil and challenged Americans to reject a “mistaken idea of freedom” involving “constant conflict between narrow interests.” He asked us to embrace a solution embodying “common purpose and the restoration of American values.”
In contrast, Guinta sidesteps any serious proposal to jump-start the sputtering economy or to revive our spirits. Instead, he offers the same tired exhortation to “put our fiscal house in order” by adopting a Balanced Budget Amendment, reducing regulation and reforming taxes. “This is not a time for despair,” he says unconvincingly.
