Here’s an example of how government welfare programs exist just to exist. Remember, all this help comes at a cost to some. And here in NH the costs are going up starting now…

THE GOAL of public assistance programs ought to be helping the truly needy who have nowhere else to turn. The real goal, however, is to enroll as many people as possible, thus justifying the program’s continued existence and expansion.

Take New Hampshire’s primary fuel assistance program, the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, for example. It provided aid to more than 35,000 households this past winter. It has firm financial eligibility guidelines. And yet the state’s administrator of the program told the New Hampshire Sunday News last week that families should apply even if they think they are not eligible.

“I talk to people all the time that self-screen,” Celeste Lovett said. “They should not do that.”

Why not? Lovett said people should apply because the state can help them find other assistance, either government aid or private chairty. But there are other reasons.

By federal law, Washington will cut future LIHEAP funding if the state does not use all of the current year’s grant. Every applicant the state can help will in turn help the state justify increased funding next year. Also, Washington provides bonus allotments to states that arrange for additional home heating assistance from other sources. So the state gets more federal aid if it can set up private funding for applicants who don’t get state assistance.

The program contains strong incentives for the state to sign up as many people as possible. So that’s what the state does

IOW, apply for assistance even when you know you don’t qualify- or- NEED it. By doing so, you help the state (government) inflate the numbers, get more funding (funds are OUR tax dollars) and assist more people to free up cash to pay for…cable TV, Internet access, cell phones and the like.

Meanwhile here in NH, our utility bills (for heat, lights and so on) are going up starting today. Any connection?

Oh joy. My state’s going to be invaded by the Messiah and the Hillbill.

BARACK OBAMA AND and Hillary Clinton will be together on Friday at their first Democratic unity event of the 2008 general election campaign in - appropriately enough - Unity, New Hampshire.

The announcement by the Obama campaign yesterday had the New Hampshire political community buzzing.

Speculation had been building about a possible New Hampshire joint appearance since last week, when Obama and Clinton disclosed they would appear together in a “battleground” state. But the decision to have the candidates return to New Hampshire, the site of high political drama during the first-in-the-nation primary campaign, was not finalized until the past few days, according to Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin.

Unity is a small town over towards Clarement. I’ve been there a few thousand times, in passing. Blink the eyes and the town is gone. I know more than a handful of good folks from there too- and it’s mostly a libertarian town. I hope they have fun when the Messiah and his Hillbill come to bless their united front. What a perfect political play this is.

The sneaky, behind the curtain antics of Congress are what piss people off…and once again, THEY’RE AT IT!

Some House Democrats are having behind-the-scenes discussions about creating a special visa for illegal aliens they believe will enjoy considerable Republican support. Under the plan, illegal aliens who can prove they have jobs, pay a fine, and pass a criminal background check will receive the gift of legal status for 5 years. The plan is designed to attract pro-business Republicans and those who backed the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill by also increasing the number of visas issued for technical, temporary and agricultural workers.

Their plan appears to be to create a bi-partisan alternative to the bi-partisan
SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification Enforcement), which focuses on reducing illegal immigration instead of rewarding it.

Rep. Heath Shuler’s (D-N.C.) SAVE Act now has 144 bipartisan signers in the House and Senate.

Who signed onto this? 89 Republicans!

I’m contacting my elected RINOS and the others to let them know this is wrong. Let’s put Americans to work first. Not illegals immigrants.

Uh oh…so who did the NH SEA really endorse?

John Edwards came to Concord to take a victory lap yesterday after winning the endorsement of the 10,000-member State Employees Association. But a celebratory press conference degenerated into an intra-union feud over whether the former North Carolina senator was the board’s first choice.

The union’s board voted 7-5 on Oct. 23 to endorse Sen. Barack Obama, according to two board members who support the Illinois Democrat. They say the board even authorized SEA president Gary Smith to call Obama and tell him he’d won the union’s presidential endorsement. But by the end of last week, they said, Smith had announced the original vote wasn’t proper and called for another one, which Edwards won 9-8 Tuesday night.

Repeatedly asked at a press conference whether he had called Obama last week to tell him he’d won the endorsement, Smith declined to answer.

“I’ve been in contact with several campaigns about where they are relatively in the polls with our members,” he said. Asked a fifth time, Smith retorted: “You can stop asking. . . . That is the answer. I’m sorry, it’s going to be the consistent answer, no matter how many times you keep asking.”

Edwards attempted to cut off reporters asking about the Obama call, saying that Smith had “answered the question.” Edwards also brushed off questions about the endorsement’s legitimacy.

“You have to ask these guys, I think I’m the only one they’ve endorsed,” Edwards said, laughing. “It’s true with a lot of these union endorsements, it’s a long and very democratic process, where the leaders also play an important role. And they, at the end of the day, decided they supported me.”

IOW Obama is the first choice as voted by the state employees; but the leaders wanted Edwards. So they changed the rules and numbers and did some fast moves. So much for unions speaking for the people. And notice Edwards’ nonchalant attitude towards it all- he who promises to make the lives of blue collar hard working people better. It’s all about HIM.

I’m catching up with news and found this at the WSJ, about New Hampshire:

MANCHESTER, N.H.–If the southern tip of New Hampshire, that part of the state closest to Boston, were to be split off and made into a separate state, which of the two New Hampshires would Republicans dominate?

Surprisingly, it would be the section full of Massachusetts transplants and which is sometimes derisively called “Massahampshire.”

New Hampshire as a whole is turning blue. Last year voters replaced both of the state’s Republican congressmen, Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley, with Democrats. The GOP also lost control of both houses of the legislature for the first time since 1911.

And yet Massachusetts transplants, while they may have turned the southern portion of the state into a suburban stretch of chain stores and clogged highways, are the primary reason the GOP remains competitive in the state. They are also Republican Sen. John Sununu’s largest base of support as he seeks to defend his seat against Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, a popular former governor, next year.

The most solidly Republican towns and cities in New Hampshire run along the border with Massachusetts. Cities like Salem and towns like New Ipswich are filled with registered Republicans who fled Taxachusetts and who actually want to keep New Hampshire a low-tax, low-regulation state.

It’s true…most of the towns near mine are full of people who call themselves Republicans…and many are from MA. I know more than two handfuls of people who fled MA- and it’s insane regulatory and nanny statist rules- for NH’s live free or die mindset. Still NH is turning blue. Ice cold blue.

So why is the rest of the Granite State going blue? Transplants into the state are changing the political landscape, but they’re not from Massachusetts. They’re highly educated professionals and come mostly from mid-Atlantic states. These newcomers have college degrees, many advanced, and work in high-tech, academia and other specialized fields throughout the state. They are affluent and very liberal.

The Massachusetts émigrés shop at Wal-Mart, eat at 99, a local family restaurant chain, and watch the Patriots. The mid-Atlantic émigrés shop at boutiques, eat at small cafes and watch Roger Altman films. They’re the ones tipping the state Democratic.

One can SMELL a liberal from a mile away. The expensive perfumes and cars and houses speak for who they are…and the snots that run out of their snubbed up noses tell a lot too. Starbucks over Duncan Donuts. A Lexus over a more practical Jeep. A game of EuropeOn soccer over football. A $500 bottle of crappy wine over a bottle of Bud…paying an illegal immigrant to tend to their garden vs. getting their own hands dirty. Yep…they are everywhere, these liberal pests who fled their own states to a better life. But now they’re turning NH into something not too many of us real Granite Staters like.

I could go on and on with examples of these people who have invaded my state and who are putting new meaning into LIVING FREE but DON’T DIE FOR IT BECAUSE IT’S NOT WORTH THAT, mantra. They’re ruining my state. And taking away the values that once made NH a great place to live. The MA transplants are horrified at the things they are seeing: The MASS-U-LIZATION of NH is happening.

Heh.

HE’S BEEN featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe, and on the ABC News Web site and more. He’s been referred to as the most powerful man in America no one knows.

He’s been portrayed by those in other states he utterly frustrates as a power-hungry, “star chamber” type, pushing proverbial buttons and pulling proverbial levers that affect political fortunes .

I haven’t written to much here about the saga of the Browns- the couple who were found guilty of tax evasion and who stayed locked down in their home up in Plainfield NH. I HAVE been reading a lot of sites about the treatment of people who MIGHT have been friends and/or supporters of the Browns. To me, some of these people have just been harassed, plain and simple.

Satire became reality Friday afternoon when half a dozen armed federal agents wearing body armor showed up at this author’s home and detained everyone in the house for nearly 90 minutes to determine who might pose a threat to the government.

Marshal John Bolen of the U.S. Marshals Office of Protective Intelligence traveled to Manchester, N.H., to investigate threats of violence allegedly made against Steven McAuliffe, a federal judge in the district court in Concord, and other federal officials in the area. He brought along with him other marshals and agents who would only say that they were with the Treasury Department.

Huh??

Later in the afternoon the federal agents detained and interrogated another Manchester resident for nearly 30 minutes trying to locate yet another person of interest to them, and then after having set up a Saturday meeting with this person of interest, didn’t even bother to show up.

(read this passage from the sourced site; LOTS of video!!)

The threats allegedly originated with convicted tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown, late of Plainfield, and supporters of their cause. Marshals took the Browns into custody Thursday night to begin serving 63-month prison terms after a nine-month standoff in which the couple remained in their home, supporters brought food, supplies and firearms, and staged concerts and press conferences on the property.

Ok it’s getting more clear now…YOU have to go read the rest of this to see how an overzealous government can come into your home, harass you, threaten you and otherwise badger you - for no reason! This is NH, where the Free Staters want to live free or die! Most of them don’t really want to DIE, but they do want freedom from the very things written about here. Unbelievable.

The Browns have been arrested.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown have been arrested at their Plainfield home without incident, the U.S. Marshal’s office in New Hampshire said Thursday.

The couple had been convicted on federal tax charges in January. They refused to turn themselves in to authorities when they were sentenced in April and had been holed up in their rural, fortress-like home since. It was not immediately clear how they were taken into custody.

“The Browns may now begin serving their 63-month federal prison terms,” U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said. “High profile situations like this are always difficult, but they don’t have to be tragic. I’m glad no one was injured, and that the community remained safe throughout the operation.”

And so ends a saga here in NH- the legends are going to jail. I can’t wait to hear what really went down when this all happened.

THIS happened right in my back yard, so to speak. Here in NH.

And it should concern people everywhere. Since when are citizens arrested and jailed for non criminal, non threatening activities like this???

Four women who worked for the town of Hooksett NH were fired two months ago. National media outlets flocked to their defense side to hear their story. Only one side of the story has been presented though. Now the Hooksett Town Council speaks and the story takes on new meaning.

HOOKSETT – After nearly two months of silence since firing four longtime town employees, the town council has released documents and councilors have begun to speak publicly about the situation.

Yesterday, the council released legal opinions explaining why two of the employees, Joanne Drewniak and Jessica Skorupski, were denied reinstatement to their jobs as administrative assistants at Town Hall.

Was it idle gossip? Maybe. But idle gossip these days can get people, entire companies and cities into legal trouble.

“It is clear these employees do not represent the best interests of the Town of Hooksett and the false rumors, gossip and derogatory statements have contributed to a negative working environment and malcontent among their fellow employees,” the decision said in part.

The council fired the four employees, all women, in mid-April after a town-hired fact-finder determined one had referred to her boss, Town Administrator David Jodoin, using a derogatory term and the employees had discussed what they saw as a close relationship between Jodoin and a female subordinate.

No one has said there is any truth to any rumors.

The council said the women knowingly spread a false rumor.

The women were jealous of a co worker; they decided that this female co worker must be in with the boss, the town administrator and it appears as though they purposely set out to ruin both people. Backfired on them though in a big way.

Councilor David Ross called the talk “malicious slander,” saying Jodoin was afraid to meet one on one with female employees for fear of being a victim of a malicious sexual harassment suit.

I think this is the heart of the matter with this. The woman being gossiped about could have and may still decide to sue the town- for rumors that most likely made her work day very difficult. In the end, this is a sign of some poor management from the towns leaders. People have to refrain from blabbing and spreading stories that may and may not be true. Idle gossip almost always hurts people. Now, it can land them in all sorts of legal trouble.

What’s new with NH politics.

With the Lemoncrats (TM) in control here, freedom is going to be at risk. We reap what we sow.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have all your gas paid for, by the peasants who elected you to office?

As gas prices soar, taking a toll on many Bay State families, taxpayers have shelled out nearly $200,000 to pay Beacon Hill lawmakers to drive themselves to work, a Herald review has found.

With prices at the pump topping $3 statewide, 68 members of the House and 14 senators have already received more than $1,000 in travel pay this year, with some hauling in nearly $7,000.

The 68 House members who have put in for the daily travel reimbursements have scored an average $1,524 so far this year, while the 20 members of the Senate have fetched an average $1,616.

Western Massachusetts lawmakers top the list, with some making $90 a day to drive to the Golden Dome. The taxpayer-funded payments are based on mileage and are not adjusted to rising and falling gas prices.

The people of MA are being screwed over and I bet 80% don’t even care…and I bet most of them think their elected reps are some how entitled to this special perk.

How does NH handle this?

Barbara Anderson, who heads the taxpayer watchdog group Citizens for Limited Taxation, said per diem payments are a “silly,” outdated concept created when the Legislature was part-time.

“I’d rather it be like New Hampshire, where they get paid (a yearly stipend) plus mileage,” she said. “But in Massachusetts they get everything.”

heh. No…this is Massachusetts where wasting money is more important; it justifies high taxes.

Speaking of taxes and Massachusetts, they want to grab as many bucks as they can…and NH residents who travel to MA can look forward to “paying” for the privilege to drive on the highways of MA…

BOSTON, MA. — Massachusetts lawmakers are debating a plan to place tolls along the New Hampshire border at Interstates 93 and 95 and Route 3 to help pay for Massachusetts’ crumbling roads and bridges.

The sponsor of the bill said if Massachusetts residents have to pay tolls in New Hampshire, it makes sense to do the same for New Hampshire drivers using the Bay State roads and bridges.

The proposal would put tolls on I-93 in Methuen and on I-95 in Salisbury, and another on Route 3 at the New Hampshire border.

Every road that leads drivers into NH, from MA, Maine and Vermont are not toll roads; drivers can reach all local cities via un-tolled highways…yes, we do have tolls but only for folks heading north. Quite a ways up actually. There are tolls between Manchester and Concord; between Nashua and Manchester- but there are also smaller high ways many of take to avoid these tolls, and trust me, many MA residents take as well. It’s a game. Wherever it thinks money can be made, MA is there. Now NH residents can pay for the gas of MA state reps.

Taking the first steps to make sure sex with minors is legal and safe. This is all about the nitty griity details regarding age of consent for young teenage girls, men and the legalizing of sex between them. Parents, of course have little say in it all.

Read the rest of this entry »

A “new” political group has formed in NH.

A veteran GOP activist who twice failed in bids for the state party chairmanship has formed a conservative political group she says will complement, not rival, the New Hampshire Republican State Committee.

The New Hampshire Reagan Network will “advance the principles of the Republican platform” and “educate people as to what the Republican principles are,” state Rep. Fran Wendelboe, R-New Hampton, said yesterday.

“We will actively work to recruit people for state legislative races who believe in and support the Republican platform and principles that Ronald Reagan stood for,” Wendelboe said.

Something has to change…the GOP has lost it’s way in recent years that is for sure. Whether this group helps or hinders remains to be seen; I will certainly check it out though.