In the wake of the Arizona shooting many Democrats–including Barack Obama himself–urged Americans to usher in a new era of civility. Naturally these Democrats were talking to Republicans and Tea Party members because it was assumed that Jarred Laughner was a right winger–an assumption that was quickly disproven–while ignoring the fact that there has been no documented proof that any Tea Party member has engaged in violent behavior.
Apparently the left does not believe that this call for a new era of civility was directed at them because according to this story the windows were shot out of a Washington DC Republican’s office, and it seems to have been politically driven.
Scott Walker and other Wisconsin Democrats have received death threats and now we have a violent attack on the office of a Republican politician in Washington and yet neither of these stories are gaining any momentum within the propaganda arm of the Democrat party–otherwise known as the mainstream media.
A quick recap of a busy week in the New Hampshire House
It has been awhile since I wrote about what has been happening here in the state of New Hampshire, but the House has had a busy week or so, so I decided this would be a good time to update anyone who might be interested in what has been happening here.
In the last couple of days the House has approved an education bill, expanding the death penalty, as well as new gun bills, parental notification, and addressed the early release of some criminals.
I will start with the education issue, and I will make it brief. The House passed a constitutional amendment on education by a vote of 252-113 which would remove the courts from the issue of education and place it back where it belongs–in the State House. The bill will now move to the State Senate where a 2/3 majority will be needed for this to make it to the ballot box where the voters will also have to approve it by a 2/3 majority for the state constitution to be amended.
The House also passed several new gun bills–most notably the Castle Doctrine, which basically states that a person can use lethal force to defend himself wherever he has a legal right to be (where guns are not prohibited, such as school areas) without first having to retreat. Another notable gun bill which passed the House would do away with concealed carry permits and allow anyone to carry concealed without a permit, as long as they do not have a felony on their record. (The background checks would still verify a person’s record when they purchase a weapon.) And finally, the House passed a bill which would allow a person to transport a weapon in a vehicle while it was loaded, currently a weapon must be unloaded and in full display when being transported.
The House also passed a parental notification bill which would require the parents of an underage girl to be notified if their child sought an abortion. New Hampshire had previously had such a law on the books, but the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional because it did not include an exception when the mother’s life was in danger. The new bill would allow an underage girl to go to a court for permission to obtain an abortion instead of notifying a parent and it is believed that this clause will allow the bill to survive a court challenge.
I can’t even begin to put into words how deplorable I find it that under current law an UNDERAGE girl can seek to have an abortion and the parents of that girl need never know about it. A child needs a note from the parent before they can get an aspirin at school, and a child needs permission from a parent before they can go on a school field trip, yet under current law the parent does not have a right to know that their UNDERAGE child has had an abortion. This bill is a step in the right direction towards restoring the rights of the parents.
Next up, the House passed a bill which would expand the death penalty to include a murder which took place during a home invasion. Current New Hampshire law limits the death penalty as an option only in the case of a murder of a judge or police officer, murders that occur during rape or kidnapping or during a drug deal. The push for this legislation came in the aftermath of the horrific killing of Kimberly Cates, and the attempted murder of her 11 year old daughter (when her throat was slashed and she was left for dead).
And lastly, the House voted to temporarily repeal a law that Governor Lynch recently signed into law–the early release of violent criminals. In an attempt to save the state roughly seven million dollars, the governor put his signature on legislation which would free sex offenders and other criminals almost a year early while claiming that this made the state safer because these criminals would be monitored.
This is just the first phase in regards to all of these bills as they will now head to the State Senate for a vote before they make it to the governor’s desk, and it will be interesting to see what is going to happen with these bills. But one thing is for sure, things are beginning to heat up here in New Hampshire.
Herman Cain on Planned Parenthood: “It’s planned genocide”
Herman Cain–who is most likely going to run for president in 2012–was asked whether or not federal money should be given to Planned Parenthood. The short answer to the question is no, he does not believe Planned Parenthood should receive and federal funding, but it is his long answer that deserves to be looked at more closely:
Here’s why I support de-funding Planned Parenthood, because you don’t hear a lot of people talking about this, when Margaret Sanger – check my history – started Planned Parenthood, the objective was to put these centers in primarily black communities so they could help kill black babies before they came into the world
You don’t see that talked that much about,” said Cain. “It’s not Planned Parenthood. No, it’s planned genocide. You can quote me on that
Certainly Herman Cain has gone off the deep end here; Planned Parenthood could not possibly have been originally founded to kill off the black race, right? Well, if that is what you are thinking you would be wrong; Michael Cain is 100% right and it is about time that we had someone with the courage in the political arena to stand up and tell the nation what Margaret Sanger’s goal was when she co-founded Planned Parenthood.
Arne Duncan can’t name the provision in the constitution which allows the federal government to get involved in education
Arne Duncan–Education Secretary–was asked, and could not answer, a simple question; Where does the constitution give the federal government the authority to involve itself in the education of our children? Here is the question which was asked of Arne Duncan:
The Bill of Rights says that powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states and the people. With that in mind, Mr. Secretary, where specifically does the Constitution authorize the federal government to be involved in primary and secondary education
Here is Duncan’s response to that question:
“We are obviously a small percent of overall funding–you know about 10 percent,” he said. “The vast majority of funding comes at the local level–state and local level. But we have a responsibility to support children who have historically not had those kinds of opportunities–disadvantaged children, poor children, homeless students, children who are English language learners and, more recently, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of reform from the department.”We have to dramatically improve the quality of education we are providing this country and we can help to continue to reward excellence and encourage at the local level,
A typical Washington politician’s dodge to a question. He did not state where the authority lies, what he did was to explain why he felt the federal government SHOULD be involved in the education of our children. His answer to the question was no answer at all–it was a deflection.
Back in 2009 the Senate voted 59-38 to cut off funding for the alternative engine for the F-35, falling one vote shy of the 60 votes needed. Last month the newly elected Republican controlled House voted to cut off the funding for this alternative engine meaning that this will most likely head back to the Senate for another vote.
Here are some facts on the F-35 alternative engine project:
It costs $28 million a month
Since 2007 there has been $1.3 billion in earmarks spent on this duplicate engine
It is estimated that it will take close to $3 billion just to make this engine competitive
There are currently 30 New Hampshire residents working on this project
Both Bush and Obama have called for the termination of this project
The Pentagon doesn’t want the alternative engine, and has no use for it
After the House voted to cut the funding for this project last month, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte signed a letter which was sent to her colleagues asking them to follow the lead of the House and cut the funding for this project. Here is what she had to say: Read more…
Herman Cain addresses New Hampshire conservatives
Herman Cain was in New Hampshire this weekend as a guest speaker at a Hillsborough County Republican Committee fundraising dinner. As someone who is less than impressed with the Republican candidates who are generally seen as the frontrunners–Romney, Palin, and Huckabee–I am going to give serious consideration to the lesser known candidates who may decide to run for president, and Herman Cain is one of those people who I will be looking at closely in the upcoming months.
Below is a video of Herman Cain’s speech at this event, and here is a link to a New Hampshire Union Leader article about his speech.
The video comes from Granite Grok–who attended this event and recorded this video–so a special hat tip is in order for New Hampshire’s preeminent conservative blog.
Michele Bachmann to New Hampshire: “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world”
As we New Hampshirites know, contrary to popular belief, the Revolutionary War actually started months before the “shot heard around the world” when in New Hampshire in December of 1774 Paul Revere made a much less known ride to warn the patriots that the British were coming to reenforce Fort William and Mary.
Equipped with this information 400 patriots raided Fort William and Mary and captured cannon and almost 100 barrels of gunpowder before the British could reenforce their fort. This was an act of war and was the beginning of the Revolution, while most of the country did not yet realize it a “silent” revolution had already begun in the state of New Hampshire before the first shots were fired; and it is believed that some of this captured gunpowder was used in the misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill.
With that little history lesson behind us, let’s move to the present: Michele Bachmann is entertaining the idea of running for president, so she did what all presidential candidates do early in the process–she made a trip to New Hampshire. Concord New Hampshire to be exact. The very place where the “shot heard around the world” occurred–at least according to Michele Bachmann:
You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world at Lexington and Concord
Last week the Congress avoided a government shutdown when Democrats and Republicans agreed to extend the federal budget for two weeks coupled with $4 billion in cuts. It was hoped that this would give the Congress enough time to pass a budget for the rest of the fiscal year, but after last week’s budget votes it appears as if the sides are too far apart to come to an agreement. So yesterday the Republicans made a proposal to keep the government running for another three weeks–this time with $6 billion in cuts included.
According to the article I linked to above it sounds as if most of the $6 billion in cuts are all on items that Barack Obama has previously said he supported cutting, so it looks as if this extension is likely to pass, buying more time for both sides to hammer out a long term deal.
I was hard on the Republicans last week because I felt–and still feel–that they have missed the opportunity given them to make real cuts in the federal budget, but if the Democrats do agree to this deal it will mean that the Democrats have already reached the number of proposed cuts they had in mind when the debate over the budget started. And it would seem likely that any final budget will include more cuts, so in that aspect we are seeing small gains being made–not nearly enough, and certainly not what the Republicans promised–so maybe the way to go at this point is in two to three week intervals including billions in cuts each time. Maybe that is the best we can hope for at this point–as disappointing as it is.
Barack Obama does not like that idea however:
But at his press conference Friday, Obama said it was “irresponsible” to keep running the government on such short term bills and the dragged out negotiations with Republicans now defy “common sense
The notion that we can’t get resolved last year’s budget in a sensible way with serious but prudent spending cuts I think defies common sense
Saying goodbye to Uncle Ray
Earlier today I paid my final respects to Uncle Ray–it is still hard to believe that a man who was so full of life has been taken from us. Uncle Ray was a unique man to say the least, there was no other person in this world like Uncle Ray–he was one of a kind. He was a kind and decent man who loved life, his family, and his friends–he always had a smile on his face. There was nobody who met Uncle Ray who did not love him for his love of life and his love of family. Everyone who knew Uncle Ray has a story–or ten–to tell about him which brings a smile to the faces of those who knew him. I am smiling even as I write this just thinking of those stories, and Uncle Ray would have it no other way.
There was not an unkind bone in Uncle Ray’s body, he would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it, he was always there for those that he knew in their time of need. He was a selfless man, there is nothing that he wouldn’t do for his family or friends.
I think fondly back on those Wednesday nights, so long ago now, playing horseshoes (I never could master that game) and having a few drinks in Uncle Ray’s backyard, and I remember those days playing cards with Uncle Ray, the pool parties, and the barbeques, and it is hard to believe that so much time has passed.
During his second inaugural address in 1865, Abraham Lincoln said “with malice toward none, with charity for all,” of course he was talking about healing a nation divided, but I can’t help but think that those eight words describe Uncle Ray perfectly.
Goodbye Uncle Ray, you will be missed, but you will never be forgotten.
In the aftermath of the BP oil spill in the Gulf last year Barack Obama issued a moratorium on oil drilling. A federal judge ruled that this moratorium was illegal and ordered Barack Obama to rescind the drilling moratorium. Barack Obama has been ignoring this court ruling and has illegally kept the drilling moratorium in effect.
Since this ruling there have been several oil companies which have applied for drilling permits in the Gulf, but the Obama regime has delayed action on these permits in a clear attempt to keep his drilling moratorium in effect, even though the court ordered him to lift the drilling ban in the Gulf.
During an event that former presidents Bush and Clinton hosted on Friday a question was asked from a person in attendance about the drilling ban in the Gulf, to which former President Clinton replied that the delay in permitting was “ridiculous.” Read more…
America's Watchtower 
