It's true: Republicans lost the election, we lost the Congress, and we lost the presidency. Does anyone still care what we think?
And then he proceeds to ignore the resounding "No".
The man who brought you the bail out of the financial sector, which cost $7 billion of taxpayer money that has not been accounted for as far as I know, wants to give the incoming Democratic administration and Congress his advice. How nice.
Judd warns that although the Republicans were fiscally irresponsible spendthrifts when they were in power, the Dems cannot afford this. What he really means is: public money should not be used for public good, but only for private contracts, military and otherwise, that will benefit the likes of my friends and myself.
Remember when our pro-growth state was immune to the mortgage crisis? Me neither:
If there's any doubt the national mortgage crisis has hit New Hampshire, consider this: Four years ago, there were 32 foreclosures in Merrimack County; last year, there were 376.
And while there were no statewide foreclosure numbers available late last week, those who watch the real estate market said Merrimack County is not the exception. The foreclosure hotline the state Banking Department set up in December 2007 receives between 100 and 150 calls a month from mortgage holders in trouble, according to Banking Commissioner Peter Hildreth.
And it was a little over four years ago, too, when Teh Home Ownership Society was one of the stage props that W. used to make it to re-election.
I'd also like to thank Meldrim at this moment for popularizing Teh Pledge, guaranteeing the major source of our state revenue pegged to plummetting home values for the foreseeable future.
btw, the hotline mentioned in the second graf is 800-437-5991.
The big political movie this year is probably Milk. Jim Splaine recommends it, Ray Buckley recommended it earlier, and Laura recommends it today.
The very existence of the category "political movie" reminds us of how close politics is to the heart, how inescapable politics is for even the most cynical of us. We don't see "chemical movies" or "agricultural movies."
Last night we watched an oldie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It's Frank Capra directing - he gave us the derisive term "Capra Corn." And it is corny, and I loved it. Jimmy Stewart coming into DC from the Heartland, excited as all get-out over the Capitol Dome and the Lincoln Memorial.
It is soooo out of date. There's a vacancy in the Senate and the Governor - who is at least a bit corrupt - ends up choosing Jefferson Smith (Jimmy) as the least likely to offend the powerful interests. The state media is controlled by powerful economic interests and will not report fairly. The Senators are motivated more by clubbiness than policy or party.
Obama now leads sizable Democratic majorities in Congress but he and the Democratic leaders will quickly squander the public's trust if they haven't learned anything about the dangers of partisan poison.
...It's the duty now of Shaheen, Pingree, Collins and Shea-Porter to live up to this historical moment and reflect the public trust they earned on election day.
For six long years, we suffered through the least flexible, most ideological president in history, who, abetted by his Imperial Court Congress, inflicted damage it will take generations to fix.
For two more, it was all the Democratic majority Congress could do to block further harm, sometimes not successfully. And at the same time, Mitch McConnell, with Judd Gregg whispering in his ear, crafted the most obstructionist minority in memory.
Voters, appalled at the wreckage of the last eight years, voted to put Democrats in charge in greater percentages and numbers not seen since LBJ.
And already Mitch and his friends in the media are trying to figure out ways to block change while maintaining some sort of relevance for their increasingly regional party.
But Democrats, don't you dare fix any of the multpile hair-on-fire emergencies created by Bush and his Enablers at the expense of occasionally disappointing Judd. Placating him is more important than, say, getting the 40 million medically uninsured and millions more underinsured some help.
We hope that in 2009 the thought of a school funding amendment to the Constitution doesn't enter the governor's head.
We hope that U.S. Senator-elect Jeanne Shaheen discovers her inner Arnie Arnesen and becomes known as the firebrand of the Senate. Conversely, we hope that former governor John Sununu takes on the temperament of the Dalai Lama and, rather than carp and criticize from the sidelines, peacefully advises Republican lawmakers on how to help solve the state budget crisis.
Come to think of it, I agree with each of those wishes.
Those blasted New Hampshire Democrats, ruining David Broder's love affair with a fantasy of what never was:
John Sununu of New Hampshire was admired on both sides of the aisle for his intellect and independence, and for following his conservative principles even when they brought him into conflict with the White House, as they did when he fought successfully to build civil-liberties and privacy protections into the Patriot Act. The youngest senator, his promising career foundered on the increasingly Democratic character of his state.
Long after Broderism dies, its shadow will still be revered by the Villagers.
(One far-right senator down, one to go. - promoted by Dean Barker)
Congratulations, New Hampshire! As of noon today, January 3rd, we have only one Republican Senator representing us down in Washington. True, Senator Jeanne Shaheen will be waiting until Tuesday to take her official oath of office, but Section One of the Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution is quite explicit on the topic:
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Foster's is upset because Carol Shea-Porter sent out a fundraising appeal:
Shea-Porter's ego becomes more inflated with every day she is in the House of Representatives. She closed out 2008 with an e-mail to her supporters asking for campaign donations as she prepares for the 2110 election.
The economy is a high priority with the Rochester Democrat - at least the part that allows her to stay on the Hill.
I find this richly ironic, since one of the nagging perceptions I hear about Carol is that she hasn't been as "serious" about raising money as other Democratic rising stars. So of course she gets knocked by the UL's Mini-Me for doing just that.
When I got the appeal myself, I was going to ignore it, being broke and all. But thanks to bizarre advice and innuendo like this,
At the same time, Shea-Porter will be making a gaffe if she tries to make Sununu the issue in 2010; she will be ignoring the strategies that put her where she is.
The quick start in raising campaign cash not only implies she expects stiff opposition two falls hence. It also suggests midterm elections are going to be difficult for Democrats. What orb of crystal is she peering into that allows her to possibly infer such a conclusion?
I think it's time to take out my wallet. Because the traditional media in CD1 is still so toxic to Democrats, Carol is going to need every penny she can get.
So let's take Foster's up on its fundraising challenge - click the ActBlue Hampshire box below and send Rep. Shea-Porter a New Year's gift for sticking up for the rest of us:
After taking a look (here and here) to see how our two re-elected reps grew in strength from '06 to '08, I thought it might be a good idea to see how they fared compared to Jeanne Shaheen, the next step up on the ticket. It's an especially interesting question with the first election behind us in many years without straight-ticket voting.
With very few exceptions (Danville, New Boston, and Rindge), both Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes gained higher vote percentages than Jeanne Shaheen in towns big and small, liberal and conservative, rural and urban.
A new idiom is born, and from a conservative, no less. Ladies and gentleman, behold the phrase to pull a Carol Shea-Porter:
Due to Republican infighting, [Tom] McIntyre took a U.S. Senate seat away from the GOP after a quarter century, and kept it for 16 years. [Ollie] Huot, relatively unknown outside the Lakes Region, did the unthinkable by pulling a Carol Shea-Porter on a "safe" Republican incumbent in the First Congressional District.
But brevity is the soul of wit. Maybe it would be even better simply to verbalize the name. "Hey buddy, if you don't start voting with the concerns of your constituents, we're gonna Shea-Porter you!"
Especially when a little ol' LTE over the holiday slow news cycle can strike such a succinct, potent missile into the USS Sununu Senior 2.0. The writer's not buying what he's selling:
For decades the Republicans in power lured the retired rich to our state to enjoy nearness to Boston and the priceless beauty of our mountains and water, but not to support such resources. That was the Republicans' promise - no income tax here! - made at the expense of the poor, the income-pressed elderly and the school children.
This 'aint your daddy's New Hampshire no more, I guess.
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tells the Wall Street Journal that he considers himself one of the "casualties of the war on terror" for being singled out for criticism over administration policies.
Of course, some of us tried to stop him from becoming AG in the first place, but John E. had no problem with his disregarding the Geneva Conventions.
The period we are leaving is so dark it's going to take some blinking on Inauguration Day to get used to the light.
(Imagine if we only had the tradmed, and not access to voices such as this. Thank you, hannah, for your participation here. - promoted by Dean Barker)
From the time I learned to walk until the summer of my fourth year, I lived on the second floor of a tiny house (15' x 15' I'd guess) that was divided into two rooms--one for sleeping and one for cooking and everything else. Heat came from the wood cook stove. There was no electricity and no running water. The first floor was more interesting. In addition to a covered wall for wood storage, there was a chicken coop, a wash/slaughter room with a clay bake-oven and, on the outside around the back, the cesspool for the outhouse on the second floor. Since the location in the foothills of the Alps was rather cold and windy in winter, we didn't use the outhouse then. And I didn't have to worry about falling in.
