There are a couple of interesting news items today regarding the state's new voter ID law.
Gary Rayno reminds us that before the law takes effect, it must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice for compliance under the Voting Rights Act. (The background on how New Hampshire came to be the only Northern state required to obtain Justice Department "pre-clearance" for election law changes is, in itself, an interesting story.)
Rayno writes that it is unlikely the Justice Department will grant unqualified approval.
Nobody believes the DOJ will simply approve the new law. The department has already found several state photo identification laws in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
It has blocked similar laws in Texas and South Carolina. South Carolina is suing over the ruling. [added link]
And Marc Fortier reports that James O'Keefe could be back in the state this week. On Saturday, O'Keefe is scheduled to address the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers in Hillsborough.
O'Keefe, you may remember, ducked out of his last New Hampshire engagement to avoid being served a grand jury subpoena. The convicted filmaker is under investigation by the Attorney General's office over his attempt to show "Dead People Vote in New Hampshire" but which, as Media Matters notes, "largely shows the logical incoherence of the right wing's voter fraud paranoia."
(Sat. 5:15 PM: We're back. It was evidently the storms and power outages around Washington DC.)
Obama and our side won. Romney and his side lost. At a visceral level people like winners and dislike losers. Don't underestimate the impact of that.
The "See, it's a tax!" whining is sooooo 2009. It's not like people suddenly have warm fuzzies about taxes. But after Occupy Wall Street, the 99% theme (I'm so old I remember when Carol Shea-Porter was the only one highlighting that), the failure of Simpson-Bowles, and Romney's refusal to consider $1 in tax hikes for every $10 in budget cuts - after all that, the Republican refrain is tired and pathetic. The proper response to "It's a tax!" has always been, "I suppose you could call it that. But we need some taxes to support our country. So why don't you come out from behind Grover Norquist's skirts and we can discuss what we should do." That common sense talk might have failed in the fumes of the Tea Party; the party's over now.
The Future beats The Past every time. How would John Kerry have fared if he had tried to make 2004 a referendum on Bush v. Gore? Even worse. The Republicans are about to run their campaign whining about a done deal, while Obama and Democrats speak about The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead.
But since the Republican insist that we talk about the Affordable Care Act, we might turn our attention backward long enough to say "Oh, you mean RomneyCare?" Harry Truman said (about Blue Dogs): "Give the people a choice between a Republican and a Republican, and they'll choose the Republican every time." Turnabout's a bitch.
And when they keep talking about it, some of those undecided voters - you remember undecided voters? This is a song about undecided voters - will ask, "So what's your answer instead?" This will be the first time I've made popcorn to listen to... crickets.
A leveraged buyout thief parasite trust fund baby specialist would use the term "synergies" for the following TV commercial. "My kids are safe. They can still see the doctor when they get sick, and my wife is getting treatment for her cancer. When Bain shipped my job overseas I couldn't sleep. It's still tough, but the new health care law has given me some basic protection I thought was gone..."
"You can't beat a horse, without a horse." I don't know who said that. But it tells us: if Republicans want to run against the Affordable Care Act, they need to either present something new or fail. (The status quo ante doesn't have many fans). And what can they present that's new? The ACA comes out of the Heritage Foundation. The honest campaign would say, "Our yachts have always sailed on the bodies of the workers - no need to change." But that doesn't poll well, and Ron Paul's rhetoric doesn't hide that message enough.
Salami politics always seemed like such a clever idea! You slice the electorate up again and again, so that there is no unified opposition to you. But hooda thunk it. The sliced-off pieces of the salami - the women, the Hispanics, the blacks, the poor, the workers, the science-literate - are all falling on The Other Side of the line you drew. And salami politics, inherently divisive, means you can't just rearrange them. You have, to use technical jargon, Pissed Them Off.
Oh, yeah. The Affordable Care Act - watered-down as it is - will save lives and help millions of families live in a little less stress. It is our government - which a Republican once told me is of the People, by the People, and for the People - doing its job. As it moves forward it will remind voters of the power we have together. If that scares you, consult your conscience.
* In the 2008 election, Atrios and others noticed how Beltway pundits would always find a hidden result in anything affecting the campaign: it would somehow benefit John McCain. Bloggers snarkastically proclaimed Obama's win itself as Another Victory for John McCain.
"The cruelty and ruthlessness that made this court decision such a nail-biter aren't going away," Paul Krugman warns. "But, for now, let's celebrate. This was a big day, a victory for due process, decency and the American people."
Let's celebrate for everyone in New Hampshire who will have access to more affordable health care and will be protected from insurance company abuses. Here are the numbers, compiled by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute:
The estimated 665,000 New Hampshire residents with private health insurance coverage will not have to worry about exhausting lifetime limits.
The estimated 8,330 young adults under age 26 in New Hampshire who gained coverage under this provision in 2010 and 2011 will be able stay on their parents’ health plan until they are age 26.
An estimated 19,600 New Hampshire businesses — constituting 80 percent of small businesses in New Hampshire — will continue to access tax credits that have been helping them pay for up to 35 percent of the costs of their workers’ health insurance.
The 163,746 Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire who receive free preventive services — such as mammograms and colonoscopies — or who are entitled to a free wellness visit with their doctor will continue to enjoy such benefits.
Uninsured New Hampshire households will receive financial help, ranging from $2,626 to $6,337 per family, in purchasing health care. Families with insurance are expected to see their premiums fall by $873 on average by 2019.
The New Hampshire High Risk Pool, which has paid more than $25 million in claims for New Hampshire participants, will continue to provide seriously ill patients with health insurance coverage.
Insurance companies will be required to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on health care costs or to pay rebates to their customers each year. This year's rebates will total $1.1 billion nationally.
(Thank you and good luck! Part moved below the fold - promoted by William Tucker)
I am a candidate for the NH House in Hillsborough County district 39: Deering, Goffstown and Weare. My Republican opponent is Free State Project member and 2011 NHLA 'Legislator of the Year' Mark Warden.
The Free State Project has disturbed me for years, for a number of reasons. I've tried to peg it down in a letter to the editor, published in today's Concord Monitor:Free Staters go too far.
I instantly fell in love with New Hampshire when I moved here in 2002. The combination of natural beauty and frugal Yankee pragmatism got me. I'm here for life.
I moved here for work, not part of a Yale graduate student's sociology experiment. Such is the journey of Free State Project members. The group's goal is to move 20,000 libertarians to New Hampshire, get them involved in politics and change our state to their ideals.
Many are already here. Eleven known Free Staters running as Republicans were elected to the New Hampshire House in 2010. This is partly why I'm running for state representative in Deering, Goffstown and Weare. After all, we are New Hampshire and we can govern ourselves.
New Hampshire's Republican-dominated legislature flexed its muscles today and overrode vetoes from Gov. John Lynch on several major pieces of legislation.
Bills that because law over the governor's veto today include a voter photo ID requirement (SB 289), educational tax credits for private and parochial schools (SB 382) and "early offer" medical malpractice reform (SB 406).
The legislature was unable to override the governor's veto on medical marijuana legislation (SB 409), collective bargaining oversight (HB 1666) and a fetal homicide bill (SB 217).
State Rep and House Candidate Bob Kingsbury is out with a doozey. As reported in the Laconia Daily Sun
Representative Bob Kingsbury said he's been working on a theory since 1996, when he analyzed local crime rates and compared them to a list of communities that offered public kindergarten. Then, he told his colleagues, Laconia offered kindergarten and had the highest rates of crime. Meanwhile, surrounding towns, some of which didn't offer kindergarten, had less crime.
Tomorrow the House and Senate convene to consider Gov. John Lynch's vetoes of 13 bills (by my count) that they passed during the current session. The bills include such high profile legislation as photo voter ID (SB 289), school vouchers (HB 1607, SB 372) and medical marijuana (SB 409).
The first vote for each bill will occur in the originating chamber. If two-thirds of those present vote to override the veto, the action then moves to the second chamber. If two-thirds of those present in the second chamber vote to override the veto, it becomes law.
Below the fold, I've included a brief description of each bill with a link to the full text, an excerpt of the Governor's veto message, and the last recorded roll vote. The last recorded roll call vote may not have been for the final version of the bill and is only included to provide a sense of the lawmakers' relative support for each bill. The full text of the Governor's veto messages can be found in the calendars for the House and Senate.
(Thanks, Gary! Nice summary, part moved below the fold - promoted by William Tucker)
On Monday, I attended the campaign speech by President Obama at Oyster River High School in Durham. If you want to attend a presidential campaign event, you're going to have to pay a price. No, I don't mean an admission price. I mean a price in discomfort.
I've been attending political gatherings for over 40 years, and I've learned that almost anything can happen. It can be too hot or too cold. Bad weather can cause the event to be cancelled. The featured speaker can fail to appear. Or the speaker can be late - sometimes very late. I attended a political dinner in Pennsylvania many years ago where the meal was delayed until the featured guest , then Gov. Milton Shapp, showed up 3 hours late. At that point, the audience was chewing on the napkins and the tablecloths.
So, on Monday, I wasn't surprised when drenching rains flooded the road as I drove to hear Obama speak. I was within sight of the high school when I made a wonderful mistake - I discovered that I had left my admission ticket at home, so I had to drive back to get it.
There are three things that make a race worth focusing on: a winnable seat, a strong progressive Democrat and an especially villainous opponent. The House race in New Hampshire's first district has all three.
I was in Providence for this year's Netroots Nation conference, one of the more than 2500 progressive activists — including a sizable contingent from New Hampshire — who gathered for three days of speeches, training sessions, panel discussions and networking.
The discussions and presentations made it clear that what we've experienced in New Hampshire over the last two years is not unique. It's being played out all over the country in state after state after state: attempts to dismantle the public schools, the war on women, the fight over voting rights, the list is sadly familiar.
Van Jones delivered a powerful and succinct message in his closing keynote:
In 2012, we know. We know absolutely, with not one bit of doubt, what the agenda is. They have a wrecking ball agenda. They've taken a wrecking ball. They want to paint it red, white and blue, call it patriotism, and smash down every American institution our parents and our grandparents fought for. That's what they want to do. That's who they are. They're proud of it. They're not hiding it.
They say they want to smash down out unions. They want to smash down public education. They want to smash down clean air and clean water. They want to smash down everything our parents and our grandparents fought for that made this country a great county. They have it in their sights and they have shown a brutal willingness to use every means available to smash down the things that our communities need to survive.
They've told us. Their leader Grover Norquist says it. He says, "I want to shrink America's government down. I want to starve it of taxes. I want to shrink it down to the size that I can drown America's government in a bathtub. I want to drown America's government in a bathtub." Who thinks like that? Who even talks like that? But they've told us, so we know. We know.
There is a particular subgenre of popular music that celebrates a particular city or town - the song isn't just set there, the whole point of the song is to give props to the 'polis.
Here's one we should all know:
But there are a surprising number of such songs. (Los Angeles gets a few.) They seem to be a summer thing.
Have you got a favorite town tune? Or do you want to talk about something else entirely? After all -
Bob Perry just sent me an e-mail alert about tomorrows Obama appearance in Durham.
It seems that former NH Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball has sent out an e-mail to fellow Tea partiers, 912-ers et. al. to protest President Obama in Durham.
Fair enough.
But here's the heading of Kimball's plea:
"It" will be arriving at Oyster River High School in Durham, NH at 12:00 PM THIS MONDAY JUNE 25th
I've seen the use of "it" when referring to black people before. It took me a while to remember where, but it finally came to me.
I used to monitor the Northeast White Pride website just to see what the extreme right was doing. I had a user name and password so I could read the comments.
Northeast White Pride commenters would not use personal pronouns to refer to black people. The word they always used was "it."
Draw your own conclusions about Jack Kimball. I've drawn mine.
(Disinvite the President of the United States of America. Imagine such a thing. - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
It seems grandstanding by public officials is catching. As if public officials in the legislature hadn't done enough to embarrass the citizens of New Hampshire, now the Administrator of the Town of Durham, Todd Selig, has to get into the action. According to his press release (note the misspelling in the subject line):
Subject: EMERGENCY COUNIL MEETING SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, 6/25/12 AT 8:30 AM | PRESS RELEASE: Durham, NH Requests Reimbursement from Obama for America Campaign for Scheduled Campaign Stop Monday
Dear Members of the Council,
A tremendous amount of time has been devoted this evening to addressing the campaign-related costs that are associated with the Obama for America campaign visit of President Obama to Durham on Monday. To this end in conversations with Jay and Jim, we will be posting tomorrow morning for a special emergency Council meeting to be held Monday morning, 6/25, at 8:30 AM to discuss the matter as a Council in public in full and whether the Council desires to take the symbolic action of disinviting the President from visiting Durham. Our sincere hope is that this meeting will not be necessary and that the campaign will agree to reimburse the town's projected public safety costs associated with the event.
In addition, you will find a press release below outlining the situation for the media who have been calling this evening. The release went out earlier this evening.
I anticipate that Durham may very well become a focus for the media over the next few days and to this end suggest that inquires from the media are sent along to me for a consistent community response.
Todd
It is both accurate and noteworthy that the administrator has finnessed the Chairman of the Council, Jay Gooze, into calling this emergency meeting. Todd Selig could not do it on his own hook. That Mr. Gooze, a known Democrat, is going along with this farce is, in my book, yet another example of Republicans coercing Democrats to do their dirty work.
