Jennifer Horn: Squishy Republicans are Almost as Bad as Democrats

In the special congressional election in New York's 23rd District, the liberal Republican dropped out last week, leaving the Democrat to face a Conservative Party challenger backed by Sarah Palin and other notable conservatives. It sends a powerful message: Those who believe that 2010 will be a typical mid-term election year in which the minority party sweeps to victory are sadly disconnected from the voters. Republicans are tired of having to plug their noses when they vote; independents are frustrated by a lack of real choice; and even many Democrats feel betrayed by a party that  is leading our country down a perilous path.
While the Democratic leadership in Congress is responsible for the debacle we face today, Republicans of past majorities must also take responsibility for the role they played in opening the door to a government that is too big, too intrusive and too expensive.
Somewhere along the way, we started thinking that the way to win elections in New England was to sound like a Democrat. We abandoned our principles and embraced big-government and big-spending policies. As a result, Republicans were fired in 2006.
And now Americans are paying the price. Socialized medicine, nationalized banks  and government-owned auto companies are not the America we grew up in, and it is not the America we want to pass down to our children.
The American birthright of unlimited opportunity will be destroyed by jobs-crushing policies such as cap-and-trade and by costly government expansion such as the health care reform bill. The further into our lives we allow government to creep, the more opportunity becomes limited and the more our freedom and individual liberties are diminished.
While concern for all of these issues is at an all-time high, above all of them  is an overriding frustration and anger directed at an arrogant, corrupt Congress that has blatantly put party and power above the people and the Constitution. This, more than anything else, is what has inspired the people of our country over the past several months to rise up in protest against what is supposed to be a representative government.
The people are making their voices heard, sending a resounding message that they will not tolerate self-serving, big-government, free-spending politicians, and  they will not waste any more votes on them. It is time to defend our rights as citizens of a free nation, time to rein in an out-of-control Congress and time to hold our elected representatives accountable for their destructive actions.
We have two paths before us. We can go back to nominating Republicans who sound  like Democrats and hope that by blurring the lines between the two parties, the  voters will choose us. Or, we can stand firmly for the principles that make our  nation strong and offer the voters a real choice.
We've tried the first way, and we saw our party lose election after election in  the Northeast, and the country suffer as a result. This summer, citizens tried the second way, and they started a revolution.
If the Republican Party is to be the voice of tomorrow, it must return to its roots.
The principles of personal freedom, unlimited opportunity and small, limited government are the path to a free and prosperous tomorrow.
We must stand together and be deafening in our message that we will not allow this Congress to continue its march toward an America that would make our Founding Fathers cry.
We live in a great nation. America is a nation of grand dreams, great efforts and extraordinary achievement. We require bold leaders who embrace the unlimited potential of our nation to grow in prosperity and accomplishment and remain forever a beacon of hope to freedom-seeking people everywhere.
Jennifer Horn, a former newspaper columnist and radio talk show host from Nashua, is running for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Hampshire's 2nd District.

NH CD-1 Representative Carol Shea-Porter goes ALL-IN with Speaker Pelosi

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the BIGGEST entitlement program to come out of DC in many, many years. Note in the below video of the announcement that the 3^rd speaker after the Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader Hoyer is none other than NH ‘s Carol Shea-Porter.

Can it be any more clear that Carol Shea-Porter is ALL-IN with Pelosi and the MoveOn.org folks on National Socialized Healthcare! Carol has decided that supporting this behemoth of a bill is the right thing to do for her constituents. Unfortunately, for NH CD-1 voters Carol has clearly shown that her constituents are the minority of far left leaning liberals in NH and the National Progressive movement of the uber rich elitists. Certainly not the average regular Jane’s and Joe’s of NH CD-1. Carol are you really that positive that these are the folks that got you elected?

Forgetting about the politics, even scarier is the bills intended purpose. The complete Government takeover of Health Care from top to bottom. Yes, there are problems with Health Care but the problems of today are dwarfs compared to what is coming with this bill. A bill to use Government programs to solve a problem that was created by Government programs, in particular Medicare and Medicaid.

If Medicare and Medicaid are already underpaying health care providers thus shifting costs to those who have private insurance or pay cash, how in the world will more Government health care underpaying “solve’ this crisis.

The real revelation will be when the Unions finally figure out that by year 10 of this plan, their members will be taxed and taxed and taxed until the system can no longer support the enormous healthcare system without deep cuts. This will cause the closing of all under performing health care providers, resulting in the lose of millions of JOBS!

Way to go unions you have now officially authorized, with your support of this bill, the elimination of millions of your members!

Here is the video of the announcement with Speaker Pelosi and House Majority Leader Hoyer. Note at the end that Leader Hoyer introduces NH’s Carol Shea-Porter with some interesting descriptions of Ms Shea-Porter.

If you have a bad case of insomnia below is the link to the Bill in its entirety, all 1990+ pages of legalese and double talk!

http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

A Blueprint for a Republican Resurgence

Guest Editorial 

By Sean Mahoney, Republican National Committeeman

What does it mean to be a Republican today?

When I came of age during the Ronald Reagan era, it meant you stood strong for lower taxes on working families, limited government, and more personal accountability.

Today, after nearly a decade of misguided leadership from Republicans in Washington, many Americans believe it means tax cuts for the rich, expanding government programs, ever-greater government spending and pointing the finger across the aisle. Our own party abandoned its mantle of fiscal responsibility.

We have gone from the smaller government, personal responsibility party of the Reagan Revolution to the arrogant, out-of-touch, free spending party of the past decade. 

Republicans in New Hampshire, actually most voters in New Hampshire, still cherish the values that brought me to the party. For too long Republican candidates have spent too much time worrying about what people in Washington think and not enough time listening to what the people of New Hampshire have to say.

If Republicans in New Hampshire are ever to reclaim majority status we need to stop playing the DC game and start recommitting ourselves to the people of New Hampshire. We need to stand firm against the “go along to get along” mentality of too many Washington Republicans.

As we move forward we have an opportunity to show voters what it means to be a Republican in the 21st Century.

I want to see us become the party of open government, innovative solutions and personal freedom.

First and foremost that starts with transparency. Candidates and office holders need to be open, honest and accountable. In order to stop the culture of corruption that has gripped Washington, DC as of late, we need to open campaigns up for the voters to see. Campaigns in New Hampshire need to focus on concerns of real voters along the banks of the Merrimack, not the power brokers along the Potomac.

The same is especially true for office holders. In Washington we need to end secret earmarks and reform the appropriations process to be more open and fair.  Government money should be spent based on merit and need, not on seniority and committee assignments.

In general the legislative process needs to be more open. It is never a good idea to push bills through without public hearing, but Members of Congress are now regularly voting on bills without having a solid understanding of what is in them. This can’t continue if we want to keep faith with the American people.

Second, we must stand up to the Democrat policy agenda with a policy agenda of our own. We can not continue to be labeled the “Party of No”. In the 1990’s it was Republican Governors who developed new policy ideas and drove the debate on things like welfare reform, Medicaid reform and tax policy.

Saying no to a government-run healthcare is the right thing to do, but at the same time we need to propose our own ideas on how to improve access to affordable health insurance.

The same is true on every issue. We all know that Cap and Trade is a bad policy that will cost the average family thousands of dollars, but we need to have our own plan to increase the use of alternative energy and reduce our dependence on oil.

Third, we need to reclaim the mantle of the “Party of Main Street”. Families across New Hampshire are still hurting from this recession. We all know that small businesses are the heart of the American economy. Two out of three net new jobs created each year are in small businesses. These businesses depend on fair tax policies and a predictable regulatory environment. These need to become the cornerstone of the Republican agenda: keeping taxes low and regulations within reason.

Fourth, we have to reestablish our fiscal responsibility credentials. It is easy for us to point to the record deficits of the Obama administration and claim that they are bankrupting our children, but Republicans spent freely under President Bush as well. No matter who has been responsible for the record spending of the last decade, it must stop.

Republicans must redouble their efforts to hold the line on spending.

Finally, we need to develop policies that advocate both personal responsibility and personal freedom. Whether it is reaffirming the Castle Doctrine, so that people have the freedom to protect themselves and their families, or maintaining the ability for people to make their own healthcare choices, Republicans need to put people before government.

It is time for Republicans to stop wringing their hands and start rebuilding our party. It is time to cast off the big government policies and strong arm perceptions of the Bush years and reaffirm our commitment to smaller government, local control, innovation and personal freedom.

On this Labor Day...

Guest Editorial Courtesy of “Americans For Limited Government”

Ironically, work is probably the last thing the American people want to think about on Labor Day. They'd much rather devote their time and energy to the backyard barbecue, the last beach trip of 2009, or, perhaps a pickup football game in the local school yard.

As well they should.

But now might be the best time to for all of us across the fruited plains to remind ourselves anew of just why "a fair day's pay for a good day's work" is so important for our future and our past—and how it's being undermined at the highest levels of government.

Work, quite simply, is the ability to get up and make a life for yourself. As an American, you have the right to work for yourself and for the ones you love. And no one else has the right to "wring their bread from the sweat of your brow."

It was that fierce individualism, the "can-do" pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps attitude that built America out of nothing and catapulted the nation and its citizens to a level of wellbeing never before thought possible.

As American history has proven time and again, to build a prosperous and fruitful life, all one needs is a healthy dose of self-motivation and a free nation in which to exercise that motivation.

The current administration, however, begs to differ. In their eyes, nothing can—or should—happen without government's consent or even ordination. This is, perhaps, most evident when they speak about their ostensible solution or the recession and unemployment.

They believe government alone can create jobs out of thin air—like a magician pulling a rabbit out of its hat. But the truth is: government doesn't "create jobs." And it never will. Small business owners create jobs. Large business owners create jobs. Individuals create their own jobs. Government simply "makes work."

Moreover, . Yet, as American's for Limited Government Chairman Howard Rich points out a recent column, there is a shocking disconnect between public sector pay and private sector pay in the United States. As he says:

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' recently published study for 2007, in California, which is still trying to climb out of its oppressive $26 billion deficit, average annual income for state employees was $56,777 versus $49,935 for the private sector, a 14 percent gap. In Illinois, a similar story emerges: $53,925 for state workers, and $48,006 for the private sector, an 11 percent split. New Jersey: $57,845 average state salary, $53,590 for private sector workers, at an 8 percent difference...

"Nationally, the story is even worse. Federal workers made on average $64,871 in 2007, with private sector workers making a meager $44,362, so public sector wages in the federal system are 46 percent higher."

Something is amiss when those in government (individuals who produce nothing more than rules, regulation, red tape, and higher taxes) are "rewarded" more than those in private enterprise who truly produce the wealth of the nation. It is a sign of the times—and the leadership.

So on this Labor Day, take a minute to remember what makes America unique—and, yes, exceptional. It is the hard worker, not the bureaucrat. It is the taxpayer, not the tax collector. And it is the people, not the government.

It has never been government. It has never been bureaucracy. And it has not been the halls of America's Congress but rather the shelves of America's stores, the fields of America's farms, and the students of America's schools that have made America great.

As summer comes to a close, America's workers—men, women, the old, and young—ought to pat themselves on the back and appreciate the fact that they are the backbone of this strong—and still magnificent—nation. May their numbers multiply.

Why Not CHIP

I oppose all the current healthcare plans before Congress and highly promoted by President Obama. It is not the care and concern that bothers me; it is the obvious deceit and subterfuge that accompanies this legislation. There is no doubt after looking at many different sections that this is the next major step towards a Federal Government takeover of the healthcare industry. It is a major usurping of the states authority to govern its citizens.

There is already available with some adjustments, a solution to the uninsured that meets constitutional muster, and preserves the Sovereignty of the States. It is very effective and efficient as well said our current NH US House members who voted to expand it just this past year. It is CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In NH, it goes by the name NH Healthy Kids. Let’s expand it and rename it, CHIP, the Citizens Health Insurance Program. While we are reforming, let’s move Medicare Administration and Management to the States. The Federal government would return to the states the Medicare taxes and premiums collected from the states citizens.

Next major issue is that costs for healthcare seem to be this big secret. That is what must change. The State Insurance and Medical Boards need to take a proactive role in setting medical provider rates in their states. Each state as well as every provider has varying operating conditions but certainly, the healthcare provider can set competitive rates and explain any drastic discrepancies. These rates should be published and widely available for comparison. That is the price you pay regardless if you are paying cash, using private insurance or as a “NH Healthy Citizens” member.

Finally, a major problem is that you do not own your health insurance, your employer does. This puts you at the mercy of your employer, their financial situation, and loss of coverage if you leave a job, no transportability or continuity and possible privacy concerns. A solution is to have open markets for health insurance, which you purchase from your Health Savings Account to which both you and your employer make contributions. The HSA’s would be used only for medical insurance and uncovered medical expenses and the contributions and growth would be tax free and willable.

Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to end this Federal Takeover of the Healthcare Industry immediately!

Bob DeMaura

NHInsider Owner/Operator