By Jennifer Horn (Republican Candidate for US Representative for NH-CD2)

Our Independence was born with the stroke of a pen on July 4^th, 1776. We were a nation without the rights of our mother country; our forefathers rose up and fought for our right to self-governance, our right to be a free and independent people. They created a government that was to be of the people, by the people, for the people.

Congress no longer serves the very people it was created to represent. The partisan gridlock of our elected representatives threatens the very freedoms our Founding Fathers fought to protect. It seems that Congress serves party over the people and special interests over the rights of all. Power and prestige have replaced public service as motivation for public office.

Our Founding Fathers built a great nation and every American has a duty to fight to preserve their vision. Each one of us has a duty to serve the cause of democracy and freedom - not just on the battlefield, but in our communities and at the voting booth.

Make your voice heard – join the fight to return government back to the people. We may not all don the uniform of the most courageous, but we are all called to serve the cause of freedom and democracy.

Our red, white and blue banner is now and must forever be a flag of hope and possibility to freedom seeking people everywhere. Serving that flag, and that cause, is the most noble of all.

I hope I have taught my children what my parents taught me: that service to others is the greatest measure of your life, that freedom for all is the most treasured cause, and that those who make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of that cause are the most heroic among us.

As we march in parades and grill burgers in the yard with family and friends, let us remember both those that forged our great Nation and those who have served and sacrificed to defend it.

May God continue to bless those who serve, their families and above all, those lost to the continuing fight for freedom for all people.

by Marshall Cobleigh, former NH Energy Chief

Jeanne Shaheen's television Advertisement proves conclusively that she does not propose a real world solution to high gas prices. In that advertisement she places the blame for high gas prices on commodities and financial market speculation.

Perhaps Jeanne Shaheen should read what noted liberal economist Robert J. Samuelson said July 1, 2008 in the nor very conservative Washington Post. Samuelson  said "Speculator bashing is another exercise  in scapegating and grandstanding. He points out that steel which is not traded on the commodities futures Market rose 117% during the same time frame. "The better explanation is basic supply and demand" Samuelson explains.  

The Harvard trained Samuelson points out "That financial trading does not directly affect the physical supplies of raw materials. Politicians (like Shaheen) promise to tighten regulations of futures markets, but futures markets are not the main problem. Scarcities are. Restrictions on oil production in the U.S. have limited global production and put upward pressure on prices. If politicians wish to point the finger of blame, they should start with themselves," the noted Harvard trained Samuelson concludes.

Jeanne Shaheen may have had a term at the School for defeated politicians at Harvard, but is crystal clear that she does not understand freshman economics. Her demagoging about gas prices in her TV advertisement without providing real world solutions proves that Jeanne Shaheen is unqualified to serve in the U.S. Senate. 

by Rep Andrew Renzullo (Hills- 27)

“No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” — Mark Twain

Now that the regular session of the New Hampshire legislature has mercifully ended, we can all breath a little easier. Unfortunately, and in spite of the Republican minority’s best efforts, Mark Twain’s warning was especially prescient these last two years as higher taxes, out-of-control spending and nanny-state legislation made significant inroads in New Hampshire.

What happened? What caused this? Well, in 2006 there was a sea change in New Hampshire politics. For the first time, in 85 years, both houses of the Legislature and the Governor’s Office were controlled by the Democrats. Besides the obvious, and reasonably to be expected, inexperience at governing coming into the legislative branch, there was also a pent up predisposition in the newly elected majority toward a big government solution to all real and imagined problems.

Now when the party of bigger government takes control, it doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict that new and expanded programs mean a bigger budget, 17.5% bigger, in fact. It is axiomatic that more spending means higher taxes. Let’s face it. The government, any government, has only one source of income and that’s taxes. So when you spend more, you have to tax more. This session the raising of taxes and fees was the death of a thousand cuts. No one tax would seem significant, but taken together they were substantial, working out to an estimated $150 per New Hampshire citizen. And few things were safe. Besides raising the cigarette taxes TWICE, new taxes and fees were levied on mortgages, deeds, car registrations and court filing fees and yes, even on gasoline and diesel fuel!

But even with the new taxes, last year the Republicans warned the Governor and the Legislature that the revenues being projected were unrealistic to cover the costs of the new and expanded government. They were told that they were inflating the numbers. In my Legislative Update from April 2007, I wrote, “And finally, when you can’t find anything else to tax or bond, just wish that the money will be there. The Ways & Means committee inflated the revenue estimates by $81 million. If you can’t balance the budget the normal way, make up the numbers.”

Now that reality has finally hit and there are red-ink projections as high as $200 million, the wailing has begun. First off, deflect the blame. “It’s the slowing economy,” the spinmeisters bemoan, deliberately ignoring the fact that more, not less, money is coming into the state’s coffers than ever before, just not enough to cover the huge increases in spending. Next, finagle the books. In order to get around rules requiring public hearings, a few weeks ago the Governor called an “Emergency Special Session” (ignoring the fact that the Legislature already was in session) in order to bond millions in expense items. That’s like taking out a mortgage to pay for dinner, but it sure does lower the apparent deficit (just leaves it for our kids to pay, plus interest). And finally, the Governor did use some commonsense and stopped spending money that the state doesn’t have. Unfortunately, this is like closing the barn door after most of the horse has left the barn. All you catch is the tail. Sometimes knowing what you’re doing at the outset is far more effective than you’re best efforts at fixing the mess.

I’m not alone in my opinions. A June 22 editorial in the Union Leader stated, “So Gov. Lynch is cutting state funding for the mentally ill, drug addicts, cancer victims, sick children, and university students. And nary a peep from the liberals. Boy, it sure pays to be a Democrat. Notice, too, that Republicans are not assailing the governor for victimizing the needy and vulnerable. They weren't trained in the Ray Buckley School of Unfair Political Attacks. Instead, they've fairly criticized the governor for overspending in the first place.”

Taxes and spending are issues that affect our wallets and our economic well-being. But there are other issues that touch on our core beliefs and how much control government should have on the lives of individuals. While most conservatives believe you should take personal responsibility for the consequences of your behavior, those in power in Concord believe that the government is responsible for your behavior and has the duty and obligation to regulate your choices and life style. This nanny-state attitude can be comical, like the House-passed bill (thankfully killed in the Senate) which made it a crime to release a helium-filled balloon. But it can be very serious when it bans entire industries and costs people their livelihood. A prime example is the payday loan industry. Payday loans are very high interest, small, short-duration loans intended to tide people over (usually until payday) when they are temporarily strapped for cash, thus the moniker “Payday Loan.” The Legislature capped the interest rate on these loans such that the industry will disappear and with it over New Hampshire 100 jobs.

Certainly the most contentious example where ideology got in the way of common sense was the Democrat repeal of the Parental Notification law which, except in cases of safety or immediate health risk, required notification of parents if their minor daughter was seeking an abortion. Remember, this statute did not give parents the authority to veto, as is the case in Massachusetts, but only to be notified so they could counsel and support their child. The Democrats had argued that the law was unconstitutional, but voted down any attempts to include language upheld by the Supreme Court. Imagine the absurdity of a pregnant 13-year-old being provided an abortion, paid for by her 22-year-old “boyfriend,” without at least notifying the child’s parents? Yet the school nurse cannot give the child an aspirin without the parents’ permission. The issue is not about being pro-choice or pro-life, it is about being pro-parent.

These 2 years have laid the groundwork to transform New Hampshire. Unless the electorate calls a halt to it in the next election, the biggest transformation will be in the tax structure. The dirty little secret is that many costly items are not due to take effect until after the 2008 elections. Unless there is immediate action by the incoming legislature, when these bills come due there will be immense pressure to enact a broad based sales or income tax. If that happens, the New Hampshire Advantage, already severely weakened, will tumble down like the Old Man of the Mountain and be just a fond memory.

By Jerry Thibodeau

Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks and trailers are?

Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa, because that's the way God wants it?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism and shooting at helicopters? (which never happened in N.O. either, BTW)

Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates rural people?

How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?

By Marshall Cobleigh, former NH Energy Chief

As is usual with poll driven politicians Jeanne Shaheen is running television commercials and writing op-ed pieces addressing the dominant problem facing America sky rocketing gasoline prices, but providing no real solutions. Even worse anyone who knows her history also knows that during her entire career she has been a big part of the problem.

Long time NH residents know that she and I were weekly regulars on Channel 9's Close Up program for ten years and I have many of the tapes of those programs. Those tapes show Shaheen fighting fiercely to hamstring nuclear licensing regulations. They also show her fighting against building an oil refinery in Rochester after the Durham location failed.

In today's world China is scheduled to build 50 Nuclear Reactors by the year 2020; Russia has scheduled to build 26 nuclear reactors; and India is scheduled to build enough nuclear reactors to meet 1/4 of the electricity needs of its one billion people. Meanwhile thanks to Shaheen's and others opposition  the United States has not built a nuclear plant in 31 years. In that same period Europe gets 35% of its electricity from nuclear power; France gets 78% from nuclear power; Lithuania gets 70% from Nuclear and Slovakia gets 56% from nuclear power.

Its the same story when you come to building new efficient refineries. While Shaheen was fighting to hamstring refinery licensing America last built a new refinery when Jerry Ford was President. 

Jeanne Shaheen and the democrats propose tighter regulation of illegal oil price manipulation, ending all speculation on oil futures and a windfall profits tax on oil company profits. Doesn't Jeanne Shaheen remember that when Democrat President Jimmy Carter tried a windfall profit tax it was a miserable failure. Domestic oil production plunged 795 million barrels. Carter and the Congressional democrats predicted tax revenue from their windfall profits tax of $393 billion dollars. It brought in an actual revenue of $80 billion. The non partisan Tax Foundation states that the oil industry since 1981 has had a cumulative $1.12 trillion in profits but it paid $1.65 trillion in taxes.

Shaheen like a stopped clock is often correct once or twice a day and her call for an investigation of possible oil price manipulation makes some sense. However ending all futures trading is ridiculous, it could penalize homeowners, farmers and all kinds of traders, as well as cripple our economy.

We do not need another democrat in Washington. Lets look at the figures Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri put together. They clearly tell us who caused gasoline prices to sky rocket:  

A few facts about these issues that Shaheen and the democrats oppose:

• ANWR is larger than the area of 5 states, Mass. Delaware, Conn.,R.I. and New Jersey and the drilling would be done in an area 1/6th the size of Dulles Airport.
• Drilling is now being done 60 miles off of Florida, but that drilling is being done by China in cooperation with Cuba. Meanwhile Congress has a moratorium on off shore drilling and we are at the mercy of the mideast shieks.
• Louisiana has 3200 oil rigs offshore and a a flourishing fishing industry.

Does this record make you want to send Jeanne Shaheen to the Senate so that she can make it tougher to drill and refine oil and make gasoline prices continue to rise. Yes Jeanne Shaheen always addresses the big issues that her political polls show the American people care about, but her voting record clearly show that she is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

When Jeanne Shaheen started in politics we imported 1/3rd of our oil. Now we import 2/3rds of our oil. Since she and other democrats started fighting for tougher regulations on energy production America's domestic oil production has decreased from 9 billion barrels a day to 5 million barrels a day.

Jeanne Shaheen talks a good game about high gas prices and alternative energy sources, but her record shows clearly that she has done nothing constructive to solve the problem. Her television ad is a fraud. Its what you do, not what you say that pays off at the gas pump.