Once again, Dave takes on the illogic of the left, proceeds with logic!  From the Laconia Daily Sun (7/28, P5):

To the editor,

Last week, Senator John McCain spoke very passionately, eloquently and adroitly as he addressed questions on Veteran’s medical care from the N.H. Veterans delegation. His concerns and solutions included better medical attention and helping the homeless veterans. There was no doubt in my mind that his words were sincere. The audience in Rochester concurred. Senator McCain’s history of military service and sacrifice is unimpeachable.

The surge in Iraq has succeeded and I am personally glad that Obama has crawled out from his hiding hole, with his new found courage and freshly grown anatomical parts, and is taking this pilgrimage to the Middle East. Some say that he left the country out of fear that Jesse Jackson wanted to harvest these new appendages. This is his fi rst trip in three years. John McCain has been there eight times. John McCain is one of the prime reasons that we even had the surge and its subsequent success. Obama cannot even acknowledge that it was successful militarily and politically. However, as it was billed as a fact finding trip, most wise people would wait until they landed and actually talked to the generals before offering the results of the investigation.

Obama thought it necessary to remove from his website any reference to his two-year opposition to the surge prior to embarking. Why? So now I am asked to go to his website and see how he cares for our military and our veterans. You are trying to convince me that Obama is not the arrogant elitist that has shown open disdain for our troops and steadfastly voted against funding them. Words have meaning. It helps to convince me if they are not changed constantly as Obama does his.

Once upon a time politics ended at the waters edge. Gore, Kerry, Reid, Clinton, Pelosi, et. al. have created a new political art form in their overseas excursions and the blame President Bush, blame America first mantra. Obama has had ample opportunity in the recent past to meet with our Generals, specifically General Petraeus, in Washington. He chose not to. When his prime sponsors, the far left radical, Moveon and DailyKos, ran the “General Betray Us” infamous ad in collaboration with the “New York Times”, Obama could have joined with most of our senators and congressmen and denounced this ad. He opted out. How does Obama’s “fight the smears" site address these truths?

Obama has not held one Senate meeting, let me repeat that, not one meeting, on Afghanistan affairs and he is the chair. Today, he tried to take credit for the financial pressure that has been exerted by the U..S against Iran, claiming it was his banking committee’s efforts. He is not on that committee. Today, he said Iran is a grave threat. He used to say it was a puny country. A year ago he wanted to meet with Iran’s leaders without “preconditions”. He has been waffling ever since. Truth or smears?

Senator John McCain was accurate and honest with his assessments of Obama and most defi nitely justifi ed in making these criticisms. Most people recognize that Obama is not qualifi ed to lead this nation in any capacity.

Cathy Merwin is correct. We need to start paying attention to the truth. I would suggest that she differentiate between truth, talking points and opinion. There is only one set of facts from which truth can be derived.

David R. Horvath, Sr.
Gilford

And who, pray tell, invoked this righteous missive - look after the jump!

When one reads the local papers, it seems that a lot of Left leaning folks are teeing off as they continue to feel their oats after the last election cycle.  Dave decides to "do the slapdown" on one of the that caliber of Letter To The Editor. 

From the Laconia Daily Sun (P. 5)

To the Editor;
 
Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa. There is a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning, to paraphrase Jimmy Buffet's famous song.
 
Mea Culpa? Being war weary and impoverished, high times and peace, neither set of circumstances are excuses for allowing evil to proliferate. I reiterate my statement on President Bush's right and duty to remind the world of the results of appeasement. The United States and the world has let its guard down on multiple occasions, most recently in the U.S. with the Clinton administration. If Mr. Allard insists that these comments were aimed at Obama that's fine, as his and many other liberal feet in Washington fit those same shoes.
 
Mea Culpa? President Bush may have erred in his assessment of Putin. Certainly he was hoping for change ( I've heard that nebulous non-sequitur before? ) in a man that spent his entire Soviet career in the dark side of the KGB. Obviously Putin's dark heart had not changed but this has not deterred President Bush from pressing forward with U.S. interests in the democracies of the former Soviet Bloc countries. The President's early assessment just provides liberals with a good sound bite.
 
Now in response to Mr. Allard's questions, fear does not enter into the equation in speaking with adversaries. One only has to look at the results obtained in engaging with Yassar Arafat and the fate of the Palestinians, the effect on Israel,  to understand why you do not give gravitas and cache to terrorists, thugs and rogue nations. Your continued vague allusions to "other" unconditioned engagements are just that and unfounded. Obama's infamous gaffe has now morphed into liberal doctrine and you jump right in to defend it. Before you continue defending the indefensible I suggest you read Mr. Charles Krauthammer's article in this weeks "Washington Post" and steep yourself in the real history of presidential engagement with adversaries. And also remember that President Reagan walked out of the Reyikevik summit when dogma instead of diplomacy was proffered.
 
Mea Maxima Culpa and Sunday morning? Speaking of judgment, answer these questions. Who along with his wife, spent 20 years in the Trinity Church of Chicago, getting splinters from the pews, listening to Black Liberation Theology with its Marxist, Socialist, Racist viewpoints and just couldn't bring themselves to leave? What current presidential candidate got his start in local Chicago politics in the living room of an avowed anarchist and domestic terrorist? Which underachieving Senator, who is running for President, by his voting record, is the most liberal? The answer to all three questions is the same. What American would want this man advocating anything on their behalf? Whose side would he be advocating for? You have convinced me Mr. Allard, President Bush was targeting Obama in his Knesset speech, get out the Physcologist to assuage the bruised feelings.
 
As a compassionate conservative, I sit abashed. The rants, half-truths, inaccuracies and far left liberal talking points that you provide to the readership in the lakes region had me convinced that you had all of the proper credentials framed and mounted on the walls of your home. I'm sure that this is a minor formality all of which can be rectified by taking your eddy and visiting any of the indoctrination facilities passing themselves off as universities these days. As to the smoke that you are smelling, it may be emanating from the ingredients you used in the last batch of cookies that you put in the oven.
 
"Half-baked cookies in the oven, Half-baked people on the bus..." Thank you Jimmy B.
 
Sincerely,
 
David R. Horvath, Sr.
Gilford, NH 

The Letter to which he was responding is after the jump!

Once again, Dave skewers a liberal Letter writer who has no sense (5/21).

From the Laconia Daily Sun (P 4):

And exactly what school did Mr. Allard go to, The School of Revisionist History, Majoring in Bush Derangement Syndrome with letters in the Jimma Carter School of Diplomacy?

President George W Bush has every right to remind the world of the travesty that was a direct result of pacifism and appeasement. How many million Jewish people died, how many million others died because the world looked the other way?

Mr. Allard needs to be reminded that in recent history only one president met with a foreign adversary without "preconditions". Within two months of this meeting, Khrushchev was building the Berlin Wall, within a year there were nuclear weapons in Cuba, and when all was said and done the United States was withdrawing missiles from Turkey. We came within a gnats eyelash of global nuclear war as a result of a very young and naive president being "tested". Nixon did go to China and Reagan did meet with his Soviet counterparts but with preparation, preconditions and from a position of strength that resulted in strategic military, economic and diplomatic gains. Oh yeah, isn't the Berlin Wall in the ash dump of history now as well as the Iron Curtain?

We now have another young and naive presidential candidate that threatens to meet with all the worst that the world has to offer without conditions. We have a former president that hugs the Hamas terrorists. President Bush did not single out any individual in his speech before the Knesset. He reminded the world that we are doomed to repeat history if we don't learn from it. But this speech obviously has touched a very raw spot in the liberal world of appeasement as every one has their knickers in a bunch.

It would also be wise to remind Mr. Allard that Islamic terrorism did not start with the attack on our embassy but the weakness of Carters Rose Garden strategy certainly emboldened these extremists, one of which is now President of Iran.  Mr. Allard also seems to have forgotten that President Bush's policies resulted in India and Pakistan not going to war, Libya giving up their nuclear weapons and North Korea's ability to export the same being marginalized. By the way, whose naive policy had Secretary of State Albright ( an oxymoron ) dancing with Kim Jong Il and resulted in North Korea getting the weapon in the first place? It is a different kettle of fish one has to deal with when a rogue country already has the nuclear bomb.

However, I see the situation much differently than Mr. Allard does. In addition to the gains cited above under President Bushes administration, we have two fledgling democracy's emerging in Iraq and Afghanistan. Protection and nurturing is needed, not beating feet in retreat. We also have a force strategically placed in the theater that in and of itself is a massive deterrent to Iran and others. If we do leave, who among us really believes that we will either have to go back and fight a more difficult fight or we will have to abandon a true friend and ally in Israel? Will we lose more than 4000 service members? Will the result be worse than the Holocaust, something Iran doesn't even acknowledge occurred? Will this too be appeasement or do you have a different name for this? I do not ask this callously.

We have lost many brave Americans in this struggle against terrorists and my heart aches with each loss. I honor every member of our all voluntary military services and thank God that the United States has these fine people to protect us. I pray to God for them always.
 
Sincerely,
 
David R Horvath, Sr.
Gilford, NH

The Letter that needed such a response is after the jump.

Trying to take lessons from the Teflon / do nothing Gov?  And the press is beginning to notice! 

From Fergus:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:                July 17, 2008
Contact:           Fergus Cullen, Chairman, New Hampshire Republican Party
                        603-225-9341 office, 603-520-5450 cell
 


CONCORD –   The Nashua Telegraph recently reported on Jeanne Shaheen’s campaign strategy of avoiding taking positions on major policy issues, noting that she is short on specifics, never veering too far from the talking points fed to her.

During her campaign for U.S. Senate, Shaheen has already refused to offer specific details on major issues and has rebuffed requests from the media to provide opinions on recent national security legislation and a landmark Supreme Court case. New Hampshire voters are also waiting for her to explain why she has refused to support legislation that will increase funding for the state’s acute care hospitals by over $20 million per year.

“Jeanne Shaheen’s decision to duck many of the major issues in this campaign shows her complete lack of political courage and inability to make any statements beyond her standard talking points issued by Washington insiders,” said New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen.

“Her unwillingness to answer simple questions about her positions reminds Granite Staters of the mediocrity and failed leadership that epitomized her six years in the corner office. It’s no surprise that Jeanne Shaheen wants to avoid a discussion on the issues given her history of election year flip-flops and her legacy of increased spending and higher taxes,” said Cullen.

Jeanne Shaheen Has Refused To Take Positions On Major Policy Issues:

The Nashua Telegraph: "[T]his is the posture Shaheen will take for as long as she can: Keep her own specifics to a minimum, except on those issues she believes are in her favor…In the meantime, the mantra is to keep this campaign in full metal jacket, attack mode against the incumbent… She tipped that strategy quite clearly during a Concord Monitor editorial board meeting late last month." ("State House Watch: Three Bills Waiting For Action” The Nashua Telegraph, 7/13/08)

The Eagle Tribune Reports That Jeanne Shaheen Failed To Take A Position On The Recent Supreme Court Ruling Affirming Second Amendment Rights: "U.S. Sen. John Sununu's office released a statement saying the Supreme Court ruling got ‘it right.’ Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen did not return calls asking for a comment." ("N.H. residents, GOP politicians applaud high court gun ruling," The Eagle Tribune, 6/27/08)

The Keene Sentinel Also Reports That Shaheen Also Refused To Comment On The Ruling: "New Hampshire’s Washington delegation was nearly unanimous in its delight. Republican U.S. Senator Judd Gregg said the ruling was ‘a historic moment,’ adding, ‘I applaud the court’s ruling.’ Republican U.S. Senator John Sununu said the ruling ‘gets it right.’ All the candidates we heard from applauded the decision. We didn’t hear from Governor John Lynch or Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen, however.” (Editorial, "Firearm Clarity?," The Keene Sentinel, 6/30/08)

Jeanne Shaheen Refused To Say If She Would Vote For Or Against The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) According To The Nashua Telegraph: "Presidential candidate Obama is still stuck in some hot water with his liberal base for voting to support the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act legislation that gives retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies that cooperated in the wiretapping President Bush approved after the Sept. 11 attacks…So how would [Jeanne Shaheen] have voted? We’re still waiting for an answer to that question, posed Thursday afternoon." ("State House Watch: Three Bills Waiting For Action” The Nashua Telegraph, 7/13/08)

Good Afternoon

I just wanted to give you an update on some happenings with Team McCain and the Victory 08 effort. If you can make a phone bank of the town hall meeting please contact the individuals listed below.

You are formally invited to attend the official Kick-Off Event of the Knytych 4 Senate campaign. This event will run from 1 - 3 PM on July 20th.

This is a free event and there will be Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Chips and Corn. There will also be Ice Cream courtesy of the Kellerhaus.

I have invited the candidates for the 1st Congressional District, NH House candidates from the towns in the 4th NH Senate District (Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, New Durham, Strafford and Tilton) and many of the residents of these towns. This will allow you the opportunity to meet with the others that are running for office in our area and to hear why I can win this election.

I look forward to seeing you there.

The Grandview is located at 291 Endicott Street North between
the Weirs Beach Sign and Funspot.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             CONTACT: Stefani Zimmerman
July 14, 2008                                                      (603)792-2008


Manchester, NH – U.S. Senator John Sununu (R-NH) issued the following statement today on President Bush’s decision to lift the executive ban on offshore exploration:

“The President’s decision today to lift the executive ban on offshore exploration is a good first step towards lowering energy prices and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of oil. With oil at over $140 per barrel, the time to act is now. For too long the liberal special interests have blocked every reasonable attempt to increase domestic production. Only politicians as out of touch as Jeanne Shaheen have maintained their opposition to these common sense energy policies despite the increasing financial burden on New Hampshire families and small businesses. I have supported and will continue to support a balanced approach using the best and cleanest technology to produce more energy here at home. A balanced approach, including new domestic exploration in addition to conservation and renewables, is the only way to bring down prices and make America more energy independent.”

By Dave Horvath
Laconia Daily Sun, P. 4  7/8/08

To the editor,

Ellen McClung, wife of Scott Cracraft, self-proclaimed proud ultraliberals, recently announced she was running for the District 5 legislative seat that includes Gilford, Belmont, Alton and Barnstead. McClung’s letter was very understated in its announcement. Her and her husband’s viewpoints, published on many occasions in this newspaper, are admittedly part of the far left, agenda-driven culture that has overtaken the once proud Democrat party. This is true locally, statewide and nationally. It is my opinion, of a person raised in a Democrat household, that most Democrats are centrists and don’t hold the extreme viewpoints that McClung and Cracraft have espoused in the past.

I found it funny that now that she is a candidate that she has shied away from the hard left wing rhetoric. Perhaps I shouldn’t find it that funny as Obama, the most left wing presidential candidate (and least qualified ) this nation has ever seen is now running to the right of Senator John McCain. Why do ultra liberals feel its necessary to hide who they really are? Or call themselves “progressives”?

Many things in her announcement should be addressed, space allows me to only comment on a few. Whether McClung and her cohorts want to wish us into a recession, the United States is not in one and haven’t been since the one that President Bush inherited from Clinton and his terrible tax policies. As she and her husband continue to remind us that they are educators (indoctrinators? ), they might want to do some fact checking before they speak.

A married couple earning $60,000 a year pays $3,000 per year less in federal income taxes now than in the last year of Clinton’s presidency. Look it up. That extra money is helping me with my choices in life. Liberal Democrats want to repeal this and other beneficial policies initiated by President Bush that help the average American. They want to create more government.

Once in my life I would like a liberal to say the high taxes we are imposing on our citizens is making difficult choices for Americans. Our citizens have to chose between medical bills, food, energy and are struggling, WE MUST CUT TAXES NOW! But that won’t come from an archetypal left wing liberal like McClung. She would rather see my home and lifestyle in jeopardy than to renounce high tax, big government entitlement programs. Whether in Concord or on a national level, government does nothing better than the private sector. But it is precisely McClung’s policies that make it more difficult for the poor and elderly.

The $400-million dollar, 17.5-percent budget increase given to us by the current ultra liberal Democrats in Concord is costing a family of four in New Hampshire over $1,200 more per year than we have already been paying. I for one would like that money back to make choices with. My lifestyle has not improved because of this tax increase, has yours? We don’t need a McClung to add to our statewide fiscal woes. The first Democrat Legislature in Concord in one hundred years has been nothing short of a disaster. McClung doesn’t seem to understand that this tax increase hits the least among us the hardest.

The problems that we see in the cost of energy have been building for over 40 years. We can’t build nuclear plants, clean coal fired plants, refineries or drill for oil at locations of large known reserves. Wind farms and solar power are okay as long as you can’t see them from Senator Kennedy’s cape compound. But these are unreliable and the power grid needs backup sources at higher costs still to support such an ill conceived sole source program. McClung states that she wants good paying American job opportunities, great, you and your liberal policies need to get out of the way. Over 500 high paying union jobs were lost in Laconia alone, at Bergen-Paterson Corporation when nuclear power fell out of favor because of liberal policies. Do some more homework and find out what one power plant or refi nery would do for job creation let alone going forward with a coherent national energy policy.

So as McClung asks for your support, I ask that you as fellow taxpayers do your homework. I have. I have followed the liberal litany of her and her husband’s past stated positions. We do not need any more high tax, big government liberals at any level of elected office. Find someone better to vote for than her.

David R. Horvath, Sr.
Gilford

By Rep. DAVID HESS
For the Monitor
July 13, 2008 - 12:00 am

No matter how hard they try, Democrats in Concord just can't sugarcoat their tax, borrow and spend policies of the last two years. A case in point is the recent opinion piece authored by House Speaker Terie Norelli ("Republicans left costly problems for us to solve," Monitor Forum, June 25).

Despite the harsh accusations, half-truths and just plain misstatements, she can't turn this year's budget disaster into an M&M chocolate.

Let's look at the facts. First, state spending. In the 2006-07 biennium, general fund appropriations totaled $2.71 billion. Under the leadership of the Democrats this session, that figure jumped to $3.19 billion; that's an increase of $475 million, or 17.5 percent. This money is raised from taxes and fees paid by you, the taxpayers of New Hampshire.

So how are the Democrats planning to pay for this? First they raised no less than 15 taxes and fees, including a second increase in the cigarette tax in two years. They also found new things to tax, such as charitable games of chance, cigars, registry of deed filings, court filings and many more.

But that wasn't enough to correct the deficit, so they decided to bond $90.5 million to pay the state's current expenses. They did that in a single, hurry up "special" legislative session that ended at midnight June 5 - all without referral to a committee, without a public hearing and with inaccurate information and misrepresentations
on the House floor.

Bonding school building aid

The history of this issue is particularly disturbing. In early May, the governor proposed bonding $80 million in school construction aid to help pay for the budget deficit. After a hearing before a joint House-Senate committee, this proposal was unanimously rejected - with the House Democratic leadership leading the charge. Then, barely three weeks later, during our midnight special session, and without a word of explanation or justification, the Democratic leadership did a 180-degree turnaround and passed this bonding on a straight party- line vote.

Not only that, but they threw in another $20 million in bonding to boot, all with no public hearing or any public input whatsoever. So much for the democratic process.

And what about some of the other misleading comments in Speaker Norelli's piece? Yes, indeed, the State House roof was leaking in the spring of 2007, but it was the previous Republican House that passed the appropriations to fix it.

As for the vaunted retirement plan fix, the House did - unanimously, and on a voice vote - pass an excellent bill that was fair to retirees, current employees, employers and taxpayers alike, only to see the big public employees' unions dismantle it in the Senate. In the face of extreme union pressure during the committee of conference, the House Democratic leadership backed down on virtually every major point. So we will be back trying to fix this again next year.

10-year highway plan

Finally, the 10-year highway plan. The Democrats didn't fully fund that either. In fact, when Commissioner Charles O'Leary presented the plan, he realistically asked for a six-year plan, which was unanimously endorsed by committee Republicans because it was fully funded, honest and straightforward in its design. Again, the Democrats chose smoke-and-mirrors legislation.

Maybe if Speaker Norelli and House Democrats were less concerned with blaming Republicans and appeasing the governor, but instead concentrated on doing the work of the people, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in today.

(Rep. David Hess of Hooksett is the deputy House Republican leader.)

From the McCain NH campaign, a note to those that wish to assist:

Town Chairs, 

 

My name is Ben DiSesa and I am writing to you on behalf of the McCain campaign from the Manchester Office on 250 Commercial Ave, Manchester, NH.  We are strongly involved in gathering volunteer support for McCain and as you probably know, just opened the office last week.  We now need volunteers to come down and help to organize volunteer events.  We are also opening up offices around NH and are going to need dedicated people to staff them.  My cell phone number is (603) 978-5710, my email is Ben@nhgop.org, and you can contact me at anytime if you have any questions about what you can do to help McCain and other Republicans get elected.  With only 120 days left until the election, we can't stress enough how important it is to build a strong support network of volunteers.  Starting tonight at 5 pm people will be coming to the Manchester office and anything you can do, either by volunteering yourself, or giving this information to people who you know can help, would be appreciated. 

We need volunteers as soon as possible!  Thanks,

 

Ben DiSesa

Victory Campaign Staff

603-978-5710

Ben@nhgop.org