Only the (Andrew) Young can say
Ben Smith at Politico.com has a fascinating story about former John Edwards staffer Andrew Young. I bet there are some good stories from NH Edwards supporters waiting to be told.
Obama health care horror stories not entirely true
Jake Tapper at ABC News has found that President Obama has exaggerated two anecdotes of health insurer abuses when making his pitch for reform.
In one, Obama claimed that a woman had her coverage dropped “because she forgot to declare a case of acne.” Not true, Tapper has discovered. The insurer found that she hadn’t disclosed medication taken for a pre-existing heart condition and hadn’t properly represented her weight.
In another, Obama claimed, “One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn’t reported gallstones that he didn’t even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it.”
The man did lose coverage because of unreported gallstones. But his sister, an attorney, intervened and the coverage was reinstated. He died three years later — after getting the cancer treatment that was initially denied. The assertion that he died because of the denied treatment is completely untrue.
The man’s sister, who supports Obama’s health reform efforts, testified before Congress this summer, “He did indeed receive the stem cell transplant. It was extremely successful. It extended his life approximately 3-1/2 years.”
Watching the dollars spin
Kennebunk, Maine, officials want to spend $50,000 in mostly federal money to build two wind turbines to help power the police station. The turbines, paid for with federal stimulus funds, would save an estimated $754 a year each, or $1,508 a year total for the town. So, it’ll take 33 years for taxpayers to break even. And even then, it’s the town of Kennebunk that benefits, not the federal taxpayers who are footing most of the bill. Wonder if those turbines will still be working in 33 years.
Randomness
A good column on TV watching by Jeff Jacoby. “If television came in a bottle, it would be illegal to sell it to children. ”
In California, bottle “deposits” are revealed as what they really are: taxes.
Will the state GOP really be able to make inroads with state employees as a result of Lynch’s handling of the SEA contract? I think it doubtful that anything long-term will come of this. The union leadership’s desire to stick taxpayers with higher-than-necessary costs seems an insurmountable barrier. But it’ll make for interesting politics in the short run.
The New Republic’s Marty Peretz on the United Nations. “The U.N. is a joke. If it weren’t in New York no one would come. As an instrument of peace it fails every time. ”
Sarkozy’s interesting speech to the U.N.
Anne Applebaum, whom I normally like, has a strange take on Roman Polanski’s arrest. She writes: “He did commit a crime, but he has paid for the crime in many, many ways: In notoriety, in lawyers’ fees, in professional stigma. He could not return to Los Angeles to receive his recent Oscar.”
Poor Roman. The awful stigma was so great that he couldn’t return to receive his Oscar. If the stigma were so great, he wouldn’t have won an Oscar. But Hollywood LOVES a liberal fugitive from justice. He won the award because of, not in spite of, his conviction. These are many of the same people who gave two Golden Globes to “The People Vs. Larry Flynt,” which portrayed a racist, perverted exploiter of young women as a hero. He drugged and then forced himself on a 13-year-old girl. What’s outrageous is that anyone thinks his being made to account for that is an outrage.
A drug murder in Sharon?
An unidentified, tattooed man was found shot to death in a wooded area in Sharon. That’s extraordinary. I’m guessing it’s a drug-related murder, for a few reasons.
Sharon is only 20 miles from Fitchburg, Mass., the source of a great deal of the illegal drugs run into the southwestern part of New Hampshire. Greenville, near Sharon, is, believe it or not, a hotbed of illegal narcotics trafficking, according to FBI data.
The body was found off Route 123, which is the main route from Fitchburg to Peterborough. It’s probably the primary delivery route for a lot of traffickers.
Now, this is just educated guessing, of course. Perhaps the murder has nothing to do with cross-border drug wars. However, if it does turn out to be a drug-related killing, it ought to focus the state’s attention more closely on what has become a serious safety concern in the southern part of the state.
Cillizza: Gregg seat most vulnerable in country
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza writes today that Sen. Judd Gregg’s seat is the most likely of all to switch parties next year:
New Hampshire (R): The Republican field in the Granite State continues to grow more crowded with Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney and businessman Ovide Lamontagne expected to join former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte in the primary. National Democrats have done a very good job of casting Ayotte as a finger in the wind pol who is not ready for prime time; regular voters don’t pay much attention to those sorts of things this far from an election but perception created in off years can turn into reality in an election year. As Republicans head toward what looks likely to be a confrontational, ideological primary, Rep. Paul Hodes has the Democratic nomination to himself. (Previous ranking: 3)
Sen. Gregg on ABC News online at noon
Sen. Judd Gregg will be on ABC News’ “Top Line” at noon today. TheWebcast is aired on the ABC News home page. Twitter users can submit questions to @thenote.
“One’s Marine” is exploring a run for Congress
Mike Castaldo of Dover, a cook and ONE Campaign volunteer best known in New Hampshire as “ONE’s Marine,” is exploring a run for Congress in the 1st District as a Republican.
I asked him about getting this campaign going, and he quoted the Blues Brothers, saying, “I’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes…”
It’ll be a low-budget campaign starting with going to Republican groups and doing a lot of listening, he says.
Asked what he thinks about how the Guinta campaign will react, he said, “I hope they spell my name right…”
He isn’t enamored of Guinta.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea right now to consider yourself Washington’s man,” he said.
Asked about his chances, he says, “It is going to have to be a movement of the people that gets me in there.”
US history buffs, you can’t miss this event
Perhaps the greatest living expert on revolutionary-era America, Gordon S. Wood, will speak at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics next Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. His topic will be “The Origins of American Constitutionalism.”
Wood won a Pulitzer for his amazing work, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” which led to a shift in the prevailing perception of the American Revolution. He is without a doubt one of the world’s preeminent authorities on early America. If there’s anything you always wanted to know about the Founders or the Revolution or the colonial or early republic eras, this is your chance to get an answer.
Was moose permit auction illegal?
The state held its first moose hunting permit auction in August. Run by the Wildlife Heritage Foundation, the auction raised $32,000 for conservation and education efforts, the state announced.
The bill to authorize this auction was approved on July 16. The bill stated that it would take effect 60 days after passage. That’s Sept. 14, as stated on the bill. But the auction was held in August. Does that mean the auction was illegal?
Dining with Kelly and Ovide
On Sept. 22, Kelly Ayotte will have a fundraiser at Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C. Go ahead, click the link. You can smell the elegance through your monitor.
The next day, the GOP’s other known Senate hopeful, Ovide Lamontagne, is holding a “birthday celebration” at the Alpine Club in Manchester. It doesn’t have a stand-alone Web site, but it does have this MySpace page. See if you can count the cowboy hats.
Draw your own conclusions.
Jennifor Horn off the air
Jennifer Horn is ending her Nashua talk show this Friday to concentrate on exploring a run for Congress, she announced this morning:
“It has been my great pleasure to be a part of the Absolute Broadcasting family both this year and in the past,” said Horn. “I am grateful to Tom Monohan, not only for this opportunity, but for his continued commitment to local talk radio, and I wish everyone at Absolute Broadcasting the very best.”
“It is no secret to anyone that I am strongly considering a run for US Congress in the Second District. The time has come for me to give this my full attention. I look forward to talking with my friends and supporters throughout the district in the weeks and months ahead as I go through the process of making a final decision,” Horn continued.
“During the past several months it has become apparent that our individual liberties and personal freedoms are being assaulted by this Congress. Unfortunately the Second District lacks a voice as Paul Hodes has focused more on his Senate ambitions than his job as Congressman,” said Horn. “During these difficult economic times, when so many Granite Staters are losing their jobs and their homes and worried about what tomorrow will bring, the Second District needs a Representative who will fight full time to be a voice for the people.”
