Grant Bosse is funny.
Of all the columns I’ve seen on the decision to try KSM in a civilian court in NYC, this one is the best.
The early release of this man from prison is a travesty.
Charlie Bass’ exploratory committee Web site is live today. I wonder if Jennifer Horn will follow him on Twitter.
Only 14 percent of independents approve of the job Congress is doing. And that has Democrats scared. Not a surprise.
Mike Scioscia was right, and Bud Selig thinks so too, thank goodness.
I miss Bob Novak’s columns.
God made pigs. Man took pigs, made bacon, hot dogs, sausages, pork chops, pork rinds, and barbeque. If only pigs peed beer, they’d be the perfect animals.
NH Senate Republicans have released the following list of legislative priorities for the upcoming session. All quotes are attributable to Sen. Peter Bragdon. (Study guide: try to find any mention of spending cuts):
Economic Development and Job Creation
Reduce taxes for the smallest of companies, as well as those who hire new employees and/or invest in new equipment or buildings. “The goal is to allow companies to succeed,” said Bragdon. “Successful companies create jobs.”
Healthcare Accessibility
Allow individuals and small businesses to join together to purchase licensed health insurance plans from other states. Reform the state’s tort laws to reduce malpractice costs. “Individuals and businesses all struggle to find affordable health insurance,” said Bragdon. “Our goal is to provide more competition and help reduce some of the costs of healthcare in this state.”
Taxpayer Protection
Allow voters in all towns and school districts to adopt spending and tax caps. Require super-majority votes in the legislature to divert money from the Rainy Day Fund or to borrow money. Repeal the newly-created taxes on campgrounds and Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs). “Allowing voters to establish reasonable parameters over spending is a key part of our state’s treasured local control philosophy,” said Senator Bragdon, “and forcing Concord politicians to abide by the same borrowing rules as local voters is a natural extension of that.”
Open Government
Require a record of all state payments to be posted to the Internet and made available to the public, with appropriate protections for confidential information. Offer protection from retribution to state employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse.
The Senate GOP’s statement included a bullet-pointed list of what these priorities will be:
Economic Development and Job Creation
* Updating the threshold for the Business Enterprise Tax and the carry forward provisions to lighten the tax burden on small business owners
* Allowing for accelerated depreciation of capital investments for business taxes
* Job creation tax credits
Healthcare Accessibility
* Allowing the purchase of healthcare across state lines and allowing individuals and small groups of employees to pool together for easier access to healthcare
* Tort Reform to reduce malpractice insurance costs
Taxpayer Protection
* Allowing cities and towns to enact tax and spending caps
* Requiring a supermajority to divert funds from the Rainy Day Fund
* Requiring a supermajority to provide bonding authority
* Repeal of the Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) and camping taxes
* Prohibiting the Federal Government from cost shifting to the State in any major expansions of Medicaid
Open Government
* Making copies of state disbursements available online
* Protection from retribution for State Employees reporting waste, fraud and abuse
No mention of education funding or divisive social issues. Also no mention of a comprehensive effort to cut spending. Is the Senate GOP OK with the current level of state spending? Interesting.
Manchester Mayor-elect Ted Gatsas has talked to aldermen and school board members about making some changes that might generate better cooperation between the boards. He wants to invite school board members to aldermanic meetings and vice versa. He also wants to change the school board’s fiscal committee from five members to a committee of the whole so all board members will have the same financial information at the same time and will be up to speed at the full committee meetings.
Those are just two relatively small changes. Bigger ones are coming, Gatsas says, including starting the city budget process in December. Look for more changes to be announced before the inauguration.
In this New York Times story on Muslims serving in the U.S. military, The Times presents Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor, who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for throwing himself on a grenade to save his team members in 2006, as a Muslim. The Times quotes a Muslim Army reservist who portrays Monsoor as a Muslim who gave his life defending the United States. It lets the assertion stand. But Monsoor was a Catholic, as his Department of Defense official biography clearly states.
More teens were picked up in Nashua for vandalizing property with spray paint and permanent markers. It’s a problem in Nashua and Manchester, but also in small towns. What to do?
I don’t like the idea of jailing kids whose only crime is graffiti vandalism. There must be better alternatives that would deter this behavior without helping turn vandals into hardened criminals by mixing them with thieves, drug dealers, gang members, etc. Here are a few possibilities:
* Vandalize their property. If a kid is convicted of graffiti vandalism, his room should be painted with Lawrence Welk images. His car should be painted pink with a glittery Hannah Montana logo on one side and a Powerpuff Girls logo on the other. His personal belongings should be defaced with scrawled messages such as “I love kittens” and “Star Trek forever!”
* Make them scrub it off. Generally, teens don’t have money to pay for professional graffiti removal if they’re caught. So make them remove it. If it takes six weeks to scrub a “tag” off a stop sign or store wall, too bad. You broke it, you fix it. I’m sure there are plenty of citizens who would be happy to volunteer to supervise the cleanup.
* Make them read literature. Given the choice between paying a fine, spending a few weeks in jail, or reading Shakespeare, I bet most vandals would choose the fine or prison. We have plenty of retired teachers who miss their old jobs. And we have lots of kids who’ve skated through or dropped out of school. Don’t send them to jail; send them to English class. They’ll never want to commit a crime again. And they might learn something.
