The Liberal Patriot Blog
 The Liberal Patriot Blog is dedicated to collecting and sharing information about National and State [New Hampshire] Political Action, News, and Events.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Now for something completely different....

I also would like to like to invited anyone interested [and who has the bandwidth for the download it] to download my ANTI-BUSH song I put together.

It’s called Bushism 102 and it’s available at for free here: http://download.com/djtemper

There is also a Bushism 101 but 02 is better I think.

Friday, April 29, 2005

SB125 - small business insurance law

SB125 is the Senate version of SB110 reform. They have incorporated some key components of House Bill 611 as amended and passed by the House. SB125 makes certain changes in the small employer health insurance law, including:

I. Repealing health status and geographic location as rating factors for small group health insurance.

II. Adding a definition of case characteristics and certain other definitions.

III. Clarifying overall premium rate variability in the small group health insurance market.
(3.5 to 1 ratio and 20% cap)

IV. Clarifying the small group health insurance law regarding premium rates for small employer groups with similar case characteristics.

V. Establishing the New Hampshire small employer health reinsurance pool to offer pool coverage to eligible employees of small employers

This bill passed the Senate on Apirl 7th. It is now in the commerce committee. The bill is scheduled to for a hearing in House Commerce on Thursday, May 5 at 11:00 am.


Sorry this is so dry I haven't had a chance to research this bill much yet. Martha McLeod who gave us the tip on this legislation says that she believes this is a good bill for the North Country. More too come check back soon!

The link to the bill text is here.


Thursday, April 28, 2005

Stop People from Stepping in a Big Pile of Bush


SHOW THE WORLD WHAT YOU THINK OF BUSH You can get free flags here.
Posted by Hello

NEWS

US: Sodexho Settles Large Racial Bias Case

AMAZON: Victims of 'Toxico'

US: Microsoft Reversal on Gay Rights Bill

LATIN AMERICA: AIDS Patients See Life, Death Issues in Trade Pact

US: Shouting Drowns Out Positive Weyerhaeuser Report

PHILIPPINES: U.S. Troubled Over Call for Filipino Workers to Leave Iraq

US: Still Missing in Iraq

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Something stinks in the Legislature!

There is a bill down in Concord that would provide some relief to our friends in Bethlehem. The bill - SB 104, would close the loophole that is allowing the landfill owners, Casella Waste Systems, to avoid paying over 80 percent of their property taxes.

Casella Waste Systems is a horrible corporate citizen that has now launched an attack on the citizens ofColebrook. There Casella has offered to cap the town landfill in exchange for the town allowing them to dispose of some of Casella's trash. No surprise, Casella now wants to deposit way more trash in Colebrook than was contemplated in the original agreement.

The sponsors of this bill are Senators Dick Green and John Gallus and Represenatives Martha McLeod and Jim Twombly. It passed the Senate on March 10th and is in the House Muncipal and County Government Committee.

Casella Waste Systems/NCES, the owners of the Bethlehem landfill, are represented in the legislature by Bryan Gould and Michael Dennehy.

Bryan Gould has recently been in the news, as most of us know, because he was Benson's appointment to the gay marriage commission and is refusing to step down and let Raymond Buckley take his seat. Michael Dennehy was Craig Benson's campaign manager in 2002 and is a highly paid GOP operative.

The House committee hearing SB 104 is led by, Betsey Patten, who sides with the landfill owners. The State Department of Environmental Services is also siding with the landfill.

Still, there are a number of people on the committee who realize that Bethlehem and other towns are getting a raw deal. There could be a big House floor fight if there are enough Republicans on the committee with the courage to break ranks with the committee chair, Betsey Patten of Moultonborugh.

Other members of the Muncipal and County Government Committee are:

Eric G. Stohl (r+d)<-- Colebrook eric.stohl@leg.state.nh.us (603)237-4206
Thomas J. Gillick (r) (603)929-1093
Robert W. Brundige (r) (603)424-6971
Laurie J. Boyce (r) ljb@metrocast.net (603)875-7371
Dudley D. Dumaine (r) buppadan@adelphia.net (603)537-1744
David L. Buhlman (r) dbuhlman@aol.com (603)860-4838
Christopher L. Doyle (r) doylec@adelphia.net (603)893-7975
John P. Dowd (r) Derry, NH jpdowd@aol.com (603)490-5888
Andrew L. Dorsett (r) andrew.dorsett@leg.state.nh.us (603)968-6398
Margie Maybeck (r) Holderness, NH margie@maybeck.com (603)536-3822
Harry S. Gale (r) Sunapee, NH hgale66@aol.com (603)763-4004
Paul R. Hopfgarten (r) E Derry, NH (paul.hopfgarten@leg.state.nh.us (603)426-5159
Andrew Renzullo (r) Hudson, NH andrew.renzullo@leg.state.nh.us (603)882-8962


Nancy K. Johnson (d) Milton, NH nancy@worldpath.net (603)652-4357
Mary R. Cooney (d) Plymouth, NH mary.cooney@leg.state.nh.us (603)536-1141
Jessie L. Osborne (d) Concord, NH rjosborne@comcast.net (603)225-9004
Peter B. Schmidt (d) Dover, NH reppbs@ttlc.net (603)743-3751
Robert L. Theberge (d)<-- Berlin rolath@msn.com (603)752-5672
Stephen G. Prichard (d) Grantham, NH stevecarol@srnet.com (603)863-9403
Lawrence D. Brown (d) Milton, NH lb4nhrep@worldpath.net (603)652-4306

If you live in any of these areas CONTACT THEM NOW!!!


NEWS

Social Security Battle Unites Dems, Splits GOP

Right to Choice under Nuclear Attack

Howard Dean: GOP 'Evil,' 'Corrupt' and 'Brain-Dead'

Final Curtain Falls on Iraq WMD Myth

Guard Members Denied Ground Zero Retirement Credit

Marines Break Code of Silence on Fatal Deficiencies

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

New Pope a Friggin Idiot!!!

New Pope Benedict XVI has blasted J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books for "undermining the soul of Christianity".

Nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler', Pope Benedict is set to confuse Catholics across the world because his predecessor John Paul II praised the multi-millionaire for her Christian lifestyle.

story here

YOu know what is really sick! I mean REALLY SICK... is when this idiotic senile dirtbug Ratzinger will say that a children's book undermines the soul of Christianity yet he has not said one fuckin word about priests who molest children. This new pope is one disgusting pile of filth.

And if you are a catholic I'm sorry... not because I offended you, I am just sorry that you are catholic.

Maybe the new pope is just jealous of Rowling's Best Seller status. Well he need not worry in germany where his books are outselling the new harry potter. Thanks germany making us feel better about not being Canada.

Votes

Recent Senate Votes

John D. Negroponte to be Director of National Intelligence - Vote Confirmed (98-2)The Senate confirmed John D. Negroponte to be the first national intelligence director.
Sen. Judd Gregg voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. John Sununu voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act - Vote Agreed to (99-0, 1 Not Voting)The Senate passed an $81.26 billion supplemental spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sen. Judd Gregg voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. John Sununu voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes

Energy Policy Act of 2005 - Vote Passed (249-183, 3 Not Voting)The House passed this $10 billion energy bill.
Rep. Charles Bass voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Rep. Jeb Bradley votd No...............send e-mail or see bio

Monday, April 25, 2005

The Fish Rots From The Head Down

State Rep. John Ward arrested on liquor charge in Durham.
Accused of providing alcohol to a minor

DURHAM — Local police arrested a state representative from Littleton on charges of purchasing alcohol for a minor.

Republican John L. Ward, 21, of 67 East St. in Littleton and a University of New Hampshire student, has been charged with prohibited sales, a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and $1,200 fine.

Police allege Ward purchased a 20 pack of Bud Light at Scorpio’s Provisions on Madbury Road, then got into a car driven by Margaret T. Calvert, 20, of Newbury, Deputy Chief Rene Kelley of the Durham Police Department said.

Durham police officers working an alcohol enforcement detail, which is funded by a grant from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office with the mission of combating underage drinking, observed the vehicle drive away from the store, Kelley said.

Soon after, the officers saw the suspect get out of the car without the alcohol, Kelley said. Police stopped the vehicle on Strafford Avenue and discovered the alcohol and no one of the legal drinking age.

Calvert was arrested and charged with unlawful transportation of alcohol.

Police investigated and arrested Ward the following night at 2 Strafford Ave., the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Both were released on $500 personal recognizance bail and will be arraigned May 19 in Durham District Court.Ward is a member of the House Education Committee, according to the state Web site.

this is the whole article from Foster's Online

Bush Continues Ritual Slaughter of Barers of Bad News

The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who was among the leading critics of last year's mix-up, reacted angrily to the decision, saying "This is the definitive report on the incidence of terrorism around the world. It should be unthinkable that there would be an effort to withhold it - or any of the key data - from the public. The Bush administration should stop playing politics with this critical report."

According to Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and State Department terrorism expert, and U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the issue, statistics that the National Counterterrorism Center provided to the State Department reported 625 "significant" terrorist attacks in 2004.

That compared with 175 such incidents in 2003, the highest number in two decades.

The statistics didn't include attacks on American troops in Iraq, which President Bush as recently as Tuesday called "a central front in the war on terror."

read more about this from Knight Ridder

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Sen. Rick "Man-Dog" Santorum to hamstring National Weather Service

[A] bill introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites . . .

from Palm Beach Post

Read A Parody of this article called "Oxygen Makers Seek Ban on "Unfair" Competition" by BIllmon's Whiskey Bar

Critics say the bill's wording is so vague they can't tell exactly what it would ban.

"I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have to pay for it again," said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant at Harvard University. He says that as he reads the bill, a vast amount of federal weather data would be forced offline. "The National Weather Service Web site would have to go away," Bradner said. "What would be permitted under this bill is not clear -- it doesn't say. Even including hurricanes."

But here's the real problem:

Also last year, the weather service began offering much of its raw data on the Internet in an easily digestible format, allowing entrepreneurs and hobbyists to write simple programs to retrieve the information. At the same time, the weather service's own Web pages have become increasingly sophisticated.

Combined, the trends threaten AccuWeather's business of providing detailed weather reports based on an array of government and private data. AccuWeather's 15,000 customers include The Palm Beach Post, which uses the company's hurricane forecast maps on its Web site, PalmBeachPost.com [...]

Another supporter of the weather service's efforts, Tallahassee database analyst John Simpson, said the plethora of free data becoming available could eventually fuel a new industry of small and emerging companies that would repackage the information for public consumption. He said a similar explosion occurred in the 1990s, when corporations' federal securities filings became freely available on the Web.


AccuWeather wants a monopoly on such data for commercial use. And Santorum sells legislation for the few thousand Myers has thrown his way.

From Daily Kos


All the Bitches in the House say "ROVE"

YO, I copied dis whole thing from my main shit stain ovah at Dah Left Coaster! You know I didn't think it up myself. My man goes after traitor Democrats as much as republicans. He iz a Badazz Lefty! Anyway.

Dez are dah 31 little House Democrat bitches dat voted to abolish dah estate tax on dah wealthiest families in dah country.

Dat will add $1 trillion in debt next decade at a time when we are fending off GOP lies dat dey ain't enough money for Social Security. Then dez little tracherous Hos came back and voted against consumers and in favor of MBNA and the ABA for the bankruptcy bill.

I don’t care if you call yourself a member of the "New Democrat Coalition" or whatever other Cover Yo Ass chicken shit label you want to give yourself. If you vote for the extremely wealthy one day and for the banks the next, where I come from they call you a Republican. [spit to get filth out of mouth]

Here are the 31 who did dah dirty deeds:

Melissa Bean, Illinois
Robert Marion Berry, Arkansas (Member of the New Democrat Coalition)
Sanford Bishop, Georgia (Member of the Blue Dog Coalition)
Dan Boren, Oklahoma
Leonard Boswell, Iowa (Member, Blue Dog Coalition)
Rick Boucher, Virginia
Dennis Cardoza, CA
Ben Chandler, Kentucky
Jim Costa, CA
Bud Cramer, Alabama
Henry Cuellar, Texas
Lincoln Davis, Tennessee
Chet Edwards, Texas
Bart Gordon, Tennessee
Ruben Hinojosa, Texas
Darlene Hooley, Oregon
Steve Israel, New York
William Jefferson, Louisiana (Co-Chair of the DCCC)
Rick Larsen, Washington
Jim Matheson, Utah
Carolyn McCarthy, New York (member of the NDC)
Mike McIntyre, North Carolina (member of the NDC)
Charlie Melancon, Louisiana
Collin Peterson, Minnesota (Member, Blue Dog Coalition)
Nick Joe Rahall, West Virginia (DLC Member)
Mike Ross, Arkansas (Member, New Democratic and Blue Dog Coalitions)
Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland
John Salazar, Colorado (Ken’s brother)
David Scott, Georgia (Member, Blue Dog Coalition)
Ike Skelton, Missouri
Albert Russell Wynn, Maryland

Again, I hope dat Rahm Emmanuel spends his DCCC money next year on those more deserving [LIKE ME, Joeshit D Raggman 2006] than this crew.

I’m sure the ABA and MBNA will gladly finance the campaigns of these 31 next year, and the NRCC won’t run serious opponents against them next year, as a “thank you” for their votes with Bush the last two days.
Right.
And don't think for a moment that Rove doesn't know now who his bitches are in the House. He also knows after the last two days that these Democrats in the House will sell out Social Security.

Joeshit D Raggmann for Congress 2006!!!!

Kerry Supporters Need Not Apply!

The Bush Administration punishes Democrat backers
The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in
various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as
telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations.

At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the
meeting have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry's
2004 campaign.

The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry
representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who
had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say
past participants.

The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would
represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like
those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would
have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy.

Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and Nokia,
two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well as Ibiquity, a
digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One nixed participant, who has
been to many of these telecom meetings and who wants to remain anonymous, gave
just $250 to the Democratic Party.



From the May. 02, 2005 issue of TIME magazine

RadioReactive Politics

A great article on DailyKos about "reactive"politics:

I've been hearing talk in a number of places opining that the Democrats are
"too reactive". That is, that instead of announcing policy proposals of our own,
taking the initiative on issues, we are merely reacting to whatever gets tossed
our way from the other side. Shouldn't we be ignoring sideshows like Justice
Sunday and Ann Coulter, not letting ourselves get distracted by going 24/7 on
parlor games involving Bolton, DeLay, etc? Shouldn't we use the extra time to
promote our own agenda?

Hell, no.

Let's be blunt, here. The Democrats are coming off a ten-year period of
being spectacularly inept in national politics, and I would chalk a fair amount
of that up to being categorically unable or unwilling to react to thrown
attacks. It's not that Gore lost, or Kerry lost, or the House and Senate have
Republican leads -- all of those things happened by hair's-breadth margins, and
in and of themselves are not very indicative of anything resembling a long-term
catastrophe. What is of more import is the way those elections or particular
legislative agendas have been lost, often times in circumstances where public
opinion was clearly -- unambiguously -- on the Democrats' side. The problem is
-- and this is important -- current national politics has almost nothing to do
with policy.

We're all clear on that, right?

It's not about the facts of the argument, when there is no place where
the facts can be debated. It's not about reasoned discourse -- there aren't any
channels interested in showing that right now. It's not about deciding who has
the better proposals, on a given issue: there's simply no forum to present them
to. Every time I hear a liberal talking about how we need to be more "policy
driven", therefore, I get a bit confused. Isn't that missing every lesson of
contemporary politics? I'd love for our national discourse to be policy driven.
But that hasn't happened, and the Republicans have made it a major strategy to
make sure it doesn't happen anytime soon.



Read the rest of it here. Ok one more quote, my favorite:

The way the game is currently played is that you, the Democrat, suggest
some new policy; I, the Republican, then hit you with a cinder block, take your
wallet, and declare victory. See in the absurd pronouncements of lobbyist-funded
"think tanks", or watch it live and up-close on Hannity & Colmes, or explore
it at length in the new Calvinballesque rules of Congress -- it's all the same
strategy, if "strategy" can really be applied to such a thing.

So, fine. As a point of carefully considered Democratic strategy, I say
it's time to stock up on cinder blocks.

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