Well we all know now that they did do something about them, they harassed and tried to intimidate any “Conservative” groups like AFP as Senator Shaheen calls for in her letter. Note she fails to ask them to investigate groups like MoveOn.org or Organizing For America (the old Obama for America group) which supplies support and people to Senator Shaheen’s campaign.
Now we have Kathy Sullivan, former head of the NH Democratic Party, calling for further investigation of these illegal groups all while she runs a 501(c)(4) group herself. http://nhjournal.com/2013/05/21/sullivan-calls-c4s-gross-misuse-of-tax-laws-despite-running-c4/
We have corrupt politicians, lobbying the IRS to come down hard on groups pointing specifically at Conservative groups like Senator Shaheen did in her letter to the IRS, all the while they are benefitting from these 501(c)(4) groups. In fact OFA is the largest 501(c)(4) in the United States. Oh and did I mention that the Democrats are the recipients of oodles of Union money (4 of 5 largest non-campaign spenders in the 2012 election were Unions) including Public Employee Unions like the IRS Employee Union that donated $5000 to Senator Shaheen's campaign.
As Ed Naile would say Liberal-Progressive thought represents up as down and down as up! The same folks that loitered in front of our Town Houses proclaiming the horrors of Big Government during Republican controlled years are all eerily silent. Can they not put 1 & 1 together and see that the abuses of this administration will be the standards to rule by for the next administration. Precedence will have been set!
Work Hard Have Fun!
Bob DeMaura
Owner/Operator NHInsider.com
]]>The Government doesn’t do emotion and shouldn’t do religion. The Government can only offer legal remedies for any partnerships that they may approve. The first thing a good divorce lawyer does is get their client to stop thinking emotionally and start looking at distribution of assets.
There is no reason for the Government, whether State or Federal, to use the word marriage with all its baggage to describe what the Government see as a contractual business type relationship. Government can’t and shouldn’t act in any other way.
Rename the Government required registration to something more neutral such as “Personal Partnership” or the hated “Civil Union”. Remove the emotion from the Government's realm. After getting the proper approval from the Government for your Personal Partnership, and you still want a marriage ceremony you can get one from someone that supports your particular definition of marriage. Whether that is a Church, a Backyard family thing, or a destination event is up to the individuals to define for themselves.
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Bob DeMaura
]]>Steve claims that we will net between $150 and $250 per day per machine. His plan has 5000 machines, I assume that 5000 is also the number in the Governor’s/Senate plan. I do agree with Steve that speading out the machines at 6 locations (I’d add Hinsdale to the list) is better than all at one location.
Lets examine the $150/$250 net revenue number a bit further. Steve’s Plan calls for a 92% return to the gamblers meaning that the net revenue will be 8%. To get $150 per day net revenue the gamblers would have to spend $1875/machine per day on the low estimate and at $250 per day net revenue the gamblers would have to spend $3125/machine per day.
Using the Senate plans return of 87% to the gamblers the amount needed to net $150/machine/day would be $1154 and to net $250/machine per day would be $1923.
Using Rep Vaillancourts return to gambler of 92% results in the gamblers in NH having to spend $9,375,000 per day ($1875/machine X 5000 machines), or $3,421,875,000 per year. The $250 net figures would be $15,625,000 per day or a yearly gambling amount of $5,703,125,000. That’s right, folks in NH would have to ante up over $3 BILLION dollars per year and that’s at the low end estimates.
Connecticut reported in 2006 that NH residents spent ~$93,000,000 in 2005 at their casinos. The figures Rep Vaillancourt gave us equals Connecticut’s total NH revenue in 10 days!
Do we really believe that NH residents can and will ante up over $3 Billion per year on Gambling?
I’m a Free Enterprise supporter, but we have to use realistic numbers. The Democrats will start spending any flawed over estimates as soon as possible so we must be as accurate as possible and all inaccuracies must be on the low conservative side.
Work Hard Have Fun!
Bob DeMaura
]]>If the Main Stream Media were doing more reporting and less edifying of President Obama they may uncover a less rosy outlook than they are portraying.
Wikipedia defines Stagflation as : “Stagflation, a portmanteau of stagnation and inflation, is a term used in economics to describe a situation where an inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows down, and unemployment remains steadily high. It raises a dilemma for economic policy since actions designed to lower inflation may exacerbate unemployment, and vice versa.”
Wikipedia defines the causes as : “Economists offer two principal explanations for why stagflation occurs. First, stagflation can result when the productive capacity of an economy is reduced by an unfavorable supply shock, such as an increase in the price of oil for an oil importing country. Such an unfavorable supply shock tends to raise prices at the same time that it slows the economy by making production more costly and less profitable.[5][6][7] Milton Friedman famously described this situation as "too much money chasing too few goods".
“Second, both stagflation and inflation can result from inappropriate macroeconomic policies. For example, central banks can cause inflation by permitting excessive growth of the money supply,[8] and the government can cause stagnation by excessive regulation of goods markets and labour markets.[9] Either of these factors can cause stagflation. Excessive growth of the money supply taken to such an extreme that it must be reversed abruptly can clearly be a cause. Both types of explanations are offered in analyses of the global stagflation of the 1970s: it began with a huge rise in oil prices, but then continued as central banks used excessively stimulative monetary policy to counteract the resulting recession, causing a runaway price/wage spiral.[10]”
The government will try to tell us that inflation is only around .02 percent per month but the key to understanding that figure is it is always qualified with the phrase “excluding food and energy”! What a bunch of hogwash! Inflation is the increase in prices we pay out of our pocket and food and energy are two of the primary drivers of most people’s budgets!
With the Federal Reserve pouring $85 billion new money into the economy every month with their Quantitative Easing program the result is a deflating dollar and increasing prices.
Our Government through the various agencies such as NLRB, EPA, FDA FCC, etc as well as the presidents Executive Orders have placed excessive regulations on everything. The New Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) has over 13,000 pages of regulations. The EPA is on a course to eliminate Coal as a viable and reliable source of energy. The NLRB has been activist in blocking companies like Boeing from locating plants in States that have Right to Work laws.
Your 401K may have recovered to it’s 2007 levels but the amount that can be purchased with the money has been cut in half. Gasoline was around $1.80 per gallon when Obama took office it is over $3.60 per gallon today. Food marketers have shrunken the package sizes while raising the prices.
Conclusion we are deeply embedded in Stagflation as a result of the second definition of causes above. The recovery is only a sound bite for the no longer trustworthy Main Stream Media.
Work Hard Have Fun
Bob DeMaura
]]>Trust me I’m all for entitlement reforms, but its too serious an issue to be handled in a six week period of crisis negotiating. I want a concerted effort put in by the entire Congress to hammer out real reforms like converting Social Security, and in fact all public employee pensions into Defined Contribution Plans owned by the citizens. There is a clear example here, the Government through the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation a GSE, has been converting private businesses from Defined Benefit Pension plans to 401K Defined Contribution Plans for the past 40 years, because they are unsustainable.
A Debt Ceiling increase in exchange for a 30% headcount reduction of Federal Employees with an immediate hiring freeze everywhere except the Presidents Cabinet and the US Military. That’s a winning negotiating position. The effects are immediate the savings substantial.
The savings will multiple when various departments have to put economy killing regulatory actions aside because the employees pushing it are no longer employed. Other departments such as the Department of Education will have to consider just issuing straight education grants to the States, cutback on their overreach into the States business.
Speaker Boehner, Minority Senate Leader McConnell, show the American people you are serious, pick a serious but accomplishable goal, and don’t back down. The Headcount reduction is a really good issue because it fits so well with the closure of the government when they run out of money by March 1st. The closure will provide proof that you can run the government with far fewer employees, strengthening your negotiating position.
Work Hard Have Fun!
Bob DeMaura
NHInsider Owner/Operator
]]>It was the ACLU that worked tirelessly for the rights of the mentally ill back in the late 1960’s early 1970’s. This advocacy led to the closing down of State run Mental Hospitals. Admittedly, some of these places had degraded to the point of being archaic. The States had underfunded them for years leading to limited care and poor infrastructure maintenance.
Even with these shortcomings, they were still a place where “homeless” psychotics could be brought to receive 3 square meals a day and a warm secure place to sleep at night. A place where medications were dispensed and the clients required to take them.
They were there for the police to bring “out of control” individuals who had committed no crimes or the crimes were of the minor variety such as verbal assaults, and criminal mischief (breaking stuff). These “crimes” would only result in a hand slap and a return to the same environment where they were acting out. Jail is not a good alternative for mental health care.
The problem created was a dumping on the communities the mentally unstable with no place to go. They tried to turn Mental Health Care into the same framework used for physical illness and injuries. Hospital stays are of a very short duration as dictated by the healthcare insurance industry including the public versions of Medicaid and Medicare.
Parents of the mentally disturbed are often not the best care takers, they are intimately involved with the individuals. Their judgment may at times get clouded by emotion.
It is time we take a serious look at how mental illness is treated. It is not the same as physical illness, it does not follow the same paths to recovery or stabilization. We need to reopen longer term care facilities where these folks can be treated and helped along.
Below is a Blog post written by a Mom about her struggles with a mentally ill child.
===============================================================
In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.
Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.
“I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.
“They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.”
“They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!”
“You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.”
I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan—they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.
That conflict ended with three burly police officers and a paramedic wrestling my son onto a gurney for an expensive ambulance ride to the local emergency room. The mental hospital didn’t have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist.
We still don’t know what’s wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He’s been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work.
At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he’s in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He’s in a good mood most of the time. But when he’s not, watch out. And it’s impossible to predict what will set him off.
Several weeks into his new junior high school, Michael began exhibiting increasingly odd and threatening behaviors at school. We decided to transfer him to the district’s most restrictive behavioral program, a contained school environment where children who can’t function in normal classrooms can access their right to free public babysitting from 7:30-1:50 Monday through Friday until they turn 18.
The morning of the pants incident, Michael continued to argue with me on the drive. He would occasionally apologize and seem remorseful. Right before we turned into his school parking lot, he said, “Look, Mom, I’m really sorry. Can I have video games back today?”
“No way,” I told him. “You cannot act the way you acted this morning and think you can get your electronic privileges back that quickly.”
His face turned cold, and his eyes were full of calculated rage. “Then I’m going to kill myself,” he said. “I’m going to jump out of this car right now and kill myself.”
That was it. After the knife incident, I told him that if he ever said those words again, I would take him straight to the mental hospital, no ifs, ands, or buts. I did not respond, except to pull the car into the opposite lane, turning left instead of right.
“Where are you taking me?” he said, suddenly worried. “Where are we going?”
“You know where we are going,” I replied.
“No! You can’t do that to me! You’re sending me to hell! You’re sending me straight to hell!”
I pulled up in front of the hospital, frantically waiving for one of the clinicians who happened to be standing outside. “Call the police,” I said. “Hurry.”
Michael was in a full-blown fit by then, screaming and hitting. I hugged him close so he couldn’t escape from the car. He bit me several times and repeatedly jabbed his elbows into my rib cage. I’m still stronger than he is, but I won’t be for much longer.
The police came quickly and carried my son screaming and kicking into the bowels of the hospital. I started to shake, and tears filled my eyes as I filled out the paperwork—“Were there any difficulties with....at what age did your child....were there any problems with...has your child ever experienced...does your child have....”
At least we have health insurance now. I recently accepted a position with a local college, giving up my freelance career because when you have a kid like this, you need benefits. You’ll do anything for benefits. No individual insurance plan will cover this kind of thing.
For days, my son insisted that I was lying—that I made the whole thing up so that I could get rid of him. The first day, when I called to check up on him, he said, “I hate you. And I’m going to get my revenge as soon as I get out of here.”
By day three, he was my calm, sweet boy again, all apologies and promises to get better. I’ve heard those promises for years. I don’t believe them anymore.
On the intake form, under the question, “What are your expectations for treatment?” I wrote, “I need help.”
And I do. This problem is too big for me to handle on my own. Sometimes there are no good options. So you just pray for grace and trust that in hindsight, it will all make sense.
I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am James Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.
According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map). Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do.
When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. “If he’s back in the system, they’ll create a paper trail,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you’ve got charges.”
I don’t believe my son belongs in jail. The chaotic environment exacerbates Michael’s sensitivity to sensory stimuli and doesn’t deal with the underlying pathology. But it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise—in fact, the rate of inmate mental illness is five times greater (56 percent) than in the non-incarcerated population. (http://www.hrw.org/news/2006/09/05/us-number-mentally-ill-prisons-quadrupled)
With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—Rikers Island, the LA County Jail, and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation’s largest treatment centers in 2011 (http://www.npr.org/2011/09/04/140167676/nations-jails-struggle-with-mentally-ill-prisoners)
No one wants to send a 13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, “Something must be done.”
I agree that something must be done. It’s time for a meaningful, nation-wide conversation about mental health. That’s the only way our nation can ever truly heal.
God help me. God help Michael. God help us all.
Anarchist Soccer Mom 1,463 comments:
http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/
´I Am Adam Lanza´s Mother´: A Mom´s
Perspective On The Mental Illness
Conversation In America
Blue Review, by Liza Long
http://lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=715793
One big possibility is the haphazard application of foreign policy. While we are fighting the Al Qaida, Taliban and other Muslim extremists in Afghanistan and Iraq, we simultaneously supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Libya. The Obama Administration wants us to believe that the Brotherhood is not connected with the other Muslim groups. The evidence clearly points to the Brotherhood being just another extremist group, loosely aligned with the Al Qaida organization.
A mixed foreign policy message does happen in our type Democracy; with the changing leadership, we get changing foreign policy. The changing world adds to this confusion.
Formerly we had a pretty consistent foreign policy regarding the Middle East from 1948 through the 1980’s. Defend the Middle East from encroachment of Russian brand communism. Russia is no longer the greatest threat it is now Radical Islam!
This leads us to what did we give for support to the Muslim Brotherhood in their fight during the Arab Spring awakening. Intelligence gathering by our Drones, and weaponry to fight against the forces of Qadaffi and Mubarak are the most likely.
Finally we can ask, “Was the Ambassador and his security staff killed with American supplied weaponry?”
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Bob DeMaura
]]>The goal of reaching self sufficiency in energy is just within our grasp!
Will the Obama Administration continue to punish hydrocarbon fuels (Oil, Gas, and Coal) through EPA over regulation? Will the EPA cave in to radical environmentalists to stop fracking? Will the Obama energy policy continue to be solving a problem that never existed in the first place, i.e. Man Caused Global Warming?
Global Warming Alarmist claim the planet is warmer because the UN’s IPCC says so. The IPCC is a political organization not scientific. Its goal is redistribution of wealth to poorer countries primarily by punishing the USA for being successful.
Please Google/Bing Climategate for more information on the fraud perpetrated on the world by the “scientists” associated with the UN’s IPCC. The first hint of a problem occurred when the Univ. of Northern Colorado abruptly stop publishing their Quarterly Global Warming report due to “Algorithm Discrepancies.” It ended with leaked or purloined emails from the University of East Angola, in charge of the information for the UN’s IPCC. The emails outlined a scheme where the “scientists” were “normalizing” the raw data to fit their theories of Global Warming. Most egregious was them throwing away the raw data and saving the “Normalized” data in it’s place!
Al Gore’s fortune was made by perpetuating the myth that the world is suffering from man made global warming. He knows this is untrue but has not come out with any explanations or apologies. His book and movie should be re-titled “Inconvenient to Tell the Truth”.
Penn State has some responsibility, as Dr. Mann’s Hockey Stick graph is a gross misrepresentation of the truth. Penn State is doing what they do best these days; covering up the fact that one of their professors is perpetuating a fraud!
Watch for a Hollywood melodrama soon to be released showing how bad “fracking” is for the environment. This is another attempt to defraud the people of the USA with little to no real facts and the magic of Hollywood productions. Like their first attempt, when they got caught attaching gas lines to water lines then lighting the water line on fire as proof of the danger of fracking! I find it further proof of the danger of Hollywood’s propaganda machine!
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Bob DeMaura
]]>The Affordable Care Act will now stand and be implemented. Just as it was rammed through the legislature without a full vote by Congress. Part of the program is health insurance for all. Along with that is the inclusion of Abortions as well as Infanticide in the legislation.
Any women or young girls down to the age of 12 or 13 can now get abortions on demand paid for by the Federal Government. The excuse that they needed to subsidize Planned Parenthood for the benefit of the poor women and female children who couldn’t afford an abortion on their own is no longer valid.
Any subsidies from this point forward are pure corruption. It is the laundering of taxpayer money through Planned Parenthood back to the campaigns of the Democrat candidates. There is no other reason than money laundering for political gains to subsidize Planned Parenthood.
Now that’s what a call a silver lining to a dismal cloudy situation!
Work Hard Have Fun!
Bob DeMaura
]]>Whenever you talk to people about politics and Washington DC they always mention “Why can’t they just work together”. Yesterday we received our answer; Because the electorate continues to elect Hyper Partisan Democrats such as Anne Kuster (D-NH CD2) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Both of these candidates were heavy supporters of the Occupy movement with Elizabeth Warren claiming she created it! They will undoubtedly sport voting records in the high Ninety Percent range. For Kuster she will vote like Hodes did, 95% with the Party and 100% the way the Party Leadership tells them to vote.
Sadly the Democrats have been trending to the Hyper-Partisan mode for some time now. Key milestone was throwing Leiberman under the bus in Connecticut for praising John McCain. Leiberman went on to win as an Independent. Joe was the last of the Democrats that knew how to cross the aisle.
Plus as an added bonus here in New Hampshire we got Hyper-Partisan Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH CD1), another heavy supporter of the Occupy Movement. Shea-Porter’s voting record was even more partisan than Paul Hodes.
I’m still wondering where the ads were with the voice over talking about how each of these folks were Occupiers while showing pictures from the Occupy Movement, the filth, the crime, the lack of ideas and ambition!
Work Hard Have Fun
Bob DeMaura
PS. The wife and I had two plans set-up, one for if Romney won, another if Obama Won. At 8am today, we began implementing Plan B The Obama Solution!
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