Townhall Daily - February 14 - Thomas Sowell, Chuck Norris, Mike Adams, Jeff Jacoby and More

	Thomas Sowell: The Progressive Legacy: Part II
	Thomas Sowell: The 'Progressive' Legacy
	Thomas Sowell: The Progressive Legacy: Part III
	Chuck Norris: Why I Chose Newt Over Santorum
	Mike Adams: Judging Sotomayor
	Jeff Jacoby: A Second Look at 'The Third Jihad'

NHDP - ICYMI: In Concord, An Agenda of Social Issues

Key Point 1: "Republicans in the New Hampshire House are advancing a series of conservative social issues -- ranging from bills loosening restrictions on gun owners to a likely vote seeking to repeal the state's gay marriage law .... But several Upper Valley Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, say the bills are too extreme and take the focus away from the economy."

Key Point 2: "Kidder, the New London Republican who could see his town merged with Newbury in a new two-person House district that could put him in a contest with a more conservative Republican, said he believes the GOP may suffer at the polls in the fall from what many regard as extreme legislation."

Valley Newsy: In Concord, An Agenda of Social Issues

[Link: http://www.vnews.com/01172012/8294307.htm]

By John P. Gregg
Valley News Staff Writer

West Lebanon -- Republicans in the New Hampshire House are advancing a series of conservative social issues -- ranging from bills loosening restrictions on gun owners to a likely vote seeking to repeal the state's gay marriage law -- that they say are consistent with constituents' wishes and faith in small government.

But several Upper Valley Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, say the bills are too extreme and take the focus away from the economy.

The fate of the bills, which are fueled by the GOP's sweeping success in 2010, remain uncertain in the Republican-controlled state Senate.

"They are going after the social stuff this year, and we knew it was coming," said state Rep. David Kidder, a moderate fourth-term New London Republican who was assigned to the obscure House Legislative Administration Committee, because of his refusal to toe the GOP party line.

"The gun legislation, with those first three bills, I just think they were crazy. Why do we need to deal with these kind of things? We've got the fiscal issues -- that's enough to keep our plate full," Kidder added.

Lawmakers on Jan. 4 and 5 passed several conservative bills, including measures that would allow loaded guns in a car, allows residents to carry a concealed weapon without a state permit and could likely lead to guns being allowed on state college campuses.

State Rep. Steve Cunningham, a Croydon Republican who was the chief sponsor of the latter measure, said the bill simply gives the authority to regulate where weapons can be taken on state property to Legislators, not to state administrators.

"Whether you want to ban them or allow them everywhere ... (that) should be up to the lawmakers of the state," said Cunningham, who is an NRA-certified pistol instructor, home safety instructor and certified range safety officer.

If the concealed weapons bill becomes law, Cunningham said New Hampshire would be joining a handful of other states, including Vermont, with similar laws.

But state Rep. Andy Schmidt, a Grantham Democrat and self-professed hunter and gun owner, said allowing guns on campus or allowing loaded guns in cars could be more dangerous.

"It's not an issue of the Second Amendment that concerns me. It's the issue of public safety. I feel they are detrimental to public safety," said Schmidt, a retired insurance adjuster.

House lawmakers tomorrow are expected to vote on a bill intended to prohibit any state funding for Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers, and a vote to repeal gay marriage and replace it with civil unions is also likely in the weeks to come.

Legislation that already passed the House this month included measures to allow divorcing spouses in child custody cases open access to all medical and psychiatric records; allowing installment loans that can cost borrowers far more than 36 percent in annual interest; and declaring an "unborn child" as a person for the purpose of homicide cases.

Lebanon's four Democratic House lawmakers have begun a newsletter cataloging the bills for constituents, and state Rep. Susan Almy said another measure to be voted on tomorrow -- a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit any new tax from being levied directly or indirectly on a person's income -- could block virtually any new tax and handcuff future Legislatures.

"One of the scariest things about this is (that) in freezing taxes we are freezing our response in the middle of a changing economy," said Almy, who noted that gas tax collections, which pay for road repairs, could decline dramatically if hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles become more prevalent.

Cunningham, the Sullivan County GOP chairman, said his party is home to a broad range of interests, ranging from establishment Republicans to libertarians and Tea Party activists, and that the House is responding to concerns about liberty.

"As a group we are quite diverse and have a broad representation of views, but I think currently the libertarian, Tea Party people are dominating the party a bit and getting us to concentrate on some of the personal freedom issues," said Cunningham, who applauds the trend.

The House is also about to vote on a resolution supporting Arizona's controversial immigration law, which requires local police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally and to require legal immigrants to carry their papers with them at all times.

State Rep. Paul LaCasse, a Claremont Republican who voted to ease gun laws and to have the state join a lawsuit challenging President Obama's health care law, said he is adhering to a "small government" philosophy and the will of constituents.

"The majority of people do not want Obamacare," said LaCasse, who also voted to allow the installment loans, noting that adults were mature enough to "make their own decisions."

"It's trying to get government out of their rights and how to do things," he said of his philosophy. "We're all big boys here."

Not all Republicans are comfortable with the focus of the House.

Haverhill Republican state Rep. Rick Ladd, a former school principal who sits on the House Education Committee, said he is concerned by lawmakers' attempts to restrict the rulemaking authority of the state Board of Education.

"We've got to be cautious with that," said Ladd, who said he believes the focus should be on capital improvements for schools; improved funding for post-secondary education; and improved science and math education, among other measures.

"I still think some of the fiscal stuff needs to be in front of us, on our plate here," said Ladd.

Although the House is passing conservative legislation, its fate in the Senate, which is controlled 19-to-5 by Republicans, is uncertain, because Senate leaders have signaled a more pragmatic focus on the economy.

But state Sen. Matthew Houde, a Plainfield Democrat, said the measures will still land on the Senate's plate.

"While leadership in the Senate has indicated that they want to focus on the economy and jobs issues, the proof will be in the pudding," Houde said.

Kidder, the New London Republican who could see his town merged with Newbury in a new two-person House district that could put him in a contest with a more conservative Republican, said he believes the GOP may suffer at the polls in the fall from what many regard as extreme legislation. At the same time, Kidder said he doesn't want to see the House "go careening way back to the other side," saying employers are most concerned about continuity and consistency.

"I think in November we may see a more moderate House," Kidder said.

DNC - TP: Under Romney, Bain Capital Made Millions From South Carolina Business That Shut Down, Laid Off 150 Workers

Under Romney, Bain Capital Made Millions From South Carolina Business That Shut Down, Laid Off 150 Workers

Think Progress // Tanya Somanader

In a wayward attempt to rebrand himself as a middle-class hero, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is running headlong into his history with Bain Capital. Not only does the firm have a history of making millions by buying up and gutting companies, but Romney also secured a plush retirement deal from Bain that brought him “millions of dollars in income each year.”

Of course, Romney has tried to spin his private sector role as that of a “job creator.” But a closer look at Bain’s modus operandi reveals that firm spent a lot of time laying off company employees rather than hiring them — all while turning a profit. More than 20 years ago, Bain — with Romney at the helm — opened a new plant in Gaffney, South Carolina with the promise of “highly anticipated manufacturing jobs,” only to shut down that plant four years later, laying off 150 workers while making millions:

More than two decades ago, Mitt Romney’s business venture came to town with a bounty of highly anticipated manufacturing jobs. The new plant, just past the gas station off Interstate 85, needed skilled workers to churn out thousands of photo albums.

Four years later, the Holson Burns Group Inc. – the company controlled by Romney’s Bain Capital LLC – closed the factory and laid off about 150 workers. Some jobs were sent north, where months later many of those were also eliminated. Other operations went overseas. [...]

For Bain, the plan was a financial success: Holson Burnes raised $24 million from its initial public offering on the over-the-counter trading market, with Bain executives retaining the majority of the company’s shares. Bain, in the end, reaped more than double the return on its initial investment. But workers were left jobless just as the local economy began to slump.

“In the real world, some things don’t make it,” Romney offered as an explanation for the layoffs he had overseen as Bain’s CEO. However, the plant in South Carolina is not an isolated incident. Under Romney, “four of the 10 companies Bain acquired declared bankruptcy within a few years, shedding thousands of jobs.” But documents show that “Bain investors profited in eight of the 10 deals, including three of the four that ended in bankruptcy.” Indeed, the firm pointedly made higher profits “by firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits.”

As Romney’s own business partner stated, “I never thought of what I do for a living as job creation.” It’ll be an interesting display of acrobatics to see how Romney explains to South Carolinians that the profit his company made off the backs of 150 laid off workers proves his bona fides as a job creator.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/19/392420/under-romney-bain-capital-made-millions-off-of-south-carolina-business-that-shut-down-laid-off-150-workers/

AUFC - “Romney-Gekko 2012” Mock Campaign Launched

“Romney-Gekko 2012” Mock Campaign Launched, Brings To Life Dream GOP Presidential Ticket for Wall Street, the 1%

New Website, Twitter, Satirical Campaign Ads, Rallies Outside Mitt Romney’s Wall Street Fundraisers All Part of Satirical New Project from Americans United for Change to Trumpet Romney and Gordon Gekko’s Combined Decades Worth of Experience Profiting Handsomely From the Misfortune of Others 

 

Visit www.RomneyGekko.com
Follow @RomneyGekko

[Watch The First Mock Campaign Ad “It’s Morning Again On Wall Street” HERE]

[Click Here to Download Your Very Own ‘Greed Is Good!  - Romney-Gekko 2012’ Campaign Sign]

Washington D.C. – What at first appeared to be just another maximum-dollar Mitt Romney fundraiser with a hedge fund manager and a Goldman Sachs exec last night – barely regarded as news these days after so many Romney fundraisers with the Wall Street elite – ended up becoming the backdrop for “major campaign announcement” that the former Massachusetts governor has chosen a running mate.

Just kidding.  Rather, progressive advocacy group Americans United for Change officially kicked off its satirical “Romney-Gekko 2012” campaign with a mock announcement from Gov. Romney that he has not only declared himself the inevitable GOP nominee for President but has gone ahead and tapped Gordon Gekko, the avaricious Corporate raider in Oliver Stone’s classic Wall Street who coined the phrase “Greed is good”, to join the ticket. 

The “Romey-Gekko 2012” campaign includes a new website www.RomneyGekko.com, tweets from @RomneyGekko, regular releases of satirical campaign ads – the first of which called “It’s Morning Again On Wall Street,”  a reprise of the original Reagan “Morning In America Again” ad circa 1984, with a twist – and a continuing presence of Romney-Gekko campaign ‘supporters’ at Romney’s public events.  Watch “It’s Morning Again on Wall Street”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mju_2nHep_s

It is an anti-white washing campaign designed to keep Mitt Romney honest about his days at Bain Capital where he became a millionaire a hundred times over “firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits” – honest about the fact that he could have saved jobs, but looked the other way. Just ask Romney’s old Bain business partner: “I never thought of what I do for a living as job creation.  The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors.”

It is a campaign sure to indulge the fantasies of Wall Street lobbyists, big bank CEO’s, and hedge fund managers alike who could only dream of such an ideal Republican presidential ticket.  One made “made fortunes by bankrupting five profitable businesses that ended up firing thousands of workers” and declared “Corporations are people.” One excused his own cut-throat business dealings by insisting “I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them.”   You know it’s a beautiful partnership when Romney’s and Gekko’s quotes are practically interchangeable. 

Above all, it is campaign to warn the middle-class about the consequences of Romney’s Bush-era, trickle-down economic proposals – proposals to give millionaires and big oil companies even more tax breaks and subsidies that never did and never will create jobs; to let his friends on Wall Street get their hands on seniors’ and veterans’ benefits by privatizing Social Security, Medicare and the VA health system; and to repeal Wall Street reform so the real Gordon Gekkos of the world can go back to the same reckless behavior with the middle-class’ money that wiped out trillions in saving and cost millions of Americans their jobs.  With Romney’s proposals written so clearly by and for Wall Street and so clearly at the expense of the middle-class, it’s only appropriate that “Greed Is Good” be the official “Romney-Gekko 2012” campaign slogan.

Mock “Greed Is Good!” Romney-Gekko 2012” campaign signs have already popped up outside recent Romney events featuring the now infamous photo from Romney’s days at Bain Capital putting profits before peoples’ jobs.  Apparently, finding places to stuff all those profits became something of a joke to Romney and his cohorts.  The Romney events include a fundraiser with “Wall Street financiers” and “billionaires” in New York City, and another max-dollar fundraiser in Philadelphia, and a closed-door speech with the Chamber in Manchester.  Visit www.RomneyGekko.com often to see where the campaign will show up uninvited next: [Google map found here: http://www.romneygekko.com/map/]

TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, Saturday, October 15, 2011

Announcing TEDxAmoskeagMillyard Live from

the University of New Hampshire at Manchester!

Manchester, NH (September 30, 2011)—Organizers of TEDxAmoskeagMillyard are thrilled to announce Saturday, October 15, as the date of our inaugural TEDx event in southern New Hampshire!

Organized along the theme of “The Unexpected,” TEDxAmoskeagMillyard will feature exciting multidisciplinary talks by global thought leaders: Howard Brodsky, Co-founder and CEO of CCA Global Partners; Ryan FitzSimons, Founder and CEO of Gigunda Group, Gary Hirshberg, President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm; Jeremy Hitchcock, CEO of Dyn; Dean Kamen, Founder of DEKA and FIRST; Catherine Rielly, Project Humanist and Board President of Rubia and Michael Swack, Social Innovation Pioneer and Professor at the University of New Hampshire.

TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, an independently organized event operated under license from TED, will be hosted by the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, 400 Commercial Street. TEDxAmoskeagMillyard is a private event limited to 100 guests, but will be Webcast live on Saturday, October 15, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST on http://www.livestream.com/tedx. Viewing parties for TEDxAmoskeagMillyard will be hosted throughout the state of New Hampshire.

“TEDxAmoskeagMillyard is a catalyst for citizen creatives, students, entrepreneurs, artists, change agents and innovators to connect, share ideas, collaborate, be inspired and create positive impact,” notes Lead Organizer, Kathleen Schmidt.

For more information, please visit, www.tedxamoskeagmillyard.com. On Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDxAmoskeagMil and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TEDxAmoskeagMillyard

AboutTEDx

In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading," TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Edinburgh, UK. TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, and on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration