Maybe Maggie “Squats With Lobbyists” Hassan Just Wants A Casino Bailout?

As our Democrat Governor tries to improve her odds at winning a bet on a state gambling monopoly in norther New England, AP is reporting hard times for the Indian Casino monopoly in the southern part of New England.  The Indian tribes, who got the law changed to allow them to put up casinos as a way to pay for their needs way back when, got so busy relying on other peoples gambling money for their free ride that when that money dried up, (down economy, waste, bad spending decisisons, abuse, because they are entitield) they figured they'd go running back to Uncle Sam for a bailout.

It's millions of dollars, just sitting there, to which the 'law' entitles them, and as the song goes, they aint too proud to beg.

The money provided annually to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation through the Interior Department and the Department of Health and Human Services has risen over the last five years to more than $4.5 million, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. One former tribal employee says department leaders were encouraged to offset dwindling resources by seeking more federal grants.

The Pequots, who once distributed stipends exceeding $100,000 annually to adult members, are not alone among gaming tribes seeking more federal aid. Several, including the owner of Foxwoods' rival Connecticut casino, the Mohegan Sun, say they have been pursuing more grants — a trend that critics find galling because the law that gave rise to Indian casinos was intended to help tribes become financially self-sufficient.

How many times have I said this?  Gambling revenue (not unlike sales and income taxes) are a poor source of tax dollars for any government.  When they need it most it will be at its least.  That puts a strain on existing spending at a time when the state very often wants to do more.   That means seeking new revenue from people who have already demonstrated, through their lack engaging in gambling or commerce, that they don't have it to give.  But tribal governments, it seems, are no more competent than any other, nor are those dependent upon them.  How many years did every tribal adult get a $100,000.00 stipend?  Where did that money go grasshopper?

Why is anyone in that tribe in need of anything from anyone?  Because they didn't earn it, didn't respect it, and now it is probably gone?

More from the same AP Article

"A billion-dollar gaming enterprise should fully fund the tribal government," said Weissmuller, (who was chief judge of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court until 2011) who said that he was forced out of the job by tribal officials who told him he did not appear to have the tribe's interests at heart on other matters.

Weismuller is not against accepting Federal grants but if we had to make comparisons he must be the tribal equivalent of the TEA Party, asking those inconvenient questions.  Which brings us New Hampshire Governor Hassan.

Governor Hassan is committed to Casino revenue.  She included it on the revenue (that's tax) side of her budget, even though no such law permitted them.  Meanwhile, the Indian Tribes are struggling so badly with their own investment in casino revenues, that they need the Federal government to come along and help bail them out.  So it appears as if Maggie "Squats with lobbyists" Hassan (or how about "Dances with Debits?") has not only put the cart before the horse,  the cart is empty, or as likely to be at any point at which the other Democrats in her tribe are demanding that the state spend even more on top of what is now less.

There are no guaranteed bailouts from the Federal Government for any future failed New Hampshire Casinos, in a New England market that already has too much competition?, so this means that the spending to which our Democrat Governor has already committed--that and so much more--will have to be "bailed out" by New Hampshire taxpayers who, like the tribal members in Connecticut and other places, were probably told--hey! don't worry, its like--free money.  You'll get stuff for nothing!

You know what else is free?  Poverty.  But when it is imposed on you through deceit and then by the force and will of your government,  around our little Tribe at the Grok, we prefer to call that legislated tyranny.

You are reading  Maybe Maggie “Squats With Lobbyists” Hassan Just Wants A Casino Bailout?   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Hassan’s Budget Gamble Takes Heat From Her Left

No one should be surprised to see Maggie Hassan's budget has millions of dollars in revenue from a source that does not even exist.

In this instance it is gambling, but a few years ago Senator Hassan was part and parcel to repeated budget balancing fiascoes that relied on non existent revenue.

She voted for budgets "balanced" with revenues from taxes that had not even been through the committee process or had a hearing.  She voted for budgets that relied on revenue from the sale of land even though no one knew what land or how much they might get for it.    She was a gold medal recipient in the Granite-State-Left-Wing-Fiscal Gymnastics Finals, helping execute chess master like moves to create the illusion of paying for what had not been paid for.  She even continues to insist to this day that the 800 million dollars in spending she helped accumulate in the Majority Democrat legislature--for which there was no money to pay for in successive fiscal years--was not a deficit nor evidence of fiscal malfeasance on the part of her or her party.  So why, WHY would we be surprised when her first budget as governor relies on at least $80 million in gambling industry dollars for casinos that do not even exist?

I'm not surprised.  This is Classic Hassan, which now that I've thunk it, sounds like a good name for a dish comprised of week old flounder, wrapped in baloney, breaded in crushed nuts, half-baked, that comes to your table at twice the price listed on the menu.

So we've got another steaming plate of Classic Hassan, but served with a gambling sauce.   This is of a particular interest given that New Hampshire Democrats, while fond of what I guess we'll refer to as "rapture revenue," are as likely to oppose casino gambling as anyone, having shut down the "I think I can, I think I can" Lou D'Allesandro Millennium Express year after year, even when they held a majority in every branch of state government.  And it looks as if the "Gambling Revenue Resistance" (GRR?) is already on the move.

(And hold your breath because if a recent  press release from the NHGOP is quoting correctly, Democrat Peter Sullivan from Manchester and I are about to agree on something.)

In a series of tweets aimed at Democrat Party leaders, State Representative Peter Sullivan (D-Manchester) sharply criticized Governor Hassan and her casino revenue scheme.

“Dem party leaders pressuring legislators to back casino solely to protect Hassan's hide,”tweeted Representative Sullivan. “Casino gambling is NOT a Democratic issue. Hope@ChairmanBuckley and @nhkathysullivan remember that...I just don't want to see any thumbs on the scale from party officers. Gov. Hassan isn't NH’s only Dem.”

Representative Sullivan also indicated that Governor Hassan’s budget gambit is already facing widespread opposition among House Democrats.

“House response to Governor's casino proposal can charitably be called underwhelming, he tweeted. “ Governor is badly overestimating House Dem support. Outside Manch/Nashua, very thin.”

This is also not surprising, though I am curious to see whether Sullivan has his thumb on the pulse of House Democrats or stuck someplace else.  He was a Cilley person (Still is!).  He ragged on Hassan loud and often during the Democrat primary for Governor.  So for him to come out against anything that avoids what he wants--broad based sales or income taxes--is not surprising; unless you are thrilled at any defection among the Borg.  Then it's all good.

Dean Barker is also called out in the NHGOP press release as expressing concern for Hassan's approach.

“I find disingenuous the implication…that we can’t fund needed services without gambling. That kind of blackmail rhetoric will turn off lawmakers rather than get them on board,” said liberal BlueHampshire (3/18/10) blogger Dean Barker. “NH should not be in the business of holding children’s welfare hostage to whether the slot machine industry gets their way.”

I'm not down for the liberal class warfare-welfare narrative but the same idea applies to roads, bridges, public employee wages, or anything else they care or about, or might actually be a function of state government.

The last time Democrats went Classic Hassan on the budget, the word of the day was unpredictable.  State employees often found their jobs swirling around in the blue water of the toilet bowl called Democrat leadership.  From year to year job cuts, furloughs, all manner of song and dance could come up on any given day with Democrats playing with the purse strings.  It's a feature not a bug.

And the same is true with gambling money.  Even with a contract in hand there is no guarantee of stability tomorrow, or five years from now.  What is guaranteed is that there are Democrats who have already spent it no matter how much it is or isn't, but they will always (ALWAYS) imagine far more than will ever come down the pipe, just so they can spend it, and gambling revenue is just another channel in their sieve.

These are (of course) all subjects long discussed here, regardless of which party is running the table.   Gambling is not the answer to any question that anyone who is serious about local control or limited government would ask and it will never be the revenue pipe dream Democrats would lead you to believe, solving woes or lowering property tax burdens.  So let's reminisce on that a bit...

From a 2010 post titled  "Where do we put the Vagina"

So is expanded gambling inevitable for New Hampshire in this economy? 

I think our situation mirrors the tragic tale of a young woman who has set off ill prepared to pursue some dream only to find herself in dire straits.  Penniless, and perhaps homeless, having lived outside her means for too long, she abandons the last tenuous holds on what once constituted in her mind good or safe behavior and turns her body into a revenue center. 

Keep reading that here

And from Feb 2012 post titled "Gambling?  Seriously? "

Pro-liberty legislators, if anyone, should know what happens when you  funnel that kind of cake directly into the maw of the state capitol.  It filters vast sums past the gore of the voters palette allowing politicians to expand government based on outside interests and influences. Direct Casino revenue would empower central planners and bureaucrats in Concord in contradiction to the libertarian idea of small government and local control.  It would encourage the proliferation of more lobbyists and influence peddlers capable of further superseding the interests of voters on all state matters.  And it would grow government in excess of any preconceived fiscal advantages.    It always does.

Read off of that one here

Those are recent.  I've written at least a dozen like them since 2008.  But I've bored you enough with my relevant and timely back links.  Suffice to say,  gambling is not a done deal with Democrats and it never was.  The house could prove to be the place where it goes to die again.  The Senate is less likely where any stand will be made.  Run as it is by moderates who would risk speech intimidation for the benefit of their own political futures suggests that a little gambling revenue song and dance about jobs and commerce--none of the true, are right up their ally, if for no other reason than the promise of the warm comfort of more lobbyists to comp them buffet lunches.

There are plenty of reasons why gambling would wreck a state like new Hampshire and every one of them is good enough, but all together it should be a dead issue.  And yet it is not.  Such is the nature of politics.

Entire NHGOP Press Release follows

DEMOCRAT OPPOSITION MOUNTS AGAINST HASSAN’S IRRESPONSIBLE BUDGET
Governor’s Casino Revenue Gamble Faces Skepticism From Her Own Party

Concord, NH – As Governor Hassan prepares to testify today on gambling legislation, her irresponsible casino licensing revenue scheme is facing increasing criticism from members of her own party.

“Governor Hassan is constructing a fiscally irresponsible house of cards that could collapse at any moment. She is basing New Hampshire’s financial integrity on a non-existent source of revenue that is even facing opposition from members of her own party,” said NHGOP Chairman Jennifer Horn. “If Governor Hassan is having difficulty convincing Democrats to support her disastrous budget, then its time for her to come up with a ‘Plan B.’” Granite Staters deserved to know how their governor will address the $80 million deficit that could result from her failed leadership and fiscal irresponsibility.”

Since Governor Hassan delivered her budget address last week, Democrats have voiced skepticism on the prospects of her proposal.

“I continue to have grave reservations with using gambling,” liberal Senator Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth) told the Portsmouth Herald following Governor Hassan’s budget address (2/14/2013.) “That's the conflict for me. I worry that we're allowing gambling to come to the state, (and it) will divert a huge amount of money earned in the state (to) a problematic industry,”

In a series of tweets aimed at Democrat Party leaders, State Representative Peter Sullivan (D-Manchester) sharply criticized Governor Hassan and her casino revenue scheme.

“Dem party leaders pressuring legislators to back casino solely to protect Hassan's hide,”tweeted Representative Sullivan. “Casino gambling is NOT a Democratic issue. Hope@ChairmanBuckley and @nhkathysullivan remember that...I just don't want to see any thumbs on the scale from party officers. Gov. Hassan isn't NH’s only Dem.”

Representative Sullivan also indicated that Governor Hassan’s budget gambit is already facing widespread opposition among House Democrats.

“House response to Governor's casino proposal can charitably be called underwhelming, he tweeted. “ Governor is badly overestimating House Dem support. Outside Manch/Nashua, very thin.”

Democrat Party activists have also criticized the tactics that Governor Hassan is using to promote her budget.

“I find disingenuous the implication…that we can’t fund needed services without gambling. That kind of blackmail rhetoric will turn off lawmakers rather than get them on board,” said liberal BlueHampshire (3/18/10) blogger Dean Barker. “NH should not be in the business of holding children’s welfare hostage to whether the slot machine industry gets their way.”

In addition to criticism from Democrats, Governor Hassan’s budget proposal has also faced widespread skepticism and scorn from editorial pages across New Hampshire including The Union Leader, Concord Monitor, Keene Sentinel, Nashua Telegraph, Portsmouth Herald and Foster’s Daily Democrat.

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Communications
New Hampshire Republican State Committee
603.225.9341 I press@nhgop.org

You are reading  "Hassan’s Budget Gamble Takes Heat From Her Left"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Encountering ‘Tea-Baggers’ On the Path To Restoring Civility to Concord

Is there any limit to the number of dumb things a Democrat candidate for the NH house can do or say–or claim to stand for? And how come, every time I try to walk away from this guy, he keeps dragging me back in?

Yes, I am referring to William Hudson Connery III, who since having stumbled onto the New Hampshire political stage–as a Democrat candidate in Newmarket (Rock 17)–has insulted people of faith,  tried to hide the fact, demonstrated a past in which he encouraged what in most places amounts to vote fraud, violated Department of Defense rules, and has now exemplified his Left Wing, New Hampshire, street cred by invoking (unsolicited) the unflattering term ‘Tea baggers.’

In his July 15th Facebook status update Mr. Connery declares…“Sorry Tea Baggers, even your hero disagrees with you” (click to expand image). I assume he’s not speaking to Ray Buckley because that would then be hate speech, or bullying, in contradiction of any number of Democrat sponsored state statues on such things; subject even to Federal investigation in violation of that Pentagon/Matthew Shepherd/ Hate crimes/DoD spending bill.

Not to worry.  He is speaking to TEA Party patriots.  Hypocrats get an equality-dispensation from the radical left, even if there are TEA Party folks who also happen to be gay, who might find offense.

It is also a well known fact that  this recurring homosexual epithet (favored by such left-wing 7-watt luminaries as the still-unrepentant, tea-bagger slur-wielding Congressional candidate Carol Shea-Porter)  is simply an in-house, New Hampshire Democrat party, pet name, for a group of political opponents, like Skippy or Sunshine.   And it’s all part of  ‘Restoring civility, Collaboration, and common sense to Concord, just like NH Democrat District 9 Senate Candidate Lee Nyquist keeps talking about.

Sure the budget is balanced and they cut taxes and spending, and state revenues are in just over projection, but those Tea baggers have made Concord so uncivil.

And yet no word as to whether Lee ‘selective civility’ Nyquist has yet condemned candidate Connery for his uncivil, nonsensical remarks, nor if, several weeks on he has scrounged up the integrity to publicly condemn the remarks of his own campaign manager, Kevin ‘Slugger’ Hodges.

Such is the dichotomy of the New Hampshire Democrats selective civility, burdened as it must be by the selective outrage exercised by  hypocrites like Nyquist, Hodges, Hassan, and the whole of a Democrat collectivist unconscious that cannot even imagine why anyone would consider their duplicitous underpinnings as a sign that no one can or should trust or even believe anything else they claim to stand for.

And what of Mr. Connery’s co-horts for the New Hampshire House.  We have not heard one peep (to my knowledge) from fellow Newmarket Democrats…Michael Cahill, Patty Lovejoy, and Marcia Moody on any of this.  They must be on board with the hating people of faith, and the Tea-bagger slurs, and the overall selective civility plank of the State Democrat party platform, yes?  I don’t see them speaking out publicly about the inappropriateness of Mr. Connery’s incivility, nor that of Slugger-Hodges or even Maggie ‘That’s a good answer’ Hassan.

So how is it that they are not complicit, not just by party affiliation but by proximity to such blatant disregard for constructive and non-inflammatory dialogue from a Democrat candidate in their own town?

They are hypocrites, that is why.  Civility is not in their tool box.  This is just political slight of hand, a rhetorical flourish over the false ideas sequestered in the disappearing cabinet of left wing campaign promises, which when opened after election day, will be found empty and barren.

There was no civility in the legislature when Democrats ran it, just ask Democrats who  tried to be civil.  Civility is an anchor to be laid upon political opponents.  It was never meant to apply to New Hampshire Democrats.   That would be…uncivil.

You are reading "Encountering ‘Tea-Baggers’ On the Path To Restoring Civility to Concord"  by Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

4RG Chairman Hemingway: “Hassan Should Withdraw From Gov Race”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 26, 2012
Media Contact: Andrew Hemingway, 603-203-4063, info@4RG.org

4RG CHAIRMAN HEMINGWAY SAYS HASSAN SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM GOV RACE AFTER INCITING VIOLENCE 

Republican Governor Candidates Smith/Lamontagne Share Ideas For Boosting New Hampshire’s Economy

While Democrat Maggie Hassan Is Talking About Beating Republicans ‘With a Bat’

CONCORD, N.H.—4RG Chairman Andrew Hemingway is calling for Democratic Gov. Candidate Maggie Hassan to drop out of her race for governor after she agreed that it was “a good answer” for Democrats to literally beat Republicans “with a bat … with your hands … [and] with your feet.”

Hassan, the former Majority Leader for the N.H. Senate, was asked at a Goffstown meeting “How do you plan to beat a Republican?” Democratic operative and Rep. Kevin Hodges, who introduced the candidate at the event, yelled out in reply, “You can beat ‘em with a bat, you can beat ‘em with your hands, you can beat ‘em with your feet.” Hassan was caught on video tape immediately responding, “That’s a good answer.” Please review the video here: http://youtu.be/V8zjC8NHlgI.

Later, when asked by the press about the comment, Hassan’s campaign manager Matthew Burgess replied that she was just “kidding” about beating other human beings with a bat as if the comment was just a joke.

“This is outrageous!,” said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of 4RG. “Her unwillingness to apologize personally shows she is unwilling to take responsibility for her distasteful comment. This is not the kind of divisive leadership the people of New Hampshire are looking for. Everyone knows this wasn’t a joke and no one finds it funny.

“Republican candidates for governor Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne are out on the campaign trail explaining the exact policies they would implement to strengthen New Hampshire’s economy and attract good job-producing companies to the state, while Democrat Maggie Hassan is asking her supporters to incite violence against their political opponents,” Hemingway added. “This shows that Hassan doesn’t have any ideas to make New Hampshire a better place. Her plan for the corner office is to support her friends and literally destroy her enemies.”

Hemingway, who is promoting the candidacies of both Smith and Lamontagne for governor and not taking a side in the race, said Hassan’s comment brought negative Democratic rhetoric to a new height of irresponsibility. As members of Congress are literally getting shot at and mob violence is taking over in some American cities, political leaders should be showing Americans the way toward peace and prosperity like Smith and Lamontagne are doing, not promoting the kind of societal degradation that is holding the country back.

“Hassan has got to be ‘kidding’ if she thinks that she can get out of this extreme lapse of judgement with a half-hearted reply from a staffer,” Hemingway said. “She not only owes the people of New Hampshire a sincere and heartfelt apology for this comment, she should also drop out of the race for governor so more respectable candidates can continue to focus on the ideas that will make New Hampshire a better place to work and live. New Hampshire deserves better than Maggie Hassan.”

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About 4RG
4RG, which means “For a Republican Governor,” was founded by Andrew Hemingway as a PAC focused exclusively on supporting Republican candidates for governor. 4RG intends to fill voids in grassroots organizing, polling, door knocking and literature drops for Republican governor candidates all across the country. Additionally, the organization will promote its candidates online using social media technology developed by the founder. Please donate to 4RG to help us augment Republican governor campaign activities where we’re needed most, which will slowly help us work to restore our state governments as the strong Republics they once were. For more information, visit www.4RG.org.

Maggie Cilley for Governor – ‘Cause Bill Clinton Says So, that’s Why.

Bill Clinton coming to New Hampshire always has legs.  Democrats love him so it invites ridicule given his history of perjury and infidelity, traits they must admire, and which could be applied seamlessly to almost any portion of the left wing agenda or the manner in which they try to sell it.

So Bill is a bloggers dream, and this trip was no different.  I brought it up here and pointed out that it was a drive-by endorsement here, and now we’ve got video to prove that Clinton had no idea who he was endorsing…and that in truth, it hardly matters.

That’s right, “You should Elect Maggie Cilley for Governor.”  And based on the enthusiasm of Democrats in attendance, they agree.

You are reading "Maggie Cilley for Governor 'Cause bill Clinton Says so That's Why."  by Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)