So little of what we see in the news these days can be called good.  In fact, one has to look pretty hard to find it.  Few would argue the chaos in New Hampshire (exploding violent attacks, joblessness, high cost of living, reckless politicians, etc.) is reflective of the larger global chaos.  The evidence and outcomes of two world wars you think would have been enough to avoid a third, yet here we are staring it in its big, ugly, insatiable maw.

Who couldn’t go for a little good news right now?

Today marks the annual holiday recognized as Good Friday among the faithful.  It’s a holiday that harkens us back to a day similarly dark and brutal full of suffering, where mankind proved beyond a shadow of a doubt we were, as we are today, morally bankrupt and depraved, collectively conspiring to kill the greatest servant and most peaceful human being to ever walk the earth – God the Son – Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t seen the Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s award winning movie about the time leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, today would be a good day to watch it.  Despite Christian movies being notoriously poor quality, full of clichés and the kind of contrived or dispassionate acting one expects from low budget filmmaking, this movie impressed even anti-Christ Hollywood.

How?

Gibson, despite his publicly flawed life, shares the passion of the Christ, both in name and deed, by pouring himself entirely into reenacting the capture, mock trial and capital punishment of Jesus.  By all accounts the movie is a masterpiece, and perhaps the only movie about Jesus that rises to the level of being worthy of calling itself Biblical.

Not one for spoiler alerts, if you don’t already know the story then you’ve somehow managed to live this long without hearing the greatest story ever told from the most popular book of all-time.  You might want to catch up.  However, even if you do know the story, the artistic rendering in Gibson’s film will leave you profoundly moved at what Jesus was willing to suffer on your behalf.  If you’re not stirred in your soul to admire what Jesus went through at the hands of evil men to save you from an eternity of suffering and replace it with an eternity of peace and joy among loved ones, knowing that He neither deserved nor had to do it, then you are as spiritually dead as He says you are.

What makes this fake religious, conspiratorial, bloody, painful, and evil act of mankind so good is the One who suffered through it so we wouldn’t.

When asked by a young rich ruler “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded with a keen rhetorical question:

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” (Mark 10:18)

The young wealthy man, just like most of his Jewish contemporaries, could not see Jesus was not just their long awaited Messiah, but God in the flesh.  Jesus was offering yet another clue, but spiritual blindness makes it difficult to see.

In fact, none of us can see the truth of God until He opens our eyes.  Gibson’s film is intended to help us get there.

So what makes this Friday so particularly good if it recalls yet another of man’s brutal deeds against even God Himself?

It’s the moment in time we are allowed to see the deep, deep goodness and love of God the Son, Jesus the Christ, alluded to here:

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

The God of the Universe sees our spiritual bankruptcy.  He knows our need of saving, and He knows we are powerless to save ourselves.  He also knew that we would conspire and plot to kill even His precious and most innocent only Son, yet somehow uses our own evil act to extend forgiveness and save us from ourselves.

That’s what makes Him the only one who can truly be called good, and that’s what we are called to remember this day each year.

Happy Good Friday New Hampshire.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Originally published April 7, 2023

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Jill Biden was singing to the choir the other evening when she spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner, and I have to wonder if everyone there agreed with her claim that parents concerned about age-inappropriate material in school libraries are fascist.

Jill Biden: If you don’t want your kids reading Gender Queer or other sexually explicit gay porn books in school then you are akin to Nazis during World War II. Report here: https://t.co/FQkF6ZpmLL pic.twitter.com/GzEBTGnejK

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) March 25, 2024

She might be serious; after all, look at what she married. The child-sniffing perv who swam naked daily in front of the female members of his Secret Service detail (as VP) and was credibly accused of doing what Donald Trump said that made Dems lose their minds. Biden actually grabbed a woman by her p**** (as a US Senator), but did he get armies of pussy hat-wearing harpies marching in protest when he ran for president. Nope. They defended his creepy ass. So Jill might be all in on the grooming. Joe was showering with her daughter, Ashley.

How could she possibly feel differently about people who think that’s sick, perverse, and, in most states, illegal? More to the point, she finds those who object offensive, anti-democratic fascists. Nazis. A strange take, but Jill’s brightest idea was marrying a pervert on whose coattails – with a little help from a few last-minute mail-in ballots – she was able to ride her way to Mrs. Mr. President. A guy who has done more fascist things in three years than Trump was falsely accused of in four. Ideas the plagiarizer-in-chief stole from the DNC media narrative mills and made real.

They don’t call it projection because it’s bright. And what does Dr. Jill make of this?

Maia Kobabe, who identifies as non-binary told the Washington Post that her book is aimed at “older teens,” not kindergarten aged kids.

“I originally wrote it for my parents, and then for older teens who were already asking these questions about themselves. I don’t recommend this book for kids!” she said in the interview published last week.

Gender Queer is the magnum Opus of the K-8 grooming class, but the author disagrees with it being available to children. Does that count for anything? Does Mrs. Mr. President need to slow her roll, recalibrate, and (God forbid) apologize for lumping Maia Kobabe with fascists?

How about the parents of “children” who happen to be LGB but object to age-inappropriate sexualized comics and lit in schools and libraries? I guess they’re all fascists, too.

Gay Nazis. Whodathunkit.

The post Jill Biden Just Equated the Author of Gender Queer With Nazis appeared first on Granite Grok.

Another week, another opportunity to get emails from disgruntled Reps who missed one vote. That seems to be the cycle. The folks who’ve been diligent get miffed, while the gross offenders could care less. That’s fine; this is, after all, to alert the people that a handful consistently refuse to represent.

A quick note from the data guy: Rep. Soti was present but declared an ethical conflict and did not vote three times. As you can see, several Reps had excellent records until today. It must have been something serious that kept them away. Several Reps were there all day until near the end, so I assume they had to leave for work or something else important.

Here’s the attendance record for this week (on the left) and the total roll call votes missed all year on the right.

Have compassion for your citizen legislators who have to leave for jobs or other responsibilities when the session runs long (as it has these past few weeks), but know that both sides (majority and minority) must play the game of chess to effect the best possible outcomes.

If you’d like a round-up of yesterday’s House business, we published one this morning.

The post NH House Republican Attendance for the Week of 3-28-2024 appeared first on Granite Grok.

We learned that it took from 9am until 7pm, with an hour or so break for lunch, to get through 43 bills on the regular calendar, 2 off the consent calendar, plus 3 that were taken off the table, and 1 more that was reconsidered. It was a long day and I’ll try to review some highlights.

We learned that today was Table Day! Many bills were either put on the Table, attempted to be Tabled, or Taken off the Table today. Tabling was the motion to do if you wanted something dead after today because, after today, you will no longer be able to remove bills from the table with just a simple majority. Tabling a bill today also killed a bill without going through all the speeches and Parliamentary Inquiries (PIs) – so it saved some time.

We learned that the House was in a forgiving mood as we passed HB1366, with a Roll Call vote of 283-80. This bill annuls criminal convictions, which resulted in a misdemeanor, for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Having a misdemeanor removes some economic barriers for these folks who committed crimes of possession, and the House just thinks it’s time we let bygones be bygones, especially since some claim we’re on the cusp of legalization in our state.

We learned that HB1713 and its amendment passed on a voice vote. This bill requires that a defendant who is charged with or awaiting sentence for an offense punishable by life imprisonment or imprisonment of a maximum term of 15 years or more be present at the return of the verdict and at sentencing after trial, subject to excusal for cause. The bill further permits a court to order the use of reasonable force in carrying out a transport order issued pursuant to this section of an incarcerated defendant who refuses to comply with that order. The bill further makes it a class A felony to knowingly violate this provision. This was a bill created by Former House Speaker Steve Shurtleff (D-Penacook) in response to the murder conviction in the Harmony Montgomery case. The bill was accepted by the House as a late bill (submitted after bill submission deadlines) and fast-tracked through the House. If this bill passes the Senate and gets signed by the Governor, Adam Montgomery may have to face the family and loved ones of the daughter he is convicted of murdering at his May 9th sentencing date.

We learned that a bill prohibiting mandatory masking policies in public schools passed 187-184. HB1093 would prohibit public schools from adopting policies that require students or members of the public to wear a mask while on school property. Protective equipment used for sports or for handling chemicals for scientific or educational purposes was excluded. I think they omitted Halloween festivities at schools, but at least this was a good start.

We learned that HB1592 was Tabled 191Y-186N. This bill was another attack on Education Freedom Accounts, and would have prohibited the use of EFA funds for religious school tuition. This would be contrary to multiple U.S. Supreme Court rulings dating back several decades. These include Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), Trinity Lutheran v. Comer (2017), Espinoza v. Montana Dept of Revenue (2020), and Carson v. Makin (2022). The opinion in the Carson case sums up these cases: “A neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations through the independent choices of private benefit recipients does not offend the Establishment Clause.” Week after week, we see these continued attacks on our successful EFA school choice program…. Because afterall, House Democrats will tell you,“it’s for the kids”.

We learned that parental consent won today. HB1616 passed 190Y-187N. With regard to Medicaid reimbursement for medical and health related services provided to students with disabilities, this bill affirms that written parental consent should be obtained for each new service provided to the child and billed to Medicaid. Proponents believe that an initial consent should not be an open door for all services and billing for the child. Parents have a right to know what is being billed. Democrats wanted to Interim Study this bill, essentially killing it and allowing the continued practice of “blank check” billing and non transparency. I think parents should know if their kids are actually receiving the services that are being billed by providers.

We learned that HB1145 passed 208Y-162N. The House was talkin’ trash as they debated banning the private ownership of landfills. An initial motion to Table failed 180Y (R:178 D:2) to 193N (R:11 D:182). The premise of this bill is to ban private ownership of landfills in New Hampshire in order to get around the US Commerce Clause and allow us to limit – or even eliminate – the importation of out of state trash. It grandfathers in existing landfills, so there will be no impact to what we already do at those facilities anyway. Four of the six landfills in the state are publicly owned. Almost 50% of those facilities’ landfilled trash is from out of state. We only have one new landfill permit currently being considered at the State Department of Environmental Services, and it appears this bill just seeks to shut that down. It’s the one being considered in Dalton. It’s not even clear what would happen to that permitting process if this bill gets signed into law. Proponents claim it’s a better idea for all landfills to be owned by the state, or its political subdivisions, and operated by a contractor. Opponents just don’t like the fascist idea of banning private ownership of anything.

We learned that HB1222 passed with an amendment and a voice vote. Currently, Physician Assistants (PAs) may only practice if they have a signed collaboration agreement with a physician, and basically, this bill eliminates that requirement. These collaboration agreements can be costly; up to $1000/month and in many, cases the physician who signed a collaboration agreement had no relationship with the PA other than requiring the PA to pay for the signature. This bill will make it easier for PAs to practice in NH would help alleviate the shortage of medical personnel, and increase access to medical care.  This bill will make it less expensive and easier for them to say, “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning.”  Just kidding… they do more than that!

We learned that HB1323 passed on a voice vote. This will allow an appropriation to be made to print 5,000 copies of the NH State Constitution for the fourth graders who tour the State House. I’d say civics education is a worthwhile use of tax dollars. As they say, “It’s for the children”!

We also learned that parts of HB1607 passed. This was the “Safe Haven” bill. Current law allows a parent to surrender an infant within seven days of birth directly to a person at a hospital, church, police or fire station, or to an EMT at an agreed location. That is considered a “warm handoff.” This bill, in its entirety, would expand the time for surrender to 61 days and would allow the parent increased anonymity, as the child could be placed in a safe haven baby box at a hospital, fire station, or police station, which is attended 24 hours a day. As drafted, the bill also provided for the exclusion of all evidence of abuse or neglect gathered as a result of the parent surrendering a child in this manner from being used as evidence in a criminal or civil trial. The exclusionary piece was stripped out on a motion to divide the bill into two questions. Sections 1-4 and 6 of the bill passed 372Y-1N and section 5 of the bill, regarding the exclusion of evidence, failed 185Y-188N. House members did not want someone who abused a child after 61 days to get off “scott free” after surrendering a child to the safe haven box. House members who wanted the exclusionary portion to remain in the bill, claimed that saving a babies life should take precedence over prosecuting a parent. We have now left this bill in a box for the Senate to deal with.

We learned that HB1121 passed on a voice vote. This common sense bill allows a wetlands permit exemption for a property owner who wishes to clear storm debris from a stream on their property, especially if the debris is causing a blockage in the stream causing the stream to divert course which threatens property. Recent flooding in my town prompted me to author this bill. I’d be pleased if you called your senator and asked for him/her to support it.

We learned that both wake boating bills were tabled. HB1301 sought to establish a petition process before the NH Department of Safety where 25 people can request a hearing to ban wake surfing on a specific body of water. That was Tabled 196Y-172N. HB1390 was Tabled 190Y-178. That bill added definitions, made various prohibitions and restrictions to wakesports. The changes sought to lessen the impact of the energy distributed by these waves to shoreline, loon nesting spots, and unintentionally to people who are recreating in smaller craft and to protect the water quality of the lake. Opponents of both bills claim that they were too restrictive, would have hurt tourism and most importantly that public waters belong to everyone to enjoy. They were not convinced that wakesports are a cause of water quality damage but that excessive rain and other factors contribute more to shoreline erosion and cyanobacteria blooms. I would imagine these bills will probably come back to the legislature again, like large ripples in the pond.

We learned that both bills designed to increase housing passed. HB1291: increasing the number of Accessory Dwelling Units allowed on a property passed 220Y-143N after a Tabling motion failed 87Y-277N. HB1399 also passed 220Y-140N. That bill allows single family homes to be divided into a duplex. Opponents of both bills said this was a top down, one size fits all zoning change mandated by the state. They felt local control should prevail in these matters. They’re not wrong either.

We learned that HB1683, relative to coverage of circumcision under the state Medicaid plan, was tabled last week 188Y-187N. Today it was taken off the Table 189Y-188N followed by a motion to ITL which failed 185Y-188N. Then a Motion to Reconsider the OTP/A motion passed 188Y-186N followed by the final OTP/A Motion that failed 184Y-191N. After that, it was put back on the Table with a Voice Vote. So you can see how that whole exercise was a total waste of time.

We also learned that HB1353, the bill that would give the Commissioner of the Dept. of Education subpoena power (Tabled last week 293-58), was also attempted to be taken off the Table. The motion to remove from the Table failed 183Y-194N.

We further learned that when Republican attendance dropped to 178 and Democrats were 182, (around 6:05 PM), Rep. David Luneau (D-Hopkinton) seized the opportunity to remove HB546 off the Table. That bill was Tabled back in January (01/03/24) with a vote of 190-187. This bill was relative to the School building aid funding program and requires a minimum of $50,000,000 per fiscal year to be transferred to the school building aid fund, in addition to any debt service payments, for school building aid grants. The Remove From Table motion passed 182Y-179N and an OTP motion then passed 182Y-178N. The breakdown of roll-called votes went like this: Yeas 182(R:1 D:181) Nays (R:177 D:1). It’ll be interesting to see what the Senate Finance Committee does with it.

We learned that HB1711 was pulled off the consent calendar. HB1711 authorizes the state to report mental health data for firearms background check purposes and providing for processes for confiscation of firearms following certain mental health-related court proceedings and for relief from mental health-related firearms disabilities. All the gun groups were against this bill. At first, a Table motion failed 150Y-205N. Then, the committee amendment (0431h) passed on a voice vote, and two other floor amendments failed. Ultimately, the bill passed with the committee amendment, 204Y-149N on a roll call vote. The vote breakdown was Yeas 204 (R:25 D:179) Nays (R:147 D:2).  Proponents said that this language was adopted by language from the NRA and was vetted with our NH Attorney General and NAMI and that it works well without any problems in other states to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illness. Opponents felt there were too many issues with a “red flag” bill like this and that psych doctors could declare anyone “unfit” and strip them of 2A rights.

We finally learned that at 7 PM, HB1283—the assisted suicide bill—was reconsidered after it passed last week OTP/A 179-176. The reconsideration motion failed 147Y-210N. I think at this point, people just wanted to go home. This bill will now go to the Senate, and we’ll see if they will assist in its demise.

Next week, we get a break, but we’ll be back with more bills and motions on April 11—which will also be Tartan Day! We’re headed to Crossover Day, and we’ll start seeing Senate bills hit the House floor.

The post So Kids, What Did We Learn From This Week’s House Session (3/28/24)? appeared first on Granite Grok.

The dark clouds in Joe Biden’s latest pronounced promise to his gullible following are that he will dismember the Second Amendment and create their dream of gun control (elimination, that is). I guess Joe really thinks he’s a King of something; I’d suggest he’s the king of fools.

The only way he could do that is by amending our constitution (ours, not his), removing, eliminating, or radically chaining the 2nd. Oh, he might try stacking the SCOTUS, even if that is problematic, but the only other way is by some kind of force.

Either of those routes would be met with equal measures of resistance. So, unless Biden and Democrats can gain supermajorities in both houses of Congress, the only path would be to trigger some kind of reaction they could declare, such as a revolution, then martial law, and try to seize permanent control of the government.

A key for we conservatives is to keep from overreacting to any provocation from the left, hold our ground on our rights, and watch those sons of you know what. Next, we must unite and vote out the Democrats and elect our people. Once we do that and have Trump as President again, we can demand every leftist criminal in or around the government be arrested, prosecuted, and sent to prison for exceedingly long terms.

Never Trumpers need to understand that Trump has not broken any laws, has upheld the constitution, and even if he lacks the proper etiquette or what they expect from a president, he does give us our best chance to save this Republic—better Trump than communist slaves.

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Lily Tang Williams, the front runner Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 2nd district, issues her statement on Rep. Annie Kuster not seeking a 7th term.

“I want to thank Rep. Kuster for her service and I hope all is well with her and her family.

I am energized that the voters of our district will be offered a choice based on issues rather than incumbency.

Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to steve@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication – Publication is not an endorsement.

As a legal immigrant who worked hard to earn my citizenship, I believe it is critical that we re-establish our nation’s Border Security to protect our northern and southern borders, reduce government deficit spending, control inflation, and develop all energy resources within a free market economy.”

Lily Tang Williams, born and raised in Communist China, came to the US to seek freedom in 1988. She is a mother of three adult children, two of whom served in the US Military, is a self-employed small businesswoman. She is actively campaigning in NH 2nd Congressional District and has garnered 52 endorsements from current NH State Legislators. Lily’s campaign slogan is “KEEP THE AMERICAN DREAM ALIVE.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Weare, New Hampshire
March 27, 2024
Contact: Mark Zaccaria, zaccaria@att.net, 401.225.5051

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For years, Democrats in New Hampshire have pretended to be the Jimmy McMillin of property taxes. Like the rent, they are too damn high. If elected, they promise to do something about it. Lower them. Not taxes; those will go up; you just won’t see them.

The goal is not fewer taxes but less visibility, at least initially. Your property tax bill will get a trim, but your total tax burden will grow substantially. These are Demcorats. It can’t go any other direction but up. Government always comes first; if you’ve any doubts, look left (from New Hampshire) to Vermont.

The Green Mountain State used to be safer and healthier but has been heading in the wrong direction on tax and regulatory policy for a long time. An itch it has gotten more aggressive at scratching as Democrat majorities increased to veto-proof majorities. Vermonters only have themselves ot blame, but it allows the rest of us to learn from their mistakes.

The Vermont House is expected to vote on an $8 billion state spending plan this week. It comes as lawmakers consider millions in new investments and millions in new taxes to fund them.

A key House panel advanced a plan to fund critical priorities in the budget, floated by about $125 million in new taxes.

The House Appropriations Committee is considering a state spending plan, including a big expansion of Medicaid, an expansion of the judiciary and more supports for affordable housing. And those ideas are all funded by new taxes– increases in the corporate income tax, the foreign income tax and the property transfer tax, and a new tax bracket for Vermonters who make more than $500,000 annually.

A proposal to tax unrealized gains like stocks did not advance.

Others, like a potential tax on candy, soda, streaming services and an expansion of the sales tax are still up for debate.

Vermont is already overtaxed. It has environmental aspirations that will cost billions and an education funding debacle it created that requires a 20% hike in … property taxes. That’s unpopular, so the people who made the mess are willing to consider raising less visible taxes as if that helps.

But a revenue option to buy down the property tax hike is not yet on the table, though Vt. House Speaker Jill Krowinski said last week they will work on ways to lower the property tax burden.

Gov. Phil Scott said last week he would consider raising taxes to buy down the $240 million ed fund increase, but he said he would only support that if lawmakers pass widespread systemic reform, which is something that would likely take multiple studies and legislative sessions.

The necessary reform is fewer Democrats and, it has to be said, fewer Republicans like Phil Scott, who can’t stop the Democrats he has and can do little more than appear to resist impulses he shares.

I’m not sure if Vermont can be saved. It would take a level of civic and electoral awareness that people who tend to vote for Demcorats lack. New Hampshire, on the other hand, is teetering on the ends of a bowl, leaning back against a growing army of Democrats trying to push it in. If they succeed in taking the majority and the governor’s office, we’ll be swirling in the blue water behind Maine, which has a bit of a head start but still has a way to go to catch Vermont.

Both places where the more the government takes, the worse everything else gets.

The post Granite Stater’s (Any Stater’s Actually) Can See What Democrats “Mean” by Looking At Vermont appeared first on Granite Grok.