For the Rest of Us

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 26, 2012 · 8:23 AM PDT

2012/10/26 · 08:23

The 2012 campaign season is rapidly coming to a close. The commercials are as thick and dark and biting as black flies, and mailers warn voters to beware of Candidate X or Y. Just this week, one special interest group bought $2 million dollars of ads against me, which is more than I will spend for my whole campaign. Voters will have to wade through it all and make a decision. I hope they will vote for me for Congress because I care deeply about our state and our country and I will serve the good people of New Hampshire, not special interests.

I am a proud direct descendent of General John Stark, whose words “Live Free or Die” are frequently quoted. My roots are deep, and I know, love, and respect this great little state of ours. I grew up in a Republican family and I remember how New Hampshire Republicans and Democrats could disagree about policy but still come together to serve our communities. I believe we must do that again—walk away from the tea party agenda that divides us and join together with a renewed sense of purpose and unity to tackle our problems. During my four years in Congress, I was known for my advocacy for the middle class, for small businesses, and for the American dream. As the Seacoast Media Group and the Portsmouth Herald said, “Our interests were her interests.” I never accepted corporate PAC or DC lobbyist money. I cosponsored the Fair Elections Now Act and the DISCLOSE Act, because without campaign finance reform, we cannot tame the extraordinary influences of special interests that hurt ordinary Americans. I want to continue my efforts for campaign finance reform in Congress.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 12, 2012 · 12:36 PM PDT

2012/10/12 · 12:36

After losing more than eight million jobs during the Great Recession, more than 700,000 of them just in December of 2008, we have gotten more than 4.5 million jobs back. The unemployment rate is now 7.8% across the country, and we've had more than 30 months of private sector job growth. Many Americans are still struggling and too many are suffering, but there is more optimism about our future. The newest Federal Survey of Economic Conditions, "The Beige Book," said New England's economic development "continues to expand at a moderate pace" and that manufacturing and business service and real estate sales are up, commercial construction is up, and retail is mixed. It reported that prices are steady, no inflation is expected, and that the mood is "cautiously optimistic" in 2012, and more "bullish" for 2013. While times are still tough and we have a way to travel to return to the "pre-Wall Street crash of 2008" economy, Congress and President Obama were able to avoid another Great Depression and put the country back on the road to full recovery. It's a good time to review what policies helped small business, and what do we need to do next?

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 28, 2012 · 9:58 AM PDT

2012/09/28 · 09:58

Mitt Romney’s statement about the “47%” has gotten Americans debating “fairness.” Many families are struggling to pay the rent or mortgage, and many are unable to send their kids to college or save for retirement. When they read about how income has soared for the top 1% and stayed flat or dropped for them, they wonder who decides fairness.

Until recently, if anyone voiced concerns about fairness, they were accused of “class envy.” Then Warren Buffet, the third richest man in the world, made his now-famous statement about how he got the tax breaks, and it was not fair to his secretary. And when Buffet was challenged to prove she paid twice the tax rate he did, Buffet released his 2010 tax returns and proved the unfairness.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 14, 2012 · 2:03 PM PDT

2012/09/14 · 14:03

There are only two months left before voters go to the polls. They will cast their lot with either President Barack Obama or with Mitt Romney, and they will also choose a member of Congress who will be in President Obama's party or in Mr. Romney's camp. Money is pouring into both the Presidential races now, and also into the Congressional races across the country, especially swing states like New Hampshire. While I abhor the amount of money being spent by outside groups, and wish that Congressman Frank Guinta had agreed to sign a statement with me asking that outside groups stay out of our race, I am more concerned about the inaccurate messages that their money might spread across our state’s television sets.

I have listened to the false charge that President Obama and the Congressional Democrats “robbed” $716 billion from Medicare. The press and factcheck.org have done a good job explaining the facts about the $716 billion—how it actually was savings generated by stopping insurance companies who run Medicare Advantage from charging taxpayers 14% more, and by other administrative cost savings. Seniors now realize that not one dollar in benefits will be cut from their Medicare, and they also know that, as former President Clinton said, it was "brassy" of Paul Ryan to accuse Democrats of "robbing" Medicare and then include those savings in his own budget. Case closed.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 30, 2012 · 8:34 AM PDT

2012/08/30 · 08:34

Republicans and Democrats have been all over television and radio, and giving speeches all over the country, talking about the Ryan plan for Medicare. The Ryan plan turns Medicare into a voucher plan. Democrats say a voucher plan is an awful idea, leaving senior citizens financially vulnerable when they are most likely to need medical care. Republicans insist that it will give people more choices, as they can shop around for a plan. To complicate matters, Republicans also claim that Democrats cut billions from Medicare in the Affordable Care Act. First they claimed Democrats cut $500 billion, and now they have upped the claim to $716 billion. All this leaves senior citizens, their families, and those who will someday be senior citizens wondering what exactly are the facts.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 02, 2012 · 11:19 AM PDT

2012/08/02 · 11:19

America and the world have had quite an awful time the past few years with wild weather--drought, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, wind, heat. Many people in our country have died in these natural disasters, and New Hampshire has had its share of trouble. While we use the word "natural,” most people now believe that these disasters are a result of global warming, also called climate change. However, there are still too many climate change deniers in Congress, and this is preventing the United States from moving forward, even as time is running out to slow down climate change.

After years of arguing about whether we were experiencing climate change as a result of our human activities, the evidence is pretty convincing to most scientists at this point. Most agree it is from burning fossil fuels. Seth Borenstein, an AP science writer, reported that Richard Muller, a "prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming", conducted a two-year study to see if the earth was heating up. While he did not study the cause, his conclusion was that the earth was rapidly heating up. This was huge news in the climate skeptic industry, whose ranks grow smaller every day

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 06, 2012 · 8:58 AM PDT

2012/07/06 · 08:58

In my last column, I said that the new health care bill should be upheld by the United States Supreme Court. Before it passed, millions of people could not get insurance, either because it was too expensive or because they had preexisting conditions and insurance companies refused to insure them. Many had no insurance because their employers did not offer it, or they were self-employed or unemployed. Being female was considered a preexisting condition, and women were charged more. I quoted from articles that reminded us that people actually died without insurance, or were forced into bankruptcy when their insurance company dropped them or set caps, and their illness cost more than the cap. The new healthcare law addressed these problems and many more, and so, while the law needs some fine tuning as we go forward, I said the Supreme Court should let the law stand.

This week, the Court did exactly that. And while Republican leaders insisted that they would repeal and replace, they do not have a plan to replace, and they will not be able to repeal. So, we need to work together to implement and improve our health care law. The time for the fighting is over. I held 13 town halls after we passed health care so I could discuss the law and its impact, and dispel myths, but in the political battle at that time, many facts were lost in the noise. Many people still worry that jobs will shrink, or the nation will go broke offering health care. (This last group would have had more worries if no steps had been taken to slow down cost increases.) Some small businesses, already struggling, worry that they will be unable provide health care.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 21, 2012 · 7:58 AM PDT

2012/06/21 · 07:58

What a state we’re in as a country right now over the healthcare law. By now, it has to be clear to anyone observing American politics that Republican leaders want the Supreme Court to hand them a political victory, and that they have no plans to replace the healthcare law with anything if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act. They have distorted our pre-healthcare law medical history to the point where they act as if the healthcare system were perfect before President Obama and the Democrats destroyed it.

It is time for a reality check here. Our media is finally starting to report what would happen if the Supreme Court overturns the healthcare law.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 24, 2012 · 1:48 PM PDT

2012/05/24 · 13:48

What if the United States held an election season and no Super PAC money or other hard to trace or totally hidden special interest money showed up on our television or radio, or in print ads? Would voters think they were better off without that money in local, state, and federal elections? Do they think this money is unduly influencing our democratic process, and are they right? The answer to these questions is yes, and citizens want politicians to clean this mess up now.

Super PACs and other secretive funding groups known as “advocacy organizations” have changed campaigns, and not for the better. The New York Times wrote in an article entitled, “Super PACs Let Strategists Off the Leash,” that campaigns can now last longer. Candidates have a few very rich people who want to keep up, and are willing to pay for, extended attacks on opponents. And there is an added benefit—no regular people involved. The article quotes Bob Schuman, who ran a super PAC, Americans for Rick Perry. The quote should make us all sit up and take notice. He said, “You don’t have kitchen cabinets made up of well-intentioned friends and neighbors who don’t know what they’re doing but eat up a lot of your time.” And, “Super PACs don’t have spouses.” These Super PAC funders and managers like the idea that just a few people can be heard over those annoying candidates, their spouses, and friends and neighbors, and that their special interests get special attention, even if they do not share the same interests as those annoying citizens.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 10, 2012 · 10:48 AM PDT

2012/05/10 · 10:48

When I was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, I would listen to my parents’ conversations with their friends. While I cannot remember every conversation, I remember the general theme of their conversations—indeed, the theme of their lives. Optimism. A sense of confidence that we were Americans, and Americans were problem solvers. Whether they were talking politics, education, health, or other current issues of the time, they sounded more optimistic as a generation then we do today. They looked towards the future with hope and a certainty that they could face the danger and the challenges, and triumph over adversity. Today, we still have the danger and challenges, but many Americans are losing optimism. After being knocked around by a bad economy and some bad actors and events, many are short on faith in both government and private institutions. Can we as a nation find that optimism again, and if so, how?

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 12, 2012 · 1:19 PM PDT

2012/04/12 · 13:19

In 2010, Republican candidates for office insisted there was a Democratic intrusion into individual privacy rights. Tea Partiers started waving The Constitution around and claiming that Democrats were stealing our individual freedom and liberty away. Then Congressional candidate Frank Guinta told the Dover Tea Party in 2009 that “they have been ensuring that more government intervention and oversight is taking over our lives each and every day. This has to stop.” He told the Portsmouth Tea Party in 2010, "We said enough. Enough of taking our freedom, enough of taking our liberty."

The tea-party Republicans won across the nation, in large measure due to these kinds of claims. So, it’s fair to examine how the Republicans have voted on privacy rights in the 112th Congress. It’s also startling and worrisome.

CarolSheaPorter

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 31, 2012 · 11:59 AM PDT

2012/03/31 · 11:59

The United States House of Representatives Budget Committee got a budget bill this week and passed it within 24 hours, without even reading the bill. While Chairman Ryan spoke in soothing tones about “the path to prosperity,” the bill upset so many Republicans and Democrats that it barely squeaked through the committee. Congressman Frank Guinta cast the deciding vote, which was 19-18, because, as he said, he helped craft it. When a Republican bill barely gets through a majority Republican Committee like this, it is probably doomed, as it should be.

Why will this budget bill die on the floor of the House? Because, unless your name ends in Inc. (Incorporated), or you are a millionaire, this bill is not for you, and Republicans know it will be too hard to sell to a very skeptical public

Newer
Older

RSS

For the Rest of Us

Big Faith in Small Business

Yes, the Issue is Fairness

The Truth about the Independent Payment Advisory Board

The Truth about Medicare

Fix Congress to Fix Climate Change

It's Legal and It's Good

Leave healthcare law in place

Cleaning up campaigns

Restoring America’s Can-Do Spirit

Treading on us

The Path to Budgetary Destruction