AROUND NEW HAMPSHIRE
1. Assorted
NH Political Report-The most significant reform needed for DCYF will not happen in 2016.
NH Political Report, by Kevin Landrigan, nh1.com, October 30, 2015
CONCORD - Sure, there will be some important changes but the Division of Children, Youth and Families will not get what they really need from the Legislature in 2016.
You can fault DCYF for falling down on the job with tragic consequences; talk to the loved ones of Brielle Gage and Sadie Willott as the best, recent examples.
But Director Lorraine Bartlett is right; you can’t expect an anti-child abuse agency to stay on top of it all with a response team that works from 9-to-5 pm.
She’s argued for an action team that would work during the overnight and weekend hours.
It only makes sense. Think about how many abuse cases happen after the working day ends.
There’s little chance she gets what she is looking for. Why? The state budget is already done and giving DCYF more staff and personnel time translates to millions of new dollars the Republican-led Legislature is in no mood to give them prior to 2017.
State Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, chairs the Child Fatalities Commission who created the panel after the Gage tragedy and agrees it’s not in the cards.
"That’s a budget issue and it won’t be dealt with next year nor should it," Boutin said.
Attorney General Joe Foster did give the commission a to-do list they can act upon in 2016
As we reported, Foster noted that state law right now doesn’t give law enforcement access to the files on children who are dead after an abuse case had been opened.
Further, Foster and Boutin agreed it makes no sense to continue the mandatory practice right now to destroy or purge all child abuse files after a period of time.
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A working group is looking at ending the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester either by selling it off or converting it.
Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, said a study group is finalizing the final report which calls for moving the juvenile offenders from the current, state-of-the-art Sununu Center into two buildings to be rehabbed on the North end of the campus.
Why? That’s because the Sununu Center has 144 beds in it and the current census has hovered for a while right around 50.
"There’s just no need for a facility of this size," Boutin said.
The recently-crafted state budget doesn’t include money for the second year of the Sununu Center which is the impetus for selling the building ideally to a consortium of non-profits that could use it for youth-related mental health and substance abuse services.
"The campus could become the ideal, full-service treatment facility of tomorrow," Boutin added.
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It’s political, opportunistic and brilliant.
That’s the move of Senator Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, last weekend to jump the shark and endorse the Clean Power Plan.
She became the first Republican member of the Senate in the country to endorse Obama’s executive order actions forcing power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Ayotte said she’s doing it precisely because New Hampshire is a decade ahead of schedule to comply with the guidelines.
But the pure genius was for Ayotte to come out in favor of this move a day before Gov. Maggie Hassan was prepared to call Ayotte out for failing to commit to do it.
Keep in mind; Obama’s plan has been sitting out there for more than a year and Ayotte waited until this moment to decide to act.
Very smart!
That’s because some of the finest Republicans to ever serve New Hampshire in Washington, the late Senator Warren Rudman, Congressman James Cleveland and Senator/Governor Judd Gregg, all earned the reputation as GOP environmentalists.
Don’t think for a minute Hassan is going to let the issue drop; her campaign remains convinced the environment is an Achilles Heel for Ayotte that they intend to exploit often leaning up to 2016.
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Here is one way in the early going that the Republican Ayotte is trying to buck the trend and outdo the Democrat on social media.
Here’s some exclusive numbers we’ve obtained where again it’s early but Ayotte is out in front.
- Facebook: Ayotte has 15,195 followers; Hassan has 11,638.
- Twitter; Hassan has 5,178 followers; Ayotte has 40,600.
- New platforms: Ayotte put a running playlist on Spotify, the list some of her favorite running songs she listens to as she continues a busy schedule of 5K and other races for charity and other causes.
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New Castle Democrat Mark Connolly makes official his Democratic campaign for governor next Wednesday morning at First Place in Manchester.
The former state securities regulation director clearly picking the new technology center design of inventor Dean Kamen to underscore his campaign will be about New Hampshire attracting the jobs of tomorrow.
As we first reported, the former state legislator Connolly will take the pledge if elected to veto a sales or income tax.
He becomes the second official Democratic candidate to try and replace outgoing Gov. Maggie Hassan joining Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern, D-Concord.
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The New Hampshire Breastfeeding Coalition continues to make strides.
Months ago it looked like the House Commerce and Small Business Committee was going to keep that bill bottled up and suffocated.
Wait a minute. Kate Frederick with the coalition, Kary Jencks with New Hampshire Citizens Alliance and their allies went to work enlisting the backing of the Business & Industry Association for reform legislation that unanimously passed the State Senate last spring.
Last week, the panel endorsed similar changes, 19-1.
The full House expected to follow suit in January.
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For Nashua Democrats it’s better late than never but not likely to be completely successful.
Public education supporters shocked when candidate filing period ended for five seats on the Board of Education and all of them were fiscal conservatives.
They include former State Reps. William Mosher, Elizabeth Van Twuyver and Doris Hohensee along with Robert Hallowell and Howard Coffman.
The Nashua Democratic City Committee has put up a write-in slate and organized labor has been helping to put out palm cards to present to voters when they cast ballots on Tuesday.
The Democratic slate: Ray Guarino, Donald Jean, Gwen Mikailov, Allison Nutting and Atlant Schmidt.
"It’s a travesty that the only people now running for the board are people who really don’t seem to like public education," Schmidt said. "Worse yet is that Nashuans were effectively given no say in the matter of who represents them."
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As the New Hampshire Political Report first told you, Gov. Maggie Hassan wanted and privately pursued a special session this fall to tackle the heroin epidemic.
Also as we told you, Republican legislative leaders were in agreement that was not a good idea and the solutions can easily be taken up early on in the 2016 session.
Now Hassan could pursue a special session by act of the Executive Council.
"That is an option at my disposal and certainly an option that will remain out there but it’s important there been consensus," Hassan told NH1 News.
Translation: I’m not going to try to force lawmakers back prior to January.
Besides, she couldn’t get one of the three Republican Executive Councilors to agree to go along with her to do it.
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Okay, former Nashua Mayor and Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess remains the favorite on Tuesday to win the corner office and replace outgoing Mayor Donnalee Lozeau.
But first-time candidate and ex-Nashua Chamber of Commerce CEO Chris Williams has cornered the market on cutting-edge campaigning.
Even Donchess had to admit at the first debate they had that his web site couldn’t compete with Williams.
Last week it was the closing, Get Out the Vote video of Williams to ``Downtown’’ that went viral.
Here’s the link: win or lose, very innovative,.
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Quote of the Week:
"Each and every day we wait we are losing people to this epidemic. Too many families across our state are grappling with the loss of a family member to drug abuse." - Gov. Maggie Hassan speaks about her call for a special session to act on the heroin epidemic.
2. NH: Behind on Dealing with Substance Abuse
New Hampshire lags in substance abuse prevention, recovery
by Kathleen Ronayne, Associated Press, concordmonitor.com, October 31, 2015
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — With substance abuse spending that lags behind its neighbors and 258 overdose deaths already this year, advocates and policy makers in New Hampshire say the state needs to do more as it faces a growing drug crisis.
The state recently made available 5,000 free overdose reversal kits and launched a public awareness campaign on treatment services. But with no network of community recovery centers and no money spent on diversion programs for at-risk teenagers, advocates say there's more to be done to prevent addiction in the first place and help those who have gone through treatment.
"What we're doing right now is sticking our fingers in the dam and there's a tsunami flying over us," said Tym Rourke, chairman of the Governor's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery. "At the end of the day there will never be enough treatment unless you shut off the pipeline and support those completing treatment."
Among New England states, New Hampshire spent the least on substance abuse per capita in 2014, at $8.18, according to data from the commission's annual report. Rhode Island was next at roughly $14 while Connecticut spent more than $48 per person. The new budget includes $42 million for substance abuse services, which is up nearly $14 million from the last budget.
Beyond additional funding, Gov. Maggie Hassan is calling for stricter rules on prescribing addictive painkillers, and lawmakers say they'll make tackling the crisis a top priority when the sessions starts in January.
"Though we have taken a number of important steps, we know that there is much more we have to do to strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery, as combating this crisis requires an ongoing, comprehensive approach," Hassan said.
Here's a look at what the state is —and isn't — doing about substance abuse:
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RECOVERY CENTERS
The governor's commission voted last week to spend $1.4 million to open three to four new community recovery centers. Hope for New Hampshire Recovery in Manchester is the state's only recovery center. Vermont, by comparison, has 13.
These centers provide peer-based support for people who have completed a detox or other treatment program, including counseling or help finding work or housing. For people in recovery, having connections to others in long-term recovery can be a critical, cost-effective way to stay healthy.
"Otherwise they end up going right back to the same places, neighborhoods, with the same people, with the same habits," said Cheryl Coletti, a board member at Hope for New Hampshire Recovery and the Business and Industry Association's representative on the governor's commission.
Marty Boldin, chairman of the commission's recovery task force, is encouraged by the current investment but worries the state won't continue to fund the programs.
"One of the things we have to be careful about is designing a system that is doomed to failure because it's underfunded," he said.
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YOUTH PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
New Hampshire has few treatment programs specifically targeted to people under 18.
The state currently has 12 treatment beds for people ages 13 to 18 at the Phoenix House in Dublin, but they will soon be converted to beds for people ages 18 to 25. That will mean anyone under 18 seeking in-patient treatment must travel out of state.
The state funds prevention programs but none of the state's 15 accredited juvenile diversion programs get aid even though state law gives courts the option to send youths through such programs. First-time offenses for shoplifting, simple assault or drug and alcohol possession can land a teenager in a diversion program, costing about $1,200 over three to six months, said Betsy Houde, executive director of a program in Nashua.
The programs help at-risk teenagers who may not have had a drug or alcohol offense, she said. For example, in 2009, just six percent of the youths in Houde's program were there for alcohol and drug abuse, but screenings showed nearly 50 percent were using alcohol or drugs.
The juvenile diversion network requested $1.4 million in this state budget but hasn't received funding.
"These are kids who are already making choices that are high-risk and dangerous," Houde said. "To not put a dollar of state funding in there is a huge missed opportunity."
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PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
In an effort to prevent addiction, Gov. Maggie Hassan's office is pushing the state's Board of Medicine to adopt stricter rules around prescribing painkillers under the theory that the prescriptions can become addictive and lead people to turn to cheaper heroin.
But doctors warn the changes could have unintended consequences.
The suggested changes include limiting prescriptions to a five-day dose for chronic pain patients, better assessment of addiction risk and recording outcomes for pain relief, and a ban on prescribing fentanyl, a drug that's led to many overdose deaths, to non-cancer patients.
Molly Rossignol, a family physician at Concord Hospital and member of the governor's commission's opioid task force, said making the rules too restrictive will stop some doctors from prescribing opioids altogether. That could lead patients with fewer options to self-medicate with alcohol, marijuana or heroin, she said.
Doctors are aware of the state's substance abuse problem and have already made changes to prescribing practices, Rossignol said.
"It's going to be very, very difficult to go by the rules," she said. "Patients who are having difficulty with pain will not have many places to turn to."
3. State of the State's Economy
New Hampshire’s Economy: Moving Forward, but Not Yet Running on All Cylinders
by New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, nhfpi.org, October 26, 2015
One of the key issues debated throughout this year’s extended legislative session was the state of the New Hampshire economy and whether changes in business tax rates would help to foster future growth. While this issue dominated budget discussions, an examination of the true state of the economy often seemed missing. As this Issue Brief explains, on one hand, New Hampshire businesses are steadily producing more goods and services and hiring additional workers. At the same time, though, more and more of our fellow residents struggle to provide the basics for themselves, particularly households with children.
When analyzing economic conditions, there are a plethora of approaches one could use. For example, since consumer spending is more than two-thirds of overall spending in the United States, it might make sense to review consumer conditions, such as disposable income, retail sales, and consumer confidence surveys. Alternatively, since one’s employment status goes a long way in determining financial health, another method would examine the labor market. This might include data on the number of jobs on employer payrolls or initial unemployment benefit claims, a proxy for the extent of layoffs. Moreover, one could look at the unemployment rate, a simple measure of the share of the labor force that is unemployed.[i]
To analyze New Hampshire’s condition, NHFPI began with the indicator most economists agree is “the most comprehensive measure of the output of all the factories, offices, and shops,” Gross Domestic Product (GDP).[ii] Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the table above shows the compound annual growth rate for GDP between 2010 and 2014 for each New England state as well as the United States as a whole.[iii] The table also assigns a ranking for each state, with “1” for the fastest growth rate and “50” for the slowest. The data show that New Hampshire has been in the middle of the pack since the end of the Great Recession. While it has not advanced as quickly as the national average, New Hampshire has fared better than 26 states, including all of our New England neighbors, with the exception of Massachusetts.
Digging deeper, the BEA also provides data on real GDP per capita, a measure of how large each state resident’s slice of the economy would be if we were to divide the total into equal portions. This is important to take into consideration because an economy is only richer if its GDP grows faster than its population. If real GDP grows at the same pace as a state’s population, then the average standard of living is theoretically unchanged. If real GDP remains unchanged, but the population increased, then the standard of living has likely declined, since there are more people to share a given amount of economic resources. Based on this metric, New Hampshire has fared well, tied for tenth, outpacing all New England states and slightly above the nationwide average.
Another common way to analyze economic conditions is by looking at measures of employment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts regular surveys to assess the national labor market. One is informally known as the “payroll survey,”which gathers information from a sample of businesses and government agencies to estimate how many jobs employers, in total, have on their payrolls.[iv] A second method is the “household survey,” which contacts about 60,000 households to approximate how many people are employed.[v] One difference between the two surveys is that a person who has two jobs counts twice in the payroll survey (since they are on two distinct payrolls), but only once in the household survey (since they are only asked if they are employed). Additionally, a New Hampshire resident who works out of state would not be counted in the payroll survey, since their employer is not in the Granite State, but would count in the household survey, since they live here.
A third source of information is the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW).[vi] While data from the QCEW is unavailable until several months after the fact, its value cannot be understated. For instance, every year the payroll survey estimates described above are revised to incorporate extra information from the QCEW program. Unlike the payroll or household survey, the QCEW provides a virtual census (98 percent coverage) of employees on nonfarm payrolls. Every employer in the United States who is covered by either state Unemployment Insurance laws or the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program is required to submit a report to state workforce agencies about their organization’s level of employment and wages paid.
As the graph above signals, in the teeth of the recession, New Hampshire businesses, on net, shed close to 25,000 jobs over a 12-month period, with nearly 18,000 New Hampshire residents becoming unemployed. This situation has improved since the beginning of 2011, with New Hampshire employers adding to their payrolls and the number of unemployed residents falling. The latest data show that the number of payroll jobs in the state and the number of residents employed now exceed where they were before the Great Recession began and the number of residents unemployed has essentially returned to where it was in 2007.
Over the last few years, the number of payroll jobs being added, on net, has been in the neighborhood of 6,000 to 8,000 annually. Meanwhile, the number of New Hampshire residents becoming employed has risen between 4,000 to 6,000 annually, though recently that number has climbed higher and matched the number of jobs being added. The source of the discrepancy between these two trends is unclear.
Relative to other states, the pace of employment gains in New Hampshire leaves some room for improvement. Using the annual QCEW data, New Hampshire ranks 35th in terms of the percentage change in jobs since either 2010 or 2013. While New Hampshire will likely never rise to the very top of this list, due to its lack of natural resources for energy-related investment and New England’s decades-old pattern of below-average population growth, discussions on how to improve the pace of job gains are warranted. One issue to investigate might be why certain industries are confronting labor shortages and how best to rectify that situation[vii].
More Granite Staters Falling Behind
Regardless of how one puts the various pieces of the economic puzzle together, the data appear to show that New Hampshire’s economy is producing more goods and services and employing more people than ever before. Yet, other economic measures demonstrate that these gains are not being realized by all Granite Staters. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 118,000 or 9.2 percent of New Hampshire residents in 2014 lived in households with incomes below the federal poverty level. (For context, for a family of four in calendar year 2015, the federal poverty level was $24,250.)
While 9.2 percent is the lowest poverty rate among all states, the issue of households not earning enough for basic needs has become more pervasive, with the number of residents living in poverty in New Hampshire almost double that in 2000. The Census data is corroborated by New Hampshire Department of Education data on the number of public school children eligible for free or reduced school lunches.[viii], [ix] The Department’s data indicate that from 2002 to 2014, the number of children that needed food assistance rose from 32,000 to 48,000. What makes this more worrying is that, while more children were becoming eligible, the number of total public school students in New Hampshire steadily declined over that same time period, from 196,000 to 166,000.
One factor that may be contributing to the strains on New Hampshire workers is the nature of the jobs that are currently available in the state. Although New Hampshire businesses are employing more people, there has been shift away from higher-paying occupations to lower-paying ones. As the table below details, compared to 2001, there are nearly 31,000 fewer manufacturing and 4,000 fewer construction jobs in New Hampshire, two industries that on average pay quite well. In exchange, New Hampshire has 19,000 more healthcare careers, 9,000 more administrative/waste service jobs, and 7,000 more people working in food service positions. Healthcare occupations pay about the New Hampshire average, while workers in the other two industries earn below-average wages.
Ultimately, given the long-term trend in the share of Granite Staters living in poverty, policymakers should be concerned not just about the overall performance of the economy but how the people of New Hampshire, especially lower-income households, are faring in it.
[To read the full report, including notes, click on the following link:
4. Proposed Constitutional Amendment
House panel to try again on taxpayer standing issue
by Garry Rayno, unionleader.com, October 27, 2015
CONCORD — A 2014 Supreme Court decision prompted a proposed constitutional amendment that would restore a taxpayer’s right to challenge a governmental action or decision without first proving harm was done.
But a House Judiciary Subcommittee balked Tuesday at adding corporations into the mix.
Judiciary Committee member Rep. Claire Rouillard, R-Goffstown, reflected the majority of the committee’s beliefs when she said it should be a taxpayer voting on a local issue who may bring suit, not someone from outside such as a corporation based elsewhere.
“They should have some skin in the game,” she said.
But the architect of the plan, committee Vice Chairman Joseph Hagan, R-Chester, said corporations are made up of citizens and they should not be precluded from challenging a government action.
The proposal failed to receive a majority approval of the committee, and chairman, Rep. Robert Rowe, R-Amherst, said the subcommittee should address the concerns expressed by committee members, and then another vote would be taken next week.
“This is a very important constitutional amendment,” Rowe said.
Last year, the court dismissed a suit brought by now-state school board member William Duncan of New Castle challenging the education business tax credit program approved by lawmakers in 2012, saying he lacked standing.Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution 5 (CACR 5) passed the Senate last session, but the House wanted to take more time to address the issue and will vote on it in January.
The amendment would require a three-fifths majority vote of the House and the Senate, and a two-thirds majority vote of general election voters.
The subcommittee will attempt to address concerns raised Tuesday about the proposal, and the full committee meets in two weeks to try again.
But a House Judiciary Subcommittee balked Tuesday at adding corporations into the mix.
Judiciary Committee member Rep. Claire Rouillard, R-Goffstown, reflected the majority of the committee’s beliefs when she said it should be a taxpayer voting on a local issue who may bring suit, not someone from outside such as a corporation based elsewhere.
“They should have some skin in the game,” she said.
But the architect of the plan, committee Vice Chairman Joseph Hagan, R-Chester, said corporations are made up of citizens and they should not be precluded from challenging a government action.
The proposal failed to receive a majority approval of the committee, and chairman, Rep. Robert Rowe, R-Amherst, said the subcommittee should address the concerns expressed by committee members, and then another vote would be taken next week.
“This is a very important constitutional amendment,” Rowe said.
Last year, the court dismissed a suit brought by now-state school board member William Duncan of New Castle challenging the education business tax credit program approved by lawmakers in 2012, saying he lacked standing.Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution 5 (CACR 5) passed the Senate last session, but the House wanted to take more time to address the issue and will vote on it in January.
The amendment would require a three-fifths majority vote of the House and the Senate, and a two-thirds majority vote of general election voters.
The subcommittee will attempt to address concerns raised Tuesday about the proposal, and the full committee meets in two weeks to try again.
5. New Education Funding Law Unconstitutional?
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NH education funding law under fire
by Mark Hayward, unionleader.com, October 26, 2015
An associate New Hampshire Attorney General took the unusual step Monday and conceded that a disputed portion of the state’s education funding law is unconstitutional.
And in an equally odd turn of events, lawyers representing Republican legislative leaders appeared Monday in Strafford County Superior Court to argue that the law is constitutional and that the city of Dover and other affluent communities have no right to challenge it.
“The Legislature passed the law, it should be defended,” said Concord lawyer Richard Lehman, who has taken the case along with his partner, Chuck Douglas. “Chuck and I are going to defend it. We think it’s constitutional, and we’re not concerned with what the Attorney General thinks.”
At issue is whether the legislature can limit the amount of education adequacy grants that communities have a constitutional right to under the Claremont rulings of the late 1990s. Since 2011, legislators and governors have capped year-to-year increases of adequacy grants to individual districts. The current cap is 108 percent of the previous year’s funding.
“We don’t believe it’s constitutional,” said Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards. She said the New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled against caps and discounts.
Dover has hired the original Claremont lawyer, Andru Volinsky, to challenge the cap. At present, it is the only community suing the state over the cap. But 24 other communities are eyeing the case and plan to jump in if rulings go their way.
They include many affluent towns — Bedford, Durham, Gilmanton, Hampton Falls, Hooksett, Windham, Pelham, Orford — that believe the cap shortchanges them. If rulings end up in their favor, the 25 communities could receive an additional $10.4 million in the current budget year.
Dover is also looking for reimbursements for four previous budget years.
Poorer communities such as Manchester benefit from a companion stabilization fund, which limits the amount that their adequacy grants can be reduced because of declining enrollments.
Edwards said that although her office believes the caps are unconstitutional, there are various legal reasons why the state should not have to pay Dover and other communities even if a judge decides in Dover’s favor. Most arguments deal with sovereign immunity, the legal concept that a state is immune from civil or criminal prosecution.
In a statement issued Monday, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan said she agrees with Attorney General Joseph Foster that funding levels for the current budget year are not legally defensible.
“The legislature should do the right thing for our students in these towns and fully fund the districts to comply with the adequacy formula and address the concerns raised by communities,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Shawn Jasper and Senate President Chuck Morse said both houses of the legislature have passed education funding into law.
“It is imperative that a law passed by the elected representatives of the people of New Hampshire be given a complete defense in court and not simply be allowed to go unenforced because the Attorney General’s Office does not want to put up a strong defense,” Jasper and Morse said in a statement.
The current two-year budget — enacted by an override of Gov. Hassan’s veto — dedicates about $900 million to education funding. The cap is all but eliminated in the second year of the budget.
And in an equally odd turn of events, lawyers representing Republican legislative leaders appeared Monday in Strafford County Superior Court to argue that the law is constitutional and that the city of Dover and other affluent communities have no right to challenge it.
“The Legislature passed the law, it should be defended,” said Concord lawyer Richard Lehman, who has taken the case along with his partner, Chuck Douglas. “Chuck and I are going to defend it. We think it’s constitutional, and we’re not concerned with what the Attorney General thinks.”
At issue is whether the legislature can limit the amount of education adequacy grants that communities have a constitutional right to under the Claremont rulings of the late 1990s. Since 2011, legislators and governors have capped year-to-year increases of adequacy grants to individual districts. The current cap is 108 percent of the previous year’s funding.
“We don’t believe it’s constitutional,” said Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards. She said the New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled against caps and discounts.
Dover has hired the original Claremont lawyer, Andru Volinsky, to challenge the cap. At present, it is the only community suing the state over the cap. But 24 other communities are eyeing the case and plan to jump in if rulings go their way.
They include many affluent towns — Bedford, Durham, Gilmanton, Hampton Falls, Hooksett, Windham, Pelham, Orford — that believe the cap shortchanges them. If rulings end up in their favor, the 25 communities could receive an additional $10.4 million in the current budget year.
Dover is also looking for reimbursements for four previous budget years.
Poorer communities such as Manchester benefit from a companion stabilization fund, which limits the amount that their adequacy grants can be reduced because of declining enrollments.
Edwards said that although her office believes the caps are unconstitutional, there are various legal reasons why the state should not have to pay Dover and other communities even if a judge decides in Dover’s favor. Most arguments deal with sovereign immunity, the legal concept that a state is immune from civil or criminal prosecution.
In a statement issued Monday, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan said she agrees with Attorney General Joseph Foster that funding levels for the current budget year are not legally defensible.
“The legislature should do the right thing for our students in these towns and fully fund the districts to comply with the adequacy formula and address the concerns raised by communities,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Shawn Jasper and Senate President Chuck Morse said both houses of the legislature have passed education funding into law.
“It is imperative that a law passed by the elected representatives of the people of New Hampshire be given a complete defense in court and not simply be allowed to go unenforced because the Attorney General’s Office does not want to put up a strong defense,” Jasper and Morse said in a statement.
The current two-year budget — enacted by an override of Gov. Hassan’s veto — dedicates about $900 million to education funding. The cap is all but eliminated in the second year of the budget.
6. Housing Sales Up Again in NH
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NH home sales rise 21 percent
September transactions in the Granite State fastest-growing in New England
by staff, nhbr.com, October 28, 2015
Year-over-year single-family home transactions in New Hampshire jumped by nearly 21 percent in September, once again setting the pace for the rest of New England.
According to The RE/MAX Integra Monthly Housing Report, the number of transactions in the Granite State totaled 2,047 – 20.7 percent higher than the 1,696 transactions recorded in September 2014.
In addition, the median price in New Hampshire increased by 7, from $215,850 last year to $231,000 in 2015, according to the report, with pending sales, at 1,098, up 14.1 percent over September 2014.
The report noted that inventory continued to fall, from 15,934 last year to 15,615 in 2015. The number of days on the market before a sale also feel, to 81 from 93 days.
As for the rest of New England, the number of transactions rose an average of 15 percent.
In Connecticut, they were up 15.6 percent, with a median price increase of 1.1 percent.
In Maine , transactions increased 14.1 percent, with median price increasing 6.7 percent.
Massachusetts showed an increase of 15.1 percent in total transactions. The median price was up 4.4 percent.
Rhode Island home transactions increased 10.8 percent, while median price increased 9.5 percent.
Vermont home transactions were up 9.8 percent, with median price decreasing 0.8 percent.
7. Proposed Bills Coming to the Legislative Session
Allergy warning
by Susan Bruce, conwaydailysun.com, October 29, 2015
Members of the NH House have filed most of the bills for the 2016 session of the legislature. The deadline for filing LSRs was September 18. LSR is the acronym for legislative service requests. Legislative Services helps state representatives and senators with research into these fledgling ideas that may become bills. There have been 639 LSRs filed by House members thus far.
The Senate’s filing deadline is November 3. There are only 32 LSRs filed by senators thus far. It’s a safe bet that a big bunch will be filed at the last minute. Also listed on the NH General Court website are the 56 LSRs that have already been withdrawn. Only the titles of the LSRs and the lead sponsors are available, so it can be difficult, in some cases, to know what the bill is really about. In others, there is little doubt.
The Senate’s filing deadline is November 3. There are only 32 LSRs filed by senators thus far. It’s a safe bet that a big bunch will be filed at the last minute. Also listed on the NH General Court website are the 56 LSRs that have already been withdrawn. Only the titles of the LSRs and the lead sponsors are available, so it can be difficult, in some cases, to know what the bill is really about. In others, there is little doubt.
We all know that NH has some serious issues that need to be addressed. In looking at the House LSRs, it seems that the most important problems we face in NH appear to be guns and abortion. Get ready for the non-budget session of the biennium, with a side order of special sauce on account of the presidential election. Avoid the sauce if you have allergies, since it was prepared in an area contaminated by nuts.
State Representative Michael Brewster represents Epsom and Pittsfield. He appears to be the winner in this years “most LSRs filed contest,” after filing a whopping 37. It seems that Brewster has some grievances with our judicial system, regarding the custody of his child. Most of the 37 LSRs Brewster has filed involve judges or the judiciary system. Brewster has also filed an LSR calling for the impeachment of Governor Hassan, and another to remove the five executive councilors from office. But, so far, my absolute favorite of Brewster’s LSRs: “prohibiting the general court from filing legislation in the second year of the session.” Well done, sir.
There are several bills calling for a registry of drug dealers to be created. House Majority Leader, Jack Flanagan, has one that would establish a registry for people convicted of heroin related offenses. There isn’t a registry for the bankers who destroyed the US economy, but Flanagan wants to put some poor junkie who gets caught buying a bag on a registry that will forever impede him from turning his life around. (A gun registry would be tyranny!) Jack Flanagan is pondering a run for Congress in the second district.
Rep. Gene Chandler is one of the sponsors of an LSR aimed at amending the NH Constitution on the issue of domicile. The Republican dedication to limiting voting rights continues unabated. Other states are looking at expanding voter rights. New Hampshire is not one of them.
State Representative Don Leeman would like to require drug testing for public assistance recipients. This has proven to be a big waste of money in other states, where the only winners were the companies who raked in the big bucks for finding a tiny percentage of people who failed the test. One wonders how far this would go. Would the families who receive assistance for their children with disabilities be required to pee into cups? Leeman filed another LSR that would restrict the use of food stamps in convenience stores. Many SNAP recipients live in areas where there are no supermarkets and there is no public transportation. Apparently it was a long, hot summer in Rochester, with nothing to do but think about ways to demonize the poor.
Self-styled Constitutional scholar, Rep. Dan Itse did not disappoint. He may have been overshadowed by Rep. Brewster in the number of LSRs filed, (Itse only filed 28) but he did manage to bring his usual level of peculiarity to the process. Itse has filed an LSR that would change the marriage license requirement to a requirement that couples obtain a certificate of intent to marry. He would also like to proclaim the second week of September as Patriot Week.
An LSR was filed calling on the US House and Senate to consider a constitutional amendment prohibiting campaign contributions, unless the donor is eligible to vote in that election. Free Staters Ed Comeau and Max Abramson didn’t utter a peep when a libertarian millionaire from Texas inserted his “free speech” into the special election in March that gave Yvonne Dean-Bailey a seat in the NH House, but both are sponsors of this LSR. Continuing on in the tradition of legislating personal grudges, Abramson has also filed an LSR requiring the testing of law enforcement officers for steroid use. Abramson was arrested and charged with felony gun charges for attempting to break up a party at his house (in a residential neighborhood) by firing a gun.
An LSR was filed calling on the US House and Senate to consider a constitutional amendment prohibiting campaign contributions, unless the donor is eligible to vote in that election. Free Staters Ed Comeau and Max Abramson didn’t utter a peep when a libertarian millionaire from Texas inserted his “free speech” into the special election in March that gave Yvonne Dean-Bailey a seat in the NH House, but both are sponsors of this LSR. Continuing on in the tradition of legislating personal grudges, Abramson has also filed an LSR requiring the testing of law enforcement officers for steroid use. Abramson was arrested and charged with felony gun charges for attempting to break up a party at his house (in a residential neighborhood) by firing a gun.
There are at least 8 LSRs regarding firearms, but most of them aren’t coming from the gundamentalists. One would create a criminal penalty for providing a firearm to an individual that is prohibited from having one. Another would require firearm owners to have liability insurance, something that might go a long way to cutting back on stupid. For example, Max Abramson’s party trick would have caused his insurance rates to go up.
There are also 8 bills aimed at either hindering or ending a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. The faked up videos done by an anti-choice group got the GOP all wound up into thinking they can somehow ride to victory in 2016 by forcing women to serve as involuntary incubators. NH has never been a part of Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donation program. (Only 2 of 48 states are). Demonizing Planned Parenthood means demonizing the thousands of women who rely on their services. Planned Parenthood saved my daughter’s life. They are often the only health care low income women in rural areas can afford to access.
It’s a wonderful bit of hypocrisy to see how many Free Staters support the various bills. These are people who claim to be all about freedom and libertea, but as always, when the surface is scratched, libertarian freedom applies (and appeals) to white, heterosexual men. And as always, the sponsors of these bills vote against any programs that help women, children, and families.
This is just a small snapshot of what will be coming up in 2016. It’s a mere thumbnail of the bad and the bizarre, but there are a number of LSRs that sound good. Some originate right here in Carroll County. In the coming weeks, I’ll cover those, too. Meanwhile, watch out for the allergens.
It’s a wonderful bit of hypocrisy to see how many Free Staters support the various bills. These are people who claim to be all about freedom and libertea, but as always, when the surface is scratched, libertarian freedom applies (and appeals) to white, heterosexual men. And as always, the sponsors of these bills vote against any programs that help women, children, and families.
This is just a small snapshot of what will be coming up in 2016. It’s a mere thumbnail of the bad and the bizarre, but there are a number of LSRs that sound good. Some originate right here in Carroll County. In the coming weeks, I’ll cover those, too. Meanwhile, watch out for the allergens.
AND NATIONALLY
8. Peddling Snake Oil
Springtime for Grifters
by Paul Krugman, nytimes.com, October 29, 2015
At one point during Wednesday’s Republican debate, Ben Carson was asked about his involvement with Mannatech, a nutritional supplements company that makes outlandish claims about its products and has been forced to pay $7 million to settle a deceptive-practices lawsuit. The audience booed, and Mr. Carson denied being involved with the company. Both reactions tell you a lot about the driving forces behind modern American politics.
As it happens, Mr. Carson lied. He has indeed been deeply involved with Mannatech, and has done a lot to help promote its merchandise. PolitiFact quickly rated his claim false, without qualification. But the Republican base doesn’t want to hear about it, and the candidate apparently believes, probably correctly, that he can simply brazen it out. These days, in his party, being an obvious grifter isn’t a liability, and may even be an asset.
And this doesn’t just go for outsider candidates like Mr. Carson and Donald Trump. Insider politicians like Marco Rubio are simply engaged in a different, classier kind of scam — and they are empowered in part by the way the grifters have defined respectability down.
About the grifters: Start with the lowest level, in which marketers use political affinity to sell get-rich-quick schemes, miracle cures, and suchlike. That’s the Carson phenomenon, and it’s just the latest example of a long tradition. As the historian Rick Perlstein documents, a “strategic alliance of snake-oil vendors and conservative true believers” goes back half a century. Direct-mail marketing using addresses culled from political campaigns has given way to email, but the game remains the same.
At a somewhat higher level are marketing campaigns more or less tied to what purports to be policy analysis. Right-wing warnings of imminent hyperinflation, coupled with demands that we return to the gold standard, were fanned by media figures like Glenn Beck, who used his show topromote Goldline, a firm selling gold coins and bars at, um, inflated prices. Sure enough, Mr. Beck has been a vocal backer of Ted Cruz, who has made a return to gold one of his signature policy positions.
Oh, and former Congressman Ron Paul, who has spent decades warning of runaway inflation and is undaunted by its failure to materialize, is very much in the business of selling books and videos showing how you, too, can protect yourself from the coming financial disaster.
At a higher level still are operations that are in principle engaging in political activity, but mainly seem to be generating income for their organizers. Last week The Times published an investigative report on some political action committees raising money in the name of anti-establishment conservative causes. The report found that the bulk of the money these PACs raise ends up going to cover administrative costs and consultants’ fees, very little to their ostensible purpose. For example, only 14 percent of what the Tea Party Leadership Fund spends is “candidate focused.”
You might think that such revelations would be politically devastating. But the targets of such schemes know, just know, that the liberal mainstream media can’t be trusted, that when it reports negative stories about conservative heroes it’s just out to suppress people who are telling the real truth. It’s a closed information loop, and can’t be broken.
And a lot of people live inside that closed loop. Current estimates say that Mr. Carson, Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz together have the support of around 60 percent of Republican voters.
Furthermore, the success of the grifters has a profound effect on the whole party. As I said, it defines respectability down.
Consider Mr. Rubio, who has emerged as the leading conventional candidate thanks to Jeb Bush’s utter haplessness. There was a time when Mr. Rubio’s insistence that $6 trillion in tax cuts would somehow pay for themselves would have marked him as deeply unserious, especially given the way his party has been harping on the evils of budget deficits. Even George W. Bush, during the 2000 campaign, at least pretended to be engaged in conventional budgeting, handing back part of a projected budget surplus.
But the Republican base doesn’t care what the mainstream media says. Indeed, after Wednesday’s debate the Internet was full of claims that John Harwood, one of the moderators, lied about Mr. Rubio’s tax plan. (He didn’t.) And in any case, Mr. Rubio sounds sensible compared to the likes of Mr. Carson and Mr. Trump. So there’s no penalty for his fiscal fantasies.
The point is that we shouldn’t ask whether the G.O.P. will eventually nominate someone in the habit of saying things that are demonstrably untrue, and counting on political loyalists not to notice. The only question is what kind of scam it will be.
B. http://www.nydailynews.com/
Donald Trump and Ben Carson are GOP frontrunners and lying liars: The CNBC debate in Boulder exposed both men's uneasy relationship with the truth
Editorial, nydailynews.com, October 29, 2015
Complain all you like about the moderators, but Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate crystallized something important: That the two GOP front-runners, both running near-messianic campaigns, peddle falsehoods.
Donald Trump whoppered discussing immigration. A questioner challenged Trump for describing Sen. Marco Rubio as Facebook CEO “Mark Zuckerberg’s personal senator” because Rubio had urged an increase in visas to immigrants with skills like engineering and programming.
Trump’s answer: “I never said that. I never said that.”
Yet those exact words are on Trump’s own website, in his own immigration plan, without a tittle or jot of variation: “Mark Zuckerberg’s personal senator,Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities.”
Carson lied when challenged on his longtime involvement with Mannatech, a nutritional supplement company, including after it settled for $7 million over false advertising claims.
“I didn’t have an involvement with them,” he said. “That is total propaganda . . . I did a couple of speeches for them, I do speeches for other people.”
Flatly untrue. In fact the former Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon has repeatedly talked up his close relationship with the company and its products, derived from substances like larch-tree bark and aloe.
In 2004, shortly after he started on the stuff, Carson claimed some symptoms associated with his prostate cancer “went away” as a result — “within about three weeks.”
That’s on tape.
Five years later, having been hotly pursued by the Texas attorney general’s office, Mannatech settled false-advertising charges for brazenly suggesting its products could treat or even cure Down syndrome, autism, cancer and more.
That didn’t diminish the good doctor’s enthusiasm. In 2011, he told Mannatech associates that the company had donated funds to get him an endowed position at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me,” Carson said in what was billed as a keynote at a 2011 Mannatech convention. “It requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair and I’m proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech.”
That’s on tape, too. (The Carson campaign now insists “there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins,” claiming “confusion” on the candidate’s part.)
In all, Carson has given four paid speeches at Mannatech gatherings. For the most recent one, in 2013, he was paid $42,000. In a video from the same year posted on the company’s website, Carson also said of the company’s Amway-style sales regime: “It’s an incredible opportunity for anybody who really wants to be involved with doing something themselves, making a good living.”
That video was only taken off the Mannatech website last month.
Liar A and Liar B are polling at 27% and 22% in national polls.
9. For Ryan Out Loud
Paul Ryan Wants to Shut Down the Government, Permanently
by Dean Baker, cepr.net, October 21, 2015
Everyone has seen the news stories about how Representative Paul Ryan, the leading candidate to be the next Speaker of the House, is a budget wonk. That should make everyone feel good, since we would all like to think a person in this position understands the ins and outs of the federal budget. But instead of telling us about how much Ryan knows about the budget (an issue on which reporters actually don't have insight), how about telling us what Ryan says about the budget?
It is possible to say things about what Ryan says, since he has said a lot on this topic and some of it is very clear. In addition to wanting to privatize both Social Security and Medicare, Ryan has indicated that he essentially wants to shut down the federal government in the sense of taking away all of the money for the non-military portion of the budget.
This fact is one that is easy to find if a reporter is willing to do five minutes of research. Ryan directed the Congressional Budget Office to score his budget plans back in 2012. The score of his plan showed the non-Social Security, non-Medicare portion of the federal budget shrinking to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2050 (page 16).
This number is roughly equal to current spending on the military. Ryan has indicated that he does not want to see the military budget cut to any substantial degree. That leaves no money for the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, The Justice Department, infrastructure spending or anything else. Following Ryan's plan, in 35 years we would have nothing left over after paying for the military.
Just to be clear, this was not some offhanded gaffe where Ryan might have misspoke. He supervised the CBO analysis. CBO doesn't write-down numbers in a dark corner and then throw them up on their website to embarrass powerful members of Congress. As the document makes clear, they consulted with Ryan in writing the analysis to make sure that they were accurately capturing his program.
So what percent of people in this country know that the next Speaker of the House would like to permanently shut down most of the government? What percent even of elite educated policy types even know this fact? My guess is almost no one, we just know he is a policy wonk.
New Speaker, Same Old Policies
by CAP Action War Room, thinkprogress.org, October 30, 2015
Paul Ryan’s Record Indicates We’re In For The Same Broken GOP Policies
After much chaos and dysfunction, the House of Representatives elected Representative Paul Ryan from Wisconsin to be Speaker of the House. The Republicans have lauded their new Speaker as their “thought leader” who creates the “blueprints” for policies: he was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012 and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Much of the GOP rhetoric around Ryan’s run for speaker has suggested that he will usher in a new era of moderate, pragmatic, and effective leadership that will be both good for the economy and the American people. Though we hope Ryan can bring sanity to this House of GOP crazies and stop them from holding the government hostage time and again, we’re not holding our breath for a “new day in the House of Representatives.” Despite GOP rhetoric, the reality of Paul Ryan’s record, including his signature 2014 budget, suggests that his Speakership will be full of the same old, out of touch, extreme Republican policies that undermine working families to help the rich get richer—policies that voters already rejected in the 2012 election. Here are a few reminders of Ryan’s record:
- Bad for low-income families. Ryan tried to paint himself as an anti-poverty crusader, by embarking on poverty tour in 2014 and releasing a reportdocumenting his concerns about poverty. But in reality, Ryan creates policies that cut programs that are vital for working families and blames poverty on personal failures, claiming that it is the result of a “culture problem.” The bulk of the Ryan Budget’s spending cuts—69 percent—come from gutting programs that serve low-income people. And after his 2014 poverty tour, he proposed slashing $125 billionfrom the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), also known a food stamps, over the next 10 years, and converting it to a flat-funded block grant. He also proposed cuts to Medicaid, a critical program that provides health care to 70 million Americans, including low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities. And of course, Ryan wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health insurance for 17.6 million people.
- Bad for seniors. In his 2014 budget, Ryan abandoned the pledge Republicans made to protect anyone age 55 or older from Medicare cuts and instead advocated for forcing seniors to pay more by radically altering Medicare. He also supports turning Medicare into a voucher system, which would increase premiums for traditional Medicare by 50 percent, according to the CBO. Ryan has also attacked one of the other pillars of economic security for seniors: Social Security. Despite the fact that Social Security survivor benefits made it possible for him to pay for his college tuition, Ryan’s 2010 budget cut benefits and privatized a substantial portionof the program, instead of lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap so that the rich pay their fair share of payroll taxes.
- Bad for women. Ryan’s dismal record on women’s issues has earned him a 0 percent score from Planned Parenthood on women’s issues. He has votednumerous times to defund Planned Parenthood and is a leading advocate for personhood bills. And though Paul Ryan used his power to guarantee time with his family despite his Speaker duties, he refuses to support legislation, such as guaranteed paid sick and paid family leave, to help others have this right. Unlike Paul Ryan, no one else has federally guaranteed paid time off for illness, holidays,vacation
, or the arrival of a new child. Women usually still most feel the burden of this lack of paid leave. More than 40 percent of mothers have cut back on work to care for family. And as new research shows that boosting women’s earnings helps slow the growth of inequality, it is apparent that Paul Ryan’s extremism hurts not only women, but also the economy. - Bad for the economy. Ryan’s budgets and rhetoric tout the same failed trickle-down economic theories that have only helped the rich get even richer but leave middle class and working families behind. His budget proposed giving millionaires a tax cut of at least $200,000. And analyses indicate, there is no way to implement Ryan’s tax cuts for millionaires in a deficit-neutral way without raising taxes on the middle class. Ryan also advocates for austerity measures that have never workedand would hurt the economy. And yet, his budget advocates for enormous cuts to investments in education, science, and other programs that benefit the middle class.
BOTTOM LINE: Though we’d like to hope that Paul Ryan’s new title will cause him to reevaluate his policies and support legislation that will actually help working families, his record of damaging polices creates huge warning signs. If Paul Ryan’s reign as speaker is anything like his record, we’re in for another period of GOP extremism that hurts families, seniors, women, and the economy. But now that the chaos has cleared, Republicans in the House of Representatives should take this opportunity under new leadership to pass policies that support working families, rather than the wealthy few.
10. Ben Carson and His TinFoil Hat
13 Ridiculous Things Ben Carson Actually Believes
by Kira Lerner, thinkprogress.org, October 26, 2015
Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson has become an unlikely frontrunner in the GOP presidential primary, leading recent polls in Iowa and surpassing all of the other Republican candidates’ recentfundraising totals.
Though he has never held political office, his short time in the spotlight has given him plenty of opportunity to make controversial and often factually incorrect statements. In May, ThinkProgresshighlighted seven ridiculous things that Ben Carson believes. But in the past six months, Carson has come up with even more incendiary remarks and comparisons, which seem to only help his campaign.
Here are 13 arguments that Carson has made during his political career:
Women who get abortions are like slaveholders
On NBC’s Meet the Press in October, Carson compared women who terminate their unwanted pregnancies to slaveowners who “thought that they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave.”
He went on to call for an outlaw of abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. “I would not be in favor of killing a baby because the baby came about in that way,” he said.
Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery
Carson’s abortion comments were just the latest in a series of arguments he has made comparing things to slavery. Back in 2013, when Carson was still gaining recognition in the Republican Party, he said in a speech that “Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.”
“And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care,” he added. “It was about control.”
‘Hitler’ could happen in the U.S. today
Similarly, Carson has made a series of comments invoking Nazi Germany since launching his campaign. In September, he said at a campaign event that a Nazi-like force could come to power in the United States.
“If you go back and look at the history of the world, tyranny and despotism and how it starts, it has a lot to do with control of thought and control of speech,” he said, although he refused to outright say he was referring to President Obama.
Jews could have prevented the Holocaust if they had guns
In an interview with CNN in October, Carson blamed the Holocaust on the fact that Nazis took guns away from the Jewish people. “I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed,” Carson said. “There’s a reason these dictatorial people take the guns first.”
When pressed about why he repeatedly uses Nazi metaphors, Carson blamed the media for stirring controversy, saying that he’s heard “from many people in the Jewish community, including rabbis, who said, ‘You’re spot on. You are exactly right.’”
College campuses should be monitored for liberal political speech
On Glenn Beck’s radio program in October, Carson advocated for the censorship of “extreme political bias” on college campuses, saying the Department of Education should “monitor our institutions of higher education for extreme political bias and deny federal funding if it exists.”
The next day, he clarified during a different conservative radio program that his plan wouldn’t hurt conservatives. When host Dana Loesch asked if “the pendulum would swing the other way and we would see sort of like monitoring of political speech for conservatives,” Carson assured her that it would not. “I think we would have to put in very strict guidelines for the way that that was done,” he said.
Muslims should be disqualified from the presidency
During an interview on Meet the Press in September, Carson now infamously said that a Muslim could not become the president of the United States. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” he said. “I absolutely would not agree with that.”
Instead of apologizing, Carson went on to explain his remarks. In order for a Muslim to become president, he said, “you have to reject the tenets of Islam.”
There’s a war on ‘what’s inside of women’
During a campaign stop this summer, Carson denied the argument used to describe the Republican Party’s policies that restrict women’s rights.
“There is no war on women,” he said. “There may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country.”
Being gay is a choice because prison turns people gay
Carson said in a CNN interview in March that homosexuality is a choice, citing people who “go into prison straight – and when they come out, they’re gay” as proof. He later attempted to apologizefor the remarks in which he addressed those who were offended, but reinforced his belief that sexual orientation is chosen.
Carson has also called marriage equality a “Marxist plot,” described marriage equality supporters as “enemies of America,” and compared homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality, another statement that led him to similarly “apologize” for his “poorly chosen words.”
There’s no such thing as a war crime
Carson also said earlier this year that the U.S. should not hesitate to send troops to defeat the Islamic State and should not fear prosecution for any of its actions abroad. In the Fox News interview, he suggested that the military should not be subject to any war crimes law.
“If you’re gonna have rules for war, you should just have a rule that says no war,” he said. “Other than that, we have to win.”
Obama is depressing the economy to keep people on welfare
After appearing on The View last year and saying that Americans have become dependent on welfare, Carson elaborated on Fox News. “Do you think that people who are on welfare want to be on welfare?” Fox’s Megyn Kelly asked him.
“I think some people have that as a way of life,” Carson responded, later adding that “perhaps some of the things that are going on right now which could be easily remedied are not being remedied in order to keep the economy depressed because there would be no appetite for many of the social programs if people were doing well.”
Obama signed immigration reform to bring in government-dependent voters
After speaking out about welfare, Carson said in an interview months later that Obama’s executive action on immigration was part of a “nefarious agenda” to bring new voters into the United States who will be dependent on government.
“Is he just trying to instead of get out the vote, bring in the vote?” former Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth asked Carson. “Is this all designed to have new voters — despite the fact he claims they’re not going to get citizenship — is the long-term goal to bring in a new class of voters dependent on government?”
“Of course it is,” Carson replied.
Congress should be able to remove judges for voting for marriage equality
In an interview with a conservative radio host earlier this year, Carson said it was “unconstitutional” that judges have ruled in favor of equality despite statewide ballot initiatives that resulted in different outcomes. Carson said that when federal judges make rulings like this, “our Congress actually has the right to reprimand or remove them.”
Anarchy could cancel the 2016 election
Carson warned in an interview in 2014 that if we “continue down this pathway that we are going down,” referring to “this pathway where everything is framed in a political sense and our representatives are not working for the people, they’re working for their party,” then the anarchy could lead to the 2016 election being called off. He claimed that the growing national debt, ISIS and the then-Democratic controlled U.S. Senate’s refusal to consider legislation passed by the Republican House of Representatives all pointed toward the idea that the country is headed toward anarchy.
If Carson’s prediction proved to be true, he said, Obama could declare martial law and the 2016 election would not occur.
FINALLY
