NH Representatives Respond to Phantom Congressional Districts

Adam Krauss at Foster's Daily Democrat has gotten reaction to this week's news of massive errors in the Recovery.org database from New Hampshire's two Representatives in Congress.

Matt Robison, chief of staff for Rep. Paul Hodes, D-Concord, said "there's no question that this was a serious mistake and an example of sloppy record-keeping by the administration and Paul Hodes believes we need real answers and an accurate picture of the situation that working families are facing."

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-Rochester, said the typos were discovered because of the "unprecedented level of transparency and disclosure" at Recovery.gov. "While it is unacceptable for Recovery.gov to have any typos, I am pleased that the administration is working to immediately correct them," she said.

No reaction yet from the Congressman from the mythical 4th, 6th, 27th, and 00th Districts.

Obama's NH tax hike: 'Reform' could bankrupt state

The Union Leader looks at the cost to New Hampshire taxpayers of health care reform:

The House bill both Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes voted for would dramatically expand Medicaid to cover people earning as much as 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Under current state rules, New Hampshire covers parents of Medicaid-eligible children only if their income is less than 63 percent of the federal poverty level. The House bill would more than double the family income level at which New Hampshire would have to provide Medicaid services.

The federal government does not pay 100 percent of Medicaid costs. New Hampshire picks up half the tab. Thus, the House bill would explode state Medicaid costs.

Congress rushes to triple failed program

The House is rushing to pour an additional $2 billion into the Cash for Clunkers boondoogle. That means more of your money, or more likely your grandchildrens' money, will help your neighbor buy a car.

The dead weight loss to the American economy is staggering. Thousands of perfectly good cars will be scrapped because Congress wants to curry favor with car dealers and car companies. Reader William Albenzi reminds me of the Broken Window Parable, in which destruction is mistaken for economic activity. Regardless of the cost to the Treasury, the cost of scrapping functional automobiles for a marginal increase in fuel economy is huge. Even weighed on purely environmental grounds, the benefits of increases as small as one mile per gallon must be offset by the sheer tonnage of rusting hulks added to American scrapyards.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Congressman Paul Hodes tell WMUR-TV that this massive diversion of economic activity is a success. Perhaps next week, they will go around breaking our windows for us.

Congressional Expenses

Fergus Cullen has done some research into how New Hampshire's House members spend our money in their federal offices:

Shea-Porter paid Democratic political consultant Julia Piscitelli $17,000 in seven payments spanning 2007 and 2008. Piscitelli previously worked in Nancy Pelosi's office and has described herself as a "political therapist." In an interview, Piscitelli said then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel dispatched her to teach Shea-Porter how to use franked mail -- mail that members of Congress can send to their constituents using their signatures in lieu of postage -- and to set up better systems for handling constituent mail. Now White House chief of staff, Emanuel's job then was to help vulnerable freshmen like Shea-Porter retain their seats, in part by exploiting the advantages of incumbency. (more)

Congressional abuse of the Franking Privilege, which lets them send thinly disguised campaign flyers at taxpayer expense, is a bipartisan disgrace. New Hampshire's House members are hardly alone in using tax dollars to get re-elected, but that doesn't make it right. Compounding the problem, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has no decided that the Franking Privilege is now simply a partisan perk, not available to the minority party.

Congressional Expenses Spreadsheet

Shovel Ready?

Lauren Dorgan reports in the Concord Monitor on yesterday's presentation by Congressman Paul Hodes about the stimulus package, and his efforts to exempt New Hampshire from the shovel-ready restrictions on transportation spending:

That was one of the many questions local and state officials put to U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, a Concord Democrat, yesterday morning in a forum on the expected $825 billion federal stimulus package and what it will bring to New Hampshire. Last night, Hodes submitted an amendment to the House Rules Committee permitting an exemption for states where "cold weather and freezing conditions" make winter construction impossible.

"This is a question that Congressman Hodes is very concerned about," said Hodes spokesman Mark Bergman.

New Hampshire Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said administrators from his department had raised a concern about whether cold weather would freeze New Hampshire out of eligibility for full road aid. The shovel-ready, or 120-day standard, was promoted to ensure the roughly $30 billion the federal government will funnel to states for roads and bridges will put people to work fast.

Under the plan being debated in Washington, states would have 120 days from passage to begin construction on any projects included in the bill. Even if the bill passed today, that means projects would have begin by May 27th, so it's hard to imagine frozen ground keeping New Hampshire projects off the list.