Free Us Now Radio Featured Guest, Author Katherine Morrison

Featured Radio Presentation

Monday Night May 4th soROARity
Katherine J. Morrison
"Author of An Independent Call"

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Free Us Now guest, Katherine Morrison wrote a book about the 2008 presidential election. The book entitled An Independent Call, chronicles the journey of an Independent New Hampshirite from wary observer of town hall meetings to eventual McCain supporter and volunteer. It is an amusing look at the events of a campaign. From meeting candidates from both sides of the aisle, to becoming a blogger for McCain, to being chewed out on campaign phone calls, to receiving press credentials for the Republican National Convention, this account relates the experience of being a participant at the lowest level politics from an outsider's perspective. A mix of good humor and political opinion from the middle.

Rockingham NH County Commissioner, Maureen Barrows, recommends An Independent Call stating that it is- "A must read for anyone interested in the day to day life of a volunteer in a political campaign-attention to detail is brilliant."

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No radio needed The Free Us Now Radio show is online - If your computer is down no problem call on the phone and hear the entire show right on the phone- Please come! Monday 10 PM eastern/ Bring your questions.
Call-in 347 539-5420.

Event: Free Us Now Radio Show
Host: BettyJean Kling
Start Time: Monday, at 10:00pm
End Time: Monday, at 11:30pm
Where: http://www.Blogtalkradio.com/NO-WE-WONT
Call-in:  347 539-5420

Judd Gregg Won't Be Commerce Secretary

From Politico I couldn't be Judd Gregg

Sen. Judd Gregg abruptly withdrew his nomination as commerce secretary Thursday, telling Politico that he “couldn’t be Judd Gregg” and serve in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.

The White House — where some aides were caught off guard by the withdrawal — responded harshly to Gregg’s announcement, portraying the New Hampshire Republican as someone who sought the job and then had a “change of heart.”

In a statement, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Gregg had “reached out to the president and offered his name for secretary of commerce” — and that he’d promised that, “despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace and move forward with the president’s agenda.”

Obama himself told an Illinois newspaper that Gregg’s withdrawal was “something of a surprise” because the senator had “approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic.”

Although one White House aide said he was “blindsided” by the news, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Gregg signaled to the administration earlier in week that he was having second thoughts and Obama met with him Wednesday at the White House to urge him to stay.

Still, there was no joint statement — as there was when former Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew as Obama’s Health and Human Services nominee — and the tension between the White House and Gregg was clear. 

401K's in Jeopardy

Retirement funds, particularly 401K's, are at risk. As previously mentioned in the article Democrats Discuss Taking Over People's 401K's Democrats are looking to eliminate the tax break for 401K's and to subsidize a takeover of these savings plans. Investment New reports in their article House Democrats contemplate abolishing 401(k) tax breaks point out the problems with this plan.

"From where I sit that's just crazy," said John Belluardo, president of Stewardship Financial Services Inc. in Tarrytown, N.Y. "A lot of people contribute to their 401(k)s because of the match of the employer," he said. Mr. Belluardo's firm does not manage assets directly.

Higher-income employers provide matching funds to employee plans so that they can qualify for tax benefits for their own defined contribution plans, he said.

"If the tax deferral goes away, the employers have no reason to do the matches, which primarily help people in the lower income brackets," Mr. Belluardo said.

US News and World Report has also written articles on Democrats plans to target 401K's and retirement plans if they obtain control of the presidency and congress...
Why Democrats Will Target the Investor Class in 2009

Would Obama Dems Kill 401K Plans?

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Hat Tip other bloggers covering this issue...

Smart Girl Politics Kiss Your 410K Good Bye

Ms Placed Democrat Obama's 401K Plan is Nothing More Than a Junk Bond

Say What You Really Mean Under President Obama Kiss Your 401K Goodbye, Your Net Pay Shrinks, And The Constitution Will Be Walked On Like It's His Daily Exercise Routine.

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401K's in Jeopardy

You Don't Have to Love McCain

I'm obviously a big fan of Senator McCain; have been since fairly early in the primaries. At a closed door meeting for supporters in NH with no media in attendance Senator McCain, having just come off a Republican debate where the candidates had all taken a number of shots at Senator Clinton, opened the meeting by stating that he respects Senator Clinton and would not attack her personally. Then he said, "you have to remember this is all about love," and I nearly fell off my chair. He got a big ovation, and it points to one of the reasons I am such a big fan of the Senator. It isn't always good for his campaign, but he has a good heart; and even if one disagrees with him on issues they can be comforted by the fact that he will listen to and respect those who disagree with him.

Part of what I like about Senator McCain is what many conservatives don't like about him. He does break with his party, he's not an ideologue, he is uncomfortable in launching political attacks. So the argument to many, whether they are to the left or to the right of Senator McCain, is not about loving him him or his policies, but it's about respecting him and recognizing him as qualified. He is what he is, and he has a long record that he can be judged on.

The alternative would swing the country dramatically to the left. The alternative has a cloudy record at best, and a radically leftist record at worst. Associations with people like Wright, Ayers, Rezko, Johnson, Reins, and Khalidi, leave serious questions about the judgment and philosophy of the Democratic nominee.

In an article by Mona Charen Is This the End of Conservatism?, which also should be titled 'Is this The End of Moderation and Balance?', describes some of the plans Democrats are putting together to not only to move the country to the left, but to change the rules so that Democrats will always have an advantage. While this may sound good to some Democrats, stacking the deck is not an appropriate or Democratic way of implementing policy changes.

In the first place, the Democrats can, with a super-majority, change the rules of the game. They can make the District of Columbia the 51st state with two new senators (guaranteed to be Democrats in perpetuity). They can reinstitute the so-called Fairness Doctrine that required radio stations to provide equal time to all political viewpoints. While the doctrine was enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, radio stations shied away from politics altogether. With the demise of the doctrine, conservative talk radio flourished. Liberal talk radio has never found much of an audience. Reviving the doctrine would kill one of the principal irritants to liberals and Democrats -- to say nothing of disemboweling the First Amendment.

To elect a super-majority of Democrats at a time of economic dislocation is to flirt with depression. Nearly all economists agree that two moves by the Hoover administration deepened and prolonged the panic of 1929 and turned it into the Great Depression. One was raising taxes and the other was imposing protectionist trade policies. Senator Obama proposes to do both of those things. Obama's smooth reassurance that only the top 5 percent of earners in America will see their taxes rise is a) almost certainly false, and b) besides the point. If the most productive members of society -- those who create the majority of jobs -- are taxed we will have fewer jobs. It's the old rule that if you tax something you get less of it. While Obama is killing jobs by taxing the productive, he proposes to "renegotiate" NAFTA and other trade deals thus putting the one bright corner of our economy, the export sector, in his crosshairs.

Obama has a million schemes to redistribute the wealth of the top 5 percent, (who by the way, already pay more than 50 percent of the taxes in our steeply progressive system). He wants to provide college for "anyone who wants to go and agrees to perform community service," and community development block grants, and childcare, and universal pre-school, and housing, and retirement and on and on. He seems determined that more people will ride in the wagon than pull it.

"Well," you may say, "if the Democrats drive the country into a deep recession, so much the worse for them. The Republicans will come back strong -- even with two senators from DC!" Perhaps. But in hard times people tend to ask for more government, not less, and this tumble started while George W. Bush was in the White House. Franklin Roosevelt continued to invoke the boogey man of Herbert Hoover long after the Depression was his own. In fact, Democrats used Hoover successfully for 40 more years!

Finally, there is a one-way ratchet in public policy. Liberal reforms are never undone. How hard have conservatives tried to eliminate the Department of Education or subsidies to public television? Would they have more success uncreating a new nationalized health care system?

An Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime -- if it were to get a filibuster-proof majority -- will certainly be able to shift the country's direction sharply to the left. The only question is -- would the shift be permanent?

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You Don't Have to Love McCain

Obama, FactCheck.org, Ayers, and the Annenburg Foundation

There is a disturbing link between Barack Obama, FactCheck.org, and William Ayers. National Review reports that William Ayers and Barack Obama both served as co-chairs of the Chicago Annenburg Challenge. Obama called for an $3.5 million dollar earmark for the Annenburg Foundation that sponsors FactCheck.org. Several FactCheck articles have been viewed as promoting the Obama campaign line instead of truly acting as a fact checkers. Controlling the ‘facts’ is a hallmark of a totalitarian regime, and this is a truly unsettling connection.

Mission statement from FactCheck.org.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

Requested Annenberg Earmark from Barack Obama - Citation from Answers.BarackObama.com

Obama Requested $3.5 Million For The USC Annenberg Research Network. In 2005, Obama requested $3.5 million for the USC Annenberg Research Network on International Communication, in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to support the deployment of pervasive broadband for education and economic development.Funding was for the construction of a large-scale broadband wireless systems in two communities—one in South Los Angeles and the other in small-town Illinois. In each community, broadband network coverage will be provided over a minimum of about a half-square mile area, utilizing leading edge wireless technologies. In Los Angeles, this will include the five schools in USC’s immediate neighborhood, with about 8,000 K-12 students. USC also will provide wireless equipment and access to every family with a student entering the first grade of a new Science Center School, and in Illinois, a similar group of students will be selected to receive wireless equipment and access within the coverage area. The impact of these technologies on the students and their families will be tracked. [Obama Request Letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education, 6/7/05]

Obama’s Challenge from the National Review

Let’s first review CAC’s [Chicago Annenburg Challenge] initial setup. In the first year, 1995, Obama headed the board, which made fiscal decisions, and Ayers co-chaired the Collaborative, which set education policy. During that first year, Obama’s formal responsibilities mandated close cooperation and coordination with the Collaborative. As board chair and president of the CAC corporation, Obama was authorized to “delegate to the Collaborative the development of collaborative projects and programs . . . to obtain assistance of the Collaborative in the development of requests for proposals . . . and to seek advice from the Collaborative regarding the programmatic aspects of grant proposals.” All this clearly involves significant consultation between the board, headed by Obama, and the Collaborative, co-chaired by Ayers.

Hat Tip to Death by 1000 Papercuts for first reporting this in their article Obama, Bill Ayers, and FactCheck.Org: All Have Ties To Annenberg Foundation

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Clarification: The connection between Obama and Ayers is through
the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that received money from the Annenburg
Foundation, but the Chicago Annenburg Challenge Challenge and the
Annenburg Foundation are not directly connected philosophically.  The
earmark Senator Obama requested was for the Annenburg Foundation, which
funded the Chicago Annenburg Challenge and also funds FactCheck.org. 
Obama is tied to both groups one via earmark, the other via direct
participation, however, Ayers is not directly connected to
FactCheck.org.

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Obama Controlling the Facts

Are You Purple?

The McCain campaign has focussed on Independents and Democrats with their Citizens for McCain group. They have even set up an online phone bank specifically for Independents and Democrats. If you are Independent or Democrat McCain supporter this is a great way to help the campaign. Phone calls are instrumental in bringing in votes and getting supporters out to polls. Just a few (or more) a day can have an impact.

Daytime Calls Phone Bank 10:00AM -6:00PM (EST):

Evening and Weekend Calls Phone Bank 6:00PM -9:00PM (EST):

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If you aren't an Independent, but still want to make phone calls from home - www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank

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Are You Purple?

McCain Palin Door to Door in NH

FORECAST FOR VICTORY!

There are just 33 days until Election Day and we're expecting beautiful Fall weather all weekend.
We'll be going door-to-door in neighborhoods across the state, spreading the word about McCain-Palin and our Republican candidates.

What better time to enjoy the outdoors and hit the pavement with the McCain-Palin Victory Team!

SATURDAY & SUNDAY
MEET UP LOCATION: Birch Hill Elementary
17 Birch Hill Dr. Nashua, NH
MEET UP TIME:9:30am for the 10:00am shift, or 1:00pm or 4:00pm for afternoon shifts
CONTACT:Anna Wagner, Field Director(603) 661-2828 anna@nhgop.org

ROCHESTER
MEET UP LOCATION:Strafford County Republican Office
31 North Main Street, Rochester, NH
Park in the back parking lot, and enter thru the door with the McCain sign
MEET UP TIME: 10:00 am Sat. & Sun
CONTACT: Angelee Stamps, Field Director, (603) 369-7011 astamps@mccain08hq.com

SATURDAY & SUNDAY LACONIA
MEET UP LOCATION: Laconia Victory office 664 Main Street, Laconia, NH
Park in the parking lot next to the office
MEET UP TIME:9:30am on Sat. & 10:30am on Sun.
CONTACT: Brent Perrin, Field Director(603) 661-2284, brent@nhgop.org

MANCHESTER
MEET UP LOCATION:Brookside Church2013 Elm St. Manchester, NH
MEET UP TIME:9:30am for the 10:00am shift, or 12:30pm or 4:30pm for afternoon shifts
CONTACT: Chris Donnelly, Field Director(603) 369-2202, cdonnelly@mccain08hq.com

SATURDAY & SUNDAY HAMPTON
MEET UP LOCATION: Hannaford Supermarket630 Lafayette Rd. Hampton, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sat. & 1:00pm on Sun.
CONTACT: Eric Maurer, Field Director(603) 219-1041, mailto:Eric@NHGOP.orgMILFORD

MILFORD
MEET UP LOCATION: Milford Victory office 42 South St, Milford, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sat. & Sun.
CONTACT: Elizabeth VanDerwalker, Field Director(603) 988-5365, Elizabeth@NHGOP.org

SATURDAY & SUNDAY EXETER
MEET UP LOCATIONS: Quandt For State Senate Office
45 Franklin St. Exeter, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sat.
CONTACT: Eric Maurer, Field Director(603) 219-1041, Eric@NHGOP.org

SALEM
MEET UP LOCATIONS: Salem Ice Center
60 Lowell Rd, Salem, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sat. & Sun.
CONTACT: Shannon Shutts, Field Director(207) 415-9376, Shannon@NHGOP.org

SUNDAY ONLY LITTLETON
MEET UP LOCATIONS: Littleton GOP Office
71 Main St. Littleton, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sat.
CONTACT: Kelly Flanagan, Field Director(603) 369-5624, Kelly@NHGOP.orgCLAREMONT

MEET UP LOCATIONS CLAREMONT:
Claremont GOP Headquarters44 Tremont St, Claremont, NH
MEET UP TIME:10:00am on Sun.
CONTACT: Kelly Flanagan, Field Director(603) 369-5624, Kelly@NHGOP.org

The Portsmouth Herald Endorses John McCain

The Portsmouth Herald endorses John McCain citing his honesty and kind heart.

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Vote Sen. McCain in GOP primary
Portsmouth Herald

U.S. Sen. John McCain will tell you the truth, even if it costs him the election.

He has a very clear-eyed view of the truth having spent his life fighting for our country and leading the U.S. Senate for the past 20 years on virtually every critical issue facing our nation.

In our view, John McCain stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Republican field and deserves the support of those voting in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary Jan. 8.

We were deeply moved at a forum here at Seacoast Media Group Dec. 6 when the senator spoke soothing words to a disabled veteran so despondent over his injuries, he asked whether he had a right to go on living.

McCain's answer was kind and sincere, emphasizing his belief in the value of all life and the hope that medical advances would someday allow this good man to recover some of what he had lost.

McCain is pro-life, but his views are broad in this area. He also believes in federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because in his view life is also sacred after you have left the womb.
This kindness and pragmatism also guided his thinking on immigration. McCain's state of Arizona borders Mexico and is on the front line of America's struggle with illegal immigration. His position is that we need to tighten our borders and enforce the laws already on the books, but we also need to create a path to citizenship for good, honest, hardworking families who make a real contribution to this country.

His principled stance on immigration has made enemies in his own party and has hurt him in Iowa where this is a major issue.

McCain also angered Republicans with his bipartisan McCain-Feingold legislation that tried to even the playing field to restore the power of one person, one vote, that had been replaced by a million dollars, a million votes. That legislation clearly had some flaws as we have seen special interest groups like MoveOn.org and Swift Boat Veterans For Truth pouring limitless amounts of money into campaigns on behalf of their candidates and causes, but his efforts to reform campaign finances show that McCain's first priority is putting power in the hands of the people and that he can work in a bipartisan way to make it happen.

If McCain is president, nobody would have to write him a memo about whether it is legal to use torture. As a former prisoner of war who was denied medical care and beaten by the North Vietnamese, McCain understands at the deepest level that torturing helpless prisoners who may or may not have some information of value to our national security is a losing strategy in the long run, putting our own soldiers at greater risk for torture and lowering our nation's moral authority in the world.

On Iraq, McCain provides a compelling critique of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's mistakes and paints a positive picture of where we would be if we had gone into the country with a sufficient number of troops who were properly trained and equipped. He says the success of the current surge supports his position. There are some on our editorial board who strongly disagree with McCain's position on Iraq, but ultimately history will be the judge of whether he is right or wrong.

McCain is willing to speak the truth about massive spending and the debt we have piled on ourselves. The Republicans have become the party of big spenders, he says. And he can say that because he has spent decades fighting pork-barrel projects proposed by his congressional colleagues.

McCain has been a leader on energy independence and global climate change. He is the only top-tier Republican candidate who agrees that global climate change is real and that it needs to be addressed immediately. He would make sustainable energy a top priority

John McCain has been leading the country from his seat in the U.S. Senate for 20 years. He is a man of integrity and honor who would help the Republicans rid themselves of the stench of Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists and allow the GOP to reclaim its status as the party of fiscal restraint. He is a strong military man prepared from day one to defend our nation against its enemies. Of all the Republicans running, he is by far the best qualified to lead our country.

We hope voters in the Republican primary will support John McCain.

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Editor's note: Seacoast Media Group's Democratic endorsement will appear in the Portsmouth Herald on Thursday, Dec. 20, and in the Exeter News-Letter, Hampton Union and Rockingham News on Friday, Dec. 21.
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http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/OPINION/712160336/-1/OPINION04