Crypto contributions
The silence from Senator Maggie and NH Dems’ Chair for Life Ray Buckley has been deafening when it comes to the big-buck contributions her campaign and his state party both received from the disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankster-Fraud, er, Bankman-Fried.
For her most recent 2022 campaign, the senator received $20k from SBF, who doled out millions to Dem candidates and organizations around the country. (He is supposedly saying that he also handed out $$$ to GOPers, but he claims those were untraceable.) The NH Dems, for their part, got a hefty $10k from him.
Money matters
Meanwhile, despite a pretty constant drumbeat from NHGOP circles for the senator and Chair for Life to give back the money, or at least fess up to getting it, there’s been nothing but … crickets.
That all might change now that the new managers of SBF’s bankrupt FTX crypto exchange are making noises about clawing back the donations to deal with their ongoing financial disaster. They even issued a statement basically pleading with the peeps who received SBF-tainted money to give it back.
But still … crickets.
Learning experience
If you’ve been paying any kind of attention to the arc of Ed Commish Frank Edelblut’s foray into public education, then you’d barely raised an eyebrow when learning that FE appeared almost gleeful over news about the state’s shrinking school population — one recent report said the number of students in state schools fell by 14 percent between 2009 and 2020.
Mission accomplishable
FE — who already has methodically siphoned funds dedicated to public schools in favor of various charter schools and, of course, his Education Freedom Accounts — responded to news of the declining population thusly:
“The cost-per-pupil numbers highlight the difficult but important job of shrinking a system that has been and will continue to support fewer students. The demographic trends are already set. The work of our school boards and school leaders is to right-size the school system to this declining population of students. This is a perfect time to rethink how we educate students in New Hampshire.”
In other words, he’s only just begun.
“The governor’s balls are always delightful. I can’t get enough of them.”
— House Majority Leader Jason Osborne on attending the guv’s fourth inaugural ball
“This bill could really appear to be an irresistible force but yeah, the Senate sure seems like an immovable object.”
— Longtime pot legalization advocate Matt Simon on what appear to be sunny prospects for a cannabis bill this legislative session
He said, he said
What House Speaker Sherman Packer said: “The voters have sent us here with a never-before-seen balance of partisan makeup. The only way we can forge ahead and be successful in this environment is by working together.”
Hoping for the best
What he meant: “I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that members of the GOP caucus keep showing up for sessions in greater numbers than Dems.”
Dancing to his tune?
Watching the guv bask in the national spotlight has been quite a learning experience — for him and the rest of us. Whether it’s on CNN, Fox News or any other number of national outlets, he appears quite adept at the dance politicos go through when they start making noises like a prez candidate.
The shtick goes something like this, as he put it in a Fox interview on his ambitions: “A lot of folks are coming to me. A lot of folks want me to run. It’s definitely conversations that we’re having.”
Which isn’t surprising, considering his efforts to raise his national profile. But it’s also not so surprising when you learn that the guv is footing some of the bill for the dance band itself.
FWIW, the guv last month paid for a digital ad specifically designed to stir up speculation that he might just run for prez in ’24 — ads that ran on Facebook and Insta in Iowa and South Carolina. What, not NH?
MAKING THE ROUNDS
It’s still early, but it sure is starting to feel like we’re in for one of those “snowless” winters this go-round.
It’s probably not the best sign — considering the long, embarrassing track record when it comes to state reps and their use of social media — when only 70 of the 400 in their number, 17.5% of ‘em, showed up for a training session on how to properly use it. Oh yeah … they were also there to learn the House “Policy Against Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination.”
Yes, there is a bill being proposed this session to raise the pay of legislators to $5k from the current 100 bucks. Considering what $5k can get you nowadays, will the debate even be worth it?
