REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE candidate Bruce Fenton of Durham is hoping his aggressive tax cut plan sets him apart from his opponents with less than a month before the Sept. 13 primary.
The Sunday News received an advanced preview of Fenton’s “3-2-1 Liftoff Plan,” which includes significant tax cuts for individuals and small businesses.
The plan would:
• Eliminate all small business taxes on the first $300,000 of income;
• Make the first $200,000 of income earned by individuals tax-free under federal law and,
• Shelter the first $100,000 of individual investments as not taxable either as income or capital gains.
“Government programs are an incredible waste. The United States spent almost $50,000 per person in bailouts over the last two years. Where did that money go? Not in your pocket, but in the pockets of the special interests. I am deeply worried about how inflation is destroying our middle class, Without a robust middle class, our country is lost,” Fenton said.
“My ‘3-2-1 Plan’ gives universal tax cuts directly to the productive economy and empowers the individual to rise up through entrepreneurship, hard work, and savings.”
Worry on primary future
Terry Shumaker, former U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago and a member of the inner circle during Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, remains one of the state’s biggest defenders of its first-in-the-nation primary.
During an interview last week, Shumaker chose not to inflame the Democratic National Committee calendar process at this delicate stage, but he admitted this could be the state’s toughest challenge yet.
“I think it’s going to be a big mess. We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Shumaker said.
The last vigorous challenge to the primary on the Democratic side came after the DNC formed a commission in 2005.
Back then, Shumaker played a major role in preserving the state’s primary status.
He’s noticed many of the liberal activists who didn’t like New Hampshire’s demographics back then are right back in the thick of the DNC now.
Republican State Chairman Steve Stepanek reminded the 2024 calendar for the GOP has already been set and New Hampshire remains first in line.
“We’re already working on protecting it for 2028, and the outlook right now is great,” Stepanek said.
Harvard cancels Vikram
Vikram Mansharamani of Lincoln claimed that Harvard University “canceled” his employment as an instructor once administrators learned he was launching a Republican campaign for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire.
For 13 years, the entrepreneur taught classes at Yale and Harvard, and he said there had been discussion about expanding his role at Harvard to at least a half-time professor of practice.
“My decision to seek to serve our nation was met with passive derision. One senior colleague noted it was ‘disappointing’ when I confirmed I was running as a Republican. An email soon arrived indicating that my annual appointment would be over in June and that a reappointment was not possible,” Mansharamani wrote in a to-be-published op-ed seen by the New Hampshire Sunday News.
“Shortly thereafter, I learned the professor of practice position required an expanded search, one that would solicit more candidates and extend into the next academic year. I also learned from an administrator that my application had been removed from the process.”
Mansharamani said a study found liberals outnumbered conservative faculty at Harvard, 82 to 1.
“I was canceled because I committed the unpardonable sin of being a Republican,” he said during an interview. “It is just not as a diverse as it used to be or it should be.”
Harvard officials said Mansharamani was not fired, and these appointments have always been made on an annual basis.
Committee does AG favor
Members of the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee was critical of Attorney General John Formella‘s latest plan for compensating victims of sexual and physical abuse at the Youth Development Center.
But they also did him a huge favor by allowing him to “withdraw” the 93-page item and resubmit it when the panel next meets on this topic Sept. 6.
That’s because the legislation creating the $100 million fund gives the fiscal panel only 30 days to review what the AG comes up with.
Letting Formella pull it back means the month-long clock does not start until the meeting next month.
The Democratic members on the committee released a critical statement about plan details after last Wednesday’s meeting.
The top Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro and Fiscal Committee Chair Karen Umberger of Conway were more upbeat.
“We want to thank Attorney General Formella for his leadership and his willingness to address the concerns regarding this complex settlement process...we want to encourage all parties involved to work together in order to resolve their differences to the greatest extent possible,” Bradley and Umberger said.
“This includes the lawyers representing the victims, because we consider their input to be critical.”
Hassan hit by both sides
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., faced criticism from the left and right after her votes on the Inflation Reduction Act last weekend.
The left slammed Hassan for voting to keep Title 42 restrictions on immigration.
“Last time she almost lost her election, and this time she’s doing everything in her power to lose our votes,” said state Rep. Maria Perez, D-Milford, and a leading advocate for immigrants.
Then the Republican National Committee went after Hassan for voting against an amendment to take an oil tax out of the package and another to place the Title 42 restrictions into the spending and tax bill.
“Hassan’s actions were part of a larger scheme from the Senate’s Democratic leadership that allowed vulnerable senators to appear moderate as they voted against popular GOP measures, Roll Call reported on Sunday,” the RNC charged.
Hassan’s campaign said the GOP-led vote to take out the oil tax also came with unrelated spending cuts.
The Title 42 amendment the Senate GOP offered was a “poison pill amendment,” meaning adopting it could have caused the entire climate change and tax measure to fall apart, the campaign said.
Sununu heads west
Gov. Chris Sununu’s out-of-state travel for GOP causes and candidates continued with a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo., last Thursday.
Sununu spoke to the summer summit of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Over the past month, Sununu has been to Iowa, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. He returns to New Hampshire Sunday.
No taxpayer money was spent on his travel.
“Governor Sununu is redefining what it means to take time off. Instead of dealing with the skyrocketing energy prices or the severe housing crisis his failed administration has caused, or his own party’s attacks on LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive healthcare, he is, once again, abandoning Granite Staters to build his national profile,” said Monica Venzke, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
Sununu said he only accepts a small percentage of the number of requests he receives to speak outside New Hampshire.
Parade of 2024 candidates
The raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort had many political analysts concluding this would only cement Trump as the overwhelming favorite should he make a White House comeback run in 2024.
This is unless the disclosure of what Trump took from the Oval Office is so damaging that he looks more like a felon than a victim.
None of this has discouraged other potential Republican hopefuls from spending the summer dropping in and out of New Hampshire.
The parade continues Tuesday, with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., returning here as the keynote luncheon speaker at the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club, where the Republican State Committee is holding a golf tournament.
The following morning, former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to the Politics and Eggs forum at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on the campus of Saint Anselm College.
Sparks likely in debate
The second debate of the five major Republican candidates for U.S. Senate takes place Tuesday morning on the “Good Morning New Hampshire” program with Jack Heath on the Pulse of New Hampshire radio network.
Heath will moderate the 9-11 a.m. showdown. He said he intends to keep the format loose to give the candidates some running room to shape it.
Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, wants to improve on his first performance at the IOP last month, where he turtled to attacks from Fenton and other rivals.
Look for him to give as much as he takes at this one.
Rudy thumbs-up to Smith
Only a few weeks ago, the campaign of GOP Senate hopeful Kevin Smith told us that former Trump lawyer/White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani and Smith “hadn’t spoken in years.”
Absence apparently does make the heart grow fonder, since Giuliani heaped praise on Smith’s candidacy during an appearance of the two on Giuliani’s radio talk show last week.
“Kevin Smith for the Senate. It used to be for governor. He’d have been a great governor. He’ll be a great senator,” Giuliani concluded.
In 2010, Giuliani supported Smith’s run for governor in the GOP primary, which he lost to two-time nominee Ovide Lamontagne.
Smith volunteered for and endorsed Giuliani’s presidential campaign.Lamontagne semi-retiring
After decades as a partner in the Devine, Millimet law firm, Lamontagne is currently with Bernstein Shur where he said he’s now “of counsel” and transitioning into semi-retirement.
He looks forward to spending more time at his camp on Lake Umbagog with his wife, Bettie, two daughters and foster son.
Lamontagne will teach a course this fall at St. Anselm’s in constitutional law.
“I’m looking forward to that experience. I’m sure it will be a real challenge,” Lamontagne said.NH productivity high
According to new research from the online magazine digital-adoption.com, New Hampshire had the fifth-highest increases in productivity since 2012.
Massachusetts, which finished seventh, was the only other East Coast state in the top 10.
The study, based on federal labor data, found New Hampshire’s labor pay went up 54% over the decade and output per worker rose 18.4%.
Washington, California, Kansas and Colorado finished ahead of the Granite State.
Ayotte helps House GOP
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte will be the “guest of honor” for a major fundraiser Aug. 30 at the McIntyre Ski Area to benefit the Committee to Elect House Republicans.
Tickets are $100 for the 5:30 p.m. event, with sponsorships going as high as $5,000.
The New Hampshire Home Builders Association, Morse and Mansharamani are signed up as sponsors.
Ex-Trump aide returns
Former Acting Director of Intelligence Ric Grenell is coming to campaign for 1st Congressional District candidate Matt Mowers of Gilford.
He’ll appear at an “Granite Grill Out” event Aug. 28 in Manchester.
“Matt Mowers is the America First candidate the people of New Hampshire need,” said Grenell, who also was Trump’s ambassador to Germany.
Smith Pharma role probed
The New Hampshire Democratic Party sent Londonderry town officials a Right-to-Know Law request seeking Smith’s contact with employees regarding the town council’s 2021 decision to approve the bankruptcy of the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.
Londonderry had joined Nashua and other communities in 2018 in suing Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid epidemic.
The town voted to approve the bankruptcy, which both Hassan and Sununu opposed.
They said it would effectively let the Sackler family off the hook for their conduct.
The Smith campaign dismissed the request as “baseless.”
“This is nothing more than a baseless political cheap shot at local leaders like Kevin who have been left to fight this crisis on the front lines while failed politicians like Maggie Hassan have been completely absent. In fact, it was under Kevin Smith that Londonderry sued pharmaceutical makers in the first place,” said Campaign Manager Seb Rougemont.
Former U.S. Atty. and Executive Councilor Tom Colantuono had recommended the settlement and Smith did no direct work on the case, he said.
