From the inbox:
Oh goodie! A letter from our congressman Frank Guinta!
Oh look its a survey! Let’s see what he wants to know.
Ok, I think that will cover it!
Progressive Action New Hampshire
To encourage progressive action events and discussion in New Hampshire
Tag Archives: Frank Guinta
Guinta Revealed by FEC Investigation to Be Very Spoiled and Very Ungrateful
Frank Guinta, District 1 (R) and shame of New Hampshire.
The Union Leader, in their so far unsuccessful campaign to chase NH District 1 Congressman and General Embarrassment out of office, has taken the time to read through the FEC investigation. According to the Union Leader report, Guinta’s mother ” told investigators that she and her husband “decided $1 million of wealth would be available to each of their three children,” Thus ma and pa gave Frankie checks that in effect became advances on that one million dollar inheritance. But that doesn’t stop there. Ma and pa also took care of Frankie when he ran for mayor of Manchester, paying for his campaign expenses, his credit cards and even paying the mortgages on his two properties:
Even though its a bit old now, its never too late to take at look the collection of commentary from the O’Brien Doofus Brigade: Miscellany Blue: The Enemy of my Enemy is My Friend
“His parents wrote him other checks between 2001 and 2010, totaling at least $57,050 to pay for a variety of Guinta’s personal expenses, “such as his mayor campaign, his credit card bills, and his mortgages on two properties,” according to the FEC report.” What really hits home though about Guinta’s character besides how obvious it is that a man who runs as a Tea Partier, an ultra-conservative party that loves to bleat about self sufficiency and hard work, should at least walk the walk. In other words, if you believe in being a responsible hard worker then be one and stop asking mom and dad to bail you out and pay for your personal expenses. That’s just being spoiled, creepy family grifter which may be why his sister explained that she had no idea about any money at all being set aside for anyone. Every dysfunctional family has one; the spoiled child who gets all the attention, all the support and adulation of their parents, often at the expense of other members of the family. We hope his sister was on the phone looking for her 1 million as soon as her deposition had ended.
The Sting of Rejection – Frank Guinta’s Public Shaming
Protesters from the Take Down Guinta campaign, 2012.
Sign Petition Calling on Guinta to Resign!
There’s no sting worse in politics than when your own party bites you on your soft-spot and right now Frank Guinta must be feeling some serious sting. But of course, baby-face Frankie can’t say he didn’t bring it on himself. Burdened with the load of his investigation by the Federal Election Commission and the embarrassment of his constant insistence on innocence, the GOP and their chorus, most notably the Union Leader, have broken their silence and come out demanding Guinta resign.
First, let’s not forget that this investigation more than likely occurred because of the pressure from good progressive activism such as CREDO supported Take Down Guinta campaign in 2012. Activists have long asked why Frank Guinta had a sudden dump of $355,000 in his political action fund during the 2010 election for the first congressional seat. At that time Guinta had refused to disclose the source of that money and other funds he “loaned” his election campaign as Jon Hopwood explains in a 2012 article on Guinta for the Examiner,
The loan, the terms of which Guinta refused to disclose during the campaign, triggered an FEC investigation.
That campaign loan was the reason Guinta was named one of the 10 most corrupt politicians in Congress, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW cited Guinta as he had “fudged the numbers and cooked the books to buy a seat in Congress.”
The organization reported that Guinta had given his campaign loans of $100,000 and $245,000 despite having a $72,000 annual salary as mayor of Manchester and a relatively modest investment portfolio. Guinta made the loans without liquidating any assets.
And on the story goes with Guinta weaving a web of lies for years while the FEC slowly investigated his claims. Now apparently Guinta has settled with the FEC. We’re sure he hopes to move on in his political career and Frank’s wrongdoings will dissolve into the ether of the short American psyche. That might be so but we’re thinking the GOP and their supporters may have other ideas. Calls for him to resign have arisen from nearly every political corner:
Union Leader Editorial staff called for Guinta’s resignation Guinta Must Go and the refrain was repeated earily this week when Joe McQuaid publisher placed on the editorial page:
Ouch, that must hurt!
and Foster’s reports that the big boys aren’t happy either, Boehner Doesn’t Defend Guinta Over Contributions. Then the Concord Monitor weighs in, To Best Serve the State, Guinta Must Step Down.
Oh yes and even the guys back home in the state house aren’t too thrilled about Frankie either, with House Speaker and long-time Republican Shawn Jasper observing, “I believe it would be in the best interests of the people of the first congressional district if he step down from his position in the United States Congress.”
Jeb Bradley, State Senate majority leader chimed in to the chorus telling the NY Times, “I think he’s on a really small island,” Mr. Bradley said. “I think the charges are serious and disturbing and at some point he needs to think about doing what’s better for New Hampshire than himself.”
NH’s largest television news station WMUR said they caught Kelly Ayotte on the phone, “Senator Ayotte, who is expected to face a tough re-election battle next year, has said she told Mr. Guinta by phone that he should step down. “This is a decision he needs to make, but if I were in his position, that’s what I would do.”
But unfortunately, the NH Republican Executive Committee chose to stand by Guinta, ignoring the cries for his resignation saying in a statement released to the press 3 days ago and reported by WMUR,
But the party executive committee, after speaking with Guinta by telephone for about a half-hour on Monday night, parted ways with the four top elected officials. It unanimously adopted a statement that did not call for Guinta’s resignation but instead said that he has acknowledged mistakes, “takes responsibility for them and is taking actions required by the Federal Election Commission.”
“Unless further information comes to light, the executive committee of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee will take no further action,” the committee said.
Frankie went on the tube to blather on about how he was humbled by the committee’s support and he’ll work on making things right, yeah yeah.
The fact remains that citizens of congressional district 1 in New Hampshire are stuck with a hollow man for their representative. Apparently Frankie has no threshold of shame that would cause him to want to resign and live out of the public spotlight.
But that doesn’t mean people can’t fight back. NH Labor News has put together a petition for citizens of the state to register their disgust that a criminal and a liar can stay in office to represent them in Washington. Check out the petition and add your signature!
Petition: Congressman Guinta Should Resign Over FEC Violations
Notable quotables…
Dream of the Sun:
From often very quotable and ever erudite Tim Smith, Democratic state rep, Manchester Ward 10:
“The world’s first solar-power photovoltaic cell was invented in 1839, by Edmond Becquerel in France. The first coal-powered electric power station (in fact, THE first power station) was built 43 years later (1882) on Pearl Street in NYC.
There’s simply no excuse why our global electrical grids are based off fossil fuels. The amount of R&D time we’ve squandered has been costly, indeed ….”
*********************************************************
The firefighter spouts off:
Mark MacKenzie, AFL-CIO President who won a recent re-election by a very narrow vote (24 votes) is facing a charge of corruption by his opponent, Glenn Brackett. Brackett claims that 691 ballots were thrown out due to a technical error. The Union Leader gets some insider information on the election and does their duty to report.
Although we can understand that MacKenzie might have some sweat around the collar right now but geez Mark, really?
When questioned about the dispute by a Union Leader reporter, MacKenzie responded (as the reporter then of course reported): “This is none of your business, this is being handled internally by our members. This is not in any way a matter of public record. For you to have that letter is inappropriate.” [MacKenzie referring to a letter Brackett wrote in his appeal to the union for an investigation].
But he doesn’t stop there:
The reporter then reported (as reporters must do): “MacKenzie told a Union Leader reporter that, if the newspaper ran a story about the letter, he would seek whatever legal remedy he could. ‘You do what you want to do,’ he said. ‘This is none of your business. If you run this, I will do what I can to come after the Union Leader.’
While MacKenzie then backed off a little and the UL reporter did also quote that, the fact remains that McKenzie gave the union hating Union Leader an appetizer, then an entree and a final desert of some good old fashioned union thug verbiage. You’d think after thirty years as president McKenzie would know better than to feed the vultures.
********************************************************
Dude, I was so drunk…
Carl Gibson, a volunteer charged with running a Twitter account for Maureen Mann attempted to screw up Maureen Mann’s campaign in Rockingham District 32 after being fired after a week on the job. How does Mr. Gibson, the aspiring journalist/aspiring political operator respond? By making up a fake email purporting to be from Mann’s opponent that said she was dropping out of the race.
Gibson is quite over it, glibly responding to a Concord Monitor’s inquiry by passing off his behavior as “having too many beers” and claiming that, as apparently a self appointed great champion of the left, he was “trying to lead her [Mann] left“. Unsuccessful, he decided he didn’t like her or her opponent and thought he’d just play a little joke on her while drunk, “I thought it was funny. I didn’t really think it would be taken seriously,” said Gibson.
As a result the opponent understandably called the election commission and understandably as well, Mann said she welcomed any investigation into the matter. “Rat-fucking” an election is taken pretty seriously and you’d think the self-styled journalist, wannabe political operative might know this. Mann has handled this whole episode with grace and openness and moved on.
Gibson hasn’t been quite so tactful about the mess he made, preferring to use the tactic common among twelve year olds of dissing your opponent when your back is up against the wall, “We left on kind of bad terms. I haven’t talked to her in about a month and a half or so,” he said, adding he doesn’t like either candidate in the special election for Rockingham County’s 32nd district and “if they could both lose that’d be great.”
While many speculate on the motives of Gibson, no doubt the voters of Rockingham District 32 would rather their electoral process play out in the more traditional, democratic way.
And of course Jennifer Horn (NH RNC Chair) has to horn in on the whole thing, being her usual mean-girl self attempting to smear Mann stating, “The fact that Maureen Mann trusted a radical extremist who engages in illegal campaign activity to work on her race speaks volumes about her and her candidacy. Mr. Gibson’s deplorable attempt to spread misinformation was clearly designed to help Maureen Mann and disenfranchise Yvonne Dean-Bailey’s supporters,”
Let us say that Gibson never presented to anyone as an “extremist”, heck we’ve published a couple of his written pieces on this blog. Mann had him handle a Twitter account and for only a week. Twitter, a social media tool and he screwed the pooch on that so Mann had enough, fired him and changed his password. Also, the stunt had Mann on the defensive, not her opponent. Draw in your claws Cruella and let the election carry on.
********************************************
Frankie Goes Nowhere
Finally, now that baby-face Republican US Congressman, (NH DIstrict 1), Frank Guinta has finally been charged by the FEC with accepting campaign contributions from his parents that far exceeded the legal amount (to the tune of $355,000). The Boston Globe has a good story about the whole affair and how he’s now become the dead man walking with the NH GOP. But what we find notable is Frank’s continued efforts to deny that ma and pa just got a little too over zealous in helping their baby-boy. He has insisted all along that the funds were his. The Globe quotes him from a prepared statement to the press, “… I have always maintained the money I lent myself was, in fact, money I had generated since the early 1970s.”
That’s a lot of paper delivery money Frankie.
Guinta partying with his Tea Party friends. Where are your buddies now Frankie?
Don’t Have Insurance? Don’t Get Care! Says NH Congressman Guinta
Yes, he said it, but he didn’t just say that he believes hospitals should have the right to turn away patients, but he also re-frames the question by saying, ‘if you are 25 years old and you are choosing…” Yeah. choosing, because you know purchasing a health insurance policy is as easy as buying a pair of sneakers, amirite?
So typical of the Tea Bagger, wing-nut claim, people choose to be poor and choose to have low-wage jobs and choose to not purchase health insurance. Sort of like the collection agent who calls and demands that you pay off that bill even if that means your lights get shut off and your car gets re-po’ed because, hey didn’t you choose to get sick or injured, didn’t you kid choose that fever?
Sure and didn’t you choose to live in a country where gigantic mega-companies can rule your life and decide whether you paid your fee to stay alive and healthy today? Well, did you? Because if you didn’t, Guinta’s got news for you; get out and don’t let the revolving door slam you in your crippled, sickened ass, moocher! (and that means grandma too).
From ThinkProgress:
Republican Congressman Says Hospitals Should Be Allowed To Turn Away Patients Who Don’t Have Insurance
By Scott Keyes on Oct 18, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH)
CONWAY, New Hampshire — Finding bipartisan agreement on any policy is a rarity these days, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have supported treating people who show up in the hospital, regardless of their ability to pay. Now, one Tea Party congressman is taking issue with that requirement.
Giving literal meaning to his state’s “Live Free Or Die” motto, Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) was asked at a debate Thursday about a hypothetical 25-year-old who needs treatment in the emergency room but doesn’t have health insurance. Guinta’s said he opposed the requirement that hospitals should have to treat people who come in without insurance. “If you are 25 years old and you are choosing not to purchase insurance with the expectation of trying to get it free from the ER at Memorial,” Guinta said, “that shouldn’t be the case”:
Continue reading at Think Progress where there is video as well.
Progressive Action New Hampshire 