In an effort to bolster comprehensive immigration reform legislation efforts in Washington, Former NH GOP Chair Fergus Cullen highlighted the economic reasons for reform. “We have students coming from overseas to study at UNH graduating with MBAs and PhDs”, Cullen said. However, instead of staying in America to work he pointed out that many are choosing to return to their native countries. Cullen called this exodus “nuts” and referred to Senator Gregg’s supportive comments favoring reform.

Also at the table, Former Ambassador to Belize turned immigration lawyer George Bruno pointed out that Senator Gregg, Senator Shaheen, Congressman Hodes and Congresswoman Shea-Porter have all come out with support for immigration reform before year end. Bruno also pressed for support of a New Hampshire State Senate resolution – currently working its way through legislative channels – calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

John Young of the New England Apple Growers Council pointed to complications in the immigration process for temporary workers stating, “It’s just not working.” Young stated that, “For every job lost by migrant workers, five jobs are lost up and down the chain”, referring to the closing of farms and jobs lost by distributors.

As the immigration debate continues to boil, Now Hampshire.com will be there as it happens…

Support for CFPA has remained divided along party lines. Senator Gregg who sits on the Senate Banking Committee as well as subcommittees on financial institutions, securities and investments, has spoke in opposition to the bill said it was “about as far to the left as you could get.”

Congressman Hodes in his bid for Senator Gregg’s vacating seat, last week took aim at Gregg and Republicans for not supporting the Democrats version of financial reform. Hodes called for Gregg to stand up for New Hampshire families and not that of the “big banks of Wall Street”.

Sources close to NowHampshire say that Republicans, who appear to remain unified against CFPA, remain concerned that the resulting Consumer Financial Protection Agency will result in the complete takeover of credit and banking by the federal government.

NowHampshire will continue to follow post-vote developments as they happen….

Rich Ashooh with John Lynch and Jeanne Shaheen

But one Republican congressional candidate appears to have more in common with the cap-and-trade supporters than conservatives.

Rich Ashooh served on the board of directors of the New England Council. This organization supports “a multi-state cap-and-trade program,” according to its website.

“After the cap-and-trade program for power plants is implemented, the states may consider expanding the program to other kinds of sources,” the group states.

The Council would also like to see cap-and-trade expanded to the federal government. The groups says it “favor[s] [a] national comprehensive program over fragmented regional/state approaches,” according to a document obtained by NowHampshire.com.

Ashooh has also been heavily involved in the One Campaign, which supports a global warming agreement that would essentially require the US to impose a domestic cap-and-trade regime.

Ashooh avoids any mention of the issue altogether on his website.

According to a new poll by the University of New Hampshire only 35% of likely voters approve of the job Shea-Porter is doing in Congress. 40% disapprove. 24% are neutral or don’t know for sure how they feel.

Even worse, all potential Republican candidates for Congress – even the lesser-known candidates – would defeat her if the election were held today. Former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta performs best against Shea-Porter, defeating her in a hypothetical match up 43% -33%.

In her most damaging blunder, Shea-Porter actually called up a reporter at the Portsmouth Herald and claimed she had never been removed from a George W. Bush town hall event in 2005. A FOIA request filed by NowHampshire.com yielded that Shea-Porter was lying and that she had actually been removed by two police officers.

But this gaffe is not an isolated event. Below is a compendium of Shea-Porter’s gaffes, botches, blunders and outrageous moments:

The New Hampshire Union Leader has the full story.

The controversy is sure to add yet another dimension to Shea-Porter’s problematic history with town hall meetings.

Before she was a member of Congress, Shea-Porter was removed from a President George W. Bush town hall meeting in Portsmouth by two police officers. Shea-Porter later denied to the media that she had been removed. But after filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Portsmouth Police Department, NowHampshire.com learned that she had, in fact been removed.

This August, during the heat of the congressional town hall fury, Shea-Porter avoided hosting any such events but eventually caved after receiving significant criticism from the media and the public.

She taunted town hall protesters by calling them “tea baggers,” a derisive phrase she has refused to apologize for using.

When Shea-Porter eventually did host a town hall meeting, the event dissolved into shouting matches and a retired police officer was ultimately escorted out of the building:

WWE CEO Linda McMahon

The poll, conducted on behalf of former-WWE CEO Linda McMahon, shows McMahon leading former Congressman Rob Simmons by two points in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. The poll raised eyebrows because it was the first to show McMahon in the lead. McMahon has been spending enormous sums of money to bolster her campaign.

But Moore Information is being investigated by the New Hampshire Attorney General to determine whether the firm was involved in an illegal anti-Mormon push poll in New Hampshire.

According to a January 3, 2008 press release:

Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying who employed Moore-Information of Portland, Oregon to conduct a poll in New Hampshire, in November 2007, which has been alleged to be a push-poll. New Hampshire’s voters deserve to know whether any candidate in our Presidential Primary violated New Hampshire’s push-poll statute.

On Friday, November 16, 2007, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office received complaints from both Mitt Romney for President, Inc., and John McCain 2008, Inc., alleging that an illegal push-poll was being conducted in New Hampshire, contrary to New Hampshire RSA 664:2, XVII and RSA 664:16-a. As a result of these complaints, this Office commenced an investigation.
…
Based on the information gathered to date, it has been determined that Western Wats, of Orem, Utah, conducted the telephone poll at issue. It was also determined that Moore-Information, Inc. located at 2130 SW Jefferson Street, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon hired Western Wats to conduct the poll, was involved in developing the content of the transcript for the poll, and set the dates for the poll to be conducted in New Hampshire.

The Hartford Courant confirmed on Monday that the case is open and that it is still investigating Moore Information.

Earlier this month, another McMahon consultant, Mike Slanker, received a subpoena from the Senate Ethics Committee in the controversy surrounding Senator John Ensign of Nevada.

He was the first Republican candidate in New Hampshire to back the third-party efforts of Doug Hoffman over the establishment party candidate in NY-23 (Kelly Ayotte also backed Hoffman). And he has been critical of party leaders for backing candidates in competitive primaries.

Just this weekend, Lamontagne repeated those criticisms to the POLITICO’s Josh Kraushaar:

“I’m the only candidate who’s running for this race who has run for office before. I know how to win in a primary. I’ve decided this is the right time to do it,” said Lamontagne. “I’m not the establishment candidate, and I never will be. I’m going to run based on conservative values.”

In the interview with POLITICO, he criticized GOP Senate leaders in Washington for weighing in on behalf of Ayotte’s campaign well before the primary field even developed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) headlined a fundraiser on Ayotte’s behalf in September.

This isn’t the first time Lamontagne has run against the party establishment. In 1996, he stunned New Hampshire political insiders by defeating then-Rep. Bill Zeliff to win the GOP nomination for governor before losing to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.

Interestingly, though, it appears as though Lamontagne himself sought, well something, from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, though it is unclear what exactly. In early-June, Lamontagne requested a meeting with the committee to discuss his then-exploratory senate efforts. According to National Journal:

Sources say that Ovide Lamontagne, a NH atty, visited the NRSC yesterday. Another sign, if one was needed, that the GOP bench in the Granite State isn’t deep.

The meeting was at his request; NRSC staffers will sit down with any credible candidate who expresses an interest in running. Lamontagne ran unsuccessfully for GOV in ’96 against Dem Jeanne Shaheen.

Whatever they discussed, few doubt Lamontagne’s conservative bona fides and his vote-earning work ethic as a candidate, though some pro-life leaders reacted angrily to his involvement in a deal to merge Catholic Medical Center with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

NowHampshire.com has inquired as to whether the newspaper will be covering Executive Council races in the 2010 election. We await a reply.

Sign of the Times

The council approved a state guarantee loan of up to $250,000 for the new publishers of the resurrected Claremont Eagle Times.

The loan is for working capital for Eagle Printing and Publishing, the company linked to the Pennsylvania media group that emerged as the suitor after its previous ownership sought bankruptcy protection four months ago.

The lenders will pay an interest rate of 5 percent for the first year and following that, the prime lending rate plus 1.25 percent.

For its part, the guarantee makes the state liable for up to 75 percent of any amount on which the group defaults.

“He’s not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there’s no way,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said on WEEI-AM Radio. “The way I saw him move today, I don’t know if he’ll be ready.”

The Celtics begin their first round of the postseason this weekend at the Garden against the Chicago Bulls. They’ve met three times this year and the Celtics won the first two games by at least 16 points. The third game, the only game Garnett missed, the Celtics lost by 6.

Garnett is an essential part of the team, part of the “Big Three” trio of himself, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. The 6-11 power forward is a sure bet for the Hall of Fame and is considered perhaps the best defensive player in the NBA. Without him, the team has won 14 and lost 7 in 21 games.

“If he can’t get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don’t know how you can play in the playoffs,” Coach Rivers added. “This was an honest run today, you couldn’t make your way through it. The guy’s a warrior, you see him try to mask his way through it. But after 20 minutes of running, I don’t see it. After today, there’s no way he can play.”

“He was frustrated. He was mad at me, mad at everybody. Then he understood,” Coach Rivers said. “He put up a fight. He’s really frustrated, but that’s Kevin. That’s why we got him, because he cares so much.”

Glen “Big Baby” Davis needs to be given some credit though. After coming off the bench to replace Garnett, he has averaged 13.5 points and 5.8 reounds since the beginning of March. His occasional nights of brilliance will have to become a regular thing if the Celtics want to repeat.