It Starts Early for Girls

It starts early for girls. Most of us have the experience of being grabbed and manhandled by some adult man before we’re old enough to vote. Possibly before we reach puberty. It might be a stranger, or a family friend. It might be a family member. It might happen on the job, especially if that first job is in food service. Restaurants do not pay waitresses. They subcontract that duty out to customers. Young women learn early that they must be pleasing and flirtatious, and tolerate unacceptable behavior with a smile if they want to be paid. It provides excellent early training for young women in what they can expect for the rest of their lives. That early grooming may be one reason we see some women defending Trump.

By now you’ve heard Donald Trump boasting on tape about how celebrity status means you can kiss and grab women, in the crudest of terms, to his giggling, testosterone fueled fratboy buddy, one of the lesser Bushes. Trump was 60 years old at the time. His wife was pregnant. For me the worst part of the whole tape was the way he referred to the actress that he and Fratboy Bush were about to glom onto as “it” - as in “it looks good.” Women aren’t actually people to Trump, they are objects. If they look good, they are objects that Trump is entitled to. If he doesn’t find them attractive, they are objects for public ridicule.

To dismiss this as “locker room talk” is not only insulting to women, it’s insulting to all of the decent men in the world who would never dream of speaking or acting that way. It’s a way of slapping the old “boys will be boys” label on this mess, as if we should tolerate and expect this behavior from boys, even when the boys in question are nearly old enough to collect Social Security.

This has created a big problem for the GOP, who weren’t all that popular with women to begin with. The recent émigrés to the Trump bandwagon are in a real predicament. In February, John Sununu Pere wrote an editorial piece for the Union Leader and urged people not to drink the “Trump Kool-Aid.” Recently we learned he’d been guzzling that particular beverage, presumably in the hopes that his son would be able to ride Trump’s coattails to the governor’s mansion. Chris Sununu isn’t backing down. He’s blithely giving Trump a pass, something his daughter may have a few things to say about in the future.

Speaking of daughters, imagine being one of Trump’s daughters, hearing that tape of their father discussing how he grabs women by the genitals, and “they let him”. The night of the debate, his younger daughter engaged in what appeared to be a very practiced maneuver to avoid being kissed by her father. One of my friends sent me the clip. He’s disgusted that we live in a world where girls learn how to do this.

Since this big revelation, we’ve seen a lot of reactions. Some Republicans have washed their hands of Trump. Senator Kelly Ayotte was engaging in a curious kind of dance, where she said she was supporting Trump but not endorsing him. She wanted to show her support for the GOP ideology without taking any kind of principled stand against Trump. She’s been freed to ditch him. Serial liar Frank Guinta once hoped to ride the Trumptails back to Congress, and now has to contend with not only the withering contempt of the NH Union Leader (the GOP’s statewide newsletter) but also with the fleas he’s picking up from lying down with that particular dog. Guinta also has a daughter. How proud she must be.

There is a certain irony in the fact that Trump started off by demonizing Mexicans, then moved on to all-purpose xenophobia by demonizing all immigrants, Muslims, and mocked a reporter with a disability. By far and away, though, the majority of his contempt throughout the years has been for women. His bizarre obsession with Rosie O’Donnell comes to mind. Once you have a billion dollars, and build yourself a tacky gilded palace complete with gold plated plumbing fixtures, one appears to have a lot of time on one’s hands for celebrity feuds and beauty pageants. The way he spoke about Miss Universe is certainly a lesson in perceived ownership, racism and contempt.

This is what a big chunk of the electorate wants to elevate to the highest office in our land. A morally bankrupt individual who loudly bellows ignorant proclamations, engages in rambling, sniffly speeches, promises to fix things but has no actual plan for anything, other than yonking down a tic-tac and kissing some women and grabbing them. Our country is sick. Trump isn’t the disease, but he’s the loudest and orangest symptom of it.

The disease is the contempt for government that the Republican Party began to nurture during the Reagan administration. They said gummint was the problem, and went on to elect a host of folks who did their level best to prove it. That was further fed by the Citizens United decision that unleashed unrestricted cash in the service of electing more terrible people. Tea Party ideologues have taken root and worked hard to obstruct in Congress, in the US Senate, and in state legislatures throughout the land, including New Hampshire.

This election cycle has cheapened the process so much that I don’t see how we can ever recover. Whatever happens in the general election – the aftermath is going to be ugly.

Trump has provided us with a barometer. Those who are supporting him despite recent revelations have made an illustrative choice. They may say that Trump’s commentary was offensive, give it the locker-room whitewash, and label it a distraction – but the fact that they’ve chosen to continue to support him means that they have just as much contempt for women and even more contempt for the process than their candidate.   

It starts early for girls. There’s no end in sight.

Frank's Franking 2016

Step into the wayback machine, kids. We're going to travel all the way back to 2010. You may remember that Frank Guinta made a lot of noise about the alleged abuses of the House franking system by Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter. From Guinta's Blog:

 There is a thin line between maintaining a rapport with one’s constituents and electioneering. These pamphlets violate the idea of a “Congressional Update,” and show an abuse of a representative’s franking privileges. This is not the first time either, that Carol Shea-Porter has been singled out in the past as well for exploiting tax dollars for personal gain. 

Yes, Frank was quite incensed. While he was on the campaign trail, that is. Once he landed in Congress, he became the number one franking abuser.  

Lets Be Frank About Frank's Franking:

The Bakersfield Californian had a story in their Sunday edition about how much members of Congress spend on franking privileges:

* Also among individual House members, Rep. Frank C. Guinta, R-N.H., spent the most on franked mail in 2011: $164,650.

And in 2016?  From Roll Call  

On average, members running for re-election in non-safe districts spent $172 per day on mail franking. That’s far more than the $63 per day that members in safe districts have spent.

Three of the top four spenders on mail between January 2015 and March 2016 are running in some of the most vulnerable districts in the country: Republican Reps. Rod Blum in Iowa's 1st District, Frank C. Guinta in the New Hampshire 1st and Will Hurd in the Texas 23rd.

Jay Ruais, chief of staff for Guinta, said the congressman is “committed to openness and transparency, including communicating our efforts on behalf of Granite Staters, important at a time when many feel alienated from their federal government. As a result of our correspondence, constituents have offered ideas for legislation that Rep. Guinta introduced in Congress, and a few have even been signed into law.”

Yeah, Frank is a real paragon of transparency. From How Do You Spell Apology: 

On October 27, 2014, WMUR televised a debate between Guinta and Shea-Porter. I was there. When Shea-Porter asked about the money, Guinta said he’d been cleared by the FEC, in Dec. 2010, before he was even sworn in, and he had been exonerated. He accused Carol of lying about his record, and huffily announced, “The people of NH ought to know the truth.”  

He's right about that. The people of NH ought to know the truth. It's just that Frank won't ever tell it. I'll give the Union Leader the last word:

The Other Side Does It Too

Ethics: A social, religious, or civil code of behavior considered correct, especially that of a particular group, profession, or individual.

Consequence: something that happens as the result of a particular action or set of conditions.

Ethics issues and politics go together. Money and power corrupt. This is nothing new. What’s newer is our growing willingness to accept it, cry that both sides do it, and continue on with our political cynicism.

Famous ethics violators who are Democrats: Rep. Charlie Rangel of NY is a one-man personal finance disaster. Rep. Max Baucus nominated his girlfriend for a job in the Justice Department.   Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich went to prison for a variety of colorful offenses. Ohio Congressman James Traficant (of the large and defiant toupee) went to prison for taking bribes, racketeering, and filing false tax returns. Sen. Robert Menendez of NY has been investigated for taking improper gifts and taking action to benefit donors.

Famous ethics violators who are Republicans: Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois complained that he was too broke to pay child support, while loaning money to his Congressional campaign. Rep. Darrell Issa of California broke federal disclosure laws when he inserted information from a sealed wiretap application into the Congressional Record. Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois resigned in March after we learned that he used taxpayer money to fund lavish trips. He’s the one who redecorated his Congressional office to look like Downton Abbey. Tennessee Rep. Marcia Blackburn has had problems with reporting campaign contributions and expenditures.

Other famous GOP ethics violators include: President Richard Nixon, President Ronald Reagan, and President George W. Bush.

There are seldom consequences for those who flout the law. None of the Republicans on my list spent time in prison. Only two resigned. Schock was in Congress long enough to get a pension. Nixon got his pension too.

On a local level, State Representative Gene Chandler had an ethics problem about 10 years ago, when it was discovered that he wasn’t reporting funds raised at his annual corn roast, when donors like RJ Reynolds were making contributions.  Chandler used this fund to pay for his living expenses, claiming he thought that was allowed. He also claimed he didn’t know he was supposed to report the fund, despite having been instructed to do so a couple of times by Speaker Donna Sytek. Former Carroll County Republican Chairman Maynard Thomson stepped down from his position just as the NH Attorney General’s office sent him a letter informing him that he’d violated the law with his improperly filed campaign expenditure reports. Thomson acknowledged that he’d done a sloppy job of reporting, but blamed the Democrats for reporting him. After all, someone with his (self-touted) superior intellect shouldn’t be expected to perform the same menial tasks that the peasants do. He’s busy! He’s important! Personal responsibility doesn’t apply to Republicans!

Our own NH Congressman Frank Guinta has a BIG ethics problem. The FEC released their report on Frank, wherein they found (in a rare 6-0 unanimous finding) that Frank lied about his magic bank account. The only support Frank has these days comes from the O’Brien wing of the NH GOP, where ethics are…how you say….fluid. Frank’s still digging himself in, claiming it was really his money, despite the fact that his name wasn’t on the account, the checks written by his mother had “LOAN” written on the memo line, and he has been able to produce no paperwork to prove he ever put anything into the account. Despite ongoing calls for his resignation, Frank has steadfastly refused. Given that he has to pay back his parents and pay the FEC fine, he can’t afford to resign. He’s also stated his intent to run again in 2016. Primary candidates are giving Frank a wide berth, not wanting his presence at their events, his endorsement, or anything to do with him.

Former State Rep. Fran Wendelboe came to Frank’s defense last week in the Concord Monitor. Her defense began with, “But Hillary.” She also went off into the land of how Republicans always take the high moral ground. We’ve certainly seen a lot of that recently, what with Josh Duggar and Dennis Hastert. When the best defense any politico has is “the other side does it, too” – you are not taking any kind of high ground. Taking the high ground is cleaning up your own side of the street, and holding your own folks accountable for their unethical and illegal behavior.

Former NH State Representative Maureen Mann recently modeled ethical behavior for us. She had a young man named Carl Gibson volunteering on her campaign during the special election in Rockingham Dist. 32. About a week into his work on her social media sites, he was fired. A month and a half later, he sent out a bogus press release claiming that the Republican candidate had dropped out of the race. When the NHGOP started their predictable cycle of wailing, Maureen joined them in calling for an investigation, saying that attempts to manipulate elections should not be tolerated. That didn’t stop the NHGOP for blaming her for his actions, even though she’d fired him over a month earlier. There is much to be suspicious in this act of deliberate sabotage, but I suspect we’ll never know if Mr. Gibson was paid to perform it or by whom.  

Our investigative bodies are either underfunded or inept. Investigations seldom involve consequences. Frank Guinta stood in front of television cameras last fall and called Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter a liar for saying there was an open FEC investigation into his campaign finances. We now know that it was Frank who was lying. He’s never apologized to our former Congresswoman. As is so often the case - there are no consequences for lying. We don’t seem to expect our politicians to behave ethically any more, and are far too willing to accept the mantra of “the other side does it too,” as some sort of justification.

The acceptance of ethical violations leads to cynicism, which leads to more voters failing to participate in our elections.

Will we have the courage to start cleaning up and expecting better?

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. – Confucious

This was published as an op-ed in the June 12, 2015 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

Yvonne Dean-Bailey is all PAC'd Up

This is Yvonne Dean-Bailey. She's from Northwood, NH. Last year she graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. She's a freshman at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA.  

Ms. Dean-Bailey is running for the NH House, in a special election being held in Rockingham County District 32. She thinks she'll transfer to UNH. Otherwise the commute might be a mite onerous.

A special election is being held because Brian Dobson, who won the November election went to work for Congressman Frank Guinta before he was ever sworn in. (Great career move, Brian!!) The 4 towns of the district now have to pony up roughly $20,000 each for the special election. They should send Guinta the bill. Of course with the $355,000 he has to pay back in illegal campaign funds and the $15,000 fine to the FEC, unFrank isn't exactly rolling in dough. 

Dean-Bailey won the GOP primary against another college student, Brian Stone, who attends UNH. Brian was arrested for violating a protective order shortly before the primary. The Democratic candidate is Maureen Mann of Deerfield, who has served two terms in the NH House. 

Rockingham 32 consists of the towns of Candia, Deerfield, Northwood, and Nottingham. The special election is being held on Tuesday, May 19. 

I spent some time wading through both candidate's online receipt and expenditure forms at the NH Secretary of State's website. 

Yvonne Dean-Bailey is a remarkably well financed candidate. She is running for the NH House of Representatives, where she hopes to be one of 400 "volunteer" representatives who will earn the princely sum of $100 a year.  A candidate for the NH House typically raises about $1000. 

Dean-Bailey is the beneficiary of $3,050 in outright cash donations from PACs:

The NH Federation of Republican Women gave $200
The NH Liberty Alliance gave $1000
House Victory PAC gave $1000
Friends of Regina Birdsell Pac gave $100
NH Avantage PAC gave $250
Kelly PAC gave $500. 

The State Republican Committee spent $733.31 on a mailer for Dean-Bailey and $1980.00 on live and robo calls for the candidate. 

The Liberty for All PAC has spent $4,301.46 on mailings for Dean-Bailey. This PAC was founded by a young glibertarian guy from Texas named John Ramsey. He inherited millions and created his PAC to help libertea Republicans get elected across the country. His interest in or ties to Rockingham 32? Zero. 

That's a a little over $10,000 in PAC money alone. For a NH House race. 

Dean-Bailey has also received many individual contributions. Many of them came from places like:

Erie, Colorado                 
Whitefish, Montana
Iowa City, Iowa
Blairsville, Georgia 
Washington, DC
Plant City, Florida
Ankeny, Iowa
Downers Grove, Illinois
Alexandria, Virginia
Glastonbury, Connecticut
Chicago, Illinois
Chesterfield, Virginia
Midlothian, Virginia
Lima, Ohio
Dallas, Texas 

Her March 11 disclosure form alone lists 56 donations. Of those 56 only two came from her district. A total of 9 residents of Rockingham 32 have donated to Yvonne Dean-Bailey thus far. 

It seems that there is little support for Dean-Bailey within  her district - but a whole lot of outsiders and outside special interests are deeply interested in purchasing a seat in the NH House. 

This makes a mockery of the reasons we have volunteer legislature. 

Union Leader Editorial on Frank Guinta

How Do You Spell Apology?

I told you so.

For the last five years, I’ve been telling you that Frank Guinta was lying to us about his magic bank account. After an interminable FEC investigation, we learned this week that Frank DID break campaign finance laws by using his parent’s money to fund his campaign in 2010. He has to pay back the $355,000 he claimed he earned himself. He’s being fined $15,000. The Patriots are paying a million dollar fine for some deflated balls. Frank Guinta is being fined $15,000 for breaking campaign finance laws and betraying the public trust.

 In 2010, Frank Guinta, former mayor of Manchester, ran for Congress against incumbent Carol Shea-Porter. Over the course of the campaign, he loaned himself $355,000. It was done incrementally. In 2010 after one such incremental “loan”, a Nashua Telegraph reporter wondered, in print, where he’d gotten all that loan money. Twelve days later, Guinta filed a revised financial disclosure form that added a new bank account worth somewhere between $250,000 - $500,000. (The bank account had not appeared on previous disclosure forms.) He also altered the period of disclosure on the form, adding an additional 4 months. It seemed obvious that the account had been opened during that time, given his refusal to provide a bank statement.

When he was asked where the money came from, he said he earned it. He told the Union Leader that he’d begun putting money away in the mid-1990’s. The only problem was that his known assets and income – no matter how frugal he was – did not add up to him being able to save that kind of money.

In 2008, his parents sold a house in New Jersey for $820,000. It seemed obvious that they were the source of the mystery money, which he denied. For five years.

In July of 2010, Guinta’s campaign manger, Mike Biundo, said that Guinta had liquidated some of his stock market and mutual fund assets. Guinta said that Biundo had made a mistake, and he’d always had that money in a bank account he’d forgotten about. It’s so easy to misplace half a million dollars when you’re running for office.

In October, 2010 the Union Leader reported that Guinta denied accepting money from his parents to finance his campaign and that Carol Shea-Porter and the Democrats had stooped to a new low for implying he had.

Former GOP Congressman Jeb Bradley had been Guinta’s boss when Bradley was in Congress. He did not ever endorse his former staffer; in fact, he told Politico that if Guinta couldn’t account for the money he should withdraw from the race.

Fergus Cullen, former NHGOP Chair, wrote a piece for the Union Leader in August 2010, about the mystery money. He asked Guinta how he could have forgotten to list a bank account worth half a million in his previous disclosure forms. Guinta called it an “inadvertent oversight.”

He continued to insist that he earned the money, that his parents did not help him. A GOP activist filed the first complaint and later the NHDP also filed a complaint with the FEC. That complaint was filed in September 2010.

Guinta won the 2010 election, despite the questions about his finances. During the campaign he made a lot of noise about Congresswoman Shea-Porter abusing Congressional franking privileges. Frank went on to become the #1 abuser of the franking system for the 2011/2012 Congress, sending out big, shiny, multicolored mailers every week.  The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Guinta one of the most corrupt legislators of the year.  He lost the 2012 election.

In 2014 Guinta ran again. He ran an ad featuring his mother and his wife, who assured voters that Saint Frank would be there for all of us. He ran an ad featuring “real NH voters.” The last woman in the ad said, “He’s always been honest.” In October the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) ran a couple of ads asking where the mystery money came from.

On October 27, 2014, WMUR televised a debate between Guinta and Shea-Porter. I was there. When Shea-Porter asked about the money, Guinta said he’d been cleared by the FEC, in Dec. 2010, before he was even sworn in, and he had been exonerated. He accused Carol of lying about his record, and huffily announced, “The people of NH ought to know the truth.” 

Then his campaign ran an ad called “The Truth.” The ad accuses Carol Shea-Porter of lying about Guinta’s finances. The ad claims Guinta was cleared 100% by the House Ethics Committee on 12/14/10. Again, before Guinta was ever even sworn in for his first term. The thing is, the House Ethics Committee never investigated him. He approved that ad.

At the debate he said he’d been cleared by the FEC. In the ad he claimed to have been exonerated by the House Ethics Committee. He knew both of those things to be untrue, but he didn’t hesitate to trumpet them loudly. The people of NH certainly deserved the truth, but Guinta was the last person they were ever going to hear it from.

This week, the FEC finally found him guilty of violating campaign finance laws. He has to pay the $355,000 back. He has to pay a $15,000 fine. He now claims that he had access to his parent’s account (which is in their names, not his) and had made deposits into it that exceeded the amount he “loaned” his campaign. He says he’s come to an agreement with the FEC so he can “end the distraction.” Those big, bold-faced lies he told during the WMUR debate? He’s trying to say he “misspoke.”

For 5 long years, Frank Guinta told us that he earned that campaign money; his parents didn’t give it to him and he put it in a bank account he forgot about. He accused Carol Shea-Porter of lying about his finances in a televised debate. He NOW says that he “inadvertently” made a mistake on his FEC forms. He NOW apparently “misspoke” when he accused Carol Shea Porter of lying about his finances.

How can he repay the voters of his district for 5 years of lying? How can he repay the state for stealing an election? How is it possible that NH Republicans are silent about this? Where is his apology to Carol Shea-Porter for those ugly, dishonest accusations he made?

There’s only one way out.  

For Frank Guinta, apology is spelled: R-E-S-I-G-N-A-T-I-O-N.

Frank Guinta "misspeaking" at the WMUR debate:

If you're wondering why the FEC took so long, read this piece from 2013 by Dave Levinthal from the Center for Public Integrity. The FEC has been systematically defunded and cannibalized. When we eliminate the watchdogs we enable the continued demise of our democracy. 

This was originally published as an op-ed in the May 15, 2015 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

Frank Guinta Still Under Investigation by the FEC

Remember this attack ad from October 2014? Frank Guinta claims Carol Shea Porter is LYING about him. He claims he's been cleared by the House Ethics Committee.

Here's the thing - Guinta was never under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. His transgression (the $355,000 magic bank account that funded his first run for Congress) occurred before he was elected. The investigation Frank is trying to deny is being conducted by the Federal Election Commission. (FEC). 

Here he is again, bleating about being a victim, claiming he was exonerated, during a televised debate on WMUR. He accuses Carol of lying. 




Guinta claimed that money was in a bank account he "forgot" about. Hell, who among us hasn't forgotten about over a quarter of a million dollars?

He's refused to explain where the money came from. One would think that he'd be able to produce a bank statement to clear it all up. One would think he'd want to clear this up. One would be wrong.

Guinta's first campaign featured a lot of wailing about alleged abuses by Congresswoman Shea-Porter of the House franking system. Guinta went on to become the largest abuser of that same franking system:  "Also among individual House members, Rep. Frank C. Guinta, R-N.H., spent the most on franked mail in 2011: $164,650."

Frank Guinta seems to believe that the rules don't apply to him. He  may be right - he's certainly not being held accountable. 

He repeatedly stated during his 2014 campaign that he was no longer under investigation. 

As Dean Barker has thoroughly researched, that just isn't true.  The FEC investigation into Franks Funny Money is still pending. It's been pending since 2010.. Surely Guinta could have produced a bank statement by now. 

Frank Guinta repeatedly stated during his 2014 campaign that he was no longer under investigation. 

At a town hall meeting this past week in Dover, he was confronted by constituent Bob Perry. From Fosters:

One testy exchange occurred toward the beginning of the forum when Bob Perry of Strafford asked Guinta about the Federal Elections Commission investigation into his past campaign spending practices. 

Guinta confirmed the investigation is ongoing but dismissed the initial complaint, brought by state Democrats, as political in nature. 

It wasn't Carol Shea-Porter who was lying. Frank Guinta owes Congresswoman Shea-Porter and all the voters of his district a big, big apology. 



Frank Guinta repeatedly stated during his 2014 that he was no longer under investigation. 

Let's Be Frank About Frank's Franking