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Brown gains on Shaheen in N.H. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Community Friends, As most of you know, my wife and myself have undertaken several fundraising projects with PTO groups for much-needed funding within our schools along with the collection of bottles and cans (which we still do). Presently, my wife Dawn is doing a Wine Tasting/Silent Art Auction at the Pilgrim Candle Marketplace on Friday from 6-9 p.m. This is to help spread awareness and raise funds for the victims of domestic violence here in Westfield during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The funds will go to the Domestic Violence Division of The Westfield Police Department. You may have already noticed an ad or a bright purple poster for this. Your support would be greatly appreciated. For tickets or more information please call Dawn at (413) 572-1324. Thank you and hope to see you there. Kevin Medeiros
Coburn skewers NIH in final ‘Wastebook’ By Burgess Everett Politico.com Tom Coburn is going out with a bang with his final “Wastebook.” In it, the retiring Oklahoma senator laces into the National Institutes of Health for complaining about lack of Ebola research money while NIH investigates the effect of Swedish massages on rabbits. This particular study on rodent rubdowns cost $387,000 — a tiny fraction of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ more than $4 billion budget. But the ranking member of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee cites many “unnecessary” spending programs that continue while NIH officials argue that important disease research has slowed. It’s not just the bunny rubs that raise Coburn’s ire in his buzzy Wastebook, an annual catalog of “stupid” government spending that’s become a linchpin of the Republican’s careerlong campaign against debt. Coburn also pans an NIH probe into how much dog owners love their dogs, a study of the science of meditation and development of a video game aimed at getting kids to eat their veggies. The statement of NIH Director Francis Collins that “if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had [an Ebola] vaccine in time for this” was on Coburn’s mind when he wrote this year’s Wastebook. The “rascally” rabbit study is his first specific example this year of waste — and the first word in this year’s Wastebook is “Ebola.” The NIH director “claims a vaccine for Ebola ‘probably’ would have been developed by now if not for the stagnant funding for the agency, which has a $30 billion annual budget. Yet NIH did come up with the money to pay to give Swedish massages for rabbits,” Coburn writes. Coburn notes that after the spa treatment, the rabbits were euthanized, so “those feet were not so lucky after all.” Other NIH spending targeted by Coburn includes $371,000 spent on researching women’s emotional state when they see their dog compared to seeing their child; $533,000 for studying how Buddhism explains the science of meditation; and $804,000 spent developing “Kiddio: Food Fight,” a smartphone game aimed at empowering parents in vegetable-eating negotiations with their children. “Taxpayers should teach Washington bureaucrats not to waste tax dollars on corny smartphone apps that no one is going to play by sending them to their room without dessert,” Coburn concludes. Coburn identifies $2.1 million as the sum of the four NIH programs. NIH officials did not immediately comment. On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he doesn’t agree with Collins’ conclusion that research cuts have prevented a vaccine and that “you can’t say we would or would not have this or that. Everything is slowed down. But I wouldn’t make that statement.” NIH has also taken heat from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for spending on “origami condoms” while Ebola research lags. This being Coburn’s final “Wastebook,” the senator goes far beyond the NIH’s spending and identifies 100 entries that add up to $25 billion. Coburn rolls his eyes at spending $10,000 on a play about zombies from the National Endowment for the Arts, $146 million in tax breaks for pro sports stadiums and $3 billion on the International Space Station. See Waste, Page 7
By Maggie Haberman Politico.com MANCHESTER, N.H. — Can Scott Brown get lucky again? The former Massachusetts Republican senator captured the late Ted Kennedy’s seat thanks to a combination of good timing, a weak rival, a nationally sour mood for Democrats and a perception that he was truly authentic. Had he stayed in Massachusetts, he would have had a good shot at becoming the next governor, given the performance of his one-time rival, Attorney General Martha Coakley, in a gubernatorial race that Republican candidate Charlie Baker has made competitive. But the office didn’t appeal to Brown, according to friends. So he relocated to New Hampshire to challenge Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a well-liked and well-defined former governor serving in a quirky state with more of the white, independent swing voters whom both sides are making a play for. Though Shaheen is the favorite, the race has become close enough that Republicans insist there’s a chance for an upset in a national climate that has soured on the Democratic president. “If this were being held in a presidential year turnout, Shaheen would win [handily],” said Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, who is advising a number of Senate campaigns. “But the prevailing political environment and the electoral arithmetic gives Brown a chance to make it close.” Shaheen and Brown will face off Tuesday night in their second debate, an event that both sides sought to spin hours ahead of time. “Voters Question Scott Brown’s Motives,” read a pre-debate memo that Shaheen’s campaign sent to reporters. “Tonight, New Hampshire voters will be rightfully questioning why Scott Brown is even at the debate. Brown’s flirting with running for office in Massachusetts — for both Governor and Senator — and later testing the Presidential waters in Iowa showed voters that he’s solely interested in getting back into office. That’s why polls consistently show New Hampshire voters don’t trust him.” Brown, in a radio interview hours before the debate, referenced Obama’s quote a day earlier that Democratic senators who have avoided campaigning with him have all voted for his agenda — a remark that made White House supporters cringe. “So I would argue it’s time for a new approach,” Brown said. “It’s time for a true independent senator who has a history of doing just that and fighting for individuals and businesses, creating an environment so we can get cracking again.” The presence of Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is outpolling Republican rival Walt Haverstein by double digits, at the top of the ticket can only help Shaheen, Democrats say. Democrats also have tried using Republicans’ damaged national brand against Brown, with Shaheen airing a spot accusing him of being shaky on abortion rights (Brown says he favors a right to choose). Besides hitting him on abortion, Democrats have accused Brown of being too close to Big Oil and that he is generally untrustworthy in the state. Brown’s camp, which had pushed for nearly 10 debates but got a promise of four from Shaheen, is trying to hang President Barack Obama around her neck like an albatross. Private polls have consistently shown that Shaheen’s brand
and connection to New Hampshire are strong. She has held steady around the 50 percent mark — somewhat shaky territory for an incumbent but strong enough that her supporters believe she’ll prevail. “If you will join me over the next 18 days, we can make Scott Brown a historic figure,” Shaheen said at the state Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last week, where she appeared with former President Bill Clinton and made an appeal to the female voters whose support she needs to win. “We will make him the only person to run for the Senate from two states to be defeated by two women.” There has been relatively little in the form of outside spending in the campaign, which was not on Republicans’ radar for much of the year. Roughly $25 million has been spent by both sides on the race, with an edge to the Republican side. The Republican group Crossroads GPS was up on the air for a week with an ad featuring a child in a spelling bee spelling Shaheen’s surname “O-B-A-M-A.” But the group’s weeklong, $3 million buy was reserved late, meaning Crossroads GPS got far less bang for the dollar than the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which reserved time months ago. “We left nothing to chance,” Shaheen campaign manager Mike Vlacich said. Brown, who was defined early on by Democrats as a carpetbagger, has done everything he can to nationalize the campaign — becoming the first Senate candidate to run an ad on immigration and the border crisis that dominated cable news over the summer. He has hit her over Islamic State terrorism and, more recently, pushed her to call for a travel ban to contain Ebola, which has added to an unsettled electoral environment. His critics argue that Brown has chased shiny objects in the news media to put the campaign in a national frame — a move necessitated by his lack of ties to or of a record in New Hampshire that he can point to, said former state Democratic See Brown vs. Shaheen, Page 7
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CANDIDATE FORUMS
The Westfield News, in conjunction with the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, is hosting 2 Candidate Forums:
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
STATE SENATE Don Humason
Patrick Leahy
2nd Hampden & Hampshire District
with Don Humason and Patrick Leahy
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
STATE REPRESENTATIVE John Velis
Dan Allie
4th Hampden District
with John Velis and Dan Allie
Held at the Westfield Vocational-Technical High School, Upper Campus, Westfield
Candidate Meet and Greet from 6:30-7pm, Forums from 7-8pm.