NH GOP Wants Obama to Repay Portsmouth

Obama for America officials may have given the Portsmouth City Council the cold shoulder when they rejected their request to repay the city more than $30,000 to cover the police, fire and public works costs of President Obama's Sept. 7 campaign event, but state Republicans say the White House should pay up.

"This is the epitome of the fiscal cliff debate in Washington. The President and the Democrat party feel they can spend, spend, spend without any consequence or ownership," said New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Wayne MacDonald in a prepared statement on Thursday.

"When the campaign raised hundreds of millions of dollars, this is what we expected they would spend it on. It is unfair to burden the City of Portsmouth and its citizens with such a large bill when they are forced to host events for political candidates. Because this was not an official visit, Obama for America should have appropriately budgeted for these expenses and must settle their debt with Portsmouth," MacDonald continued.

The City Council voted in September just before President Obama held a campaign event at Strawbery Banke Museum on Sept. 7 that the city should be reimbursed any costs associated with campaign events, not officials visits.

Earlier this month, the city received a response from the Obama for America office that they would not repay the city $30,003. Shortly before the city received this response, Mayor Eric Spear told his fellow councilors he wanted to write a letter to U.S. Sens Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, Kelly Ayotte, R-NH and newly-elected U.S. Rep. Carol Shea Porter, D-NH, to request they file legislation that would require the federal government to reimburse cities and towns for expenses incurred for campaign events.