The liberal Democrats in New Hampshire have sunk to a new low. They are smearing a private citizen in the press because he opposes the Obama-Pelosi agenda. I’ve never really seen anything like it, but I fear it is emblematic of what will happen to other small business owners who are suffering from Obama’s policies.

Last Thursday I held a press conference in my race for Congress in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District with a gentleman named Alan Silberberg, whose auto dealership was shut down arbitrarily by Chrysler, Obama’s “car czar” and his “Auto Task Force.” The purpose of the press conference was to demonstrate how Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and my Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter’s policies are destroying our economy.

It’s important to know that Alan wasn’t shut down because his business was failing. He was shut down because the government’s policies put his business on the chopping block without transparency and without accountability. To let people know how he felt, Alan painted a sign on his storefront that reads, “This business now closed because of Obama’s economics.”

Folks don’t need to listen to me or to Alan. They can listen to Neil Barofsky the special inspector general for TARP:

The Obama administration’s push to accelerate General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC dealership closings, aimed at helping the companies compete, may not have been necessary and added to unemployment, a U.S. watchdog said.

The Treasury Department should have considered whether speeding up the closings was worth the potential loss of tens of thousands of jobs, according to a report released yesterday by Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The U.S. had rejected reorganization plans from the carmakers in March 2009, in part citing a “slow pace” for GM to scale back its dealer network.

“Such dramatic and accelerated dealership closings may not have been necessary and underscores the need for Treasury to tread very carefully when considering such decisions in the future,” Barofsky concluded.

The report may prompt congressional criticism of the administration’s handling of the automaker bailouts. Lawmakers have already complained about the job losses in their districts from dealership closings and the process by which retailers were selected for shutdowns.

Of course, the Democrats attacked me in the press for having the guts to stand up to Obama’s policies.  I’m a candidate for Congress. I expected it and I can handle it.

But I didn’t expect them to attack Alan.

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