Domain: nhliberty.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to nhliberty.org.
Comments · 49
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Gold Standard, Liberty Rating
One of the most successful things that Free-Staters and local NH libertarians have done is to produce the Gold Standard a voting guide that is handed out every week to every member of the NH House and Senate, before floor votes. To produce the doc, a small army of volunteers reads and grades all the incoming legislation according to a standardized scale. The most important pro- or anti-liberty legislation is debated on a private list, and once we have solid bullet-points to clarify our position, we produce the doc. We then grade the legislators on their votes, and produce an annual legislative report card. We are the only group, other than the (R) and (D) parties, to produce a consistent voting recommendation for years on end. At first lots of legislators ignored us. Then we started targeting the lowest-ranked legislators in elections, and got some of the worst eliminated; and donated money to the best rated. Now some hate us, but all respect us.
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Gold Standard, Liberty Rating
One of the most successful things that Free-Staters and local NH libertarians have done is to produce the Gold Standard a voting guide that is handed out every week to every member of the NH House and Senate, before floor votes. To produce the doc, a small army of volunteers reads and grades all the incoming legislation according to a standardized scale. The most important pro- or anti-liberty legislation is debated on a private list, and once we have solid bullet-points to clarify our position, we produce the doc. We then grade the legislators on their votes, and produce an annual legislative report card. We are the only group, other than the (R) and (D) parties, to produce a consistent voting recommendation for years on end. At first lots of legislators ignored us. Then we started targeting the lowest-ranked legislators in elections, and got some of the worst eliminated; and donated money to the best rated. Now some hate us, but all respect us.
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Re:Cost-benefit analysis
And New Hampshire, one of the few states in the nation to not have a seatbelt law (I and this organization helped scuttle their last attempt to pass one), has one of the highest seatbelt-usage statistics, and has some of the safest roads in the country.
But don't let that stop you from passing off a simple correlation-causation coincidence as justification for your nanny-statist laws. In the same time period, cars with those annoying seatbelt alarms that don't shut off until you put the seatbelt on were introduced, and society became more safety-conscious in general.
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Re:In praise of New Hampshire
The "Massholes bringing socialism here" thing is largely a myth. Most people moving from Massachusetts are in fact economic/political refugees, just like some of the people in this thread. (I left the day Romneycare went into effect, 2007-07-01.) And most settle around the southeastern part of the state, between Manchester/Nashua and the seacoast.
There's an organization called the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, of which I'm a board member; we rate State Representatives each year on their respect for liberty---both economic and personal---based on how they vote on bills with a liberty impact, for example, bills creating or eliminating taxes or fees, restricting or improving firearms freedoms, marijuana decrim/legalization, increasing or decreasing government transparency, and so on.
The most highly rated reps are from the same areas that those Massachusetts refugees tend to settle in. Rockingham County, for example. On the other hand, our most statist reps are from the college towns (Keene, Durham, Hanover) and the economically depressed areas such as Claremont and Berlin, not places "Massholes" are settling in.
We've had a couple of "high-profile" incidents where state reps trying to bring major statism to New Hampshire were recent movers here from the socialist holes to the south of us---a few years ago a rep from the Henniker area (I forget her name) introduced a bill to ban open carry in public buildings; she had moved here from Massachusetts less than a decade earlier. (The NHLA targeted her during reelection and she lost in the primary.) And just recently, Cynthia Chase, a rep who publicly claimed that freestaters moving here are "the single biggest threat" that N.H. faces was revealed to have moved here from Rhode Island herself in 2006 (two years after the FSP chose N.H.). But these few anecdotes don't really lead to the conclusion that Massachusetts movers are ruining the state.
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Re:In praise of New Hampshire
The "Massholes bringing socialism here" thing is largely a myth. Most people moving from Massachusetts are in fact economic/political refugees, just like some of the people in this thread. (I left the day Romneycare went into effect, 2007-07-01.) And most settle around the southeastern part of the state, between Manchester/Nashua and the seacoast.
There's an organization called the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, of which I'm a board member; we rate State Representatives each year on their respect for liberty---both economic and personal---based on how they vote on bills with a liberty impact, for example, bills creating or eliminating taxes or fees, restricting or improving firearms freedoms, marijuana decrim/legalization, increasing or decreasing government transparency, and so on.
The most highly rated reps are from the same areas that those Massachusetts refugees tend to settle in. Rockingham County, for example. On the other hand, our most statist reps are from the college towns (Keene, Durham, Hanover) and the economically depressed areas such as Claremont and Berlin, not places "Massholes" are settling in.
We've had a couple of "high-profile" incidents where state reps trying to bring major statism to New Hampshire were recent movers here from the socialist holes to the south of us---a few years ago a rep from the Henniker area (I forget her name) introduced a bill to ban open carry in public buildings; she had moved here from Massachusetts less than a decade earlier. (The NHLA targeted her during reelection and she lost in the primary.) And just recently, Cynthia Chase, a rep who publicly claimed that freestaters moving here are "the single biggest threat" that N.H. faces was revealed to have moved here from Rhode Island herself in 2006 (two years after the FSP chose N.H.). But these few anecdotes don't really lead to the conclusion that Massachusetts movers are ruining the state.
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Time to seek asylum elsewhere
...but lawyers say as one of a series it confirms there is no longer any debate about the benefits of the vaccine.
No, it doesn't. The question of the benefits of the vaccine is a scientific question best left up to science, not lawyers, to decide. What this series of cases confirms is simply that people no longer have a right to opt out of vaccination.
New Hampshire recognizes a right of conscience to opt out of vaccines. It's in statute as a religious exemption (RSA 141-C:20-c, II) and backed up by our state constitution, Part I, Arts. 4 and 5. There's a well-organized movement here to improve the law to allow people to opt out of vaccines without resorting to the "all-or-nothing" religious exemption, for example, with HB1555 (2010). Perhaps this family ought to immigrate here and seek asylum like that homeschooling family from Germany.
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Re:Exactly - and how do you define underage?
Unfortunately the Tenth Amendment is completely meaningless nowadays, just like the other nine ahead of it. The feds' expansive treatment of the interstate commerce clause has been around at least since Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942), in which the feds stated that someone growing his own wheat was subject to federal regulation because it "affected" interstate commerce.
Since 1942 the Supreme Court rulings have only moved us further away from the Tenth Amendment's original intent, not back toward it. Some states have tried to push back, for example New Hampshire's HCR 6 in 2011. But even if it passed, I'm sure the feds would have promptly ignored it.
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Re:No smiles in Ohio
You could always move to a state that doesn't engage in such privacy invasions, such as New Hampshire. Here, you can actually check off a box on the license application form requiring them to not even store your photo in their database.
The New Hampshire Legislature also prohibited its DMV from implementing the federal "Real ID" program which is what's driving a lot of this crap. The state also prohibits its agencies and localities from implementing red light cameras, license plate readers, &c., too.
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New Hampshire leads liberty legislation again
In New Hampshire, a couple of our libertarian legislators sponsored and successfully passed a bill to prohibit utility companies from installing these things without the owner's express consent to do so.
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Sick of this shit?
Sick of this shit? Move to New Hampshire. We had a state representative propose similar legislation here in 2010. It failed, in large part due to the work of the N.H. Liberty Alliance, and the rep herself lost her seat in the 2010 elections. The liberty movement here, largely through the NHLA, has helped elect about 30-40 pro-liberty reps to our State House (400 members total) and 4-5 senators (24 total), helped defeat hundreds of other anti-liberty bills, and helped get a handful of pro-liberty ones passed, too.
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Sick of this shit?
Sick of this shit? Move to New Hampshire. We had a state representative propose similar legislation here in 2010. It failed, in large part due to the work of the N.H. Liberty Alliance, and the rep herself lost her seat in the 2010 elections. The liberty movement here, largely through the NHLA, has helped elect about 30-40 pro-liberty reps to our State House (400 members total) and 4-5 senators (24 total), helped defeat hundreds of other anti-liberty bills, and helped get a handful of pro-liberty ones passed, too.
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Move to New Hampshire
Move to New Hampshire if you don't like this crap. We actually had a state rep (Catherine Mulholland, D-Grafton dist. 10) propose a soda tax here in 2010. The bill was defeated, with the help of the most effective liberty lobbying group in the country, and the rep lost her re-election in 2010, also due in no small part to the liberty activists opposing her.
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Move to New Hampshire
Move to New Hampshire if you don't like this crap. We actually had a state rep (Catherine Mulholland, D-Grafton dist. 10) propose a soda tax here in 2010. The bill was defeated, with the help of the most effective liberty lobbying group in the country, and the rep lost her re-election in 2010, also due in no small part to the liberty activists opposing her.
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Re:Another reason not to live in New York
And sadly, unless New Hampshire leaves the US government, they are still under those same oppressive laws.
One very active aspect of the liberty movement here is restoration of the meaning and intent of the Tenth Amendment. New Hampshire was one of the first states to get this movement started a couple years ago.
New Hampshire also has Part I, Art. 7 of its own constitution, which ensures state sovereignty against anything the Federal government does that New Hampshire doesn't explicitly consent to. And then there's Part I, Art. 10, titled "Right of Revolution," which reads in part, "[W]henever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government."
Of course, on a practical level, our attempts at pushing back the Fedgov haven't amounted to much yet. But out of 400 legislators, in 2006, we elected one Free State Project participant; in 2008, four were elected, and as of 2010, 12-15 were elected (depending on whom you ask). In total, there are probably 40-50 pro-liberty legislators, and this number is only growing due to the work of groups like the N.H. Liberty Alliance.
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Re:Another reason not to live in New York
And sadly, unless New Hampshire leaves the US government, they are still under those same oppressive laws.
One very active aspect of the liberty movement here is restoration of the meaning and intent of the Tenth Amendment. New Hampshire was one of the first states to get this movement started a couple years ago.
New Hampshire also has Part I, Art. 7 of its own constitution, which ensures state sovereignty against anything the Federal government does that New Hampshire doesn't explicitly consent to. And then there's Part I, Art. 10, titled "Right of Revolution," which reads in part, "[W]henever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government."
Of course, on a practical level, our attempts at pushing back the Fedgov haven't amounted to much yet. But out of 400 legislators, in 2006, we elected one Free State Project participant; in 2008, four were elected, and as of 2010, 12-15 were elected (depending on whom you ask). In total, there are probably 40-50 pro-liberty legislators, and this number is only growing due to the work of groups like the N.H. Liberty Alliance.
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Re:Why delete the recordings?
(The rare reason: It violates the privacy of a citizen who is involved.)
Yup. This was always the excuse they'd bring up when we in New Hampshire were fighting this issue legislatively. Domestic violence cases, child victims, whatever emotional bullshit they could throw up to keep the wiretapping law here usable as a weapon to prevent people from recording police abuse---which is how they always use it here.
Fortunately there was recently a very positive U.S. District Court ruling, Glik v. Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (1st Cir. 2011), which overrules all of this and makes legislative attempts to fix the problem a moot point.
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Re:Vermont.
Thanks for posting about this. I hope they pass this. You know why?
I'm from New Hampshire and part of the large and ever-growing liberty movement here. People sick of the nonstop attacks on their freedoms and liberties are moving here from all over the country. For some people, it's a single issue that made them move---exorbitant and ever-increases taxes, the never-ending Drug War, erosion of private property rights, lack of education freedom, attacks on parental rights, infringements upon the Second Amendment, you name it---and for some people it's a bit of everything. (I left Massachusetts over "Romneycare." The government forcing me to buy health insurance was the last straw for me.)
The anti-vaccination movement has become, over the past couple years, one of the liberty movement's most active single-issue allies. The current chair of the biggest pro-liberty lobby organization in the state (probably in the whole country) came into the liberty movement through one of the anti-vax groups here, as did another woman and her son, both of whom got elected to the State House in 2010. They're Republicans; a few years years ago, a Democrat state representative was the one to sponsor a bill expanding New Hampshire's existing philosophical exemption to vaccination.
If the state right next door passes this attack on people's right of conscience, that would only serve to help the movement here as people move to escape Vermont's tyranny.
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Re:"Levelling the playing field"
Exactly where did someone give "implicit" permission? By voting? Because they didn't leave where they were born and go somewhere else? (And try to find some place where there aren't thugs pointing guns at people claiming to control them. Every square millimetre of land on the Earth nowadays is claimed by some government.)
This "implicit" permission---the so-called "social contract"---is just something statism apologists made up to justify statism. You might as well resort to the "divine right of kings" to justify their coercive system.
Democracy is exactly what you stated: Two foxes and a hen voting on what's for dinner. The NHLA, one of the political activism groups I work with extensively, actually sells a T-shirt with that quote on it.
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Re:Unjust laws
The right thing to do is to pardon anyone and everyone who is convicted of a victimless crime.
I'll be testifying on a bill on Thursday that would allow this as a defense in a trial.
If you care about this kind of stuff, c'mon over to New Hampshire where we're actually making some progress. A thousand activists have moved so far (to join those of us already here) and 19,000 more are waiting for the mass move.
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Re:I'm the legislator and prime sponsor, and autho
In the bill it provides a cost estimate. With a net positive effect, including this line, "The Department also estimates, based on a review of the FY 2012 and FY 2013 budget, state expenditures could decrease by approximately $300,000 in FY 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter through the implementation of open source software. "
There is a breakdown of the estimate for the cost part, broken down into possible new employees/time. Is there any breakdown of the estimated $300,000 in savings?
Awesome bill. How long have you been working on it?
My next question was about previous versions of the bill, (interested to see if there was an upstream health provision/contributing back), and it seems like the system does support that...
Unfortunately: http://www.nhliberty.org/bills/view/2012/HB418/2012-01-04
I love this line: "Go to Microsoft Product Support Services and perform a title search for the words HTTP and 404." -
Re:How many Californians
New Hampshire is making the news on each of these cases because we have a flock of activists that come down on the state like a ton of bricks each time one of these incidents happens. That particular incident in Weare started out when two friends of some activists got pulled over in a routine traffic stop. They called an activist alert hotline to let their friends know about the stop, and within minutes half a dozen people showed up to video the cops. The cops reacted by charging several people with "wiretapping," all of whom ended up going to court over it, and at least one of whom is now suing the town over civil rights violations.
Here's the blog of one of the activists who's following these cases closely (and has one of his own wending through the courts).
And here's a bill at the State House to fix this mess. All of those sponsoring reps are libertarians, by the way (not as in the "Libertarian Party," but as in highly rated by a non-partisan liberty lobbyist group). Out of 400 state representatives, we have maybe 40-50 staunchly pro-liberty reps in office. The chair of the subcommittee hearing this bill was the NHLA's legislator of the year for 2011. Can you say the same about your state?
N.H. was chosen by the FSP because, of the fifty states, it's the freest. It's by no means "free" by most libertarians' standards. But with almost a thousand FSPers in the state, and over a hundred of those active in the political system, it probably will be soon.
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Re:How many Californians
New Hampshire is making the news on each of these cases because we have a flock of activists that come down on the state like a ton of bricks each time one of these incidents happens. That particular incident in Weare started out when two friends of some activists got pulled over in a routine traffic stop. They called an activist alert hotline to let their friends know about the stop, and within minutes half a dozen people showed up to video the cops. The cops reacted by charging several people with "wiretapping," all of whom ended up going to court over it, and at least one of whom is now suing the town over civil rights violations.
Here's the blog of one of the activists who's following these cases closely (and has one of his own wending through the courts).
And here's a bill at the State House to fix this mess. All of those sponsoring reps are libertarians, by the way (not as in the "Libertarian Party," but as in highly rated by a non-partisan liberty lobbyist group). Out of 400 state representatives, we have maybe 40-50 staunchly pro-liberty reps in office. The chair of the subcommittee hearing this bill was the NHLA's legislator of the year for 2011. Can you say the same about your state?
N.H. was chosen by the FSP because, of the fifty states, it's the freest. It's by no means "free" by most libertarians' standards. But with almost a thousand FSPers in the state, and over a hundred of those active in the political system, it probably will be soon.
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Re:How many Californians
Those 45 people should move somewhere like New Hampshire.
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Re:4th?
Many of the people moving to NH from Mass are doing so to escape "Taxachusetts" and to embrace the NH culture. Look at the towns near the border: some of the most staunch pro-liberty State Reps are from there.
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Re:Just one more reason I'm proud to be in NH
New Hampshire was one of the first states to reject "Real-ID", and to hell with the (then-threatened) restrictions on air travel. I was one of the people that campaigned actively for this; one of my friends was a co-sponsor of the bill that did the opt-out, not only from Real-ID, but from "any national identification card system that may follow"
If that sounds good to you, you should check us out: http://freestateproject.org//intro/real-id
Yeah, a social security number is way better than an actual state-issued ID. Face it, one way or another you will be uniquely identified via government-issued credentials. They might as well be strong ones... I'd prefer a well-implemented national ID over the weakly-implemented insecure one we have right now any day.
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Just one more reason I'm proud to be in NH
New Hampshire was one of the first states to reject "Real-ID", and to hell with the (then-threatened) restrictions on air travel. I was one of the people that campaigned actively for this; one of my friends was a co-sponsor of the bill that did the opt-out, not only from Real-ID, but from "any national identification card system that may follow"
If that sounds good to you, you should check us out: http://freestateproject.org//intro/real-id
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Engineers + Liberty = WIN
Herman Cain (GOP presidential candidate): Master of Arts degree in computer science from Purdue University in 1971.
The trouble with engineers who don't get Liberty is that they come up with very clever solutions. I used to be one of them. I loved the FairTax, for instance. What an excellent engineering solution to an economic problem - if you don't mind putting the entire country on welfare and Constitutionally getting the Feds involved in intrastate commerce.
Herman Cain is an example of this - he's a former head of a Federal Reserve Bank, the system which has caused so much of America's current problems, and he advocates for the system despite its obvious problems.
That said, many of my very best liberty friends here in New Hampshire are engineers. The Free State Project is teeming with them, and several of the most brilliant minds I work with in the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance are engineers. We're lucky to have several pro-Liberty engineers currently serving in our House of Representatives. They know how to attack problems, work a process, and create solutions.
Interested engineers might want to start here.
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Fix in Process, Politically Motivated
Here is a summary of NH law [rcfp.org]. It does seem pretty severe.
It is, and a favorite tool of abuse. We're working to get this fixed.
Here's my testimony before the NH House for a bill that would remove any possible wiretapping charges when it involves a public employee executing his duties ("On The Job, On The Record"). New Hampshire folk, please call your reps and ask them to support HB145.
Now, then, the interesting part. This video was shot by the man so accused - he's an accomplished videographer who spends a tremendous amount of volunteer time video recording NH Legislative hearings for those who cannot attend. He participated in the political process to get rid of this abusive loophole in the law just a handful of days before charges were brought. On an 8-month old 'incident', one that's likely to be dismissed on a simple reading of the law (a telecommunications device, e.g. a cell phone, is explicitly excepted). His video comments were critical (and rightly so) of those who abuse the system. To me, this is retribution for engaging in the political process.
The first bit of testimony in this video was from a woman who was targeted by the same police department (one that refuses to return her camera even after charges were dismissed). It's hoped that the chief is replaced in the election this coming Tuesday (and thus a house-cleaning can begin - these charges against the department are among the less severe).
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A bill is in process...
A bill is currently being heard in the NH legsilature: HB145, Permitting the audio and video recording of any public official while in the course of his or her official duties
The bill is co-sponsored by at least one Free-Stater >:)
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Re:I live in NH, this happens a lot.
Here in NH we have this thing called the "NH Liberty Alliance" which is this psuedo-anarchist libertarian/teaparty group that tries to indirectly egg-on the police. They pull stunts like carrying a pistol standing downtown at a crowded intersection (which is legal), and pull out the camcorder if a cop walks over to ask them if everything is ok
As a former Director of Research for the NH Liberty Alliance, I can say fairly categorically that you're damn confused about what the NHLA is, and does.
The NHLA is a non-partisan, libertarian-leaning political organization. The organization's goals are "to increase individual freedom in New Hampshire. We do this by monitoring bills in the legislative sessions and encouraging private charity, a civil society, and citizen involvement."
I suspect you are confusing the NHLA with other "liberty-oriented" groups in NH, just as the apolitical civil-disobedience crowd over at Free Keene or NH Underground. Personally, while I agree with the philosophy and sentiment of many of those people, I despise those groups and their frankly stupid, counterproductive antics.
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Re:I live in NH, this happens a lot.
Here in NH we have this thing called the "NH Liberty Alliance" which is this psuedo-anarchist libertarian/teaparty group that tries to indirectly egg-on the police. They pull stunts like carrying a pistol standing downtown at a crowded intersection (which is legal), and pull out the camcorder if a cop walks over to ask them if everything is ok
As a former Director of Research for the NH Liberty Alliance, I can say fairly categorically that you're damn confused about what the NHLA is, and does.
The NHLA is a non-partisan, libertarian-leaning political organization. The organization's goals are "to increase individual freedom in New Hampshire. We do this by monitoring bills in the legislative sessions and encouraging private charity, a civil society, and citizen involvement."
I suspect you are confusing the NHLA with other "liberty-oriented" groups in NH, just as the apolitical civil-disobedience crowd over at Free Keene or NH Underground. Personally, while I agree with the philosophy and sentiment of many of those people, I despise those groups and their frankly stupid, counterproductive antics.
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Re:Free Staters?
I think it is wonderful that at least one government is providing information in open formats (ahem, 'nerd-friendly, "pipe-separated" files'). I can't see the connection though between the "New Hampshire Liberty Alliance" (the group that seems to promoted the change according to the article), and the Free Staters.
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance is about preserving and expanding liberty. The Free State Project is about getting enough people who care about liberty to move to New Hampshire and run as a candidate or vote for a candidate who will cast votes to hold up liberty. The initial hope was that enough people would move there to impact politics there. While there may not be any official connection between the two organizations they may share members. I'd be surprised of they didn't.
I thought of moving there myself but NH has a small area close to the coast and I love saltwater and scuba diving. If they had picked Maine, one of the Carolinas, or Florida it would have been better. Then again those states don't have Live Free or Die as a state motto.
Falcon
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Re:Secession?
Some Free-Staters (again, not all) actually have been working hard on the notion of State Sovereignty; see the FSP page on this topic.
Also, a new bill has been introduced this session:
HCR19 - Affirming States' powers based on the Constitution for the United States and the Constitution of New Hampshire.
There are also a few bills in play this session asserting the NH manufacturing shall not be regulated by the federal government. Longshots? Well, with over a dozen Free-Staters elected to the NH House of Representatives, maybe less long-shot than in other states....Or even http://www.nhliberty.org/bills/view/2011/HB324 which is having a hearing today.
AN ACT relative to lawful commerce in goods and services sold, made, and retained in the state of New Hampshire.
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Re:Secession?
Some Free-Staters (again, not all) actually have been working hard on the notion of State Sovereignty; see the FSP page on this topic.
Also, a new bill has been introduced this session:
HCR19 - Affirming States' powers based on the Constitution for the United States and the Constitution of New Hampshire.
There are also a few bills in play this session asserting the NH manufacturing shall not be regulated by the federal government. Longshots? Well, with over a dozen Free-Staters elected to the NH House of Representatives, maybe less long-shot than in other states....Or even http://www.nhliberty.org/bills/view/2011/HB324 which is having a hearing today.
AN ACT relative to lawful commerce in goods and services sold, made, and retained in the state of New Hampshire.
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Secession?
Some Free-Staters (again, not all) actually have been working hard on the notion of State Sovereignty; see the FSP page on this topic.
Also, a new bill has been introduced this session:
HCR19 - Affirming States' powers based on the Constitution for the United States and the Constitution of New Hampshire.
There are also a few bills in play this session asserting the NH manufacturing shall not be regulated by the federal government. Longshots? Well, with over a dozen Free-Staters elected to the NH House of Representatives, maybe less long-shot than in other states.... -
Re:Free Staters?
In fact, some Free Staters are working to explicitly rule that corporations are not people:
HCR1 - establishing that human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rightsI say "some" because while all Free-Staters agree with the general goal of reducing the size and scope of government, the specifics and tactics differ widely.
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Judge would be the last...
... people to grok that the DM creates the fantasy world; he does not direct its inhabitants (known to Satan's Worshippers as "PCs")
It is completely outside a Judge's experience that humans lie outside his ability to direct.
Jury Nullification, baby. -
Re:Ah. Risk. RISK!?!?!? Oh Noes
why is it the self professed 'defenders of liberty' don't seem motivated enough to actually exercise their liberty and work to change the laws that they seem to detest so much?
I don't know about 'self-professed defenders', but people who actually care about liberty are moving to New Hampshire and some of the ones who have moved already are working with local groups like the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance to get those laws changed.
The results are good to date. As just one example, as of a few weeks ago there are no longer any illegal knives in New Hampshire. It's going to take a while to unwind 150+ years of bad law, but we're making progress.
When 20,000 more liberty lovers move en masse to propel the effort forward, it will get even better.
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Re:I tend to agree
The fundamental right in question would be that of the parent to raise their own children, as opposed to the State doing so.
This is unfortunately one of those rights that never got expressly enumerated in the Constitution (although in New Hampshire we're trying to fix this) most likely because, much like a right to privacy, the idea of violating it was so beyond the pale in 1789 that no one thought it needed to be written down. What was put into the Bill of Rights were eight articles specifically in reaction to abuses committed by the British government, followed by two catch-all articles clarifying that the powers of the Federal Government are expressly enumerated (Article X), but the rights of the people are not (Article IX). Unfortunately this hasn't worked out too well in practice...
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Re:Hope and Change, baby!
If you're already in NH, and you like the idea of reducing the size and scope of government, you might want to hook up with the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance -- the most effective pro-liberty citizens lobby in the USA
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Re:Hope and Change, baby!
Yeah, we're working on the Fed issue also
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SQL in the HTML...!
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SQL in the HTML!
Maybe someone will finally fix the apparent glaring security hole in New Hampshire's
.gov website. -
Re:Because we all know
Which do you prefer? A state that's warm year round and has no realistic chance of being made libertarian, or a state with 4 seasons (yes, including winter) that already has a solid block of basically-libertarian legislators? http://www.nhliberty.org/2007_liberty_rating
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Re:What it boils down toBy the way, if click on the generalcourt.org link above, you'll notice that each legislator has a "liberty grade." Just like in school, from "A" thru "F" -- the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance rates each and every one of the 400 State Representatives, based on how the actually vote on freedom-related bills, every year. Just one of the many things that become possible as a critical mass of pro-liberty activists concentrate on a single state. For the record, this sort of ranking doesn't require any sort of critical mass -- just a few people (or just one) to rate representatives, and a web page to put your results.
I'm not saying I disagree with the free state concept at all -- I love it, actually -- but merely ranking representatives, that can be done by anybody in any state.
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Re:What it boils down toIn New Hampshire, target of the Free State Project, it is not just about money.
The Federal government can dump as much cash on us as they want and we still are bound by law not to comply.The exact wording of the bill that Governor Lynch is expected to sign this week or next says:
[T]he public policy established by Congress in the Real ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, is contrary and repugnant to Articles 1 through 10 of the New Hampshire constitution as well as Amendments 4 though 10 of the Constitution for the United States of America. Therefore, the state of New Hampshire shall not participate in any driver's license program pursuant to the Real ID Act of 2005 or in any national identification card system that may follow therefrom.By the way, if click on the generalcourt.org link above, you'll notice that each legislator has a "liberty grade." Just like in school, from "A" thru "F" -- the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance rates each and every one of the 400 State Representatives, based on how the actually vote on freedom-related bills, every year. Just one of the many things that become possible as a critical mass of pro-liberty activists concentrate on a single state.
By the way... one of the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Winters, is a Free-Stater -- check his acceptance speech
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Re:This is absurd on so many levels
Agreed.
For the record, Gay Marriage isn't my personal most hot-button issue, but I (and the rest of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance are more than willing to help. -
Re:This is absurd on so many levelsMassholes are a problem, but not a big one. People moving in from Mass are by and large just ordinary people. At absolute most, they vote once every 2 years. Compare that with the typical Free Stater -- we write letters to the editor, testify for or against bills at the State House, run for office, oragnize protests, campaign for pro-Freedom candidates, start newspapers, start blogs and blogs, join organizations like the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance and Republican Liberty Caucus, and generally agitate like hell.
Every Free Stater that moves in has more influence than 10,000 voter-sheep.
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Re:Parent are 1st line of defense!OK.
Let's go ahead and about half the Legislature are the really bad, "nanny state" legislators think that passing laws really is the solution... and that the other half are simply willing to whore themselves and use fear tactics to get re-elected.Either way, it makes a hell of a lot of sense for people in favor of PERSONAL CHOICE (or, if you prefer, "parental choice", when it comes to minors) to take control of the Legislature.
That's what we're doing here in New Hampshire. The first of us "early-movers" are running this November. We also keep a detailed Report Card of every member of the legislature, with a letter grade from "A" to "F", so we know which are the ones that already are pro-Freedom, and which are the bastard busybodies that need to be thrown out.