HCR 1 Update

by | Jan 11, 2011 | 0 comments

HCR 1 (which has been slightly modified by the legislative process, so that it now reads, “urging the congressional delegation to begin the process for a constitutional amendment establishing that human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights“) will be discussed by the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee on Thursday, at 2 pm.

The meeting is open to the public– anyone can attend and give a brief testimony in favor or against, or sign a form documenting their opinion (just to let the committee know). Alternately, the members of the committee, along with their emails and phone numbers, can be found on the NH General Court website.

Sometime after the public meeting Thursday– the date hasn’t been set yet– the committee will discuss the bill again in a meeting without public input. (Non-committee members can still attend, but they can’t address the committee.) In this meeting, the committee will vote to label the bill as either “inexpedient to legislate” (a polite way of saying “this bill is bad”) or “ought to pass”.

This recommendation often influences the way state representatives will vote when the bill reaches the House, so letting committee members know your position can be an effective way to influence the actions of the NH state government.

Keene representative Chuck Weed introduces HCR 1

by | Dec 30, 2010 | 59 comments

HCR 1:

A RESOLUTION urging the congressional delegation to begin the process for a constitutional amendment establishing that human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights.

Whereas, government was established to provide a social contract between naturally born persons; and

Whereas, the founders of the U.S. Constitution and Republic clearly and emphatically intended freedom of speech to mean freedom to communicate with and by natural born persons either directly or through the free press; and

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on January 21, 2010 in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have the same first amendment rights as people, and that they can spend unlimited amounts of money on elections; and

Whereas, the Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law, because in a democracy, the people rule; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring: (more…)

Andrew Carroll: “Thank You”

by | Dec 27, 2010 | 229 comments

From Andrew Carroll’s blog:

It’s been several months since my campaign ended and while it has left me decidedly agnostic on some issues (i.e., what to call myself, politically), or has changed my mind on others (i.e., talking with liberals in Keene has helped me re-discover many of my liberal tendencies), it has only strengthened all of my prior faiths that made me fall in love with New Hampshire over two years ago.

And as I sit here in sunny California, visiting my sorely missed friends and family for Christmas, I am left with an even greater longing to step foot again in snowy, downtown Keene, dressed in suit and tie and equipped with as many door hangers as my impoverished budget could afford…

and knock on doors. (more…)

At Least a Dozen Free Staters Elected!

by | Nov 3, 2010 | 30 comments

The number of liberty-oriented people who moved here as part of the Free State Project and hold political office as state reps tripled from four to twelve yesterday! I was pretty disillusioned with politics when I moved here to NH, but I have to say it seems pretty clear that it really is a viable option here in NH, unlike most everywhere else. Free State Project participants have been elected as both Republicans and Democrats while the Libertarian party continues to fail, with its senate and governor candidates failing to get the 4% they need to be a major party. This doesn’t include the other folks that won their election, who love liberty and are not FSP movers. Word is over 100 NH Liberty Alliance-endorsed candidates were elected yesterday in NH.

Unfortunately, zero FSP participants were elected in Cheshire county. Perhaps you’d like to help change that in the future? Here’s a thread on the Free Keene Forum where I have posted the details regarding the Cheshire county political parties and where and when they meet.

Congrats to all those FSP movers who won yesterday, may they focus their legislative efforts at advancing liberty!