demo Free State Project NHGOP

Hmmm…. This is interesting….

by Tim Condon

Here’s a map of the states that went for Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election (the blue ones), and the ones that went for Bush (the red ones).

The map is from an article in The American Spectator   HERE, by William Tucker. In the second paragraph, Tucker quotes a Wall Street Journal article that says “all those blue states that went for Kerry in 2004 are going to go for Obama again this year. The only possible exception is New Hampshire – now the wealthiest state in the country, believe it or not….“

Hello? New Hampshire is “now the wealthiest state in the country”? Yep. Want to know why? I think I know why….

My thought is that Americans in general, but particularly those who live in the northeastern United States, or want to live there, are looking at maps like the one above and making calculations. New England is generally a morass of high taxes, ever-growing government and bureaucracy, overspending, and government-meddling in people’s lives (for their own good, of course!).

All of New England, that is, EXCEPT for New Hampshire.

Why would that be? There are two reasons:

One…the state is traditionally Republican, and Republicans—real ones, at least, not the Democrats who run as fake Republicans in order to get elected, known as “RINO’s”—are responsible shepherds of good government, and attempt to keep the dangerous burden of overtaxing and overspending at bay well before it turns into outright thievery.

In New Hampshire from 2006 through 2010 the Democrats had an unprecedented majority, a chance to show what they could do—and with a Democrat governor to give them anything they wanted. The result? They just about bankrupted our state. Thus, in 2010 the voters gave the Republicans a historically large majority, and the damage caused by the Democrats began to be repaired. It is even now being repaired by State House Speaker Bill O’Brien and a GOP leadership cadre that not only talks a good line, but one that actually puts their  small-government ideals and principles into practice.

What has made the extraordinary success of our current Republican majority possible? That brings us to the second reason:

Two…say hello to the Free State Project. Yes, the FSP has had plenty of bad publicity, and yes there are plenty of young, rambunctious libertarian kids who want to raise hell and “fight the establishment” (relax, they’ll grow up in time). Of course, the lamestream media in New Hampshire—think “Concord Monitor” and the “Portsmouth Herald” for instance—just love to showcase the FSP kids and thus smear the entire movement. But like so much found in certain corners of the media, it’s just another outright falsehood. There’s an entirely different story to tell about the current in-migration to NH as a matter of fact, and it is this:

Those who have migrated to New Hampshire since 2004, when the FSP announced the choice of New Hampshire,  actually happen to be overwhelmingly smart, responsible, highly-educated, knowledgeable citizens. As it has turned out, these beneficial newcomers have begun to form a permanent bulwark against those who supported the out-of-control taxing and spending that the Democrats gave us from 2006 to 2010. In short, in some part thanks to those people—as well as to a very large pre-existing “live-free-or-die” population in New Hampshire—our state will not follow the dreadful policies of most of our neighboring states which will eventually bankrupt them and impoverish their populations.

The result? Nationwide, a lot of very smart, very highly educated, very wealthy, very successful people are taking another look at New Hampshire as a safe haven to weather the coming economic storm (or “collapse,” as many predict) which President Obama and the Congressional Democrats (with help from many Republicans in Washington, DC) have made inevitable. Better yet, large successful businesses are increasingly looking at New Hampshire as a potential place to relocate to. That’s one of the reasons why the current GOP majority has been able to reduce unemployment in NH to the lowest level in all of New England. That’s why jobs are growing in the state faster than anywhere else in New England.

Take a look at that map up above again. Ultimately, there’s going to be a “red beacon” in the midst of an otherwise all-blue New England. That red-state beacon will be New Hampshire. It will be a place of both refuge and success for all who want to come, work hard, be self-responsible, and prosper. In effect, New Hampshire will become a beacon of hope and change to an America possibly sinking under the weight of European-style socialism and out-of-control government. Just as Hong Kong was the refuge for millions of Chinese escaping Communist China in the last century, New Hampshire will become the rich and successful Hong Kong of America in the 21st century.

So all I’ve got to say is…Thank you, Free State Project!

(Full disclosure: I came to New Hampshire because of the promise of the Free State Project myself!)

by Tim Condon

I’ve been political my entire life, starting out with Barry Goldwater and The Conscience of a Conservative in the1960's. In 1972 I was a Florida presidential elector for Prof. John Hospers, the first Presidential candidate of the national Libertarian Party which was founded that same year. During the late 1970's and into the 1980's I was a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Reason magazine, and I’ve authored numerous articles in the print and online media about various subjects relating to individual rights and personal freedom. Today I'm a lawyer by profession; I divide my time between New Hampshire and Florida all year long, spending much of my time practicing law in Florida. As an early supporter and past member of the board of directors of the Free State Project, I was drawn to the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire in late 2003 when it was chosen by a vote of the first 5,000 FSP participants. In 2004 I founded the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and continue today to work within the state political system to advance the traditional NH values of frugal small government, low taxes, small business, free enterprise, and self-responsibility. To all, I say "Come and see what we are building in the beautiful, healthy, livable Free State of New Hampshire!"

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