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ETpro's avatar

How are New Hampshire residents feeling about the totally crazy laws their new Republican legislature has passed?

Asked by ETpro (34605points) January 6th, 2012

In the 2010 elections, a bunch of Tea Party backed Republicans swept into control of the formerly Democratic House and Senate in New Hampshire. With large majorities now in both houses, they went right to work doing some truly bizarre things.

One bill says that any parent can object to the lesson plan at their child’s school, and the school must then develop a custom lesson plan for that child. Imagine being a public school teacher with 30 kids in your class, and you are supposed to teach each one a different lesson plan, with different tests. Democratic Governor John Lynch vetoed the nutty legislation, pointing out its difficulties, and how it would degrade educational standards, but the legislature overrode his veto.

Another says that all new laws proposed must cite their specific origin in… not the New Hampshire Constitution, not even the US COnstitution. No, they must be based on authorization found in the Magna Carta. All new legislation must be based on a compact between English feudal lords and a foreign king written and signed in 1215 AD.

I am not sure what modern law you might draw from lines like;“THE City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs which it hath been used to have. Moreover We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, as with all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs.” or “If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond.”

Anyone live in New Hampshire or know how this lunacy is playing in the “Live free (of embarrassment) or die” state?

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5 Answers

Imadethisupwithnoforethought's avatar

Pissed.

Not so much about any individual example you have provided, as we take pride in having a huge legislature, and I anticipate kooky people holding office.

But the state is literally under siege by the Free State Project. We were trending mildly economically conservative, mildly socially liberal. Suddenly we are under assault by a political cult. It feels invasive, and as you indicate, embarrassing.

ETpro's avatar

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought You have this Boston resident’s sincere sympathies. I have been toying with the idea of moving North to New Hampshire, but the current hijinks leave me wondering if I could take it.

Imadethisupwithnoforethought's avatar

Well, if you are really interested, most NH people are socially liberal and economically conservative.

The last 10 years or so, we literally have had an influx of Mass Residents fleeing taxation. They are socially liberal, like we are, but fiscally conservative. The joke we have is that they move here, and immediately become Republicans in name only, because they want the services they had in Mass.

The problem is, we are so used to moderate politicians, we are absolutely unprepared for the Free State people.

ETpro's avatar

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought I’d fit perfectly. That is exactly what I am. I am watching Rick Santorum’s “holier than thou” crusade in New Hampshire with interest to affirm that the state trends socially liberal. I was thrilled to see how the students at various New Hampshire campuses grilled him with hard questions the Iowa Christian Right forgot to ask, and how they booed his bogus answers.

Imadethisupwithnoforethought's avatar

I have decided that if they nominate Romney, there are just enough people who are economically conservative in NH to push the state into toss up status.

If they nominate anyone else, Obama will likely keep the electoral votes.

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