LTE's from Undergrounders

[Dave Ridley]

Dave Mincin LTE to Concord Monitor

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Dear folks at the Monitor:

Thanks for this month's awesome editorial criticizing the Bushniks for too much
spending.   This is a problem we historically haven't been able to fix by changing
leaders or swapping between the two parties.  It's something that will have to be
remedied by starving the monster. 

Individual tax evaders and refuseniks are heroes, but not all of us are in a position
to do what they are doing. The institution most suited to spike Bush's coffee, the
one that can best face down the federal monster, may be state government.   And
the state government most capable of doing this may be ours.

In 2003, state reps Ober and Cady authored House Bill 1193, which would have established
a committee to study "the constitutional validity of the federal income tax
and constitutional abuses in the collection of the income tax, specifically as it
affects New Hampshire citizens."   This bill failed then, but I would like
to see it come up again...or perhaps a bill exempting N.H. residents from having
to pay the Federal Income Tax.  Another option is a bill which forbids local and
state government from cooperating with Federal authorities on tax cases.

We have gone past the point where we can work within the Constitutionally-challenged
national government system to regain our liberties, but the Founders foresaw this
and gave us a shield with which to protect ourselves.  That shield is states' rights,
but it will only protect us if we pick it up. 

If you wish to join other N.H. residents in a discussion of this issue, visit tinyurl.com/4vhpm

[Russell Kanning]

perfectamundo

[Dave Ridley]

Dave Mincin's LTE for Portsmouth Herald

Dear editors at the Herald:

Since you have for the moment eased off on your coverage of the Hampton zoning board's
authoritarian crusade against a 96-year-old homeowner, I will do my best to play
reporter today and bring your readers up to date  Over the last two weeks there
are a couple of developments to report.   

As you originally reported, Hampton's town government has filed suit against 96-year-old
Myrtle Woodward and her family over alleged, rather minor, zoning violations in
the construction of a rec room over their garage.  Basically they're saying that
a bed and sink were found there, that Woodward and family are allowing a relative
to use the room like an apartment.  Oh, and they want the family to pay almost $200
grand in fines. 

Since mid-January there have been three city hearings and one canceled court date,
each of these events attended by protesters from all over New Hampshire who consider
Myrtle a sort of modern day Rosa Parks.  Average turnout has been 12 protesters
per event.  All these meetings have culminated in various delays and continuances,
then recently a town "finding" that the rec room is a dwelling.  The most
recent hearing, on Feb. 24 was inconclusive but generally thought to have gone badly
for the family...observers say this thing could drag on for another year.

However things aren't going well for the town's officials either, especially from
a PR standpoint.  As town governments across the state watch this situation, they
have to be asking themselves...how can we prevent this kind of public relations
nightmare from happening to us?  Should we invest so much authority in our zoning
boards or even have zoning?  Grafton, Unity and Houston, TX have done fine without
it.  Another problem for Hampton is that they are spending spend tens of thousands
in tax dollars on lawyers to fight this case.

At any rate, as long as this persecution continues of people who pose no threat
to others, whose only crime is to act as though they had some remnant of property
rights, opposition will continue as well.  To stay up to date on this and find out
how to participate in our support of Myrtle, visit NHfree.com.

[Dave Ridley]

David Mincin LTE for Nashua Telegraph:

Dear editors at the Telegraph:

Thanks for Anne Lundregan's Feb. 19 article "Residents lose lawsuit over home assessments."  This case is unusual in that New Hampshire residents were turning to the Federal government for protection against N.H. government entities.   Normally it's the Feds who are out of line, not the usually benign state government. But as this case reminds us, the Feds are pretty useless when tasked with protecting Constitutional rights.   I'm glad to hear the residents are continuing this fight; there is no reason why state or city government inspectors should be able to force themselves into our homes under penalty of abatement denial.   The state was doing just fine before its government began allowing this ugly 4th amendment violation in 1994. 

God bless Tony Lekas and the others who have taken up this cause that the rest of us may live in more freedom.


  Nashua Telegraph

    * How to submit letter: Use their e-mail form at http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=opinion
    * Information they require: From their site: "Although the paper does not publish phone numbers or street addresses (unless specifically requested), that information must be included with letters for verification purposes."

[John]

TRAFFIC UPDATE!
Traffic may be heavier than usual as the URL is published (above the fold) on the Opinion page of the Union Leader today.

The new traffic may have started when People need a "Plan C" by one Dave Ridley of Keene ended with ". . . NHfree.com. See you there!"

It is unknow at this time how much traffic to expect or how long it will last . . . 

[Dave Ridley]

Letter by me for Foster's:

Dear folks at Foster's:

In response to your Feb. 28th article "Officials say heroin use on the rise in Granite State:"

If in fact we do have a heroin epidemic, we have it because of - not in spite of - unconstitutional bureaucracies like the Office of National Drug Control Policy.  And there's no reason to believe local authorities can alleviate such problems either.  We've given the government power to tell us what we can and can't put in our bodies, handed it force-funding to fight inanimate substances and consensual trade.  No wonder there's more of both.

[Dave Ridley]

Dave Mincin sent this LTE to Laconia Citizen:

Dear editors at the Citizen:
>
>In "This bill's too far gone to be fixed," Feb. 28, you argue that
SB110,
>the insurance bill affecting small businesses, should be scrapped.
>
>But I'm wondering what all these state bureaucrats and politicians are
>doing poking around in the affairs of small businesses in the first place. 
>For that matter, why are they fiddling with insurance company rules?   
>Their partial control over these institutions is not a source of economic
>safety; it is a source of financial suffering.   Get the state completely
>out of this matter and watch how fast the bad insurance companies fail
>while the good ones multiply here.
>
>Government has one legitimate purpose; to protect people from assaulting or
>defrauding each other.  All this other is nonsense, an assault by the
>authorities upon their own legitimacy.

[davemincin]

Dear Editor,

On Tuesday the citizens of Unity will be asked to vote on a very important issue, zoning.
Many say we need zoning to save our community, but wait!

What does zoning do to your property rights?  Zoning means a board will determine what you
may and may not do to your property.  Want to build a barn, add an addition?  Only if the zoning
board says you may.  Do you really want to loose control of how you utilize your property?  Don't
you think you know how best to utilize your property?

Ask Barbara Burbank about the Hampton ZBA.  Seems Barbara had a problem.  Her Aunt Myrtle
age 96, had kitties, and her daughter Kim was alergic.  Barbara asked the ZBA for permission to
build a seperate living area for Kim so they could keep the family together.  No, no, says the
zoning gods.  To make a long story short.  Barbara and here family, three generations of independent women, are now in court.  The town of Hampton, and the ZBA are suing them
for almost $200,000, at the taxpayers expense no less.  Think it couldn't happen to you?

I'm hopeful you will keep Unity the special place that it is, and vote no for zoning.  Your property
rights depend on it.

David Mincin
Civic Action Chair
New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
Box 872
Dover, NH 03821
742-6300 x20

Just sent this to Mary's paper in Unity.

[Dave Ridley]

In Foster's:

Seat belts should not be legislated

By KEITH MURPHY
Legislative Coordinator, N.H. Liberty Alliance

The citizens arguing for a mandatory seat-belt law in your story of Feb. 21 have something in common. They all fall victim to the irrational belief that common sense should be legislated.

For example, Paul Masterson, visiting from Maine, said, ?I think seat belts should be worn.? Ergo, in his opinion, the law should require them.

The traditional and legitimate role of government is protecting citizens from each other. Enlarging this role to include forcing citizens to make common sense decisions can lead to some truly intrusive laws. Using the same logic advocated by seat-belt Nazis, the state should outlaw leaning out of windows or eating fast food, or require the use of floss on a daily basis.

Of course, I wear a seat belt. It?s just common sense. But, as an adult I don?t need the state to force me to make good decisions, and I resent any attempt by others to intervene in my day-to-day affairs.

To the police chiefs lobbying for this law, please, stick to catching real criminals, murderers and thieves and rapists, and leave the rest of us alone. To the doctors and nurses lobbying for this law, please, stick to providing the services you are paid very well to perform, and let us as individuals be responsible for our own health decisions.

Legislating common sense raises the state to the role of parent, while reducing us all to the role of children.

Many people in New Hampshire have moved here because we value the liberty and responsibility over our lives that have gradually eroded in the other 49 states. We love that the taxes are low and that the laws are few. New Hampshire is special and unique, one of the last places that people are really free to make their own decisions, and to reap the consequences.

If you need the state to make those decisions for you, to protect you from being held responsible for consequences, then I would urge you to consider seeking some real estate in our neighbor to the south. They do this sort of thing all the time.

[Dave Ridley]

LTE by me for Portsmouth Herald:

Dear folks at the Herald:

Regarding Joe Adler's article "Feds eye agency complex at Pease," March 4:

Personally I would like to see reductions in the Federal presence in New Hampshire, not increases.  Every new building they move into here is a new source of control over our lives.

At the rate it taxes and regulates us, the FedGov is closer to being an occupier than a protector.

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if you want to send an LTE in  NH , you can use the handy guide at

http://www.freestateproject.org/about/essay_archive/BeTheMedia.php

[Dave Ridley]

Sent to Monitor:

Regarding your March 26 news brief on the the Federal (DEA) cocaine bust in Manchester...

I have questions about this bust:

1) Did it clearly and directly involve issues of interstate trade (over which the
Feds have Constitutional authority)?

2)  If not, was this raid Constitutional?  On what grounds?  Where does the U.S.
Constitution authorize Federal raids of this type inside New Hampshire territory?

3) Were there in fact far fewer drug problems here before Washington started getting
involved?

4) Is it true that busts like this one tend to raise the price of cocaine, making
the cocaine trade more lucrative and deadly?

5) Is the DEA making efficient use of the money it got from you last April 15?

6) Is it true that DEA stands for "Druglord Enhancement Agency?"

Just asking.

[Dave Ridley]

Dear folks at the Union Leader:

In response to your March 12 article about a new state property tax plan:

I don't claim to know whether the plan is less bad than other plans for funding
our government-run education-prevention system.   But I do know that incomprehensible
schemes like this are the inevitable result of three misguided notions:

1) The idea that you must be forced to pay for your neighbor's education.

2) The idea that people and towns should receive subsidies for being poor.

3) The notion that the state courts have a right to force citizens to fund
government schools.  That's taxation without representation, as these
judges are unelected rulers.

There are plenty of other folks who have ideas regarding how your money should be
spent.  We read about them in the papers, see pictures of them in prison.   Since
they're not with the government we usually refer to them as "thieves."

[Dave Ridley]

From me to Keene Sentinel:

Dear editors at the Sentinel:

I would like to know why I received a propaganda mailing from the Keene Board of Education
Prevention telling me how to vote March 8.   Is it true that they were also paying for radio advertising?  I would like to know if any of these boring but presumably expensive communications were taxpayer funded.  If so, is such a practice (compelled speech) legal?   If legal, Is it *ethical?*  Can the board in good conscience force your
readers to subsidize propaganda?   

I thought education funds and taxes were supposed to help children and teachers, but I suspect this is par for the course when it comes to the way government educrats spend our money.

[CNHT]

From me to Keene Sentinel:

Dear editors at the Sentinel:

I would like to know why I received a propaganda mailing from the Keene Board of Education
Prevention telling me how to vote March 8.? ?Is it true that they were also paying for radio advertising?? I would like to know if any of these boring but presumably expensive communications were taxpayer funded.? If so, is such a practice (compelled speech) legal?? ?If legal, Is it *ethical?*? Can the board in good conscience force your
readers to subsidize propaganda?? ?

I thought education funds and taxes were supposed to help children and teachers, but I suspect this is par for the course when it comes to the way government educrats spend our money.

This constitutes 'compelled speech' and no it is not legal but yes, it is done all the time so much so that folks do not even know it's not legal to use taxpayer monies to promote ballot issues, especially where it concerns spending of taxpayer monies.

[Dave Ridley]

sent to nashua paper

Dear folks at the Telegraph:

Thanks much for Cal Grant's April 17 editorial "United Nations isn't working."   When he says we should get the UN out of the U.S. he's on the right track.  But when he says we should replace it with an organization of free nations, I'm wondering:  Would the U.S. qualify for membership?  Would any nation qualify?   

Even here in New Hampshire, perhaps the least unfree state in the world's least unfree nation, we are far from having the liberty our Founders fought to bequeath us.   We pay, on average, a third of our incomes in taxes.  Our homes are subject to *interior* inspection by municipal bureaucrats whose salaries we are forced to pay.  We are not free to decide what to do with our own bodies or what to put in them.  Homeschoolers and small businesses must obtain from the state recurring permission to carry on the most harmless of activities.  Unelected judges force our elected representatives to increase taxes so they may subsidize inefficient government schools.  The latter userpation looses upon the people a new form of an old evil:  Taxation without representation.

We have long way to go before we would qualify for membership in a league of free nations.  What a distressing thing it is to know that it's even worse in most other places, thanks in part to the current United Nations our own government so casually forces us to underwrite.