Kindergarten Cowards

"Local control" (4.00 / 2)

It's such an attractive notion on the surface. "US : New Hampshire :: New Hampshire : Bedford." But it's bogus.

The "United States" was formed when individual, self-governing states chose to join together. States did NOT form when independent towns joined forces.

There are no town or city constitutions.

The town is a convenience of the state; it may be able to perform some of the state's functions more effectively. The local police enforce state laws; some of them spend a little bit of time enforcing local ordinances (e.g., parking) but the bulk of their work is the state law.

"There is no little federalism."

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by: elwood @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 11:37:33 AM UTC

what we've seen from the Bill O'Brien statehouse (4.00 / 3)

ding

"yokel control"

note to close readers: this might be sarcastic so think twice before reading to candidates for use in their attacks on each other

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by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 16:52:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Elwood, (4.00 / 1)

this is too complicated.  That's the problem.  I think.

Whatever else is going on, the dumbing down of NH proceeds posthaste.

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 13:07:46 PM UTC

Damn You, James Madison! (4.00 / 5)

Elwood is of course correct. Cities and towns are creatures of the state. Always have been.

As the National League of Cities explains on its Web site:

The Constitution of the United States of America does not mention local governments.  Local governments are created by and regulated by the states.  This means that to speak about cities or other forms of local government in the United States is to speak about fifty different legal and political situations.  The states outline the powers of municipal governments in charters.

New Hampshire is not a "home rule" state like Massachusetts. Local communities can only do what the state permits them to do. The League of Cities goes into the details on Web site, but the short version:

If there is any reasonable doubt whether a power has been conferred on a local government, then the power has NOT been conferred.  This is the rule of strict construction of local government powers.

As Rep. Malz and his colleagues are quickly discovering, when you pledge to bring Constitutional governance to the State House, it can be useful to know what the document does - or doesn't say.

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by: Tim Ashwell @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 13:31:20 PM UTC

maybe... (0.00 / 0)

Gutting kindergarten is an audacious move.  But audacity and courage are apparently unrelated attributes.

I would like to think that common sense intervened instead of political calculation, but either way, the value of intense opposition is validated.  

Or was it embarrassment caused by having to make the argument in public?    

whp

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by: whp @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 17:25:11 PM UTC

I'm not sure Malz really believes his fundamental premise (4.00 / 2)

NH mandates school attendance for all until the age of 18. Yet it pays less than $4000 per student to the towns to provide this service, a figure that is derisively less than the real cost. If the good representative were really concerned about the state not paying the communities for the cost of a service it demands they perform, why not lead a charge for the state to give each town, at the bare minimum, the real cost of an education?

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by: Mike Emm @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 18:33:10 PM UTC

Bingo! You win the prize. (4.00 / 2)

If you take Malz' words at face value, the logical conclusion is that he'd be looking for a way to fully fund education rather than trying to gut it.

So I'm not going to pretend this is anything other than an attempt to deprive our youngest school-age children, and consequently, an attack on the future growth of this state.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 22:39:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

and does anyone know or care... (4.00 / 1)

that Rep Malz immigrated here from Mass. as part of the free state project?

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by: BeGreener @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 21:28:37 PM UTC

How did you know that (0.00 / 0)

and do you know of any other Free Stater immigrants?

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by: Mike Emm @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 22:02:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My public servant, Rep. Jennifer Coffey (0.00 / 0)

is a Free Stater who runs as a Republican.

Her interest seems to be mainly in the area of freedom for knives and guns.

Had she run honestly under the banner of the porcupine rather than the elephant, it is an open question as to whether I would be calling her Representative today.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 22:34:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If you haven't noticed yet... (0.00 / 0)

many NH elephants have grown mighty long quills lately... including quite a few native NH elephants.  Perhaps climate changes is to blame...

Rep. Coffey worked to build a nonpartisan coalition of dozens of organizations to fight REALID, and cosponsored bipartisan bills even this year that you probably will support, so you insult her when you claim her main concern is mainly 'knives and guns'.  She's worked tirelessly for many shapes and forms of freedom.   I'm very proud to call her my friend and colleague and again, I repeat my open question to you, Dean: Would you rather have the two of us representing you, and agreeing some of the time, or more traditional 'elephants' with whom you agreed even less of the time?  I realize you'd prefer a far more progressive voice, but the majority of your fellow Merrimack 6ers disagreed with you, electing 6 Republicans.  Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.

BH's token Republican / Libertarian / TeaPartier / Free Stater, courtesy of a Federal Affirmative Action grant, despite many of his comments being marked down and hidden.

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by: SethCohn @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 08:15:04 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And you insult my intelligence (4.00 / 3)

when you imply that when Coffey doesn't appear in media mentions chiefly around the issues of guns and knives.

And then there was last year's town meeting, where real libertarian Howard Wilson and I were on the same page in rejecting David Bates' anti-marriage ballot referendum, while Coffey carried his water in supporting it.

What kind of half a loaf is that?

Andover voted by a big margin for Obama in 08, as well as a Democratic State Senator and a number of Democratic state reps.

Despite a Republican wave that Free Staters latched onto in 2010, we still did well on the local level.

Two free-staters out of six reps is a gross representative distortion of Andover's constituents.


birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 11:27:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree with you... (0.00 / 0)

And look forward to the redistricting that will break up the megadistrict.  Canterbury is overrepresented as well, with 3 Reps for a town too small to qualify for one.  Merrimack 6, which I am proud to represent along with the other 5 Reps and will gladly listen to and try to help folks from all 6 towns, is a perfect example of why megadistricts are a bad thing, and I'll be glad to see them go away.

I suggest you talk to Rep. Coffey yourself about her views on that town ballot measure, before you scapegoat her for what you believe she believes.

She's on the special Education Reform committee and the Vice Chair of Commerce, chairing the Banking division of it, so if the media focuses on her 2nd amendment legislation, take it up with them - there is plenty of other things they could discuss with her.

BH's token Republican / Libertarian / TeaPartier / Free Stater, courtesy of a Federal Affirmative Action grant, despite many of his comments being marked down and hidden.

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by: SethCohn @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 13:03:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

She is the sponsor of 3 bills in support of guns.. (0.00 / 0)

... including one that says you no longer have to retreat if you think someone might be threatening you. If you're carrying, it'll be OK to draw on the person... as long as you draw first.  

She is alo sponsor of another bill, the 'Independence Day Freedom act' which gives us the freedom to set off explosives on July 4th, just like our Founding Fathers did. The bill says: There is no need for a state fireworks bureaucracy to pick and choose which fireworks a person may buy and use...This act removes an unnecessary bureaucracy [and] increases freedom.

Who even knew we had a state fireworks bureaucracy? But apparently we do: the 'Permissible Fireworks Review Committee'.

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by: Mike Emm @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 14:25:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I understand (0.00 / 0)

the McGuires of Epsom are also Free Staters.  

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Wed Feb 09, 2011 at 23:53:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Just another day on BH picking on the immigrants... (0.00 / 0)

I realize that political refugees are unpopular around here... and immigrants more so.

Oh wait, I'm sorry, I thought I was reading RedHampshire.  Never mind.

And for the record, I am Spartacus.

BH's token Republican / Libertarian / TeaPartier / Free Stater, courtesy of a Federal Affirmative Action grant, despite many of his comments being marked down and hidden.

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by: SethCohn @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 04:42:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

that's not fair (0.00 / 0)

I'm betting Freebaggers are far more popular at RedHampshire.

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by: susanthe @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 04:48:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Freebaggers? (0.00 / 0)

http://www.google.com/search?q...

yields a number of meanings of that word, including liberals and leftists, topless advocates, and folks not wearing underwear.  I don't think any of those would be popular on RH.

So I'll assume you meant Free Stater/Tea Party people.  Susan, have you actually met any of us?  I've been told I'm much nicer in person.

BH's token Republican / Libertarian / TeaPartier / Free Stater, courtesy of a Federal Affirmative Action grant, despite many of his comments being marked down and hidden.

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by: SethCohn @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 08:53:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What if.... (4.00 / 2)

"I don't have anything against kindergarten," Maltz said. "I just don't think that a town should be forced to do something it said it didn't want to do, and the state not pay for it."

What if a town didn't want any school at all unless the state paid 100% of all costs?  What if a town didn't want to hold state elections in unless the state paid for all the workers? What if a town didn't want to enforce the state criminal code because the state doesn't pay for the local police?  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 01:53:02 AM UTC

local control or home rule? (0.00 / 0)

The same people touting local control almost certainly opposed the home-rule for town measure several years ago.

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by: kite @ Thu Feb 10, 2011 at 14:01:21 PM UTC