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What is the GOPP? It's my conception of the new Republican Party in NH, and that is the result of a chain of thinking that occupied my mind yesterday evening, after we were interacting with our own representative from the sandbox brigade. So follow me below, patiently.
I've been thinking about Republicans in NH, a chain of thought provoked by the reappearance on Blue Hampshire yesterday of our resident king of the sandbox, Seth Cohn, and by attendance at an event yesterday afternoon when the inimitable Jackie Cilley spoke about the reality of our new legislative bodies. Seth was insisting yesterday that NH voters really, really want to deconstruct our state government, and voted for him and his ilk in November because they knew that was exactly what was going to be done.
Now, as I recall, Governor Hummer invited the Free State Project here in 2003. Except for an occasional Democratic governor, the Republicans have been running NH for a long, long time. Since the sandbox brigade didn't get here til about the time the Democrats began to win elections in NH, they may not know the history of NH politics, except perhaps as a libertarian "morality" tale.
My question to myself was: if people in NH wanted to slash their government down to the adolescent vision of the Free Staters, why didn't they do it before? Were they so dumb that they needed the guys on white horses to ride in to bring them the idea? Did these people who have been practicing town meeting type democracy, discussing and voting on what to fund with their taxes town by town for a couple of centuries, really not know what they wanted to do? And why did the Republicans create the basic structure of NH taxes and services, a structure which the Democrats didn't do much more than tweak in the last few years?
I also reminded myself that when dealing with people like the sandbox brigade, it is wise to look closely at what they accuse us of, because it is a common tactic on the far right to attack the strengths of one's opponents. So our dreadful caring for each other, our stupid desire to pay our fair share, our need to behave as grown-ups are real threats to the adolescent wet-dreams of the invaders.
Where does the "Puppet" part come in? Having a good layman's knowledge of economics, especially as it relates to our current political practice, I know to follow the money. We all are aware of the enormous sums of money that is coming into this state, and we are becoming aware of the "model" legislation that is being introduced into a number of states this year, legislation that has little or no actual support in the states it is being foisted on. "Right to Work for Less" is only one of these here, along with repeal of RGGI, getting rid of the rail commission, and others.
So, who profits from this legislation? Whose money is pouring into our state? And who are the puppet masters of our legislators? We know some of them: Cornerstone, the Koch (pronounced "coke") Brothers, and all the other secretly funded astroturf PACs that authored the lies that blanketed the airwaves here last fall and are fundraising here this year.
Kelly Ayotte spent much of the campaign in DC, meeting with lobbyists and learning what to say, and what to vote for. Frank Guinta is madly currying favor with potential Republican candidates for President. Charlie Bass signs the "Americans for (Billionaire) Prosperity tax pledge. Our speaker of the house calls the Republicans into special meetings to tell them what Cornerstone says to vote for. And the Free Staters? Might they be missing the gravy train? Did they get used without getting their payback? What a very, very sad thought.
