Free State Project members seeking Bedford votes

[Keith and stuff]

Free State Project members seeking Bedford votes
By SUSAN CLARK
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140303/NEWS06/140309863

The Free State Project doesn't have members.

BEDFORD — Many people choose to live in New Hampshire because of its quality of life, its Live Free or Die attitude, its low taxes and its limited state and local bureaucracy.

And some who come for all of those reasons want a greater hand in how government is run, as the town of Bedford is learning firsthand.

In 2003, members of the Free State Project, a movement founded outside of New Hampshire, decided to make the state their new home. The group's goal is to have 20,000 Libertarian-minded Free Staters live in New Hampshire. So far, 15,438 have signed a pledge to move here; 1,575 now make New Hampshire their home, according to the Free State Project website.

The FSP is not seeking Libertarian Party minded people. It is looking for people that currently are or are willing to become liberty activists.

Day is a trustee of the Free State Project and chairman of the N.H. Republican Liberty Caucus. He said he moved to Bedford with his wife, Irina, because New Hampshire offers a better way of life.

According to the FSP, Day is on the FSP board of directors. He is the Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.

Philips, who is single, said he took the pledge to move to New Hampshire in 2003, but had been busy at an Internet startup company in New York City.

"I chose New Hampshire partly because of the Free State Project, but also because of all the reasons everyone else chose it; remember, only 42 percent of New Hampshirites were born in the state," Philips said. "The people here are warm, welcoming, pragmatic and reasonable. There is great natural beauty, low crime, low poverty, low personal taxes."

Philips is correct.

Impact on Bedford

Some longtime residents see the Free State movement as a threat and an attempt to make drastic changes to local and state government.

"Most of us have come to New Hampshire because of a way of life and not because we're part of a group formed outside of the state," said Bill Greiner, a former town councilor and member of several community organizations. "Aaron Day and Matt Philips have only recently come to Bedford for the sole purpose of colonizing New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project and infiltrating municipal and state elective office to make radical and anarchistic changes that would be extremely detrimental to the quality of life in Bedford."

Greiner seems to be pretty confused. It's either that or he is a liar. I'm not sure if 2009 is recently moving to Bedford since at least 2 of Bedford's state reps and the state senator for Beford moved to Beford more recently. I have no idea if either Day or Philips is an anarchist but they are seeking to be the sole liberty person on board with several people. So Greiner's statements are absurd.

As for colonizing NH, I'm not sure if Greiner is accusing Day of owning slaves or not. Really, he is using pretty inflammatory words that make him look like a conspiracy theorist. He is the person that made up the colonizing thing.

"The impact on Bedford would be significant because they do not believe in the Constitution, authority such as police, public education and nearly everything else that government provides. The way of life and quality of life is at risk, and this could then impact property values, bond ratings, etc.," Greiner said.

Day pointed out he has lived in Bedford 4½ years and objected to several of Greiner's comments.

"Greiner has been factually inaccurate in his statements about me and the Free State project. I am not against the Constitution. New Hampshire is the 'Live Free or Die' state, and the truth is in his time on the town council, property taxes here have nearly doubled."

Greiner said some pretty crazy stuff. So having 1 fiscally responsible person on the school board could hurt the bond rating for the district?

Homework for voters

The Free State Project's philosophy is "less government is better government, and government should only exist to protect individual rights." Philips said anyone seeking more information should Google "Libertarian reading list" or read "The Law," by Claude Frederic Bastiat.

"I'll try to summarize: I own myself, nobody else has a claim to me or my property. At the town level, there are some essential functions provided by the government, and due to its smaller size, it tends to be less wasteful than, say, the federal government," Philips said.

I'm not sure what that's about but the FSP doesn't have philosophy and doesn't take positions on government issues.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Bedford FSP Candidate Controversy Makes Front Page of Union Leader
http://freekeene.com/2014/03/03/bedford-fsp-candidate-controversy-make-front-page-of-union-leader/

As reported here last week, two Free State Project participants are running for office in Bedford, NH and their candidacy is stirring up displeasure on the part of the political class in town. The old boys are angry that their power structure is being threatened and are lashing out against the liberty-loving candidates.

Now the dust-up has received front page coverage in the Union Leader.

Libertarians worldwide should take note: This is what happens when you actually have a chance at making an impact, as we do here in NH. The establishment will attack and they will attack hard. Most libertarians have no experience with this – their campaigns are largely ignored nationwide. In New Hampshire the opposition doesn’t ignore us – they are attacking and actually encouraging people to research the FSP! What great free publicity!

If you love liberty, start making plans to move here as part of the Free State Project and get active. These pro-state people are scared and desperate already, and the official FSP move hasn’t even begun!

Then it includes the entire article, word for word. I'm not going to post that but feel free to click on the link.

This sure is front page. It's at the very top of the statewide newspaper for New Hampshire. Talk about making the news!