New Hampshire ISN'T the most libertarian, Austin, Texas is.

[Howard_Roark]

A bizarre thing I keep finding on these forums is the rabid insistence by some people that New Hampshire somehow is the most libertarian place. I can 100% decisively say that it isn't - not even close. I have examined FEC donations to Ron Paul and Austin, TX with a population of about 1.5 million in the metro came in at over $500,000 - NH with a population of 1.3 million came in at $228,000. Austin, TX ranks #1 on Google trends for the search terms, Ron Paul, libertarian and Ayn Rand. NH doesn't even rank in the top 10. Austin also had the largest RP meetup group in the 2008 election, again NH doesn't even rank. Furthermore, in a ranking of states by economic conservatism Texas ranked #7. NH ranks #42 - towards the end of the list with all the other big government liberal New England states where it belongs.

 

[Stary Hickory]

Well NH is basically blue, if they are still blue after Obama then lord I don't know....its the one reason I wonder about them. I think NH seems like it might be nice, but I lean towards Texas...Austin though is probably not very libertarian though.

 

[TheTyke]

The Free State Project is a nice idea, and they've done a lot of good. I'm fairly sure Ron's placing 2nd in an poll of the Party Establishment was thanks to their work. However you will need more than several thousand to pull it off, and they will have to employ effective political strategy. It's tough to overcome simple demographic trends... places like Texas and Montana have a history of being rugged, independent and therefore the population is more naturally accepting of our views. But even then it can be tough!

 

[FrankRep]

New Hampshire = Too damn cold.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Could it be all those Alex Jones fans in Austin?

You know, those nuts and weirdos that should STFU and GTFO of the movement because we're fucking it up for everybody else.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Bleah, most of Texas, for that matter most of the south, is a cop loving, soldier sniffing, neocon infested, roadblock filled, surveillance state.

Austin is an anomaly.

You can keep your ungodly summer heat.

 

[angelatc]

Austin is liberal, not libertarian. When we lived there, you could get a ticket for riding your bike with no helmet, but it was ok to ride your motorcycle without one. They were pretty far ahead of the curve when it came to banning cigarette smoking on private property, too.

 

[Humanae Libertas]

Just because the city of Austin had more donations to Ron Paul than NH, that makes them more libertarian?

So does that mean Sean Hannity is a libertarian for supporting Rand Paul?

 

[FSP-Rebel]

Here's the most recent exhaustive study into how the states rank regarding their libertarianism or lack thereof: http://mercatus.org/publication/freedom-50-states-index-personal-and-economic-freedom?id=26154. Texas comes in 5th behind 1-NH, 2-CO, 3-SD and 4-ID in the overall freedom ranking. There's a pdf file to download at the link which shows the rankings as well as the criteria that was used in the study. I agree that there is plenty of liberty activism in and around Austin, but it is one of the major Alex Jones hotbeds.

Regarding NH, if you look at the make up of the state house and senate it is very red these days. And yes, the FSP is helping advance the freedom agenda as well as reinvigorating the dormant native liberty minded people. I'm not gonna go on a lengthy tangent making the case for NH, I've done it repeatedly over the years here yet some people refuse to observe the obvious facts that make it the most libertarian state as well as the only state receiving a gradual influx of activists as the years go by. There are plenty of threads around here that have all the facts you need to know and if you needed further info, check out the FSP website or take a look around the discussion forum over there. Any ?s one has can get them answered over there in depth.

 

[Stary Hickory]

Just because the city of Austin had more donations to Ron Paul than NH, that makes them more libertarian?

So does that mean Sean Hannity is a libertarian for supporting Rand Paul?

I don't know what you are talking about but Hannity has many times stated he is basically a libertarian...geez

 

[Humanae Libertas]

I don't know what you are talking about but Hannity has many times stated he is basically a libertarian...geez

I thought he was a "Ronnie Raygun Cunservative!"

 

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

most of the south, is a cop loving, soldier sniffing, neocon infested, roadblock filled, surveillance state.

Sad that my native Dixie no longer retains the will to tell the Feds and other Statist jackals to go fuck themselves. We paid, I believe, too heavy a price for our ancestor's folly vis-a-vis Slavery and later Jim Crow. Sad that the area of the country that is the most racially integrated is regarded as being a racist backwater.

 

[Eric21ND]

New Hampshire = Too damn cold.

New Hampshire...we call that "shorts weather" where I'm from.

 

[acptulsa]

Sad that my native Dixie no longer retains the will to tell the Feds and other Statist jackals to go fuck themselves. We paid, I believe, too heavy a price for our ancestor's folly vis-a-vis Slavery and later Jim Crow. Sad that the area of the country that is the most rarhcially integrated is regarded as being a racist backwater.

Yeah. And while AF makes some valid points about Texas and New Hampshire surely is the most wonderful part of New England, it is The West--the Plains and the Rockies--that will be our stronghold and that will bug out if secession turns out to be the only answer.

 

[paulitics]

^^ this. I think states like Montana, CO, OK and Arizona have many advantages, and the people are more the rugged individual type -they are the true sleeping giant. I thought about NH, but I'm not anarchist enough for many, and really haven't been too impressed with some of the free state projects antics to gain attention. The Ron Paul movement really isn't that strong there, and that should tell us something. And then you have the added problem of more and more Massholes crosiing the border.

 

[Pericles]

Yeah. And while AF makes some valid points about Texas and New Hampshire surely is the most wonderful part of New England, it is The West--the Plains and the Rockies--that will be our stronghold and that will bug out if secession turns out to be the only answer.

That - Austin like other major cities in Texas has turned into a liberal hell hole. Get thee west of I35 and north of I20 and liberty will flourish.

 

[daviddee]

...

 

[Flash]

As has been discussed on this forum, all too many times, NH is not the free/Libertarian state some choose to paint it. It was co-opted by Massholes and RINOs a long time ago. NH is so far down on the list it is not even worth discussing where it places...

There are those on this forum who will continue to beat the drum on NH in the face of the facts/reality. They have their own agenda for doing this...

Then why are there more liberty politicians in New Hampshire than any other state? What other states have Anarcho-Capitalists, Mutualists, Voluntaryists, etc.. running for state rep? Yeah New Hampshire isn't perfect but it's a start.

 

[WilliamShrugged]

Until NH does something towards Allodial Title then i'll think about moving there.

 

[low preference guy]

2. High gas taxes, high cigarette taxes, high lodging taxes, etc. (anti-driving, anti-smoking, anti-tourism)
3. Some of the absolute highest taxes on real estate in the country (anti-land ownership)
4. The absence of a sales tax. This at first seems great... until you realize where they are getting taxes from... by milking anyone who is stupid enough to buy property in the state.
5. They tax the shit out of interest income (anti-savings)

Those points paint an incomplete and misleading picture of taxation in NH. To compare taxation among different states, you have to take the overall tax burden. New Hampshire has a total tax burden of 7.3%. For comparison purposes, Maine's total tax burden is 13.5%. Let's see the numbers from other states:

Maine 1 13.5 %
New York 2 12.9
Ohio 3 12.0
Minnesota 4 11.9
Hawaii 5 11.7
Nebraska 6 11.6
Wisconsin 7 11.6
Rhode Island 8 11.5
Connecticut 9 11.3
Vermont 10 11.1
Louisiana 11 11.0
Indiana 12 11.0
Washington 13 10.9
Illinois 14 10.9
California 15 10.9
Michigan 16 10.8
New Jersey 17 10.8
Kansas 18 10.7
Maryland 19 10.7
Kentucky 20 10.7
West Virginia 21 10.6
Utah 22 10.5
North Caroline 23 10.5
Pennsylvania 24 10.4
Georgia 25 10.4
Iowa 26 10.4
Arkansas 27 10.3
Massachusetts 28 10.3
Mississippi 29 10.2
South Caroline 30 10.2
Idaho 31 10.2
Arizona 32 10.1
Wyoming 33 10.1
Missouri 34 9.9
Oregon 35 9.9
New Mexico 36 9.9
North Dakota 37 9.8
Colorado 38 9.8
Florida 39 9.7
Oklahoma 40 9.6
Virginia 41 9.5
Montana 42 9.5
Nevada 43 9.5
Texas 44 9.4
South Dakota 45 9.2
Tennessee 47 8.6
Delaware 48 8.4
New Hampshire 49 7.3
Alaska 50 6.6

Link

Another ranking


New Hampshire has lower taxation than any other state in the union except Alaska. That's very good.