Much like Texans, people in the “Live Free or Die!” State of New Hampshire are fed up with the feds. Now they are taking legislative action to make NHexit a reality.
Unknown to most outside the state, New Hampshire has been working on separating from the union for almost a decade. The Foundation for New Hampshire Independence was founded by Dave Ridley in 2012, and its mission is to “educate New Hampshire residents about the benefits of independence.” The NHExit movement was created in 2016 to address political action toward independence.
Ridley told the Concord Monitor, “It would be political suicide, but somebody out there has got to have the courage” to propose a new resolution for New Hamshire’s secession. He found his jumper in Representative Mike Sylvia, who told the New American, “Enough is enough!” Sylvia introduced legislation in September 2021 that proposes a constitutional amendment concurrent resolution (CACR) for the people to vote on in the general election in November 2022.
The bill would not just start a process of separation, but if passed, would become a NH Constitutional Amendment that would immediately sever all ties with the union. Much like the issue with HB1359, the process for adding a referendum to the general election ballot depends on whether or not the legislators support the bill. According to The Liberty Block, the bill would need 60% of the Senate and House to pass, but would not need Governor Sununu’s approval. If passed, it would go on the November 2022 general election ballot for the people to vote on. If it were to receive 66% support from the voters, it would become a constitutional amendment that reads: “New Hampshire peaceably declares independence from the United States and immediately proceeds as a sovereign nation. All other references to the United States in this constitution, state statutes, and regulations are nullified.”
According to The New American, The John Birch Society recommends that states just insist that the US and State Constitutions be obeyed, and should exercise their power to declare federal overreach “null and void”. It recommends that all state officeholders should honor their oath to uphold the Constitution by opposing all violations to the Constitution.
However, this process just results in the federal government just refusing to comply. Sylvia told Free Keene, “It’s time to honor the clear directives of the NH Constitution,” which states, “Whenever the ends of the government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government.”
The federal government is definitely perverted, public liberty is certainly endangered, and all avenues taken in an attempt to fix it have been ignored. As Axelman writes in Divorce DC: “Things will literally never change for the better. Freedom continues to diminish and tyranny continues to grow. Even with a Convention of States, we cannot take power back from Congress, which doesn’t represent the people. Because of the way the federal government is set up, five unelected judges can make laws for all 330 million people in the United States. And, it’s about to get worse. Because of recent federal legislation, the already corrupt IRS is becoming even more tyrannical.”
Similar to the problems with HB1359, getting the bill passed in the legislature is the biggest hurdle. Elliot Axelman of The Liberty Block has approached many of them in the past regarding secession and feels they were mostly afraid of being ousted as anarchists — so the resistance was a real issue. However over the past few months, he has seen a shift in the attitudes of the legislators due to the overwhelming incompetence of the federal government. “A few conservatives cling to hope that they can fix DC and the union, but the continuation of the perpetual union seems less reasonable and peaceful separation seems like the only solution.”(Divorce DC) As Elliot Axelman says, “How could one country be united if its people hate each other so much?”
Many say this legislation is a longshot. However, in a recent interview, Axelman says the last two CACRs had a projected support of only 29%. Because “New Hampshire voters are the smartest voters in the country,” both amendments passed with 81% voter approval! He also brought up the fact that NH voters tend to ‘criss-cross’ the ballot more than any other state, making this a non-partisan issue.
Axelman went on to say that obtaining independence would solve more issues than just federal overreach. Because every politician has ambitions for DC, it affects every decision they make. If DC were no longer an option, they would have to focus one the issues at home. He says that Governor Sununu followed the recommendations of DC to lock down the state and derail the state economy because of pressure and money from DC. He also writes in Divorce DC, “Even policies you think are set by state lawmakers are really controlled by the feds via extortion.”
The best thing for any economy is lack of government restrictions. “Federal regulations on businesses cost Americans around $2 Trillion every year,” and it’s only going to get worse. The bureaucrats in D.C. cost taxpayers $70 Billion annually. Axelman states in 12 Benefits, “The Federal Department of Education is perhaps the biggest contributor to the decline in the academic success, economic success, culture, and freedom in the US since its establishment in 1980,” and their only job is to dictate how teachers teach and “brainwash our children into hating liberty and freedom.”(Divorce DC) According to Independence.org, “Our teachers now work long hours to complete paperwork for a distant bureaucracy, while endless federally-mandated aptitude tests strangle our children’s love of learning.”
The overspending of the federal government continues to worsen. Just recently, they raised the debt ceiling to accommodate their excessive spending. They are spending future generations into slavery. According to one website, every child born in 2021 has an already-established debt of over $66,874, and will accrue to $111,552 by the age of 18, and be $191,788 by the time they are 30 years old. As D.C. spending spirals out of control, these numbers are only expected to grow exponentially.
Other reasons touched on for support of independence were the outrageous cost of medical care, invasion of personal privacies via the Patriot Act, the NDAA, TSA, NSA, IRS, CDC, the ATF, and federal coercion of state and local law enforcement agencies. All of these things boil down to overtaxation, overregulation, personal invasion, and suppression of personal freedoms.(Top 10 Reasons)
According to The Concord Monitor, New Hampshire would thrive because of its diversified economy and geographic location. NH overpays the federal government by 30 cents on the dollar. According to Wikipedia , New Hampshire is the fifth smallest state with the fourth highest median household income and the lowest rates of poverty, unemployment, and crime. It’s overall tax burden is the second-lowest in the US, and “ranks among the top ten for governance, healthcare, socioeconomic opportunity, and fiscal stability.” NH also has a very low energy-consumption rate and an overage of internally-produced energy for export.
Just like many TEXIT supporters and analysts, Axelman is confident that the private sector, free markets, and charities can handle everything internally and better than the federal government.
If you’d like to know more about how Texas could thrive without the federal government, visit the TEXIT page.
The TNM has been actively seeking independence for over 25 years, and it has never been closer to getting the vote to the people than now. With the petition initiative, enough signatures would force the issue on the Primary ballot in the Spring 2022. For more information on how to make this happen, visit the Petition page.
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