To the Legislators and Governor: Do Your Duty
Friday, March 9, 2007 at 07:44AM by Mike Biundo, Chairman NH Advantage Coalition
When you entered the ballot box last fall, did you vote for a state Representative?
If you did, did you expect that he or she would take an oath to uphold the NH Constitution?
And did you, when you had the ballot before you, vote for your representative Supreme Court member?
No?
Funny, because the justices are acting like legislators, and if we don’t tell them to stop, we may be backed into a sales or income tax in NH.
You see, in 1993, the Court made up a “right” to a state-funded education. The fact that the NH Constitution doesn’t do this was irrelevant to them. In 1997, the justices ruled that since they had already said that the state had an obligation to fund education, and towns and cities fund education through the use of a portion of their property taxes, that local property tax for education was really a state tax, and all state taxes had to be “proportional and reasonable”. Therefore, there had to be one, uniform tax to fund education equally all across the state. Some politicians, ready to comply in order to get to the political end-game they had desired, proposed, yeah, you guessed it, state-wide income and sales taxes. Luckily, the traditions of NH won out. The sales and income taxes were avoided, although a state-wide property tax of $6.60 per thousand was instituted. That merely began a long period of town-to-town redistribution of wealth, rather than directly taking it from innocent victims. Plunder is plunder, but it was excused by some because, they told us, we all “live in a community” and to resist having money taken from your town and given to another was just un-neighborly.
Well, have no fear. The justices are not done trying to shove us into the economic Mack truck that is a broad-based tax. Their recent “Londonderry” decision, ordering the legislature to somehow define an “adequate” education, will get us there if we do not stop their malfeasance now.
The justices have set a deadline of July 1, 2007 for the legislature to define a “constitutionally adequate education”, despite the fact that the term “adequate education” doesn’t appear in the NH Constitution. If the legislature does not jump to the Court’s demands, the justices will appoint a “magistrate” to handle this work for them.
Interesting, huh? The appellate judicial branch of the NH government will make law. Remember when you voted for them?
You remember, don’t you?
Ever read the NH Constitution? Just like a “right” to a state-funded, “adequate” education isn’t in there, the legislative power of the judicial branch isn’t anywhere to be found either!
If the real legislators do not stand up for their civic duty as our representatives and rebuff the Court, they will not only be giving up their Constitutional power, they will be backing us right into a broad-based tax.
As it stands, the proposals for “education adequacy” being produced in concord to fulfill this unwarranted Court “mandate” bring the overall financial liability of NH for education to upwards of $2 billion. If that burden is accepted, you can say goodbye to your control over your own school, and you can say goodbye to the financial distinction that gave New Hampshire an advantage over our neighbors. We will be backed into a broad-based tax to pay for this. The legislators need to know, and Governor Lynch needs to know.
Likewise, they need to know that they have the duty, the responsibility, to tell the court they cannot make law, that their rulings are improper, and that the legislature will not be treated like second-class members of the government.
We elected our representatives, not the justices.
Before July 1, lets tell them we are still aware of this.
Reader Comments (6)
This internet newspapers is a new light in NH politics. To read the response to all the articles is refreshing. I disagree with many but interactive news is the best. Governor Benson declared me a terrorist and locked me up. Governor Lynch sold me 30 minutes to talk to him on any subject, uninterrupted. When the governor realized that it was Peter Macdonald he refused the meeting. The Governor took my money and refused the talk. NH has used the State Police to intimidate my family at my home and my wife at her work. NH has taken my freedom, stopped my VA medical benefits, blocks me from contact with the NH Veterans council, blocks me from contact with the NH disabilities center, blocks my e-mail contact with government officials, interfered with my run for state elected office and much more. The NH newspapers has censored my response to the biased articles that they print about me. Last week Carol Shea-Porter had the Dover Police detain me for 3 hours because she informed them I wrote a threaten letter. When this did not work she had the VA Doctor sign a commitment letter. She wanted me locked up for 90 days to prevent my writing letters to the editor about her. On that same day because that does not work, Carol flies a Special Agent from the DC terrorist force to NH to arrest me. All this because I will not stop volunteer helping a Madbury NH family. The Madbury NH selectmen do not deny under oath to using their government position to seek revenge on local residents that they do not like. Judge Peter Fauver knows about this and violates the constitution to protect these selectmen. The NH supreme court refuses to hear the case to protect their empire. The federal courts rule judges have immunity.
I may keep repeating these facts. The people of NH need to know. The responses on the NH Insider tell me that the people do not understand. I am a 100% disabled veteran from my tour during the Vietnam Conflict. No matter how much these powerful officials degrade, harm or punish me I continue. We on this very day have kids becoming veterans defending the very document the NH courts and government routinely violate. Our children are dying on foreign soil to stop the very actions happening here in NH. I with drew my name yesterday from being a candidate for the Oyster River School board. I heard a child ask his mother when I walked past them if “I was the man that would kill the kids in my school if elected”. The NH newspapers refuse to tell the truth so kids and parents believe I am a killer. I volunteer over 1000Hour per year to help others. I spoke with NH Insider Chaz Proulx yesterday. I hope the NH insider and Chaz tell the NH courts and government that they are here to serve the people not master us.
I learned during my tour about the United States. I dreamed of living long enough just to see her. I have not one good memory of war. I am haunted every day with memories best forgotten. I wish that I had died over there. To see what the State of NH does to this Madbury family and to read the response of what the people of NH believe of a 100% disabled veteran whom volunteers his time to help is a disgrace. The NH courts and government intentionally harms citizens, the newspapers censor the truth, the NH state police have become a Gestapo to enforce government control, The VFW, American Legion, Elk’s ignore a veterans need for help. I may wish to die but I will not stop volunteer helping this Madbury family because good Veterans gave their lives for your freedom. I will not disgrace these veterans by giving up.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi 465 Packersfalls rd Lee NH 659-6217
Check out the other 43 states that have been sued for this "right".
NONE have ever come up with a definition of adequacy or ever will. It is a scam.
These same cases started out as EQUITY suits in the 70's and then by some miracle became adequacy suits as the courts created new constitutional "rights".
An adequacy suit is NOTHING more than social engineering by court order just as bussing for racial equity was.
Only one state has the word "adequate" in its education clause and that is Georgia if a remember correctly.
The most common definition of education in state constitutions all across America is "thorough and efficient".
Imagine ordering THAT through the courts. It would put public schools out of business.
Check out the web site of The Education Commission of the States web site and look under "finance".
Apologies for the broad brush. I don't speak for all conservatives either. Blogging is snapshots of information after all.
A point I would like to make though:
These lawsuits were "well intentioned" in that they may at one time have been thought to be able to fix deteriorating schools in some regions and cities. A very minor point.
I spoke not long ago to a woman from the Kentucky Board of Education and she quite freely admitted that much of what the ground-breaking 1989 Rose case there has accomplished could have been done by firing incompetent peple and prosecuting criminal waste.
Such a long way around the easy path the school industry blocks.
But in the end taxpayers are going to revolt and do what is good for their kids IF THEY CARE ABOUT THEM. Court ordered spending will not work.
I think NH may have had the opportunity to learn from the other states failures.
And the income taxers and courts are out of touch if they think they will get away with a scam like this here.