I may have my differences, but I do wish him well in retirement - Granite Grok

I may have my differences, but I do wish him well in retirement

Jim Splaine, with whom I had debates here on the ‘Grok (but stopped when he stopped answering my challenges), has decided to lace up his House shoes no more with this announcement over at Blue Hampshire:

Leaving The Legislature: Would Have Liked To Have Done More, But Had Fun Trying!
by: Rep. Jim Splaine

…For me, leaving isn’t new.  I’ve left the NH Legislature after being in it four times — from the House in 1970 after a term (lost re-election by 5 votes), again in 1978 (ran for the Senate and won), then from the Senate in 1984 (had enough of that!), and the House again in 1996 after having returned there for another three terms (onto other things).  Each time I eventually went back, even though after I left on each occasion I thought I never would.  That’s my intention this time as I leave in 2010 — not to return even someday, but one never knows what tomorrow brings. 

I do wish him well.  However, and this may bring a bit of a smile to his face – there’s something in his good-bye post that just is flat out wrong – and I would be remiss if I remained silent: 

Much of what we have accomplished for the people of New Hampshire, especially these past four years with House and Senate Democratic leadership — headed by Terie Norelli and Sylvia Larsen — working with Governor John Lynch, has moved our state forward

Jim sees himself as squarely in the Progressive movement as I am of the TEA Party.  Thus, every time I see the word "forward" used in such a manner, it is incumbent upon all to ask: "forward – but to what?"  The only answer that I can come up with is "further from the limited government that protects the individual Rights given to us by our Creator and one more step to their aim: a secular socialist society.  A social democracy of simple majority rule instead of the Republic that was given to us.  To a Constitution that is "living" rather than limiting.  To a society that extols security and the Collective vs that of Freedom and the uplifting of the Individual.

Thus, I was not surprised to "not hear the dogs barking" below – guess which word is missing:

…It is a bit frightening in recent months to see that some people are expousing [sic] very anti-government positions.  Much of it is political postering [sic], I think — but much of it is knee-jerk reaction to perceptions. 

Frightening?  It is simply a matter of people who disagree with the direction.  The word?  No Jim, it is not "anti-government" – you drastically, like all Progressives do, read the TEA Party movement and the resurgent Conservative wave wrongly – the correct phrase is "anti-BIG government" – why is it so spectacular that Progressives are mostly for "smart growth" planning for our cities and towns (decrying "sprawl") yet have no problem with "sprawling government" (that grows and overflows its boundaries)??  Consistency counts, and yours is not adding up.

And for the perception – I don’t know about you but this is not just a "perception" – this is a runaway train wreck on which ONLY the Progressive agenda can be blamed (time has expired for blaming Bush – it has been Democrats in DC and Concord that have been driving the spending). 

It is simplistic to merely paint "the other" as anti-government; it fulfills your narrative but widely misses the mark.

Some people — perhaps too many — have come to view taxes as penalties rather than as ways that we together share in funding the cost of serving people. 

And that is the difference – society at large is NOT government, and government is NOT society; the attempts to paint them otherwise is a stretch too far.  Government is not present to serve and cuddle the citizenry and protect them from themselves – and pay for the privilege.  Rather, I still challenge him to prove my assertion wrong that the original intent of America’s governance was a basic government from First Principles of the 1780s and not that born of European socialist roots from 1880s. 

The anti-government folks have stripped our departments and agencies of state government of personnel and resources, making it so difficult for them to do their jobs effectively.  Some of the anti-government crowd border on anarchists who want to just close up the doors of government.  That’s where today’s and tomorrow’s fight needs to continue to be waged.

Right – in the last two budgetary seasons, Progressives / Democrats have raised the budget  approximately 24% more than when the Republicans were in power (not that they were all that great either).  Stripping departments?  Oh puhlease!

Remember one thing: As government grows, it makes it much more difficult for ordinary people to live their lives and care for their families.  The Progressive vision puts government above all else; the Founders put Individuals and their families first.  The TEA Party movement is in reaction to the Progressive surge led by Obama and those in power in Concord – and yet is it merely tossed aside… 

And I agree with Jim – this IS the battleground – and I stand at the ready to continue this fight.  It is time to keep the offices open for limited government – it IS time to close those doors that by rights should have their keys belonging to society itself vs to  government (and again, NO, the two are not the same).

That IS where today’s and tomorrow’s fight needs to continue to be waged.  Filing period is opening on June 2nd through 11th for the State Legislature and State Senate, and other offices.  Dedicated people who can spend the time to volunteer (that’s essentially what being in the Legislature is) to help make our state better need to get in there. 

A message for the Right as well as the Left.

In my mind, what matters most is the desire to do good things, to care about people, and to build up instead of tear down.  We need people to be in our government who have positive vision and who will imagine what can be.  We need people who can dream.  And it would be good for everyone to bring a little more civility to the process.

CivilityLike this grand display by SEIU, the Shock Troops of the Progressives?

The vision is for government to get OUT of the way, to stop being the stumbling block to the small businesses of our communities.  The vision is for government to lessen its impact upon the citizenry – not increase it.  It not time for Government to "care" for our families, friends, and neighbors but to rightly turn that responsibility back to the people where it belongs.  Government, as with any organization, cannot "care" for people – that is an Individual responsibility and it is time for society to stop outsourcing the caring to strangers in both government and the social services industry.

I wish to dream – but when I am beset by on every side by a Government that needs this form filled in triplicate and fees for this and inspections for that – why bother?&nbs
p; When my success means that Government comes knocking on the door presuming that I am cheating "the disadvantaged" and that my success only means that I am to be penalized for those I know are gaming the system (and for each group of waifs that do need help, there is yet another running hither and fro for that which they refuse to put their shoulders to work – and the Progressives refuse to see the latter).

I hope to continue to engage in the discussion from time to time about our causes on BlueHampshire.com and elsewhere. 

Answer the challenges, and the invite will be extended again.

Usually, most of us spend more time "not in" government than in it — and I’m right at the edge of that timeframe because of my 62 years, I’ve spent 31 years in either the Senate or the House.  Maybe a bit too much — at least I’d like to keep it at that point for a while and maybe add more time to "out" rather than to "in."  Being outside rather than inside might give me a fresher, more objective viewpoint on some issues.

Start a business, pursue the idea, convince people to voluntarily part with their time (for that is what their hard earned money is) to purchase your wares,  and deal with the Leviathan that is Government with its regulations, fees, inspections, delays, and taxes.  Deal with the changing environment that makes it hard to plan and harder to make solid decisions.  Feel what it is like to have unfunded after unfunded mandate thrown downward to you as they remake you from an ostensibly profit maker to that of being more of an extension of government and a social services organization.  See what it is like to have someone say "hey, I don’t make the laws" as you find yourself in one Catch 22 after another as conflicting and opposing laws, regulations, and government bureaucracies simply do not bend.  See what it is like, up close, to when your competition beats you not in the free marketplace but when their political connections trump your ideas, your energy, and your wares in the dark rooms of crony capitalism where Government both decides the winners and losers and is also used as a barrier to the competition.

In short – live what the Progressive ideas have wrought. See what it is like on the other side – full time.  Tell others of the experience.  And then join with us, (wink) with me on MY side, and get to fixin’ it so that government goes back in the bottle that the Founders originally saw was the the recipe was for success and succeeded – and now is dribbling away, by slice by slice of Tyranny.

No, not the Tyranny of the sword or bullet, but by the cuts of a thousand pieces of paper, of reams of regulations, of the Thought Police that determine what is allowable to think and to say.

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