A defense of the true meaning of “Life Free or Die”.
I was surprised to see that the Keene Sentinel ran a rather even handed piece on a rather new ‘Grok Friend of ours (he even asked us to come and speak to the Dublin Area GOP!), Leo Plante. It’s tough out there in that part of the State for Republicans – even more if you are a Conservative Republican. Yet, now he’s running for the NH House (reformatted, emphasis mine):
A Dublin Republican is running for one of the two seats in Cheshire House District 9, calling for a moratorium on any new taxes to keep New Hampshire from becoming more like neighboring states. Leo Plante — a 73-year-old who retired to Dublin four years ago after a business and teaching career in the Midwest and other parts of the country — said he is willing to fight in the Statehouse for the spirit of New Hampshire’s slogan.
“This whole ‘Live Free or Die’ motto, to a lot of people, doesn’t mean anything — but to people who are transplants here, it means a lot,” Plante said.
Cheshire House District 9 — which covers Dublin, Harrisville, Jaffrey and Roxbury — is currently represented by two Jaffrey Democrats, state Reps. Dick Ames and Douglas A. Ley, who is House Majority Leader.
Well, if you’re not Cynthia Chase (or her ilk), that is. And NH State Rep Doug Ley has had his ethical problems in the NH House as well.
Plante described himself as having the “zeal of a convert” when it comes to the low tax climate in New Hampshire, and has agreed to the famous pledge against sales or income taxes.
That would be the Coalition of NH Taxpayers Pledge to not vote for new or higher taxes.
For most of his career, Plante worked in investment banking for firms such as Goldman Sachs and Citibank. Later, he said he worked as a “professor of practices” to share his expertise with students at business schools, doing stints teaching at Kent State University in Ohio, Indiana University and the University of Richmond in Virginia.
Plante said he retired to New Hampshire because of its civil liberties and low taxes, in addition to its proximity to family in Rhode Island. He said he and his wife, Veronica Lima, immediately took to Dublin, and helped revive the town’s Republican committee shortly after arriving. Plante said watching state politics in the past year has been nerve-wracking, describing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu as the only backstop to policies from the Democratic-majority Legislature that he disagrees with.
Yeah, shoulda invested in Malox the last time the GOP held things – although that wasn’t exactly easy street either – lots of potential but hardly a ripple of a bang. ANY Conservative that is watching the kinds of bills that the Democrats are trying to pass KNOWS that each one invariably takes Freedom away from individuals and consolidates them back to the State. Exactly the converse of what “Live Free or Die” stands for.
And he said he hopes the Legislature will not alter the school funding formula in the aftermath of the ConVal lawsuit, in which a judge ruled that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide and fund an “adequate education.” Instead of redrawing the formula, Plante argued that federal funding for charter schools would be a much better way to give local kids a better education.
“Education is kind of my main issue, and education reform is what I desperately want to see in this state,” he said. Taxpayers are being charged too much per student, Plante said, and lawmakers need to find new ways to make the K-12 experience more beneficial and efficient for students.
I’ll agree that changes have to be done but the first change ought to be at that District School Board level – THEY are responsible for their spending. The rest of us shouldn’t be on the hook for their spending. That said, this next part is spot on: more choice in Education. It should be easy to debate Ley on this: Freedom or “lock in” for the unions. Control by parents or control by others. Choice or entitlement.
Plante said he would push for a charter school in Dublin that would focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
As for any criticisms he may face for being new to the region, Plante said his love for the Granite State made him relocate and should be a positive for his campaign.
As to the latter If you come here and become ACTIVE TO CHANGE NH’s norms and culture simply to make us like MA, IL, NY, or CA, I have one message for you: Go back. Don’t be a Cynthia Chase who was certainly that and more. Come for the Live Free or Die ethos, embracing our long history of Independence and small government, we’ll embrace you with open arms. And Leo makes that abundantly clear:
“Well, first of all, since we’ve been here, we really like it here … we like New Hampshire, and we want to keep it the way it is, keep its tradition and values,” he said.
“… I don’t want it to become Vermont or Massachusetts.”
While this is NOT an official GraniteGrok endorsement (as such), I am about to take advantage of what all Groksters have – a personal endorsement. If you are in his District, Cheshire-9, please give Leo Plante your vote. You won’t be disappointed!