Protecting property is the primary purpose of incorporation. The State of New Hampshire, seeing itself as a unique collection of property owners, exists for the sole purpose of a shared interest in how the rule of law and contracts can be best applied to ensure liberty while still protecting private property.
Sometimes people forget about this fragile balance required to sustain liberty and property and elect bus loads of street mountebanks spewing feelings and promising sunshine and happiness if we simply let the government take on a few more responsibilities. People are lazy or simply don’t listen and the next thing you know we’ve got recurring deficits and the siren song for more revenue–also known as someone else’s property.
The democrat legislature, since 2006, has been smitten with spending beyond your means, and propelled us on a Thelma and Louise like charge towards the edge of the cliff, with governor Lynch in the front seat but no one actually driving. And what of property rights? Well, those have been relegated to the back seat where the democrats seem to think they belong. Property to them, is what they allow you to keep after the cost of growing government has been attended to, and should it grow larger than expected, more property shall be forfeited to that end.
The necessity of law to protect property has then, under democrat governance, reversed itself into using law to confiscate property. Under this kind of leadership any sum could find itself subject to the will of the "crown" to erase debts incurred as a result of being too "liberal" with the peoples purse.
The latest target of John Lynch’s wandering fiscal eye is the the Sportsman and Boaters Public Access dedicated fund. It is a fund meant to support public access to local waterways and is financed by a 5.00 fee assessed to each boat registration. (If I’ve mangled that please let me know). What has attracted the governor is the sum and the supposition that a majority of the general public has not contributed to it and so can be convinced that taking this particular property from its intended purpose is of no consequence because it’s not theirs. But then, what property is?
Remember, this government insists that any money, for whatever purpose, is subject to whatever use they can imagine. Dedicated funds, in fact funds of any kind can no longer be relied upon for their intended purpose under democrat leadership. If it’s money they will try to divert it to the general fund to pay down their debt and expect you to deal with the shortfall, or better yet allow them to raise the fee to recoup the money they stole.
The Boaters public access fund is a couch cushion with at least $500,000.00 under it just waiting to be pilfered by John’s greedy little fingers. It’s just sitting in there, collected from local boaters and sportsman, and as the theory goes, is far too big and much too shiny for a desperately mismanged "budget balancer" like Lynch to ignore. So odds are good this sum will show up in the new budget as another victim of the rampant abuse of the public trust perpetrated by liberal "leadership" under the direction of John Lynch.
You should choose to object, if not to the taking of this particular fund, then to the attitude and practice in general. This approach to property rights is not going to just go away after they "balance" this budget with more borrowing, and more pilfering (and the lawsuits that you pay for when people actually object to it.) You can and should expect this every year you have a democrat majority in government as that has so far been the case.
But there is a process in place already to begin the healing (so to speak) with which you may already be familiar. It’s called a ballot box. This November, you can get rid of some democrats, (at least 100 or so)relieve them of the majority and control of the committees (the budget and the spending), and ask your new legislature to stop abusing your rights, spending your money, and taking your property. And if you can;t wait until then, call the governor and tell him to keep his hands off dedicated funds and just cut the damn spending.
Cross Posted at NH Insider
