Part 1 of a three part series of Guest Posts by the Honorable Paul Mirski, member of the NH House of Representatives (and one of the Fathers of Conservatism here in NH). He is seeking to be the Majority Leader in the NH House of Representatives.
- Part One concerns our mission as Republican members of the House.
- Part Two discusses how the Republican Caucus ought to be organized in order to use and enhance the array of skills represented within our caucus and in a way that will encourage each and every member to play a constructive and satisfying part.
- Part Three suggests five or six overriding legislative themes and then goes on to provide a basket of choices for legislative action that are drawn directly from our current Republican Party Platform. If members consider all of the media focus on Tea Party initiatives over the last 18 months, they will see that those Republicans who began rewriting our platform eight years ago were well ahead of the curve.We’re ready right this minute to create change. We don’t have to go searching for ideas.
___________________________________________________________________
The 2010 elections have given New Hampshire Republicans a great gift. That gift is the chance to start over. New Republicans must lead. We’ve not been elected to fine tune state government. We’ve been elected to reform it. New Republican leadership must compel the legislature to rise and fulfill the obligations and responsibilities given it by our State Constitution. We now have strength of numbers. We have the passion – and we now have a mandate to accomplish great things.
OUR MISSION:
Voters have given Republicans one last chance to end expanding government, runaway spending and ever higher taxes.
Republicans been charged with responsibility for repairing the harm inflicted by recent Democrat rule. We’d better perform. Activists who worked on our campaigns have told us that if we do not reform government this coming session that they’ll never vote for a Republican again. They mean it. If we fail, we’re done.
We know intuitively that rules, laws, taxes and penalties that inhibit competition and individual expression are wrong.
We know that the enactment of laws, rules and taxes that suffocate freedom of expression wastes lives and destroys cultural and economic growth and opportunity. Four years of wild and irresponsible promotion of big government and high taxes sent our state economy spiraling into the cellar. Democrats ended economic expansion. Entrepreneurs no longer see a future in moving to New Hampshire. Businesses and wealth have been leaving. We’re losing population for the first time in decades.
The overdevelopment and growth of state agencies, the over regulation of business [we’re now the second or third most regulated state in the country], the limitations on commerce and enterprise [we have 197 licensed professions and trades where California has only 35], and high business taxes [we’re one of the worst states], etc. are largely the result of legislation passed by previous Republican regimes.
Prior to 2006, Republicans had controlled New Hampshire for 82 years. When Dan Eaton rose before the House last session to point out that all the taxes and fees that were being raised were all instituted by Republicans, he only stated the obvious. Our pension crisis and the bulk of regulation that currently plagues business and property owners can be traced to decisions made under Republican controlled legislatures. Decades of ‘entitled’ Republican rule failed to keep faith with Republican principles and values. That failure set the stage for the downfall of our Party in in New Hampshire in 2006. The federal Republican agenda just accelerated the inevitable.
Mr. Mirski is seeking to be the Majority Leader in the NH House of Representatives.
