Death is not the worst of evils
From the Right
By Alex Fries
Live Free or Die — for many people around the nation, this phrase is a license plate motto or the state motto of New Hampshire. But not for us, the people of New Hampshire! Live Free or Die isn’t just some ordinary, monotonous catchphrase that is printed on shirts and is sold to tourists at various places in our beautiful state.
For us, the people of New Hampshire, Live Free or Die is a way of life! Many things can be cited as evidence to the fact that Live Free or Die is woven into the sense of every being in New Hampshire. The underlying idea of freedom, accountability and small government is also clearly recognizable in our politics. All one has to do is look at our state legislature in Concord. New Hampshire has never had a sales nor income tax. Our legislature might be one of the biggest legislative bodies in the world, but it is a civilian legislature and our elected representatives and state senators only receive small stipends. Our governor serves a two-year term, weakened by an executive council. Every past presidential candidate can attest to the fact that New Hampshire politics are retail politics. One can meet candidates several times before even considering voting for a candidate. All in all, we as New Hampshire residents do not blindly trust politicians to do the right thing. We want to make sure that they do so, and in a best-case scenario, as often as possible.
However, it seems that current incumbent Democrats do not understand the values of New Hampshire, especially our top of the ticket representatives: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Gov. Maggie Hassan, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, and last but not least Rep. Ann Kuster.
Under the smokescreen of promises for a better future and improvements to New Hampshire, such as expansion of the highway system, freezing in-state tuition, even improving the healthcare system, our representatives have, bit by bit, whittled away every principle and value New Hampshire and its residents have.
New Hampshire incumbents are the very epitome of Obama “superfans.” The President can do no wrong. Not even when his policies — such as the Affordable Care Act, which has created a closed network of healthcare providers — are hurtful to New Hampshire does their support wither. Quite the contrary, they defend such policies and blindly accept that many citizens who are in need of good treatment and who, over years have built trusting relationships with their healthcare provider, are now forced to not only switch their provider, but also have to go on an odyssey in order to find the next available provider.
Our incumbent Democrats in Washington are especially gifted when it comes to dodging their own constituents. Sen. Shaheen, for example, has avoided holding a town hall meeting in the traditional New Hampshire way for roughly two years, or to be more precise, 764 days. And as of recently, she has been dodging debates with the Republican candidate Scott Brown.
Luckily for New Hampshire and for the entire country, we have the opportunity to send all of these Democratic incumbents into retirement on Nov. 4 and elect principled leaders with the courage to stand up for the good of the people of New Hampshire who will lead, not follow.
Alex Fries is a sophomore athletic training major and is the president of the UNH College Republicans. Follow Alex on Twitter
@AJFriesNH.