A group called “No Labels” has now come into public view by the recent visit to New Hampshire by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman (R). But upon closer inspection, this group has been in quiet existence since at least 2019, if not before. Their “mission,” they claim, is to create a space for moderates on both the left and the right to come together and find solutions above partisan disputes. 

Sounds fair . . .

No Labels, is a “bipartisan” organization whose stated goal is to add a third-party candidate to the ballot in every state for next year’s presidential election. An initial town hall gathering was held on Monday, July 17, here in New Hampshire at St. Anselm College in Manchester. Both Huntsman and Manchin were the featured speakers. In what was presented as the “Common Sense” agenda, they spoke about climate change, gun violence, mental health issues and the nation’s debt along with the potential of a bipartisan third-party ticket. 

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.), stated the purpose of No Labels is to reunite political parties and people, to "stop the partisanship and incivility and refusal to compromise that divided our country and disabled our government" and to bring about new ideas.

No Labels wants candidates who can "declare their freedom from the anger and divisiveness that are ruining our politics and most importantly, our country."

Sounds fair . . .

Manchin feels political parties have moved either too far left and/or right. Both men feel the need for a third-party candidate. No Labels is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment but wants restrictions on semiautomatic rifles and universal background checks. The organization also wants stronger border regulations, while supporting citizenship for those who were brought to this country illegally as children. No Labels is looking to bring compromise to politics.

Okaaay . . .

That could explain a No Labels blended ticket of a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican for president and vice-president. So, while they claim to be exploring the possibility of a third-party candidate, No Labels also claims to not being committed to it. Wait. What? 

According to founder and CEO Nancy Jacobson, the organization would put a halt to its presidential pursuits if their efforts are in effect helping Trump. In a recent interview with NBC News she insisted No Labels will go forward in its third-party attempts only if they feel they can win without wasting votes. (huh?) The organization will take another look at the candidates next April and will only jump in the race if it appears the voters don’t want either candidate from the Democrat and Republican parties. 

Not sure how they will be able to gauge that as polls have gotten more and more untrustworthy over the years.

Data for Progress, a left leaning think tank wrote, “It’s evident that even under the best of conditions, a moderate third-party candidate is highly unlikely to secure the vote share needed to win the White House, further underlying the nonviability of a No Label candidacy. With no feasible path to victory, such a campaign would only serve to split Independent voters, undermine Biden’s reelection campaign, and likely spoil the election in favor of Trump.”

No Labels has gathered $70 million in donations and is seeking ballot access in every state. They have been successful in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. A national convention is being planned for next April in Dallas.

It's quite a ways off to the next election, but we need to be aware and informed. Stay tuned as my next article will be about who has donated to No Labels.

This past Saturday I was on the radio show, WKBK's "What's Happening with Mike Hoefer," together with fellow Keene City Councilor Mike Giacomo. We were talking about the ongoing debate surrounding Keene's downtown infrastructure project.

You can listen here.... might want to skip through the commercials.

Some people heard this and seem to think I'm against restaurants downtown. I'm not! I love restaurants. But restaurants are expensive - eating out is a luxury many can't afford - and there are only so many restaurants that a city the size of Keene can support. 

Walk around and take a look at how few of our vaunted outdoor dining spaces are in use at any given time, and consider that we may have already bumped up against the limits of consumer demand.

We need more than restaurants, we need a diverse set of businesses downtown. It wasn't long ago that we had a pharmacy, a bike shop, and a store selling menswear downtown, but those places are gone.

The one way that downtown can really prosper is by having lots of people who live and work there. And we can make that happen - there is plenty of space available in the downtown area for high-density residential build-outs. But we need the transportation infrastructure to support it, infrastructure that works on a human scale. A downtown built primarily for the convenience of automobile drivers isn't going to to get us there.

Looking out my windows today, I see more rain! And not just a light, summer soaking for the lawns and gardens, no! A constant deluge of pouring down bucketsful of water! So, in between running down to my basement and garage to check for incoming water, I sit in front of my computer to expound on the immediate need for climate action! Not just here in New Hampshire, but nationally, globally . . .

In 2009, the state developed a climate action plan, which influenced the state’s energy efficiency goals and performance for new buildings. The document was also influential for some legislation on climate and energy policy. Unfortunately, it was never updated or codified into law after being released. 

So now, for the first time in fourteen years, New Hampshire is creating a new climate action plan, all thanks to Pres. Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act” of 2022.

This new law includes $5 billion for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program. From that amount, $250 million is earmarked to help states, including local governments, territories and tribes, create or update current plans which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Then, an additional $4.6 billion will become available to assist in carrying out these plans. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), grants will most likely be awarded in July and August. Those who receive the grants will have a March 1, 2024 deadline to turn in their completed plans for consideration. 

Last month, the NH state budget was signed by Gov. Sununu. It included a $3 million federal grant which supports developing climate action plans nationally. Hopefully, this climate action plan will be updated as needed and put into place as soon as possible, as this current weather situation (abnormal rainfall and abnormal heat) is unsustainable for New Hampshire, the United States and the globe!

In 2021, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) and 22 co-sponsors introduced House Resolution 541, “Expressing support for the recognition of July as ‘Muslim-American Heritage Month’ and celebrating the heritage and culture of Muslim Americans in the United States.” 

The resolution is an acknowledgment of the many accomplishments of Muslim-Americans in fields such as entrepreneurship to politics, from medicine to sports. The resolution identifies remarkable ethnic and racial diversity among a people who can trace their roots to nearly half the countries in the world, people who identify as Asian, Black, Latino and White. Nationally, there are just under 4.5 million Muslims. Worldwide? More than two billion.

The history of Muslims in the United States goes back 400+ years, including many Asian and Black Americans a part of their ethnic community. Did you know Muslim-Americans fought in every war since the American Revolution? 

Here in New Hampshire, there are approximately 1,172 Muslims according to World Population Review as of May, 2023. In Manchester is the state’s largest mosque, The Islamic Society of Greater Manchester, with other smaller mosques in Concord, Dover, Nashua and Windham. 

In 2020, Aboul Khan (R-Rockingham) was the first Muslim-American elected to the NH House of Representatives. He was re-elected last year for another two year term. 

This month, we salute the successes and diversity brought to our state and local communities by Muslim-Americans.

Governor Chris Sununu recently struck a blow in favor of childhood lead poisoning when he vetoed HB 342. 

The bill would have changed the health form that parents fill out when their child enters school or child-care to include the results of a blood lead test. Parents who do not get their kid this routine test would be provided with a brochure explaining the risk that lead exposure poses to their child’s developing brain, with the goal of encouraging them to get their child tested.

Such things have been effective in encouraging blood lead testing in other states. 

There are, of course, opportunities for parents to opt out of all this based on religious beliefs or whatever half-baked ideas they might have picked up listening to right-wing talk radio. It’s important to recognize that nobody is forcing parents to do anything here.

Although, let’s be clear: anyone who intentionally dodges lead testing for their child is being a reckless and neglectful parent - straight up. The impact of lead exposure on a child’s brain can be lifelong and debilitating, and all children deserve parents who will protect them from this danger.

Current law – signed by Gov. Sununu in 2018 – requires that kids aged one and two get tested for blood lead test. Compliance with that law isn’t great – in 2021, 40% of two-years-olds and 50% of one-year-olds did not get tested. In particular, a lot of testing was skipped during the pandemic years, meaning that a lot of children will soon be entering school who have never been tested at all.

But the Chris Sununu of 2023 wants to make sure that nothing is done about this. He called the bill an “unnecessary check on parents.”

Its interesting to me that Sununu would reach for the “parents rights” rhetoric here, a la Moms for Liberty and Ron DeSantis. It’s a dog whistle as loud as a tuba.

As a parent myself, I take particular exception to this rhetoric.

But for all their bluster about Critical Race Theory, panic about transgender people using the bathroom, and deep concern over woke library books, it’s funny how Republican leaders don’t give a fig about something that actually harms children.

More good news for New Hampshire, thanks to the Biden administrations policies for clean energy and environmental issues, specifically the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021!

According to a recent  new report from the U.S. Department of Energy, between 2021-2022, NH added nearly 650 clean energy jobs. We are also seeing energy jobs experiencing an increase nationwide. 

The report listed the (nationwide) clean energy jobs:
11,299 positions in energy efficiency
8,199 jobs in motor vehicles
5,842 jobs in electric power generation
3,448 jobs in transmission, distribution and storage
1,367 jobs in fuels

For those who are interested in learning more about clean energy in NH or to become active in promoting the work towards a clean energy future: Clean Energy NH

Other good news is the expansion of clean energy jobs such as solar and wind power and zero emissions vehicles, surpassed that of all other jobs nationally! The United States has set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “Net-zero emissions” refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced, avoided, and removed from the atmosphere.

Good news indeed, as we watch and experience for ourselves the negative effects of climate change and extreme weather!

What is libertarianism? It is a political philosophy that advocates only minimal state intervention in the free market and the private lives of citizens.

According to Brittanica, “Libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. They contend that the scope and powers of government should be constrained so as to allow each individual as much freedom of action as is consistent with a like freedom for everyone else. Thus, they believe that individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others.”

Libertarianism is a combination of minimal government fiscal conservatism, free trade, low taxes. They favor more gun rights, less restrictive drug laws, and (sometimes) favorable views on gay marriage. The Libertarian Party has been in existence since about the 1970’s.

What is agorism? It is a free-market anarchist political philosophy that believes the ultimate goal is bringing about a society in which all "relations between people are voluntary exchanges”, a free market.

Agorism believes the government has no right to ban, regulate or tax any exchange of goods or services through mutual consent. In other words, do what you what, when you want, however you want. Agorism is a plank of the official 2023 New Hampshire Libertarian Party platform, run by Free Staters and other Anarcho-Capitalists. 

The founder of the “Free State Project” (FSP) is Jason Sorens, now in his 40’s and a lecturer at Dartmouth. In 2001, he organized a migration of 20,000 Libertarians, anarchists, anarcho-capitalists, pacifists, even some like-minded Democrats and Republicans, to New Hampshire. Here they sought to create an even freer NH, free from laws and rules; free from government-issued currency, public schools and libraries; free from rules and laws that keep us safe such as environmental and zoning regulations, speed limits, drug laws (think fentanyl).

These new transplants immediately assimilated into NH life; lawyers, hair stylists, business owners, crypto dealers and most importantly, politicians. They quickly discovered there were already some elected officials and residents who were like-minded and formed the Liberty Alliance. Many of their members (FSP) got themselves elected to local planning, zoning, library and school boards. 

In the NH House, this group called themselves the “House Freedom Caucus.” They generally run as Republicans, however, there was at least one who ran as a Democrat. By the year 2000, the NH House Republicans were under their control. They began the process of defunding public education with the help of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut. They opposed vaccine mandates, and strangled the governor’s emergency powers. All this and more was accomplished with the help of FSP board member Greg Moore, who is also the (NH) State Director of Americans for Prosperity. (think Koch brothers, although one is now deceased.)

Each year in NH, the Free State Project officially sponsors two events; the Liberty Forum, and The Porcupine Freedom Festival, or Porcfest. The Porcfest is a week-long festival held at a campground in Lancaster. At the Porcfest, those who are interested in doing so, are advised to seek volunteer positions in their towns. This way, when they want to seek an elected position they already have name recognition. 

As of May 2022, roughly 6,232 people had moved to NH for the Free State Project,17 of them hold seats in the NH House.  One of them is House Majority Leader and FSP member Jason Osborne.

2024 will be here before we know it. Before you vote, learn all you can about the people running for office who want to represent you! 

This guy!

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Monadnock Shopper-News' Best of Monadnock 2023 Awards. I was hoping for a bronze and won the silver.

It was a clean sweep for Keene City Hall, with Mayor George Hansel taking gold, and Randy Filiault, who sits next to me on the City Council, taking bronze. 

“Broadband,” more commonly known as high-speed internet, is the wide-bandwidth transmission of data, transporting many signals through a range of internet traffic types and frequencies. This can be optical fiber, satellite, wireless internet or coaxial cable. Broadband is always on and is much quicker than dial-up or analog. 

No, I don’t understand any of it but am glad I have access to it! 

However . . .

When Joe Biden ran for President part of his platform was his idea of “Investing in America.” After his election, one of the bills brought forth was the  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Included in that bill was monies to be set aside for a Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. After the process of making it’s way through both the Senate and House the bill was passed on Nov. 5, 2021 and signed into law on Nov. 15. Included in the bill was $65 billion, the largest investment ever, for broadband expansion. A large chunk of that money $42.45 billion was earmarked to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. This program will expand high-speed internet access (especially to underserved rural areas) with planning, upgrading, infrastructure, deployment and adoption programs. When these goals are met, left over funding can be used for eligible access and equity related uses.

The pandemic brought about the need to create a longer term version of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. Therefore, $14.2 billion is now designated for an Affordable Connectivity Fund, granting monthly subsidies of $30 for eligible households (down from $50).

All fifty states will benefit from this along with Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

On Monday, June 26, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced the distribution of the $42.45 billion in funds. New Hampshire will be receiving $196,560,279.00 which should go a long way in implementing jobs and bringing those who live in rural areas up to speed with their internet needs! 

The bill passed the House on Nov. 5, 2021 by a 228-206 vote, with only 13 Republicans voting for its passage. All four of our Democrat elected officials in Washington, DC voted to pass this bill and we are now seeing the fruition of it. 

SB70: relative to the establishment of an election information portal and relative to the purchase of election equipment.

Did you know New Hampshire is just one of eleven states that does not have online voter registration? Yup, this is according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire. In this state, we go in person to our local clerk’s office or make a request by mail. 

SB70 was meant to allow the Secretary of State to establish an “Election Information Portal”, thereby allowing residents, who move to a new city or town, the ability to register to vote online. The information portal would also give access to absentee ballot requests along with updating name and address information.

Supporters of the bill stated this choice would help decrease the amount of same-day registrations at the polls while encouraging more folks to get registered before any upcoming election day. 

In February, the Senate passed the legislation but then the House went and added an amendment to the bill. The amendment would have given the Secretary of State permission to release some of its federal grant money to towns needing help in replacing old voting machines. The argument was that there are many old voting machines still being used across the state, some for thirty years. Federal and state funding was seen as being able to go a long way to the replacement costs for these machines while easing the burden on property owner’s taxes.

The federal grant money came to the state through the “Help America Vote Act” of 2022. The argument against the amendment was this money should be used for state expenses relative to elections, trainings for election workers and voting machines for those with disabilities. There was worry that sending a portion of that grant money to purchase new voting machines could drain state reserves. Sen. James Gray (R), chairman of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee, felt towns should pay for new voting machines themselves, the state not become a party to funding them.

Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D), introduced a compromise amendment allowing the Secretary of State to dedicate funding to towns to help pay for new voting machines, reducing the impact on the state’s grant funding. Only one member of the committee, Rep. Steve Smith (R), voted against the proposed amendment. In order for committee of conference reports to advance, the vote must be unanimous.

Therefore, this past week, SB70, a bill originally allowing for online voter registration, was killed.