My palmcards arrived on Friday, so I've started walking Ward 4 in the last few days, talking to concerned voters.  I'm working generally East to West, and if there's enough interest in the comments, I'll even post where I'm going a few days in advance. 

Knocking on doors today, I met a nice woman (I'll withhold her name) who had been going through some tough times, unemployed like a lot of other people out there.  She told me something I didn't know- that NH just recently got disqualified from receiving some extra Federal unemployment stimulus because our unemployment rate is so 'low' compared to other states.  It's the classic big government response- punish those groups doing well to give more to those doing poorly. 

She didn't want welfare, she is going back to school to train for another job, but she had paid into the system for many years and just wanted, in her words, "my fair share back." 

I'm 32 years old, so I have no illusions that I'll get ANYTHING back from the system when I'm older (there may not even be a system then at this rate), but talking to this woman, we both agreed on one thing: New Hampshire has to look after itself.  All the Federal aid will go to the states that fail first, and fail the biggest.  That means California, New York, and Illinois as a start.  Maybe others.  By the time New Hampshire needs help (and if we don't cut our future budget liabilities, we will), there won't be any money left over to save little old NH or her citizens.  So what does that mean?

We need to save- put money away for the future.  We need to make a list of priorities that reflect who we are and what we stand for, and fund the most important first, not fund them all equally.  And we need to get to know our neighbors, because in hard times, we will have to help each other.

So I'll keep walking the Ward until Primary Day, Sept. 14th., to meet more people like this woman and hear what you have to say. 

Have a good day, and stay safe!
-Shuvom

A letter in the mail yesterday let me know that I have been endorsed by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance- one of the hardest working pro-liberty groups in the state. 

In full disclosure, I was a board member of the group a year back, but I had to fill out their not-easy candidate survey like everyone else, and I guess I did okay! 

The NHLA does a lot of the no-thanks, overlooked, grunt work it takes to keep a functioning democracy, like watching EVERY bill in the State House, assessing its liberty impact, and letting citizens know when big things are happening.  They also watch how EVERY member votes an issues a report card each year, so constituents can know what their reps are really doing up there in Concord. 

That's the seed of the idea that I'm expanding with my campaign promises to post every vote I take and knock on every door in the ward- people have a right to know how they are being represented, and representatives have a duty to bring that information out! 

More about the NHLA here: http://www.nhliberty.org/

-Shuvom

I found this story yesterday, and while the title seems silly, it could be any city in New Hampshire in 5 years if we don't start saving for the future now. 

Read about how the Mayor of Newark plans to fill a budget hole by cutting EVERYTHING he can, like toilet paper in city offices: 
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/22/news/economy/newark_budget_cuts/index.htm

He's not doing this because he wants to- we need to cut our budget while we still have good choices to make!

-Shuvom

After I returned from a great but long day of candidate training with the House Republican Alliance (HRA) yesterday, I decided to watch a classic western, "The Magnificent Seven", to relax.  And then something amazing happened. 

"The Magnificent Seven" is about a small Mexican farming village who has been targeted by bandits for the last few years.  The bandit gang, about 30 men, ride in twice a year, take food and supplies as needed, threaten the town to keep them in line, and then ride off.  Most of the townspeople are angry, because each year the bandits take more and more, driving the town closer to starvation.  Some townspeople want to fight back.   (Sound familiar?) 

Other townspeople try to talk the angry ones down, reasoning that the bandits didn't take ALL their food.  The town was left enough to get by, and if they work a little harder in the fields, they can get back the lost 20%.  It's better than fighting the tough bandits, who have come to see the yearly plunder as their right.  (Sound familiar yet?) 

The town doesn't have any guns to fight back with, so the town leaders head across the border to Texas, since firearms are VERY hard to get in Mexico, but legal in Texas.  (I know you're tracking with me now.)  

But once in an American city, the main character, played by the great Yul Brynner (use Wikipedia, those of you under 30), convince the town leaders that what they need is not guns, which the townspeople don't know how to use, but gunmen, protectors, expertly trained people who can fight the bandits off.  And that's when it hit me. 

At the HRA training, the Honorable Dan Itse talked about the real purpose of NH state representatives- they are not there to make laws.  They are there to be their constituents' FINAL DEFENSE against the government.  That's why there are 400 state reps- so that local people always know that SOMEONE in the House is a close neighbor.  Watching the movie, I realized that the State Reps our OUR protectors, OUR experts in fending the higher tax, larger government, bandits off. 

With family, jobs and homes taking up their time, most people don't have 1-4 hours a week to keep track of what Concord is doing, what taxes they are increasing (38 increases this last session), how much more they are spending ($2000 million increase in just the last 4 years).  They need someone fighting for their behalf, someone who can tell the difference between a bandit and a farmer. 

Whenever people have asked me why I'm running, I used to say "To give a voice to the people of Ward 4!"  But now I can refine it further.  I'm running to be your expertly trained protector in Concord, to spend the time fighting off the bandits so you don't have to.  To be your last defense against the government. 

The HRA training yesterday was good start toward that.  They are the keepers of the small government, conservative flame in the state house.  They have people who are great representatives, and willing to share their knowledge with first-time challengers like me.  (You can find out more about them at: www.nhhra.org.)  But I will still need to learn more, which is why I will start walking the district August 1st, to meet as many of you as I can before the primary.  Then we can talk, face to face, about what your concerns for the state government are.   

Just one more thing to add: the seven hired gunmen in "The Magnificent Seven" spend time training the farmers a little about self defense, and the first battle with the bandits goes well.  Ten out of thirty bandits are killed, but the leader and the other 20 get away.  Some of the townspeople want to stop there and fire the gunmen.  Surely, with fewer bandits, and with the townspeople showing some fight, the "tax" will be lower next year?  The bandits will take less next year, and the town can live with that, right?    

Yul Brynner knows better.  He knows that the bandit gang will just grow again, will have more mouths to be fed, will just come back after a few years, when the farmers have gotten busy with their crops again.  He knows that the entire gang, and the leader, must be removed. 

This coming session, to cut the budget, we may have to remove areas of the state budget that people have grown accustomed to.  Not just reduce, since government programs never get smaller on their own, only larger.  But remove, like making sure you get the root of a bad weed.  Some people will want to stop at just trimming the problem down to a manageable level.  But weeds and government programs always grow back.  All the legislators you elect will need your support after the election, too, to do the work you are sending them to Concord to do- to rid the town of bandits, so us average citizens can look forward to a positive future again. 

-Shuvom

I went to the Concerned New Hampshire Taxpayers picnic on Saturday, to take their "no broadbased taxes" pledge.  My wife and I met a lot of other good candidates and heard P.J. O'Rourke speak.  He questioned why both parties trust the government to solve all our problems, saying "Government has trouble getting our mail to us, and our mail has our address printed on the front of it!" 

A fun Saturday!

-Shuvom

Just today I took this amazing limited government pledge at:

http://pledge.tenthamendmentcenter.com/

It's surprising to me that such a simple reading of the Tenth Amendment would strike me as 'radical', but the principles of limiting government by declaring some areas 'hands-off' to Federal laws align with what I believe. 

I've also added a "Am I in Ward 4?" page, based on a great map that the Manchester City webpage contains. 

If you are going to the Concerned New Hampshire Taxpayers Picnic this Saturday, you can watch me take their no-taxes pledge as well!  Stop me and say hello if you are there!

-Shuvom

Check this blog for news about where I'm meeting voters that week, or other events for the campaign!

Also, feel free to voice your concerns, or issues in the comments.  (Any inappropriate or unhelpful comments will be deleted.) 

Finally, if you are on Facebook, many of my blog posts will be linked there, at the public site: Ghose for Ward 4.

-Shuvom