Education Adequacy Forum

I went to the Forum at Plymouth High School on Monday night to discuss Adequacy in Education. The Supreme Court has mandated, in their latest Londonderry case, that the Legislature must define an "adequate" education by July 1st of this year. Thus, this Task Force has been established to figure out just what an adequate education is.

I would say that a majority of the speakers conceded that a one-size-fits-all education is not desirable. Most also brought up the point that the definition of an adequate education is entirely subjective.

Also, as the coordinators of this forum stated, these meetings are about defining adequacy and not about how to fund it. This is typical. The legislators on the Task Force know that to fund an adequate education it will take a sales or income tax. They also know that everyone is opposed to both of those options. So their solution: 'Let's not talk about it then'.

But, it is ridiculous not to attach a cost to adequacy while defining it. First of all, it was mandated by the Court in Claremont and reiterated in Londonderry that the state must define adequacy and also fund it. And if price isn't made a factor then what is to prevent a gross over-spending? They could very well vote to define adequate as giving every child their own tutor, a personal laptop, and a limousine. That sounds outlandish, but something equally costly could come if they don't talk about funding it also.

Enough of the digression. I chose to address the Task Force because I have deep convictions about education, given my personal experience. In short, I urged this group to adopt a constitutional amendment in order to prevent centralization of our traditionally decentralized education system, and to also consider a plan for adopting a school choice program. I have the unique experience of having gone through two years at public high school and two at a private high school. I have a seen a world of difference. The private school has an environment that is more conducive to my learning. I only think it reasonable to give all children that option via school choice, such as vouchers. The competition will only serve to raise students' scores.

You can go Here to watch video coverage of the various forums. You can see me speak by clicking on the Plymouth link; I start speaking about halfway through.

I also urge you to check out The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition and School Choice NH. It's only sensible to allow parents to choose the school that is best for their child. And who knows, maybe school choice (and telling the Supreme Court to back off) could prevent a sales or income tax and save the NH Advantage.

In Libertate,
Tyler

Ron Paul for President!

United States Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is in the crowded hunt for the GOP presidential nomination. Many would say that Dr. Paul is a relative "unknown" or "second-tier" candidate. I would say, in the area of name recognition, that he does have a slight disadvantage. In the area of ideas, however, he is well ahead of the many current candidates.

Dr. Paul is the premier advocate for Constitutionally limited government in Congress. He has made a habit of only voting for legislation that involves a power specifically delegated to Congress. He has rightfully been given the nickname of "Dr. No" for his frequent 'No' votes. For example, he voted against the No Child Left Behind Act on that grounds that Congress has no Constitutional power to be involved in education.

Against the war in Iraq? Worried that you are losing too many civil liberties in the Global War on Terror? Dr. Paul agrees with you. He has voted against the Iraq War from the outset and has consistently broken from his party to vote against the Patriot Act.

Personally, economic issues are more my cup of tea. I am genuinely concerned with our inflationary central banking system and ever-rising taxes. The good news is that Dr. Paul is a true fiscal conservative. The National Taxpayer's Union has rated him as either the number 1 or 2 in all of Congress since his return in 1997. I guess that's where he gets his other nickname: The Taxpayer's Best Friend. Dr. Paul supports the repeal of the unconstitutional Federal Reserve and the return to sound monetary policy via a gold standard.

Dr. Paul will be in New Hampshire a few times in the near future. The closest date is next Saturday night! Click Here for more info on this particular event.

And for more info on Dr. Ron Paul you can go Here, Here, or Here.

Remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green: Vote Ron Paul in '08!!!

In Libertate,
Tyler

Sorry for the Wait

I would like to post a lot more than I have. The reason I haven't had a post since mid-December is because I had shoulder surgery right before Christmas. I couldn't really type that well for the past few weeks so I have just put off posting until now.

I wanted to put a few updates in here. I posted earlier that I had applied for a concealed carry license. Well, I got the license after 14 days of waiting. And to make things better, just a few days before I got the license I got my first pistol. So now I actually have a gun to carry!

The Plymouth Liberty Network is still in the formation stage. Our website is still in the making, but it is looking more complete by the day. Check out the site -- http://plymouthliberty.org. We will be having a meeting within the next two weeks so check back for updates.

And finally, the legislative session is starting up and there will be lots of bills to look over and contact our reps about. I will post some big bills on here and add my own commentary on them. I would like to post info for local reps and senators so that people might find it easier to become involved.

In Libertate,
Tyler

Plymouth Liberty Network and Pistol Permit

We had a nice little meeting of the Plymouth Liberty Network last night. The numbers weren't as high as the first meeting, but it was a good time and we still got some ideas floating around. I gave my pitch about the NH Liberty Alliance and Toastmasters. I recommend anyone that is interested in pro-liberty politics to check out the NHLA. Also, anyone that wishes to improve their public speaking should go to the Toastmasters website and search for a local group; it's a great way to improve your confidence and quality of speaking.

In addition to a wonderful meeting, I applied for my concealed carry permit yesterday. New Hampshire is a "shall-issue" state; they are required to give me a permit to carry a concealed handgun (barring that I am not a convicted felon, a domestic abuser, or mentally unsound) . The police department has 14 days from the time I handed in the application to either approve or deny it. Given that I am not a felon, domestic abuser, or mentally unsound (at least I think I'm not) I should be able to start packin' heat within two weeks. Now the only problem is I don't have a gun. I guess I'll have to work on that.

In Libertate,
Tyler

My Picador Article: The 2006 Elections

I wrote an article about the 2006 elections for my school newspaper. It's just a simple synopsis of the elections for those who don't know too much about it, but I think it offers a few fun facts and some interesting topics for debate. Here is the article:

The mid-term elections have come and gone. The only people with something to celebrate this time around are the Democrats. Many pundits called this election a “vote against Bush” or a “vote against the war in Iraq”. Despite being very simplified, these statements fairly assess the results of the election.

The U.S. governmental breakdown before the election: the Republicans held the Presidency, the Senate (55-45 majority), and the House (232-203 majority). After all of the electioneering mayhem: The Democrats gain control of the House (232-202, with 1 undetermined) and the Senate (49-49, with 2 independents that will caucus with the Democrats).

New Hampshire was not immune from the Democratic romping. The Republicans controlled every branch of the New Hampshire government, except the governorship, prior to the elections. Now, the Democrats hold each governmental division, which includes the Governor, House, Senate, and Executive Council. Some believe that this is the first time this has ever happened. You have to look back to the 1800’s for the last time the Democrats even controlled the New Hampshire House.

Why did this happen? Well, as said above, a large part of this “Democratic Tsunami” was due to an unpopular war and an unpopular president. In New Hampshire these effects were amplified. Our Democratic governor is the most popular governor our state has ever seen. He won his election by an historic 48-point margin. Many other Democratic candidates were pulled along for the ride.

The Republicans always talk about “getting out the base” of good voters; some blame the poor results on a bad turnout among these voters. New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner predicted the state-wide turnout to be high. In fact, there ended up being 20,000 more ballots cast than predicted. Traditionally there are more straight ticket ballots for Republicans in New Hampshire; this year there were about 20,000 more for Democrats. Republicans still have the most registered voters in New Hampshire. This has left many GOP leader thinking that maybe it’s time the Republican Party rethinks who constitutes this “base” of good voters.

I think the greatest question here is: what can be done to revive the NH GOP? I am a personal believer that the so-called "social conservative" and "values voters" are not the true base of the Republican Party, especially in New Hampshire. In our state we have Republicans that I like to call "New Hampshire conservatives". For the most part they tend to be more libertarian-leaning conservatives. I count myself among this group. We tend to have a distrust for big government and enjoy low taxes and personal freedoms.

One reason the Democrats took control of the New Hampshire government is because they realized a big part of the New Hampshire conservative ideology; they realized that the voters of New Hampshire don't want any more taxes. Most of the popular Democrats in New Hampshire have said they oppose a sales or income tax.

Democrats tend to be more for socially liberal policies that usually mean more personal freedoms. Now combine that with the recent switch to an anti-tax sentiment in their party and they send a message that appeals to NH conservatives. The best thing for the NH GOP to do is to show that the Democrats are merely paying lip service to this idea of low taxes and smaller government. The voters of this state have to realize that the only guarantee against a broad-based tax is a government consisting of traditional NH conservatives.

The real base of the New Hampshire Republican Party is the NH conservatives. For us to take back the government, we need to work on making a plan that shows how we will fight to reduce the size and scope of government. We need to show voters that we are the party of low taxes, smaller government, and personal freedoms. New Hampshire voters (which includes conservatives) do not want a government of socially conservative Republicans. They just want to be left alone to attend to their own business.

In Libertate,
Tyler

The Blog

I got an email the other day asking if I wanted to be a contributor to the Free State Blogs. Of course I said yes, after all I want to do whatever possible to advance the cause of freedom. I said that this gave me a much needed incentive to update this blog more frequently, and it has.

I am OK doing the posts, but I need help with a couple things:

1. I need a better title for this blog. Something that isn't boring like my name.
2. I can not figure out for the life of me how to change the size of my picture on the right hand side of the page. It is too condensed and it makes the picture look bad.

With those two things this blog will be a lot more professional looking. They seem kind of small in the big picture, but its those small details that count.

In Libertate,
Tyler

P.S. - I am trying to learn how to work with the technical stuff on here a little better. I wrote that list of two things in Html code. All by myself!

Plymouth Liberty Network

My previous post talked about possibly getting a pro-liberty group together from the Plymouth area. Well, it is almost a reality. We have decided on a name (Plymouth Liberty Network) and we have a website in the making (www.plymouthliberty.org). The structure, as of now, is still pegged as an informal umbrella group that will serve as a connection spot for pro-liberty ideas and activities. I am hoping that we can get some projects underway and have a few meetings after the holidays.

If you have any ideas or questions feel free to get in touch with me.

In Libertate,
Tyler

Attention Freedom Lovers from the Plymouth Area

The best part of not winning the election: it has given me a new drive to make a difference in New Hampshire politics. I sincerely believe in freedom and liberty for everyone. The hard part is that the liberty movement is so unorganized.

I have been in contact with Plymouth resident Jason Rand. We decided it was high time that the people of the Plymouth region got involved in fighting for liberty. That is the reason we wish to form a group for liberty lovers to come and discuss important issues and talk about action plans. It will start as kind of an informal get-together, but I hope it will morph into a more structured organization.

If you would like to attend a meeting to learn more about freedom, contact me.

In Libertate,
Tyler

Election Results

Well, the results weren't in my favor. I ended up losing by a mere 90 votes. The Democratic challenger, Bob Matheson, won the seat. This was truly the year of the Democrats. I am not too worried, however. I see it as a semi-victory. I showed that young people can indeed make an impact on the political scene. I also showed that a third party candidate can do more than poll at 1% in a race (I got about 31% of a three-way vote).

In Libertate,
Tyler

Campaign Update

Wow. Long time since the last post. Almost a whole month! I have been extremely busy with school, but now it's parents weekend so I have a little down time. I figured this would be a good time to write a few posts.

A little over a week ago I spoke in Assembly at School (weekly all-school meeting). I talked about how young people need to become more involved in politics. I got to speak directly before Deb Reynolds. I think I might have stole her thunder; there's only one generic speech that politicians can give to young people you know (go out and vote, get involved, etc.). Everyone congratulated me for doing a good job so I guess it was a solid performance.

The past couple of days I have been trying to catch up with all this campaign stuff. I sent out my first mass mailing (I had a few small targeted ones earlier on). Just under two thousand postcards were sent out to all the PO Boxes and Rural Routes in Thornton and Woodstock. They are very high quality glossy postcards. I think they make a good impression.

Looking ahead at the final stretch there are a couple of things to take care of. First of all, anyone want to help do some door knocking/literature dropping the next two weekends? Probably the next two Sundays would be the best times. I will probably go all day; you can join for whatever amount of time. Secondly, I have just started the process of making a list of volunteers to come to the polling places on election day to hold signs. Election day is Tuesday, November 7th. If you wanna help out then send me an email at Tyler@VoteStearns.com or send me a message on AIM - Afookanack.

Check out the Plymouth Record Enterprise for a story on me coming out soon. Also check the Enterprise and the Littleton Courier for my advertisements.

In Libertate,
Tyler