Jun 23, 2015
My Speech Today at the Tax Day T.E.A. Party Rally in Manchester, N.H.
This battle for freedom we’re involved in is young, and it is new. It took us 100 years to regress toward tyranny from the liberty our founders fought and died for, and it may take that long to restore our liberty again, or it might not happen at all if you as individuals don’t get involved and stay involved. As Ben Franklin said, We’ve given you “a Republic, if you can keep it.” This lines up well with what Wendell Phillips said some years later: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” The key is to start with the State Legislature and use its authority to hold the federal government in check. And it is for this reason, with a firm reliance on the protection of my Divine Father in Heaven, that I have pledged my life, fortune and sacred honor in this battle for our lives, liberty, property, and all those essential and inherent Natural Rights that God has given to us. I hope you will join me. God Bless you and God Bless The State of New Hampshire and the United States of... read more
Jun 23, 2015
Rep. Manuse Testimony in favor of Amendment 2012-1595h, relative to the use of separation, or time out, as a technique for behavior guidance and treatment of children.
If you read He-C 4002.25, the rules enabled by RSA 170-E:11(i), which gives a blanket authority for HHS to write rules regarding the “discipline of children,” the rules say that child care personal must “provide positive guidance” and “positively worded directions” and cannot use “separation, or time out” as “a punitive disciplinary technique.” I understand that children can be redirected once or twice, but what happens when that doesn’t work? In my opinion, and in the opinion of most parents, I believe, the child needs punitive discipline to correct his or her behavior. To not discipline a misbehaving child in my opinion is pure lunacy. No wonder children are so misbehaved these days, and it only gets worse with age. That is why I’m presenting a non-germane amendment today before this committee, to make sure we correct these problematic rules and immediately prevent further harm to... read more
Jun 23, 2015
Rep. Manuse Senate Testimony on HB 1297, relative to federal health care reform and health care exchanges
I have come before you today to introduce and support HB 1297, which would prohibit New Hampshire from implementing a state health benefit exchange under the so-called Obamacare Act, the federal “health care” overhaul enacted by Congress against popular demand in 2010. A health benefit exchange is the mechanism the federal Health and Human Services Department would use to enforce the provisions of Obamacare, such as the individual mandate we already said could not be enforced in New Hampshire when we passed SB 148 last year, and the taxes, and penalties the act requires businesses to pay. The federal health overhaul entices states with the choice to create a state operated exchange or rely on a federal operated exchange. In effect, they are no different; the federal bureaucracy would control either version. Yet, a state exchange would cost the state an additional $10 million to $30 million a year to run starting in 2015—money we just don’t have—just to pay for state officials to follow the federal government’s orders. Even if we do end up with Obamacare, HB 1297 would save New Hampshire money. The language of HB 1297 as amended by 2012-1786s is simple and comprehensive. It would be inserted in RSA 420-N, updating the responsibility of the Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee to guide the state’s executive branch in protecting New Hampshire from the federal law. With amendment 2012-1786s, HB 1297 would give state officials guidance on how they should interact with federal agents in the event that the court does not overturn the federal act in its upcoming decision or if the federal act is not repealed by Congress. Specifically, the amended HB 1297 would direct state officials to maintain a free market for health insurance to the best of their ability under the federal law. On top of this, the language of HB 1297 takes advantage of a flaw in the federal law that relies on states creating their own exchanges. The law did not provide for the contingency that states would refuse to set up exchanges, and because of this, by New Hampshire not creating a state exchange along with other states, it will be more likely that the federal health insurance overhaul would be repealed or amended. If the court overturns the law or if the law is repealed, most of the changes we’re introducing today would be deleted, but the prohibition on creating a state-run exchange and a new general state... read more
Jun 23, 2015
Passive resistance at the airport: My trip to the ALEC Conference in Charlotte, N.C., Part I
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—My wife told me that I’d be subject to more scrutiny at the airport today on my way to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) 2012 Spring Task Force Summit in Charlotte, N.C. Because I had bought my airline tickets less than a week before the event and because I chose to fly down and return on the same day to save on hotel costs and minimize the time away from my family, she said that I could expect the maximum level of scrutiny at the airport. She was right about her prediction, though I can’t say for sure if her rationale was correct. As you may know, I am the co-sponsor of HB 628, an act relative to searches conducted for purposes of transportation-related security, which is a bill that would create a public database for complaints against the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) enhanced airline screening activities and require state law enforcement officials to take such complaints. I’ve always believed that when we shine a light on something, it encourages good behavior. That is the very purpose of the TSA Accountability Act, as I’ve called it. The bill passed the House, but it was killed in the Senate by Derry Sen. Jim Rausch’s Senate Transportation Committee. Currently, I have attached the same language to Sen. Rausch’s senate bill, SB 332, which addresses a prohibition relative to auxiliary state troopers. To my knowledge, the TSA Accountability Act is still moving forward as part of SB 332, and I am hopeful the Senate will see the importance of this bill the second time. Perhaps this was the reason for my enhanced screening this morning? Regardless of whether we pass the law to create the public TSA Accountability database; however, I still have the power of the pen, which they say is mightier than the sword. It is for this reason that I am now writing about my experience this morning with the TSA, which I would explain only as a gross violation of my constitutional rights with a smile. The experience was beyond inappropriate, however I must say to the TSA’s credit that its agents, whom are not law enforcement officials, were very professional and courteous. Additionally, I have the power of passive resistance, which you will see, I fully exercised today without any trouble. I hope that more people will follow my example and do just what I have done as explained here, as I have followed the... read more
Jun 23, 2015
What I learned from the ALEC 2012 Spring Task Force Summit: My trip to the ALEC Conference in Charlotte, N.C., Part II
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—As a freshman attendant at the American Legislative Exchange Council Spring 2012 summit, I was assigned to the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force, which aligns somewhat with my position on the N.H. House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. We considered model legislation bills on insurance, occupational licensing, food safety and labor, several of which could have a future in New Hampshire law. Fellow N.H. Rep. Gary Daniels, who is chairman of our N.H. House Labor Committee, served as chairman of the Commerce Committee in Charlotte. Strangely, ALEC assigned health insurance legislation to a Health and Human Services Task Force, so I felt torn between the two meetings since the entire reason I joined the House Commerce Committee in New Hampshire was to address health insurance issues, particularly with Obamacare. The way things turned out, however, I was able to straddle both conferences and learn from both, and I have some interesting things to report from my experiences today. Before I get started, for those who don’t know, ALEC is a national organization of elected state legislators and private sector lobbyists who meet to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty through a series of periodic summits where members of the public-private partnership work to develop policies and model legislation for advancing these principles. I paid for ALEC membership out of pocket at the cost of $50 a year. It’s also important to note that my trip expenses to the ALEC Task Force Summit today was reimbursed by private donors, and not by taxpayers. Nevertheless, I minimized expenses for donors as mentioned in my previous post by flying down and back on the same day without a hotel night’s stay and by splitting my cab with Rep. Daniels on the way back to the airport. Besides Rep. Daniels and me, N.H. Reps. Jordan Ulery, Ken Weyler, Andy Renzullo and Kris Roberts were also in... read more
