Iowa Republicans For Freedom

from The Nashua Telegraph.

By TRAVIS BLAIS

In 2010, New Hampshire elected a conservative state Legislature to reverse the disastrous tax-and-spend agenda pursued by Gov. John Lynch and the liberal Democrats. New Republican leadership undertook an unpleasant but necessary job, eliminating a $900 million deficit and balancing the budget without raising taxes. Fiscal sanity has been restored to New Hampshire.

Not every policy of the previous Legislature, however, deserves to be rolled back just because it was supported by Democrats.

In early 2012, the House of Representatives will vote on HB 437, a bill to repeal the 2009 gay marriage law. Although repeal is pushed by many well-meaning conservatives, in fact, conservative principles weigh against the bill.

First and foremost, conservatives should stand up for freedom. Among America’s defining phrases are “We the people,” “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” and “We leave you alone if you’re not hurting anybody.”

Living in a free society means other people may do things you don’t agree with. Of course, no freedom is absolute. But when balancing competing interests, liberty should win unless there’s compelling evidence of harm to others. This is a strong presumption.

For instance, conservatives correctly support the individual right to keep and bear arms, notwithstanding that misuse of firearms can kill people. No evidence suggests gay marriage can be fatal to innocent bystanders.

Opponents of same-sex marriage speak of its downsides, including the devaluation of traditional character values, further instability in the nuclear family and concern for where the slippery slope will slip next, say, toward polygamy. At the same time, however, the animus against homosexual orientation and relationships inflicts its own set of harms that are more tangible, direct and immediate.

Otherwise innocent individuals are subjected to violence and bullying, depression, estrangement from family and society, self-destructive behavior and suicide. These are our friends, neighbors, colleagues and family members; they don’t deserve to live this way.

Read the full article from The Nashua Telegraph.

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from Think Progress, published December 2, 2011.

North Carolina state Sen. Jim Davis (R) has joined the chorus of Republicans walking back their support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban all recognition of same-sex relationships. At a town hall this week, he reiterated his opposition to same-sex couples marrying, but admitted the amendment restricts freedoms “beyond his comfort zone”:

DAVIS: I have a lot of libertarian in me. I believe firmly, passionately that a marriage should be defined as being between one man and one woman. But I also believe with all my heart that in a free America people who choose to live a different lifestyle should have a legal right to do so. Just don’t call it marriage. [This amendment will] restrict their freedoms a little more beyond my comfort zone.

North Carolina’s inequality amendment would be more far-reaching than any other state’s, banning same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. The rushed language of the amendment may lead to consequences for businesses and opposite-sex domestic partnerships as well.

Read the full article from Think Progress.

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from The Mason City Globe Gazette, published November 30, 2011.

Jobs and the economy.

Those are the two areas Iowa legislative leaders say they’ll concentrate on in the coming session.

We’re going to hold them to it, and expect both parties to work together to trigger improvements in both areas.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said Tuesday he has no plans to touch on hot-button social issues such as gay marriage and abortion. He might want to, but it wouldn’t do him any good.

Republicans in the last session passed a resolution calling for a statewide vote on gay marriage and approved tough restrictions on abortion, only to see them blocked by the Senate Democratic leader, Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs.

Gronstal has already said he’ll do the same thing in the coming session. Paulsen says that being the case, there’s little reason to revisit the issues.

We trust both men will stick to their words.

While Iowa isn’t a world of hurt economically, in part because of the sound ag economy, too many Iowans need jobs.

We’d guess that’s been the word from every city council and board of supervisors meeting throughout the state, not to mention voters in contact with lawmakers.

It’s even the case nationally. A story in Wednesday’s newspaper about how GOP presidential candidates are walking a tightrope over immigration issues says that while many voters may care, they want their federal officials to focus on getting people employed and getting the economy perking again. Not social issues — jobs.

So here’s the deal for Iowa’s legislators. They cannot take up valuable time — and spend Iowans’  money — by trying all sorts of ways to force  action on their pet social issues. We got tired of it last session, and it’s just not going to happen in the coming session.

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