Freedom in the 50 States

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Portsmouth is a great little city. New Hampshire is definitely underrated. It's beautiful. It's like Vermont, but for people who like freedom.

Are you against gay marriage and civil unions? Which freedoms do people in New hampshire have that we don't?

[^_^ 5,021]

The chart you quote is a conservative report. Conservative values rank high. I am sure we get no points for marriage and civl unions...

Dude, do you even read? I even bolded this sentence for you but I'll paste it for you again. And yes, you do get points for civil unions. This report even frowns on jailing people for victimless crimes (marijuana possession, for example).

Vermont (#45 economic, #11 personal, #40 overall) must be considered one of the least free states in the Union, unless all one is interested in are guns and civil unions.

[^_^ 5,021]

Which freedoms do people in New hampshire have that we don't?

Since you refuse to read, here you go. Another pasted excerpt.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is by our count the freest state in the country. Depending on weights, however, it really shares the first, second and third slots with Colorado and South Dakota. New Hampshire does much better on economic (#2) than personal freedom (#13). Taxes and spending are among the lowest in the country, but the tax regime is highly skewed. New Hampshire has the third highest property and corporate income taxes in the United States. These

should be high priorities for cutting. On the spending side, the likeliest suspect for cutting is transportation, which is higher than average once one controls for federal grants and population density (less dense states spend more on roads). Once state population is controlled for, New Hampshire is one of the most fiscally decentralized states in the country. Local governments also must raise two-thirds of what they spend with their own taxes. Gun laws are among the most liberal in the country, but the state has a weak “peaceable journey” regime (carrying a firearm in a car requires a concealed carry permit). Its alcohol regime is relatively free. Despite state control of retail distribution of wine and spirits, the effective tax rates on these products are zero, according to the Tax Foundation. Marijuana laws are middling; low-level possession could be decriminalized like Maine, while low-level cultivation could be made a misdemeanor like both Maine and Vermont. New Hampshire is the only state in the country with no seat-belt law for adults. It lacks a motorcycle helmet law but does have a bicycle helmet law and authorizes

sobriety checkpoints. New Hampshire is one of three states that permit self-insurance for auto liability. Gambling is relatively controlled: Most gaming must take place under a charitable license, social gaming is prohibited, and aggravated gambling is a felony. State approval is required to open a private school. Home school laws are about average on the whole, but the standardized testing and recordkeeping requirements are more onerous than most states.

Labor laws are generally market-friendly, but it is not a right-to-work state. Occupational licensing is worse

than average. Both eminent domain and asset forfeiture have been thoroughly reformed. The state’s liability

system is one of the best, but campaign finance regulations are quite strict. As of 2006, smoking bans allowed many exemptions, but a thoroughgoing ban has since passed (not captured by our index).

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Since you refuse to read, here you go. Another pasted excerpt.

Actually I prefer to be briefed rather than read the reports. Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything else.

So I see that Vermont is number 11 in personal freedom to New Hampshire's number 13. OK I am down with that. New Hampshire has crazy strict gun laws! You need a permit for a gun in the car? #######! Plus they do not let us carry guns there but we let them carry here. No fair.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Since you refuse to read, here you go. Another pasted excerpt.

Actually I prefer to be briefed rather than read the reports. Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything else.

A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read.

-Mark Twain

[^_^ 5,021]

So I see that Vermont is number 11 in personal freedom to New Hampshire's number 13.

Wow, you read!

New Hampshire has crazy strict gun laws! You need a permit for a gun in the car? #######! Plus they do not let us carry guns there but we let them carry here.

I guess the author had Vermonters like you in mind when they wrote this:

Vermont (#45 economic, #11 personal, #40 overall) must be considered one of the least free states in the Union, unless all one is interested in are guns and civil unions.

I suppose when guns and civil unions are all you have, it's understandable that's all you're interested in.

[TBoneTX 45,893]

It's interesting to read that Texas has a small state government, but it's not that surprising. I can't recall too many complaints from natives about the size. The state agencies with which I've dealt seem to be remarkably efficient (although there sure could be more Driver's License offices, si man). Twice, both on Mondays, I filed forms by mail with the Nonprofit division of the State Corporations Section, and I received the executed forms back in the mail on (first time) Friday and (second time) Thursday. Granted that they were rather simple forms, but someone was on the ball and didn't sit on them, when they surely could have.

Texas state agencies seem to have outstanding websites, which makes conducting business extremely easy and even a pleasure. I wonder whether concentrated effort was put into these in order to avoid expanding the size of the state government.

Edited January 28, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Texas

Texas (#7 economic, #5 personal, #5 overall) has one of the smallest state governments in the country. Nevertheless, as one of us who lives in Texas can testify, there are plenty of areas where improvement is needed. As a percentage of corrected GSP, Texas has the second lowest tax burden in the country and the third lowest grants-adjusted government spending. However, government employment is a standard deviation higher than the national average.

Gun control is better than average, but the state falls short on open-carry laws, stricter-than-federal minimum age for purchase rules, and dealer licensing. Alcohol is less regulated than in most other states, and taxes are low. Low-level marijuana cultivation is a misdemeanor, but otherwise marijuana laws are very harsh. Texas does not authorize sobriety checkpoints. Private and home schools are almost completely unregulated. Labor laws are generally

good, except for a prevailing wage law. Texas is the only state not to require employers to contribute to workers’ compensation coverage. While Texas has only light community rating, it has imposed mandated coverages on health insurance increasing the cost of premiums by more than 63%.45 Texas is one of the leaders in telecom and cable “deregulation.” Unfortunately, eminent domain has not been extensively reformed. The state’s liability system is much

worse than average; ending the election of judges may help here. There are no smoking bans on private property.

On the bolded items:

Our 'availability' of alcohol might be more lax than in other states, but don't be fooled on regualation. The TABC is one of tbe biggest and most powerful agencies in the state and they take their job VERY seriously. Not to mention our liquor taxes are actually quite high.

On 'Sobriety Checkpoints,' that's actually being taken up in this legislative session. Texas has come down hard on this side of drunk driving in recent years (major cities mostly) and it gets more harsh. They've been setting up checkpoints during holiday weekends and even getting COURT ORDERED blood tests on the spot at some of these checkpoints. It's disgusting to be honest. The government should have NO RIGHT to your blood if all you are doing is driving down the road... "probable cause" goes a bit too far here and they want to make them 'legal' statewide now too.

On 'workers compensation' insurance... The state doesn't require the state-verion of it, however every employer who does not carry it, has to make it very visible to their employees that they don't carry it and they also need to have some sort of other 'insurance/policy' in place to cover any on-the-job intances. I deal with this all the time in the company I work for.