GOP Lawmaker Says 'Enough Is Enough,' Demands Vote on Secession Be Put Before the People
A Republican New Hampshire lawmaker has had enough of the federal government and is proposing a vote on secession from the union.
State Rep. Mike Sylvia said he has filed the necessary paperwork to put a constitutional amendment up for a vote in 2022, The Laconia Daily Sun reported.
“New Hampshire peaceably declares independence from the United States and immediately proceeds as a sovereign nation. All other references to the United States in this constitution, state statutes, and regulations are nullified,” the proposal would say on the ballot if approved.
Getting ballot approval for a new amendment is no easy task, as it requires 60 percent support in both houses of the state Legislature.
The good news for Sylvia is that Republicans have a slight majority in both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate; the bad news is that secession proposals are typically highly unpopular.
Sylvia argued that New Hampshire should become its own nation due to actions by the federal government, especially the Biden administration.
“There are hundreds of examples of the federal government overstepping its authority,” he said, citing the eviction moratorium and President Joe Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandate.
“Enough is enough. We should put this before the voters to decide.”
He also pointed out that New Hampshire pays more in federal taxes than it receives in federal funding. It is ranked as the 36th most federally dependent state, according to WalletHub.
“We are a donor state that pays out more in federal income taxes than what we get back,” he said.
A conservative group called The Liberty Block published a list of dozens of reasons why New Hampshire should declare its independence, including federal anti-gun measures and “corona-fascism.”
The group said New Hampshire voters have never had the opportunity to “reevaluate” their relationship with Washington.
“Their ancestors made the decision to join the union 240 years ago, in a different world, one in which the federal government did not violate our every right, and did not steal half of our money to fund their tyranny,” The Liberty Block said on its website.
While it is not worthwhile to discuss the possibility of New Hampshire actually becoming a separate country, it is important to delve into the reasons why a lawmaker would suggest the idea in the first place.
Is the political climate really as heated as it was in the 1860s, when the secession of several southern states set off the Civil War?
Maybe not, but many Americans feel that they no longer have anything in common with their countrymen.
The pandemic only deepened that division, so it is not surprising that people like Sylvia see secession as the only remaining solution.
But it is important for discouraged politicians and civilians to remember that united we stand, divided we fall.
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