GOP U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says Governor
Chris Sununu should end what Andy says is now an unconstitutional “emergency” that
is strangling the quality of life in New Hampshire. Andy will take legal action
to block any extension of the current “emergency” declaration and may engage in
civil disobedience to test the constitutionality of the state’s burdensome and
intrusive regulations.
News from:
ANDY MARTIN /2020
Republican for U. S. Senator
New Hampshire
www.AndyMartin.com
www.FirstRespondersOnline.us
Headquarters:
E-mail: AndyforUSSenator@aol.com
P.O.
Box 742
Manchester,
NH 03105-0742
Cellphone:
(347) 960-9593
Fax
(866) 214-3210
Blogs:
www.AndyMartin2020.blogspot.com
www.AndyMartin2020.wordpress.com
---
May 8, 2020
Governor Chris Sununu
State Capitol
107 N. Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
Dear Chris:
I am writing to ask
you to end the purported “state of emergency” in New Hampshire and to reopen
the state for the use and enjoyment of its citizens. I also write to ask that
you retract your proposed regulatory scheme and allow businesses to resume
normal operations.
Because I am one of
your strongest supporters this is a difficult letter to write. I voted for you
in the past and I will vote for you in November. I want you reelected at all
costs. But I believe the coronavirus course you are following is dangerous to
your reelection as well as dangerous to the future of the state.
I.
There is no
emergency at this time; end the “emergency”
A. In early March
there was a genuine emergency. The confused nature of the coronavirus misled
many officials, both Democrats and Republicans, to be surprised in early and
mid-March. The so-called “models” were a sham and predicted millions of deaths.
We had no idea what would happen nationally, or locally in New Hampshire. Therefore,
I do not question the declaration of an emergency in March. It is what it was,
a decision based on flawed facts.
B. Our Democratic
Party opponents never tire of telling us to follow the “science” and “facts.”
Well, what are the science and facts? Fact number one: According to NHPR,
approximately 75% of New Hampshire coronavirus deaths were in nursing homes and
care facilities (please see link [1] below), NOT in the general
population. The number of non-nursing related deaths is infinitesimal.
Governor Andrew Cuomo likes to say every
life is “priceless.” But every life is not priceless. People are killed and
injured all the time. Courts and insurance companies have little difficulty
monetizing the price of life. No one can rationally suggest that the entire
state should be imperiled to protect a single life.
Right now, 1.3
million people are suffering economically in New Hampshire, in order to possibly
avoid a handful of deaths that occur outside nursing homes. Children are
hungry, rent and mortgages are behind, and property owners have difficulty paying
property taxes to run the state. State government is constantly trying to talk down
New Hampshire’s tourism business.
I do not believe you can
or should ethically endanger the lives of 1.3 million people to save a handful
of otherwise endangered lives. On the contrary, by diluting the anti-coronavirus
effort and applying it to all 1.3 million people, you fail to concentrate
protective efforts on saving the most vulnerable. The state’s current policy has
the perverse impact of endangering the vulnerable while destroying the lives of
1.3 million people without any justification for that approach. (The moronic TV
ads saying you are “killing your grandparents” just by trying to live a normal life
are just that, moronic ads.)
C. The emergency which existed in March no longer
exists. In fact, the lockdown has endangered New Hampshire’s medical
system and cost hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars in lost income, much
of which will never be recovered. So, once again the lockdown policy has the
perverse effect of destroying hospital and medical resources, not protecting
them, for future use.
D. The coronavirus situation
is a serious public health crisis. But we deal with public health controversies
on a regular basis without shutting down the state. How many viruses has China
sent us in recent years? We don’t know. But our state medial system clearly has
adequate medical resources to deal with the minimum impact of the coronavirus
in New Hampshire. Thus, as a matter of “fact” and “law,” there is no basis for emergency
action at the present time. Therefore, the emergency declaration should be allowed
to expire in a few days.
II.
When is a beach
not a beach?
A. The state’s proposals
seem to create a distinction between beaches. If you want to use a beach at a
lake, that’s apparently OK. But if you want to use a beach at the ocean, that’s
illegal. What is the constitutional basis for the distinction? What is the
factual basis? (I much prefer the ocean to lakes.)
B. The Hampton Beach situation
is pathetic. People showed up last weekend – great – and the police want to
shut down parking and limit access to a great state resource (please see link
[2] below). Ocean beaches may be among the safest places to be. There is the
salt air, the salt water and the bright sunshine which helps kill the virus. There
is not a scintilla of evidence to suggest beaches are dangerous and yet Hampton
Beach Police want to limit parking and limit access to the beach. It’s hysteria
unbound. It’s stupid. Barney Fife policing.
My family has been
going to Hampton Beach for over 100 years. The beach has never been closed that
I am aware of. There is no basis to close ocean beaches now. When I go, I often
see out-of-state license plates. So what? Is the whole world presumptively
infected? That’s simply not the case. Ocean beaches are perhaps the healthiest places
for people to park, picnic and enjoy themselves in the sun. Free Hampton Beach!
III.
When is a restaurant
not a restaurant?
My understanding is
that restaurants will only be allowed to seat people outside and on a limited
basis. Is the state trying to ensure that the restaurant industry in New
Hampshire goes bankrupt? What if it rains? What if it gets dark? Or what if, as
we have next week, a cold front slides in? New Hampshire in late August also starts
getting chilly at night. The state’s proposals limiting restaurant operations
will destroy jobs and undermine our economic future. It’s a nonsense approach.
IV.
A “goofy
government” approach could be toxic in November.
A. Right now, the “polls”
(which I doubt) show you doing very well. But if the state stays locked up with
a cockeyed approach to business over the summer, I can guarantee you that you
will be very unpopular in October and November. There is no way the public will
accept much more lockdown lifestyle. The stay-at-home approach worked for a
while, but that gig is over.
You are going to face
serious hostility if you try to implement your latest set of proposals. I can’t
predict what the virus will be doing on the 4th of July but I can
guarantee you what the public will be doing on 4th of July: cursing
you out for destroying their state and denying Granite Staters a chance to visit
a beach.
B. Please don’t fall
into the Kelly Ayotte trap. Kelly Ayotte was a decent senator. I endorsed her
and voted for her. But she was ham-handed in her relationship with voters, and
especially Republicans. She lost a race she should have won, and she may have also
dragged down Trump with her. Ayotte had a way of irrigating Republicans and conservatives
which led a few thousand GOP voters to reject her. She had a decent record. But
she fumbled away her reelection for no good reason (I will write more about her
next week).
Please do not fumble
away your reelection through a false sense of complacency that the complicated proposals
and regulations you seek to impose on 1.3 million Granite Staters will remain
popular, because those rules are based on a nonexistent “emergency” and will only
worsen conditions in the state, not improve them. You will be demonized by the
Democrats before you know it and, like Ayotte, you will have lost Republican
votes by unnecessarily imposing an illogical regulatory scheme on the state.
V.
The Swedish model
has yielded a much better outcome than the USA one; why not study it and try to
adapt it?
Sweden is an advanced
society, comparable in many ways to the United States. But Sweden did not lock
down, and has an economy that is the envy of the world. Sweden adopted reasonable
regulations, ending large sporting events and public gatherings, but leaving groups
of up to 49 people alone. Bars and restaurants did not close. Children stayed
in school. The result is that while the United Kingdom and the United states brutalized
their populations and devastated their economies, Sweden did not. Sweden did
not avoid all deaths but the results there approximate USA conditions without
the self-induced economic collapse.
In New Hampshire, a
huge percentage of the coronavirus cases are along the Massachusetts border.
Why punish the entire state for a highly localized problem in a small slice of
Southern New Hampshire? Once again, current state policy makes no sense. How is
impoverishing 90% of the state because of an unhealthy situation in 10% of the
state a sound policy?
CONCLUSION
In summary:
A. I respectfully
request that you not renew the nonexistent emergency when it expires in
a few days.
B. I respectfully
request that you trust New Hampshire institutions and individuals to make their
own decisions. We are a state with an unusually intelligent and highly practical
population. Institutions such as hospitals and businesses will make sound decisions
to adopt their enterprises to necessary procedures. People do not want to get
sick; they can adopt approaches that protect them.
C. If the emergency
declaration is renewed, I am planning to launch a civil disobedience campaign
to challenge the constitutionality of the emergency and the draconian policies
the state is proposing. Please don’t make me do it. I want to be able to cheer
you on, not challenge your decisions.
D. No plan can cover
everything and mine does not. But I am only proffering a sensible and practical
analysis of what can be done to help people, not drag down the state any longer.
The great minds in state government are trying to kill a mouse with a machine
gun. Do everything that can be done to protect our vulnerable population, where
the illnesses and death are concentrated. But do everything you can to roll
back the state’s burdensome and often contradictory approach to regulation for
healthy, low-risk citizens. End it, don’t mend it.
Let’s meet at the
beach and have a ceremony burning the emergency declaration. You’ll be glad you
did.
With sincere best
wishes,
Andy
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Please feel free to
forward and/or post this email
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LINKS TO THIS STORY:
(cut and paste the entire link below and not just the underlined portion):
[1] https://www.nhpr.org/post/more-three-four-nh-covid-deaths-occurred-long-term-care-homes#stream/0
New citations after
emailing:
ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF
BIO:
Andy Martin is a legendary New Hampshire-based muckraker,
author, Internet columnist, talk television pioneer, radio talk show host,
broadcaster and media critic. With over fifty (50) years of background in radio
and television and with decades of intelligence, investigative and analytical
experience in Washington, the USA and around the world, Andy provides insight
on politics, foreign policy, military and intelligence matters. For a full bio,
go to: www.AndyMartin.com. See also
www.FirstRespondersOnline.us; www.BoycottABC.com/executive_director.htm
Andy has also been a leading corruption fighter in American
politics and courts for over fifty years and is executive director of the National
Anti-Corruption Policy Institute. www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com.
He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of
Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City
University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).
He is the author of “Obama: The Man Behind the Mask”
[www.OrangeStatePress.com] and produced the Internet film “Obama: The Hawaii’ Years”
[www.BoycottHawaii.com]. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of the
“Internet Powerhouse,” blogging at www.contrariancommentary.wordpress.com and
www.ContrarianCommentary.com.
Andy’s family immigrated to Manchester, New Hampshire
over 100 years ago; today his home overlooks the Merrimack River and he lives
around the corner from where he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire’s leading
corruption fighter and Republican Party reformer.
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Andy’s opinion
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and ContrarianCommentary.wordpress.com
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