Conspirators will want to note a number of bills currently being moved through the House of Representatives in Concord.

The first notable bill is HB 1737, whose most prominent proponent is Rochester Senator Richard Green (R). The bill would impose a two-cent tax on soda, juice or water containers of less than one gallon, and a five-cent tax on containers holding more than one gallon. This would push the price of a 12-pack of soda up 24 cents, and is estimated to collect $15 million a year from NH citizens. It is proposed that 30 percent of the plunder would be spent on the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, a boondoggle created during the Shaheen administration that seizes tax money and spends it on specially favored historical sites or picaresque locations. How a "society values its heritage" is reflected by how much the individuals comprising the society spend on preserving it, not by how much politicians decide to take from their neighbors in order to preserve special interests. Voluntarism is the answer, not force.

The remainder of the plunder taken under Senator Green’s pet bill would be split, with 10% devoted to dams across the state and 10% toward “protecting” water supplies, and the last 40% shoveled to the general fund for any use the politicians see fit.

Senator Green takes umbrage at people calling this a tax. “It’s a fee, not a tax,” he told the NH Union Leader, as published on January 15, 2006. Senator Green might want to brush up on the difference between a fee, which is accepted voluntarily when buying a product, and a tax, which cannot be left unpaid, for fear of the use of force by government. The retailers stocking bottled products on their shelves, and who will be forced to pay this tax (and pass it on to their customers) know the difference. Mr. Green ought to ask them.

The second bill to mention is HB 1704, sponsored by Representative Marcia Moody, of Newmarket. HB 1704 is a “smaller”, NH version of a recent law that was vetoed in Maryland, and then saw that veto overridden by the Maryland legislature. It forces companies with 1500 or more employees to have to devote 8% of their payrolls to insurance for their employees. If they do not fund at this level, they would be forced to pay into what Representative Moody calls a “Fair Share Health Care Fund”, which would supplement Medicaid. The rationale behind her bill is that companies like Wal Mart (mentioned often by Moody and other proponents of the bill), ie, companies that employ large numbers of part-time workers, do not offer them health insurance benefits. Without these health insurance benefits, the part-timers are somehow forced to go onto Medicaid, which is paid for by taxation, of course, and therefore, it is believed to be legitimate to use force to make Wal Mart insure these employees, because if they don’t, “we all pay”.

This is, of course, nonsense. Even before one delves into the corrupt, unprincipled idea of socialized medical coverage such as Medicaid, one can say, as the editors of the Union Leader have said, that the argument is spurious that Wal Mart employees place a heavier than usual burden on Medicaid. In fact, only 5% of Wal Mart employees are on Medicaid, whereas the number is 4% for the average US company.

One does not lift the burden of socialism off the backs of taxpayers by using fascism to tell companies how to do their business. This is merely one injury added to another. Such activity undermines private property and freedom of contract, increases prices for consumers (who are, amazingly, partially composed of the very same Medicaid recipients Rep. Moody purports to help), and stands in opposition to Section Two, Article Eighty-three of the NH Constitution. The hearing for it will be on Wednesday, January 25th, at 9 AM, in the Legislative Office Building, room 302. Representative Moody has agreed to appear on “Against the Grain”, with Gardner Goldsmith, on Thursday, January 19th. Please keep the dates in mind.

A companion bill is titled HB 1703. It would force any business with 500 or more employees to have to report to the state all the insurance statistics for its employees, whether they have private plans, or receive coverage through the employers.

Both of these bills are virulent. The philosophy behind them is a combination of socialism and fascism, and the sentiment that drives them is based on a misunderstanding of American history, and how private business health insurance benefits began in the US. For more information, see the early article on health insurance posted here at the Conspiracy.