Jonathan P. Baird

Around twenty years ago, I had my first direct political interaction with the New Hampshire Libertarians. At the time, I was the State House lobbyist for New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Along with other consumer protection advocates, we were working on a bill which would impose a 36% APR loan cap on payday lenders. As lobbyists would do, we looked for support for the bill on the Republican side as well as the Democratic side.

To those unfamiliar with payday lending, it is a debt trap, essentially the modern form of usury. In 2003 our Legislature had approved the practice. Payday lenders offered short term loans at exorbitant interest rates.

In a typical loan, the consumer writes a personal check drawn on his or her bank account for the amount borrowed plus a fee. The fee, stated as a percentage of the check or of the loan, translates into triple-digit annual interest fees. The lender agrees not to deposit the check until the consumer’s next payday. If the consumer cannot pay in full on the next payday, the lender will rewrite a new loan with more fees attached. The Legislature then allowed lenders to roll over a loan eleven times if the consumer continues to be unable to pay the balance owed.

In 2008, the Legislature passed legislation to cap interest rates on payday and car title loans at 36% annually. New Hampshire libertarians opposed the legislation and opposed any cap. They supported usury because they considered government regulation “slow cancer”.

At the time, I was shocked that Libertarians would get behind a practice that was loan-sharking. They had no problem with someone getting ripped off. Upon further investigation, I found that position was consistent with their views opposing any interference with laissez faire capitalism. They also opposed Social Security, Medicare, Food Stamps and public education.

While they pose as anti-government, the Libertarians are the best friends of the billionaire class. They are selective about opposing oppressors. If the oppressor is a public entity, they re all over it. If the oppressor is a private entity, they get a pass.

The Libertarians have been heavily funded by the the Kochs, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Jeff Yass and Paul Singer. There is nothing remotely idealistic about the Libertarians. I am reminded of a quote from John Kenneth Galbraith:

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”

That perfectly describes both the Libertarians and the Free State Project. They like to present as anarchists but they are conservatives devoted to their money. In running as Republicans they have been effective in hiding their true colors. Many voters don’t know they are voting for Libertarians. What percentage of House Republicans are in sync with the Libertarians? It is not a small grouping. The House Majority Leader is a Free Stater.

Among other things, the Free Staters have wanted to defund the state library, cut state aid to the State University system, eliminate the Council on the Arts and the Child Advocate office. They have promoted cutting the Department of Health and Human Services and programs that serve the poor.

They also have been trying to destroy public education. They have promoted a shadow system of education through the Education Freedom Accounts Program. The House Republican majority filed a bill that would have required public reporting of aggregate test scores of participants in the Education Freedom Accounts program. The program has siphoned off millions of dollars and it operates without accountability. The Legislature is also considering a bill that would do away with all regulation of home schooling. You have to wonder about the quality of that “learning”.

Sometimes you can tell about a political grouping by what it doesn’t say. Libertarians have nothing to say about the threat of fascism in Trump’s America, tech billionaire media consolidation, income inequality, racism, sexism and climate change. Hiding as Republicans, they ride the Trump train at a time when collaboration with that regime could not be more un-American.

More appalling is the recent statement of the NH Libertarian Party that political violence aimed at former Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky and his proposal to introduce an income tax was “legitimate”. The Party actually wrote:

“..Volinsky is threatening the forced conscription of millions of hours of labor. Under libertarian ethical theory, it is perfectly permissible to kill him.”

In the fall of 2024, the Libertarian Party made posts endorsing the assassination of Vice President Kamala Harris who was then the Democratic presidential nominee.

As a democratic socialist, I am entirely at odds with the Libertarians but they have a right to their opinions. Their threat against Andru Volinsky is horrifying and they have the chutzpah to talk about it in the context of ethical theory. It makes a mockery of the word “libertarian”. Does libertarian mean we only accept our point of view? Maybe the Party needs a new name.