A disturbing bipartisan bill in the New Hampshire Senate would begin the process of prohibiting profiting from selling products. As expected, the socialist legislation proposes the criminalization of ‘excessive’ profiteering, only applies to necessities, and only applies during a dictator-declared ‘market disruption’. We know that communists often implement their agenda incrementally. Make no mistake, if this bill passes, the law will gradually be expanded to eventually prohibit all free market operations by making it illegal to sell anything for a profit.
We have come to expect legislation that is literally communist in nature from progressive Democrats. Those bills do not generally pass in New Hampshire. Senate Bill 138 is worrisome because it is proposed by five Republican Senators, five Democrat Senators, and three State Representatives, one of which is Republican, as well. This means that the fascist anti-freedom bill has broad support among the tyrants in both parties, meaning that it can pass into law if it is not met with massive opposition from citizens like you and me.
As always, the bill has a title that sounds relatively reasonable:
“AN ACT relative to consumer protections against profiteering in necessities”
Many people who are not well-read on economics and free market operations do not see the issue with government intervention and fall for the ‘consumer protection’ propaganda; naively believing that politicians could or should ‘protect’ them from the free market. As mentioned above and countless times by TLB in the past, this bill utilizes tactical incrementalism. The sponsors understand that many consumers were upset by the drastic increase in prices for necessities when people lost their senses and began to panic-buy necessities from toilet paper to bread as soon as the government-created recession hit the economy. These people likely do not understand the laws of scarcity and supply & demand, unfortunately. As items become more scarce (lower supply) and/or are in greater demand, the price naturally increases. This is a law nearly as concrete as the law of gravity; there is no way around it, and it exists on Earth for a reason, regardless of whether it’s painful sometimes. Once consumers study economics a little bit, they begin to understand that ‘price gouging’ in the context of increased demand/decreased supply is actually good for everyone. However, even if price gouging were harmful, communist laws prohibiting the sale of anything for any price would still be immoral and anti-freedom.
This horrific bill makes it illegal to profit excessively from the sale of ‘necessities’, which the bill defines as:
“food for human or animal consumption, potable water, pharmaceutical products including prescription medications, wearing apparel, shoes, building materials, gas and electricity for light, heat, and power, ice, fuel of all kinds, and fertilizer and fertilizer ingredients, together with tools, utensils, implements, machinery, and equipment required for the actual production or manufacture of the same. “Necessities” shall include any other vital or necessary good or service…”
The legislation makes it illegal to sell pretty much any item for more than 15% above the normal cost. Maintaining the principle of incrementalism, the authors of the bill first only seek to ban profiting during a ‘market disruption’, which they define as:
“a significant disruption to the production, distribution, supply, sale, or availability of a commodity or commodities that:
(1) Is caused by an event such as a natural or man-made emergency or disaster, whether local or remote; and
(2) Causes ordinary competitive market forces to cease to function normally.”
The legislation grants power to the dictator (formerly called the ‘governor’) to invoke this law if he feels that an abnormal market disruption exists or is imminent.
Punishments for violating the new anti-capitalist law are unclear, but the bill states that:
“Any violation of this section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A:2. Any right, remedy, or power set forth in RSA 358-A may be used to enforce the provisions of this section.”
Below are the brilliant sponsors of the bill:
Sen. Sherman, Dist 24
Sen. D’Allesandro, Dist 20
Sen. Gannon, Dist 23
Sen. Carson, Dist 14
Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21
Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13
Sen. Watters, Dist 4
Sen. Bradley, Dist 3
Sen. Giuda, Dist 2
Sen. Hennessey, Dist 1
Rep. Knirk, Carr. 3
Rep. Grote, Rock. 24
Rep. M. Pearson, Rock. 34
The bill is currently in the Senate Commerce Committee at “SenateCommerce@leg.state.nh.us” Please email all of its members, as well as the sponsors, your Senators, and your Representatives. Let them know how you feel about communism and dictators controlling private businesses.
UPDATE: It appears that this bill has been amended and is now a totally new bill, which addresses investment metal contracts.
