Civil Liberties-
The Oath of Office of the President is to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. When a President takes office, he should place his hand on one place: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights he is swearing to protect. When an Advisor tells the President "The Constitution is not a suicide pact" as a justification for his illegal deeds, he is urging that our government be overthrown. The President should appoint officials and advisors who support the Constitution.
Economy-
The first tax we need to end is the grandchild tax, the tax that goes on forever and buys you the taxpayer absolutely nothing. Our skyrocketing national debt eats up every penny saved by all Americans. The only way we can borrow the national debt is by borrowing from foreigners. We end the grandchild tax by cutting spending. Will we cut...? No matter the choice, the answer has to be 'Yes. We have to cut that too.' The national debt chews up capital, so that savings that are no longer available to pay for new factories, better roads, or energy-saving home improvements.
Education-
There is no more important investment in the future than the education of our children and grandchildren. When you invest wisely by paying to educate a child, whether your own child or the child of impoverished parents, you should receive a dollar for dollar Federal tax credit for your investment. By supporting investment in education, we will build a wealthier America that will be more comfortable with Libertarian platform proposals. By supporting investment in education, you reduce the money available for Republicans and Democrats to waste on Wars for Nothing and Bridges to Nowhere. By supporting investment in the education of individual children, you build competition in educational approaches that move education in libertarian directions.
Energy and the Environment-
Recent changes in energy prices reflect changes in the order of the world. World oil production barely matches oil consumption. Oil demand from China and other places climbs rapidly. We face rapidly increasing foreign competition for buying foreign oil. Prudent Americans must expect that in the future energy is unlikely to be cheap.
Gun Control-
Gun Control - The right to keep and bear arms, in defense of person, property, and freedom, is central to the continued existence of a free country. The Second Amendment is not about hunting. Only the Libertarian Party stands behind the fundamental meaning of this most fundamental liberty. I will vigorously deploy the Presidential veto pen and other political means to defend and expand your Second Amendment rights.
Health Care-
Why is health insurance so expensive? One large reason is cost transfers. Hospitals are required to give free medical care to large numbers of people who have no insurance. They pay for that care by charging it to the people who have insurance. Cost transfers should be made illegal: Your insurance should only pay for your care. If a hospital is required by law to provide free care, the legal requirement should come with the money to pay for that care. Also, all medical care costs should have the same tax basis: No matter whether your employer pays for your insurance, you pay for insurance, or you pay for medical costs, those payments should be excluded from your taxable income.
Immigration-
I support the Libertarian Party Platform. You cannot have open borders and a large-scale welfare system at the same time. You will go broke. As has happened before in our history, if you have open borders poor country governments will pay people to move here, promising them a better life in the New World. Each time we add a worker to the Social Security system, we enormously increase our (unfunded) national debt, because Social Security is run on pay-as-you-go. Under the present welfare system, a vote for open borders is a vote for higher taxes for all. Someday, the Libertarian message of peace, liberty, and prosperity reach the entire world. All people will then enjoy the freedom and high standard of living we take for granted. In that day, immigration and open borders will be non-issues.
Iraq and National Defense-
There is only one good time to end the war in Iraq: Already.President Bush and the Congress still don't seem to understand this. President Bush announced last night that by August 2008 our troop numbers in Iraq would still be slightly more than pre-surge levels. His announcement is unacceptable to a majority of Americans: We Americans want complete withdrawal from Iraq now.
Prohibition-
Prohibition - When I was a little boy, television was filled with gangster prohibition movies. My parents, who were very wise people, told me that there were two certainties about prohibition: It was a total failure. No one would ever be dumb enough to try it again. Now we have drug prohibition, a total failure that wastes tens of billions of dollars and gives criminal records to tens of millions of Americans. It's time to treat marijuana the way we treat alcohol. Yes, people will have drug problems. People have alcohol problems, too. We live in an imperfect world, but we should try to avoid making it worse.
Property Rights-
Should your house belong to you, or to the lounge lizard who bribed and seduced your city council? Eminent Domain takings should be limited to traditional public purposes. Your house should belong to you. Governments should be forbidden to use eminent domain to seize your house and give it to a developer or sports team. If your home is taken for a legitimate public purpose, the fair value of the property should include your emotional loss and the cost of your time and effort to relocate. As a rule of thumb, tripling the market value of the property might give a fair payment.
