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Friends,
Here is an article by Harry Browne to forward to
friends and family members who are concerned about
"wasting their vote" by voting Libertarian. Enjoy.
Steve Dasbach
National Director
Libertarian Party
=================================================
==
Do You Want Smaller Government?
by Harry Browne
Libertarian Candidate for President
The most important political question you can ask
yourself is simply this:
Do you want smaller government?
Do you want an end to the welfare state, to
government destroying our health-care system, to
government at all levels taking 47% of the
national income in taxes, to government intrusions
into your life and your business?
Do you want smaller government?
Stop Supporting Big Government
If you do, the first step toward getting it is
obvious:
You must stop supporting those who are making
government bigger.
You can't go east by moving west. It's a physical
impossibility.
You can't make government smaller by rewarding
those who make government bigger. It's a political
impossibility.
Only when you begin asking for what you really
want do you have any chance of getting it.
Al Gore wants to make government bigger. He's
proposed a long list of new government programs.
George W. Bush wants to make government bigger.
He's proposed an equally long list of new
government programs to show that he's as
compassionate as Mr. Gore -- as though having
government spend your money somehow demonstrates
compassion.
Pat Buchanan says he wants a return to
constitutional government. But he's made no
specific proposals to reduce government, while
proposing to have government fix what he thinks is
wrong with America. For one thing, he wants to
tell you what kind of car you can drive.
And Ralph Nader wants to tell you whether you can
drive a car at all. But that's the least of his
many plans to make government much bigger.
What Smaller Government Means
I am the only presidential candidate offering
specific proposals to make government smaller --
much smaller:
* I want to get the federal government
_completely_ out of every area where it's made
such a mess -- health care, education, law
enforcement, welfare, foreign aid, corporate
welfare, highway boondoggles, farm subsidies. Not
only are these programs unconstitutional, they do
tremendous damage to our lives.
* I want to make the federal government so small
you won't pay _any_ income tax. (The tariffs and
excise taxes already being collected are enough to
finance the constitutional functions of
government.)
* I want to free you immediately and completely
from the Social Security system. I want to sell
off government assets to finance private
retirement accounts for anyone now dependent on
Social Security -- so you and I and every other
American can immediately stop paying the 15%
Social Security tax.
* I want to end the nightmare of Prohibition by
stopping the insane War on Drugs. At least 90% of
the invasions of your civil liberties over the
last 30 years have been justified by the Drug War.
You may have no interest in drugs, but the
government still snoops in your bank account,
monitors your email, and claims the power to
search and seize your property without due
process.
* I want to restore completely your unconditional
right to keep and bear any weapon necessary to
defend yourself and your family. We can't end gun
violence with new laws or by enforcing the laws on
the books now. The gun laws are the principal
_cause_ of gun violence, so we must repeal those
laws.
* I _don't_ want to appoint Supreme Court judges
who are "strict constructionists" or who divine
"original intent." I want to appoint judges who
can read the plain language of the Constitution --
who understand that when the Constitution says
"Congress shall make no law," it means _Congress
shall make no law_. I want judges who will strike
down government programs that are not authorized
by the Constitution.
In short, I don't want to slow the growth of
government. I don't even want to stop the growth
of government. I want to _reduce_ government
dramatically -- to the limits imposed by the
Constitution.
What Freedom Means
I want you to be free to live your life as _you_
want to live it -- not as Al Gore or George Bush
thinks you should.
You're the one who gets up every morning and goes
to work for 8, 10, or 12 hours a day. How dare
politicians like George Bush or Al Gore presume to
decide how much of what you earn you should be
allowed to keep?
I want you to be able to keep _every_ dollar you
earn -- to spend it, save it, give it away as
_you_ think best -- not just the crumbs the
politicians leave for you.
I want you to be able to use your own money to put
your children in a school of your choice --
private, religious, or home school -- without
having to beg the state for a voucher or plead
with the Board of Education for improvement.
I want you to be able to use your own money to
start your own business. Or to support your church
or favorite charity in a way you've never been
able to do before.
I want you to be free. I want to get government
out of your life.
Isn't that what _you_ want?
How to Get to Smaller Government
If so, why would you vote for someone who's moving
in the opposite direction -- someone who's made it
clear he intends to make government bigger, not
smaller?
I'm the only candidate who's running solely for
the purpose of making government smaller. I'm the
only candidate who doesn't presume to know what
charities your money should go to, or how much of
your income belongs to the politicians.
How You Can Win
Can I win?
Probably not. But if you vote for anyone else, you
won't win either. Your candidate might win, but
_you_ won't get what you want. Government will
continue to get bigger, more expensive, more
intrusive, and more oppressive -- and you will
have given your approval to this.
No matter what your reason for voting for Mr. Bush
or Mr. Gore -- to keep Al Gore out of the White
House or to ward off the Religious Right -- your
vote will be interpreted as an endorsement of
every big-government proposal your candidate has
made.
Even though we Libertarians may not win this year,
every vote I get will be an endorsement, a
statement, a declaration on behalf of smaller
government. No one can misinterpret a vote for me
as a vote for more government.
And if I get even one million votes, it could
change politics in America forever. It could cause
the press to pay more attention to
smaller-government proposals, it could encourage
other voters to abandon the big-government
parties, and it could attract millions of
non-voters who have given up on any hope of
getting smaller government.
Please don't let the old parties destroy your
future by scaring you into voting _against_
someone this year.
Raise your sights. Vote in a way that could lead
to a free America with a constitutional government
before the end of this decade.
For once, vote for yourself instead of a
politician. Vote for freedom.
Vote Libertarian.
======
Harry Browne is the Libertarian candidate for
President, and the author of The Great Libertarian
Offer. More of his articles are available at
HarryBrowne.org.
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