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The Freedom Forum Do You Want Smaller Government?From: Dan Scupin, Chair Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County Comments
Do You Want Smaller Government? by Harry Browne Libertarian Candidate for President The most important political question you can ask yourself is simply this:
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:
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? 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 www.HarryBrowne.org.
______ Last changed: March 04, 2008
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