"I believe in the right to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense. Law-abiding, mentally-stable citizens who choose to own a firearm should be allowed to do so without restriction. I support open-carry of firearms without a permit, and I support loosening restrictions for carrying a concealed firearm.""As a Libertarian, I believe in personal liberty and personal responsibility. Libertarians favor an end of the use of government force to enact the policies of special interests, regardless of their place on the political spectrum.
Ultimately, this is based on the principle that no person should deprive another of life, liberty, or property through the initiation (or threat) of force or fraud.
Vote Libertarian, and help us renew the American values of freedom and independence."
"One of the biggest obstacles to lowering taxes is that by lowering taxes we have to reduce government spending, thereby reducing government handouts. I guess what people don't understand is that when you have more of your own money because you're paying less taxes, you don't need the government to provide so much for you. I support lower taxes, more freedom, and a smaller government."
I am an avid student of Austrian Economics. No government in the history of mankind has ever spent their way to prosperity. I believe in balanced budgets, small government, and the free market. We have not had a free market in this country in the last 100 years. I believe that social and economic freedom are one in the same."We should not have to sacrifice one Marylander’s income in favor of another’s. We all work hard for our money, and we all deserve to enjoy it."
"As an educator, I have seen the benefits of choice and innovation in education. As an economist and actuary, I see the massive economic growth that school choice can give Maryland. A school-choice voucher program would help our students surpass their international competition, reduce costs, and build our economy."
"It's time to take a good, hard look at what the Federal Reserve does, and at what it has done to both to the economy, and to the US dollar."Our country is bankrupt. Our representatives in Congress and the Senate don't want to talk about it, but it's true. This is a greater threat to our national security than any terrorist organization, and it's a threat we have created ourselves. Acknowledging the fact that we're bankrupt will allow us to start fixing it. We need the right person in Congress -- me."Lorenzo Gaztañaga
“I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.”
– Ronald Reagan, 1975
Instead of a "Pledge to America," the Republicans should have written an "Apology to America." It should have gone something like this:
"We're sorry, America. Sorry we grew the federal government budget from $1.7 trillion to over $3 trillion. Sorry we added $5 trillion to the federal debt. Sorry we doubled the size of the Department of Education. Sorry we started two incredibly costly foreign wars. Sorry we supported the absurd and costly TARP bailouts. Sorry we created a huge and costly new Medicare entitlement. Sorry we did nothing to end the costly and destructive War on Drugs. Sorry we did nothing to reform the federal government's near-prohibition on immigration. But hey, at least we helped you by shifting a lot of your tax burden onto your children and grandchildren."
There are so many lies, distortions, hypocrisies, and idiocy in this document that it's hard to know where to start.
It is deeply insulting to see the Republicans refer to "America's founding values" on their cover. The Republican Party has no understanding whatsoever of America's founding values. They have proven and re-proven that for decades.
The document talks a lot about "tax cuts." Unfortunately, the Republican "tax cut" proposals would really do nothing to cut taxes. All their proposals achieve is to defer taxes, pushing the burden onto our children and grandchildren. The only real way to cut taxes is to cut government spending, and the Republican document does almost nothing in that regard.
The Republicans say they want to "roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels." In other words, to re-create the situation near the end of the Bush administration, after Republicans had massively increased federal spending on almost everything.
Republicans must love it when Democrats expand government, because it gives them the opportunity to propose small "cuts," while still ending up with huge government.
One shocking aspect of the document is that it actually includes subtle Republican proposals to increase government spending.
The Republicans offer no plan whatsoever to reduce military spending, America's foreign wars and nation building, or our military defense of rich foriegn nations. On the contrary, the Republicans apparently want to increase military spending, promising to "provide the resources, authority, and support our deployed military requires, fully fund missile defense, and enforce sanctions against Iran."
