Gary Johnson: What do you think?

[knicksfan42]

The following is copied from: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

Links to positions

Foreign Policy: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/foreign-policy

Civil Liberties: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/civil-liberties

Internet and Technology: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issue...and-technology

Spending and the Deficit: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issue...nd-the-deficit

Drug Policy Reform: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issue...-policy-reform

Education and School Choice: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/educatio

Immigration: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/immigration

The Economy and Taxes: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/economy-and-taxes

An outspoken advocate for efficient government, lower taxes, winning the war on drug abuse, protection of civil liberties, revitalization of the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and privatization.

As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson was known for his common-sense business approach to governing. He eliminated New Mexico's budget deficit, cut the rate of growth in state government in half and privatized half of the state prisons

As Governor he had never increased taxes and had vetoed more bills than every other governor of New Mexico combined.

On the Issues

Foreign Policy:

Bring the troops home

AMERICAN MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, AND, now, Libya should end, our troops returned home, and the focus of our foreign policy reoriented toward the protection of U.S. citizens and interests.

With Osama bin Laden now killed and after 10 years of fighting, U.S. forces should leave Afghanistan's challenges to the Afghan people.

Saddam Hussein has been out of power in Iraq for nearly eight years. America must leave so Iraq can have a chance to grow into a responsible member of the world community.

Without a clear goal for our military actions in Libya, fighting rages on, and the American people are footing the bill.

Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, American troops remain scattered throughout Europe. It is time to reevaluate these deployments.

The U.S. must make better use of military alliances which allow greater sharing of the human and financial burdens at less cost of protecting national interests.

Lead by example

AMERICA CAN ACHIEVE OUR FOREIGN POLICY GOALS without sacrificing American values.

No criminal or terrorist suspect captured by the U.S. should be subject to physical or psychological torture.

Individuals incarcerated unjustly by the U.S. should have the ability to seek compensation through the courts.

Individuals detained by the U.S., whether it be at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere, must be given due process via the courts or military tribunals, and must not be held indefinitely without regard to those fundamental processes.


Civil Liberties:

End The Assault on Privacy

THE FREEDOMS ON WHICH AMERICA WAS FOUNDED are now under attack from the very people charged with protecting and upholding them.

The PATRIOT Act should be allowed to expire, which would restore proper judicial oversight to federal investigations and again require federal investigators to prove probable cause prior to executing a search.

Habeas corpus should be respected entirely, requiring the government to either charge incarcerated individuals with a crime or be released.

The TSA should take a risk-based approach to airport security. Only high-risk individuals should be subjected to invasive pat-downs and full-body scans.

The TSA should not have a monopoly on airport security. Airports and airlines should be encouraged to seek the most effective methods for screening travelers, including private sector screeners. Screeners outside of government can be held fully accountable for their successes and failures.

Government must be neutral on personal Beliefs

WE ARE A NATION OF MANY PEOPLES and beliefs. The only way to respect all citizens is to allow each to make personal decisions themselves.

Life is precious and must be protected. A woman should be allowed to make her own decisions during pregnancy until the point of viability of a fetus.

Stem cell research should only be completed by private laboratories that operate without federal funding.

Government should not impose its values upon marriage. It should protect the rights of couples to engage in civil unions if they wish, as well as the rights of religious organizations to follow their beliefs.


Spending and the Deficit:

Balance the Budget

THE U.S. IS BORROWING OR PRINTING MORE than 40 cents of every dollar the government spends today. The math is simple: Federal spending must be cut not by millions or billions, but by trillions. And it must be done today.

It's time to:

End excessive spending, bloated stimulus programs, unnecessary farm subsidies, and earmarks.

Reassess the role of the federal government and identify responsibilities that can be met more efficiently by the private sector.

Recognize that you can't have limited government at home, but big government abroad.

Enact Responsible Entitlement Reform

MOST PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON SEEM TO THINK that we can control spending and balance the budget without reforming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This is lunacy.

Identify and implement common-sense cost savings to place Medicare on a path toward long-term solvency.

Block grant Medicare and Medicaid funds to the states, allowing them to innovate, find efficiencies and provide better service at lower cost.

Repeal President Obama's healthcare plan, as well as the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth to inflation. It's time for Social Security to reflect today's realities without breaking trust with retirees.

Audit the Federal Reserve

THE FEDERAL RESERVE SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT and its actions held to the same level of scrutiny as any other federal department.


The American people deserve to know the extent to which the Fed has purchased private assets at home and abroad.

Many Americans have become interested in the Federal Reserve in recent years. America's representatives in Washington, D.C. need to also become a lot more interested in how this government institution affects the American economy.

The role and the activities of the Federal Reserve are long overdue for examination, reassessment, and ultimately, thoughtful reform. Can the Federal Reserve pursue both stable prices and full employment, or does its currency manipulation cause malinvestment, inflation, and prolonged unemployment?

Conduct an audit to provide true transparency of the Federal Reserve's lending practices.
Establish clear Congressional oversight.
Get the Federal Reserve out of the business of printing money and buying debt through quantitative easing.

Internet and Technology:

Don't Regulate a Good Thing

KEEP THE INTERNET THE CENSOR-FREE, AFFORDABLE TOOL it is today.


Government should cease subsidizing or giving favorable treatment to Internet service providers and content-creators. 'Net Neutrality' leads to a government role in the Internet that can only lead to unwanted regulation.

The FCC should not be allowed to create rules regulating content, Internet speeds, and pricing for services. The government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in the content marketplace. The Internet should remain independent, accessible and market-based.

Internet 'kill switch' legislation should be scrapped completely. No person or group of people should be able to turn off the Internet.

Don't tax the Internet

ACCESS TO THE INTERNET MUST NOT BE taxed.

The Internet has flourished and society has benefited immeasurably because it has remained relatively free of taxation. The moratorium on access and service taxation must be made permanent.
Every scheme to impose a global Internet tax should be opposed.

Keep the Internet Free and Safe

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT RESTRICT COMMERCE that doesn't hurt anyone.

Political speech should in no way be censored.

Online gaming should be legal for adults.

Crimes committed online should be investigated and treated identically as crimes committed offline. This includes fraud and child pornography.

This post is long enough. He has his other positions (on Education and School Choice, Immigration, Drug Policy Reform, and the Economy and Taxes) on his website posted at the top of this page.


I will support Gary Johnson in the 2012 Presidential Race. Libertarians might ask themselves why Johnson over Ron Paul. Simple, Johnson is more coherent and concise on his stances. He also supports the government staying out of marriage:

Government should not impose its values upon marriage. It should protect the rights of couples to engage in civil unions if they wish, as well as the rights of religious organizations to follow their beliefs.

and is pro-choice:

Life is precious and must be protected. A woman should be allowed to make her own decisions during pregnancy until the point of viability of a fetus.

[Patsfan56]

Probably the closest candidate to what I would like to see. A few diffrences here and there. What would he do with Medicare? That was unclear to me. I like his stance on defense and domestic spending, and I can appreciate where he is coming from on most of the other issues.

[dbroncos78087]

I saw him on Stossel a few weeks ago and i really like a lot of what he says. There are some things that i dont like, but i will never find a candidate i fully support until i see my name on the ballot.

[knicksfan42]

Gary Johnson is now running for the Libertarian Party nomination.

[Labgrownmangoat]

His stances are interesting, but he has the wrong answer to the one question that really matters. What question, you ask?

Do you have the most money?

[TheRuckus]

I think he has absolutely zero chance, which is a shame.

[LAKERMANIA]

He has zero chance but he's more libertarian than Paul, so Paul fans should help this guy's campaign out as well

[whitesoxfan83]

He'd make a great VP choice for Paul...

[knicksfan42]

He'd make a great VP choice for Paul...

If it came down to it hopefully he would, at least then the Vice President wouldn't be a bigoted pro-life creationist. Johnson wont win this election, but hopefully he'll gain some notoriety between this election and the next. Johnson is infinitely better than Paul and if Paul can become popular than I'm sure a pro-choice, tolerant, evolution believing version of of him can become popular as well.

[knicksfan42]

Bump

[homestarunner93]

Although I do agree with a lot of what Gary Johnson has to say, the big thing to watch is whether he finishes above or below 5%. I think he will top it.

[Patsfan56]

Still like him. I'd like to see these political discussions in the media open up to include a wider discussion other than those that are pre-packaged by the two party system establishment. If we could get the Ron Paul follwoing to calm down, he might get some better traction.

[BroadwayJoe]

Although I do agree with a lot of what Gary Johnson has to say, the big thing to watch is whether he finishes above or below 5%. I think he will top it.

i think he will too... way too many disenfranchised and/or independent voters who are simply fed up with the 2-party system and the big-money puppertmasters who control them.

the only thing that stands in the way of johnson topping 5% is voter apathy, where the aforementioned disenfranchised/indy voters decide to say "**** it" and just not show up on election day.

[flips333]

Still like him. I'd like to see these political discussions in the media open up to include a wider discussion other than those that are pre-packaged by the two party system establishment. If we could get the Ron Paul follwoing to calm down, he might get some better traction.

At least folks who live in no doubt about it blue and red states should vote for a third party if they are interested in adjusting the system.

[flips333]

i think he will too... way too many disenfranchised and/or independent voters who are simply fed up with the 2-party system and the big-money puppertmasters who control them.

the only thing that stands in the way of johnson topping 5% is voter apathy, where the aforementioned disenfranchised/indy voters decide to say "**** it" and just not show up on election day.

And ron paul supporters voting R when they should vote L.