Pubdate: Wed, 15 Sep 2004
Source: Daily Progress, The (VA)
Copyright: 2004 Media General Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dailyprogress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1545
Author: Bob Gibson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

3RD PARTY CANDIDATE VISITS AREA

The war on terrorism and the war in Iraq are stripping Americans of their 
freedoms as big government gets bigger, the Libertarian Party's 
presidential candidate said Tuesday.

"Libertarians believe that the Constitution allows us to do national 
defense. It does not allow us to do international offense," presidential 
candidate Michael Badnarik said in Charlottesville.

Badnarik, a 50-year-old computer consultant currently on the Nov. 2 
presidential ballot in 46 states, said troops should be brought home from Iraq.

"The Sept. 11 tragedy was an international crime. It was a mass murder," he 
said. "We need to focus our aggression toward the people who perpetrated 
that atrocity, that is Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Just because they are 
difficult to find does not justify sending 150,000 troops to Iraq. "

The Austin, Texas, resident who grew up in Indiana gave a talk at the 
University of Virginia as well as interviews with reporters. He is 
scheduled to speak to a government class today at Piedmont Virginia 
Community College.

Badnarik said there is no direct tie to Iraq from the Sept. 11 terrorist 
attacks and that most Americans do not favor the war there.

American voters do not have to settle for "the lesser of two evils" for 
president, he said. Badnarik said his party stands for greatly reducing the 
size and scope of the federal government.

"One of the things Americans should be very concerned about is the dramatic 
loss of liberties we have experienced in recent years, especially since 
Sept. 11," he said.

"Democrats and Republicans both support the Patriot Act. They both support 
20,000 gun laws," he said. The anti-terrorism law may be said to apply only 
to people the government labels terrorists, but "if we allow the government 
to ignore the Constitution for one label, it is so much easier to ignore 
due process for other labels."

A self-described "constitutional fundamentalist," Badnarik said the federal 
government "ought to eliminate the Department of Education simply because 
it's inefficient."

Not only should more governmental authority go back to the states, its 
usurpation by the federal government tends to hurt student achievement, he 
said.

"Students are getting dumber rather than smarter," said the former 
chemistry major at Indiana University. "President Bush has 'No Child Left 
Behind.' We equate that with 'No child allowed to advance.'"

Libertarians would like to privatize education, the party's presidential 
nominee said. If education were private "the cost of education would 
decline precipitously and the quality of education would go up," he said.

"We are overwhelmingly in favor of you making your own decisions," he said. 
"What we want to do is start moving dramatically back in that direction - 
to the states" and the individual.

Badnarik would like to be included in the presidential debates and believes 
that Ralph Nader, who, unlike himself, did not make the Virginia ballot, 
should be included as well, along with Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.

"We should be on at least 48 state ballots whereas Ralph Nader is only on 
the ballot in 34 states," he said. "A large number of people would like to 
open the debates to other ideas." The first presidential debate on Oct. 8 
includes only Bush and Kerry.

America should declare defeat in its war on drugs and get out, Badnarik said.

"The war on drugs is a dismal failure," he said. "We have more drugs on the 
street than 50 years ago, and the war on drugs is more dangerous than the 
drugs themselves."

Police and anti-drug agencies often get to keep cash and vehicles they 
seize from drug suspects, which corrupts police more than it stops the flow 
of drugs, he said.

"It is estimated that 50 percent of our drug-enforcement agencies are 
corrupt," he said.

Labeling any Libertarian as "pro-drug" is dead wrong, Badnarik said. "We 
love our children at least as much as the Democrats and Republicans" love 
theirs.

"If we decriminalize the drugs, people would be more likely to seek 
treatment," he said.

Another federal agency he would abolish is the Food and Drug 
Administration, Badnarik said. He said the FDA's position that buying 
prescription drugs is dangerous is a laughable attempt to safeguard the 
profits of big drug companies.

"We need to get the government out to make health care affordable for 
everyone," the Libertarian said.

He also favors gay rights, the presidential nominee said. "I was the only 
presidential candidate to participate in the Gay Pride Parade in San 
Francisco."

And, if he were taking amendments off the Constitution, two he would remove 
would be the 16th and the 17th, he said. The former authorized the federal 
income tax. The latter shifted the election of the U.S. Senate from state 
legislatures to the voters of each state.

The direct election of senators "removes one of the checks and balances 
that the Founding Fathers very cleverly put in the Constitution" allowing 
the states to check federal power, Badnarik said.

With direct election of senators, "We have a large House of Representatives 
and a small House of Representatives," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager