Todd Andrew Barnett 2008 for Vice President: The Times They Are-A Changing - Stands on the Issues
Here's my platform on the issues.
I. U.S. Foreign Policy and Iraq:
As the Vice President of the United States, I will be the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate. I will work with the Senate and the Congress to pass pro-liberty legislation to radically (if not, incrementally) reduce the cost, size, power, and scope of government.
In the case of the United States' foreign policy of interventionism and Iraq, if my presidential running mate and I are elected, I will work with our Boston Tea president to move the troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. We will, with the advice and recommendations of our Joints Chief of Staff and military advisors, push to move the troops out of the Middle East, including, but not limited to, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Israel, and a number of troops from over 178 countries around the world.
We will neither send more troops to those regions nor send any foreign aid to that region and many other countries that we have throughout the world. It's time to return our entire military forces from all over the world to our own soil. It's time to bring them home.
II. The Economy
As the Vice President of the United States, I will work with the President, the Senate, and the Congress to abolish the Federal Income Tax and replace it with nothing. The first priority is repeal as many regulations as possible, phase out the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs as soon as possible (along with liquidating their assets and marketizing them ASAP), and end unconstitutional spending, including spending on the war.
The other part of my plan with the economy is to repeal as many laws that make it unattractive for businesses to compete in the marketplace and force them to offshore their operations overseas due to the unfair tax, spending, and regulatory climates. Thus, repealing the federal minimum wage law and the unfair tax and regulatory burdens that companies are coerced to absorb would enable the marketplace to work and end the recession.
Also, a repeal of the payroll and withholding taxes at the federal level would boost wages for all workers in the private sector. People with more money in their pockets would be free to spend their money as they think best. People with more money would donate more money to charities as they see fit. Ending the government's hold on the economy would allow the market to produce unprecedented wealth. After all, you the middle-class worker (and this goes for the lower-class employees) get up at the crack of dawn and work 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12-hour-a-day shifts. Whose money does that belong to, you or the government?
III. The Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve is destroying the value of the dollar. It prints money out of thin air, creating fiat currency that is not even backed by any resource of intrinsic value. When the Fed cuts the subprime and interest rates and saturates the economy with more unwanted U.S. dollars, bonds, and other forms of currencies, it slashes away the value of your money. Right now your money is worth 4 cents on the dollar (that means 96 cents of your dollar is gone). Because of this, as a result of inflated money supply, prices and costs of everything you buy at the store go through the roof. That reduces your paychecks, and it leaves less money for you to spend. Because of this, it becomes harder to start a business, save money for a rainy day, or even put a down payment on a house.
It's time to put the Federal Reserve out to pasture. It's time for return to the days of a commodities-based currency, whether it's gold, silver, bronze, or whatever metal the market will bear. A free market-based currency, not one codified by the federal government, will restore your purchasing power and bring back monetary sanity to this country.
More positions to follow later.





Comments
lindaliberty:
Todd,
This is an excellent beginning to your campaign issues. I especially LOVE what you wrote about the economy. EVERY WORD IS PERFECT in what you say about the economy. Thank you for putting it into print...
In Liberty,
Linda "Liberty" Sturtzen
LindaLiberty@gmail.com
planetaryjim:
Tom has brought up this issue. Todd, are you qualified to take the position of president in the event you are elected and the president dies? That would require you be a natural born American and over the age of 35, I think.
The reason that I ask is that I feel we owe it to the members of the party to always seek to run constitutionally qualified candidates.
Todd Andrew Barnett:
Jim:
I'm currently 34, but I will be 35 on November 21. If that disqualifies me, then I say that old age requirement is silly (IMHO) but we're stuck with it.
As for me being a natural-born American, well, I was born at South Macomb General Hospital (which is now no longer in existence) in Warren, Michigan. If you like, I have my birth certificate which proves I was born in the U.S.; thus, I meet this requirement.
Doesn't that tell you something? :-)
Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett
Vice Chair, Boston Tea National Committee
Interim Chair, Boston Tea Party of Michigan
planetaryjim:
to me. The constitutional requirement is that you would take office after your 35th birthday. Since you wouldn't take the oath of office as vice president until January 2009, you would be eligible upon taking office, which is all that is required. It isn't actually required of the vice president, anyway, but if one has the William Henry Harrison thing, you know.
http://www.constitution.org/cons/constitu.txt