Joe Siano

The Federal income tax was never a vision of our Founders. In fact it was unconstitutional until it was created by the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913.

Like the Seventeenth Amendment, the Volstead Act which was passed in the same year and created prohibition, it is a bad idea which should be repealed.

The income tax system has been attacked as a form of involuntary servitude. The IRS lays claim to the first fruits of our labors through withholdings. At year end, we must petition them for a refund if we feel that we have overpaid.  We lay the deepest secrets of our financial lives open and naked before the taxman.

The initial tax rate was established with rates beginning at 1% and rising to 7% for taxpayers with income in excess of $500,000. Less than 1 percent of the population paid income tax at the time.  My, how far we have come.

As the ambitions and scope of government grew so did its hunger for money. Today the top marginal rate stands at 33% and will increase to nearly 40% if President Obama allows the Bush tax cuts to expire as he has promised.

Libertarians support the right of workers to organize for the purpose of bargaining with private employers. Collective bargaining empowers employees to attain an equitable share of a business’ proceeds or profits

However, I do not believe that anyone should be compelled to join a union as a condition of employment. Nor should governments interfere in private negotiations between a company and its employees.

The situation is entirely different in the public sector.

The recent passage of Arizona’s immigration law has sparked heated arguments and accusations on all sides of the issue.

Executive Summary

Relations with foreign nations is the Constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government.  This includes war making, treaties as well as the oversight of immigration.

Libertarians believe that the free movement of peaceful, law-abiding people who are seeking a better life for themselves and their loved ones is an innate human right.  However, we also understand the wisdom of Milton Friedman’s adage that a nation cannot maintain both open immigration and a welfare state simultaneously.  It is unjust and ultimately destructive for one nation to export its social welfare ills to another country.

It is also the Federal Government’s responsibility to protect its citizens from foreign threats.  This includes keeping violent criminals and terrorists off of our shores.  However; when the Federal government fails in its duty, a free and sovereign people have the right to defend themselves.

It is evident that the Federal Government under both Republican and Democratic leadership has failed to control immigration along the Mexican border.  Therefore the citizens of Arizona are justifiably concerned for their safety.  I do not believe that Arizonans are acting out of malice or racism.  And I would caution the opponents of new bill against carelessly throwing the “R” word around.  Like shrapnel it can inflict deep and lasing wounds.

I urge Congress to step in the breech and pass immigration reform that that recognizes the dynamics of the free market and human dignity while protecting the lives and rightful property of U.S. citizens.  This policy should judge each individual immigrant on his own merits thus avoiding the Marxist trap of class distinction and antagonism.  Therefore I propose:

Access to quality health care must be affordable to more New Jerseyans, and all Americans, by bringing the power of free markets to bear to drive prices down.

The specific policies that I endorse are:

1. Empower consumers to own their own health insurance policies by making premiums tax deductible for individuals, not businesses. For low income Americans, tax credits could be used to enable them to purchase insurance.
2. Allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines. This will lower insurance costs through competition by enabling consumers to shop among hundreds of suppliers, not just the handful available in each state.

Corporate Taxes

Eliminate the Corporate Income Tax.  Corporations do not pay taxes, they merely collect them and add them to the cost of goods sold.  Thereby, corporate taxes are just another hidden tax on consumers.

Audit the Fed

Audit the Federal Reserve to make its actions transparent and accountable to the American people and our elected representatives. The Fed disperses untold billions of dollars with impunity and without accountability. It is an instrument of “crony capitalism” and despite its overt mission; it serves to undermine our currency.

In time, replace the Fed with a system of a market based hard currency based upon precious metals of some other generally accepted medium of indirect exchange. The Fed now creates valueless fiat money which is totally at odds with the vision and purposes of our founding fathers.  

Deficits

Amend the U.S. Constitution to require balanced budgets. Deficit spending should only be permitted in time of a genuine national emergency or in the time of a declared war. To run an “emergency deficit” the emergency should be clearly defined and the deficit spending must be approved by a super-majority of Congress. Once the emergency is passed, the deficit cannot be added to and must be paid off within a reasonable period of time such as five to ten years.

Correspondingly, while I believe that the President as Commander-In-Chief must have some latitude to move quickly in defense of American lives, freedom and property, I propose that we limit his ability put U.S. troops in harm’s way for more than 90 days without an express Declaration of War as mandated by our Constitution.

The current deficit crisis must be addressed by:

• Drastically reducing the money that government spends by reducing the scope of the Federal government back to its Constitutionally mandated functions.
• Phase out the unsustainable entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. I would honor our commitments to current and near retirees but encourage private solutions for young workers to plan for their elder years
• Privatize a large extent of government land and capital assets. The sale of government holdings can be used to pay off our debt and relieve taxpayers of the crushing interest burden

Privatize Education

Use free market reforms  to improve both primary and secondary education by empowering affordable private alternatives to the unionized public school monopoly.  The primary objective of teachers unions  is to further their members financial interests at the expense of both taxpayers and students. To this end, I would also push to abolish the Federal Department of Education as childhood education is the business of parents and local communities, not the Federal government.

Free Speech

Defend the First Amendment. The rights to worship, think, speak our minds and organize with like minded citizens are bedrock rights of a free people. I oppose all efforts to censor or chill free expression. This includes threats to political free speech such as the “Fairness Doctrine” and limits on campaign spending as well as state intrusion in the name of “decency”.

Conversely, I will also oppose state funding of media and artistic expression such as the NEA and taxpayer funded public TV and radio stations.

I believe that government should take a hands-off approach to Internet regulation as it is a transnational medium beyond the control any single state. Nonetheless, if any individual is found guilty of using the Internet or and other medium for the purpose of criminal activity, these culprits should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The Right To Bear Arms

Defend the Second Amendment. This amendment is about much more than “sportsman’s” rights. The ability for law abiding and peace loving citizens to defend themselves puts teeth into the First Amendment. Only when the citizenry can stand up to the armed coercion of tyrants, can all other rights be secured.

End Drug Prohibition

I support the decriminalization of marijuana. It would be foolish and untrue for me to say that pot is harmless because it is not. Like the legalized mood and perception altering substances pot can impair judgment, motor skills and reflexes. It can be habit forming and chronic use can compromise the user’s health.

Nonetheless marijuana use is not criminal. It is a health and social issue, on par with alcohol and tobacco usage. Its sale and distribution can be regulated. Those who are caught operating motor vehicles, etc under the influence should be subject to existing DUI statutes.

It has become evident that government prohibition has failed. Like alcohol prohibition in an earlier day, it has only been a boon to enterprising organized criminals and to the taxpayer supported Drug Enforcement industry. The War on Drugs has trampled on peoples’ rights and ruined lives by giving otherwise peaceful people criminal records.  It has cost a fortune and is discriminatory against underprivileged minorities.

National Defense

Just as individuals have the right to bear arms in self defense, our nation has the right to collectively defend itself against foreign threats. This is the primary and most critical function of our national government.

Nonetheless, I seriously question the efficacy and wisdom of our nation building efforts, the far flung reach of our armed forces in hundreds of bases worldwide and our commitment to subsidizing European defense via NATO.

Energy Independence and “Climate Change”

Energy independence is vital for America's long term security and prosperity. Therefore, I support removing barriers to domestic oil drilling and refining. Additionally, while I support market based initiatives to develop alternative fuels, I oppose any government subsidies for or penalties against politically favored or disfavored technologies.

I also strongly oppose compromising U.S. sovereignty by committing the American people to international treaties that dictate our energy consumption, and particularly those treaties that are based upon specious “climate change” research.

Gay Rights

The recent court ruling on Proposition 8 has put same sex marriage back on the national front burner.

 

Is it any wonder that marriage has become politicized?  Everything that government touches becomes a political battleground including education, charity, tax codes, medical and scientific research and on and on.

 

In education the politicians battle over how schools get funded, what money goes to which schools, who gets paid what and what gets taught and not taught.  Government undermined private charity with welfare and created an entitlement culture.  Recipients are no longer grateful for relief; they are resentful that they don’t get more.  The tax code is no longer just a device to fund government services; it is a carrot to reward friends and a stick to punish enemies.  The field of publicly funded research is a sausage mill turning tax dollars into pork.

 

Pat Benatar sang that Love is a Battlefield but I don’t think she had the current controversy in mind.   Let’s compare the libertarian perspective on marriage to that of other political orientations.  As we do so, let’s keep in mind the question of just what is government’s role in marriage anyway?

 

Social conservatives see stable and loving families as they the bedrock institution of society.  It is through stable and loving families that society is renewed and that children are properly nurtured, socialized and educated.  This should be obvious to anyone.  These social conservatives see same sex marriage as a corrosive force that will further undermine the fabric of American life.  They will use government’s authority to prevent same sex marriage from becoming the law of the land.  They appeal to the “will of the people” through polls and elections.

 

Left liberals want to use the same governmental force to put same sex marriage on an equal footing with traditional marriage.  Through the courts, they appeal to the Constitution’s “equal protection” clause claiming that marriage is a fundamental right.  In doing so, liberals coyly redefine the age old definition of marriage from a union of a man and woman to a union of any two consenting adults. One also suspects that this is a position of convenience for liberals and not a matter of firm principle as President Obama himself sticks with the traditional man-woman formula.

 

Finally, in some authoritarian nations, government plays a very heavy handed role in marriage by dictating who may marry whom and how many children they can have.  We saw this in Nazi Germany, the Islamic World and the People’s Republic of China

 

So what do libertarians think?  Let’s step back to consider just what marriage is and how that relates to government.

 

From an anthropological perspective, marriage is a social institution that predates any nation, government or religion.  This institution laid the foundation of society and culture by making men responsible for the care, protection and feeding of their vulnerable mates and offspring.  Although homosexuality undoubtedly also existed since time immemorial, no parallel institution emerged.  Perhaps this is because the need to protect mothers and offspring did not exist in homosexual unions.

 

Various religions have differing perspectives on marriage.  Perhaps it would be fair enough to generalize the religious outlook as a sworn commitment before the Creator.  Government has no role in this, nor can it force any sect or denomination to alter its dogma.  Churches are free to bless or condemn any unions that they please.

 

Finally, marriage is a social contract between people that carries with it an array of obligations that each party owes to the other.  Libertarians believe that government has a compelling and legitimate interest in enforcing contracts as they are the basis of civil society.  Without faith in contracts, our entire social and economic structure falls to pieces.  Like most Americans, libertarians believe that any two adults of sound mind are free to enter into any contract that they choose.  Once they do so, the terms of said contract are enforceable by the courts should one party on another try to welsh on the deal.

 

Thus, although we tend to refer to homosexual partnerships as civil unions, it is in fact true that each and every marriage is a civil union and open to any adult.  The name “marriage” is a sacred obligation that is conferred by a church or may simply be a term of convenience used conversationally by any two committed partners.

 

Libertarians believe that each and every individual has the right to commit him or herself to a lifetime contract with another and that the state has the obligation to uphold that agreement.

I support the right of all people to serve in the U.S. armed forces regardless of sexual orientation. Our armed forces have every right and obligation to discipline uniformed personnel for conduct that is detrimental to the cohesiveness, morale and safety of our service men and women. However, it is conduct that must be rewarded and punished, not orientation.