Seth Hollist for Public Office.
[Also see seth.hollist.org for more up-to-date opinions and information]
Some day I hope to to run for office as a Moderately Conservative Libertarianistic candidate that’s more interested in doing what’s right for his constituents, rather then selling out to special interest groups, behind closed doors dealings and a power hungry freedom grabs. Instead I find myself with a deep desire to defend the U.S. Constitution as it was originally intended, instead of trying to re-interpret based on what happens to be trendy for the day. I also don’t find myself being particularly strong towards one party or another as they all seem to think they same type of government is good at all levels, as apposed to me, who believes that government has different rolls at different levels: for example, a Federal/National/World Government is there to set standards that insure the States work together as a single unified nation while protecting the nation as a whole from destructive outside influences; beyond this any Federal government should be very limited as to it’s influences upon the States. The States should be more moderate in providing social services to it’s people, and enabling the local and county governments to organize community efforts to look after each other.
This is in contrast to the Republicans who tend to like big government (even under Ronald Regan the size of the federal government grew in some ways) so long as it benefits free enterprise and their own “conservative” views of socially acceptable behaviors and morality. While I certainly think that a moral nation will be more prosperous with less social unrest, I believe more strongly in one’s ability to chose for one’s self, and do not believe any amount of government controls or laws can ultimately keep a society moral but should rather be focused on protecting life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (but providing no guarantees to any).
My ideas also contrast the Democrats in that I do not believe it’s the Federal governments roll to protect the individual, nor provide anything for them. Rather I believe these should provided on a limited basis by the States, and to a greater degree by local governments and communities. After all, it’s not truly charity if you are forced into it, and I believe we would all be more generous, giving, and moral as a society if we had a bigger stake in taking care of our fellow neighbors, rather then paying someone else to do it for us.
For a while I was a member of the Constitution Party, but I only really liked some of there ideas on a national level. If only they didn’t seem so self righteous about certain aspects of their party platform that are more appropriately left to religious organizations. On a State and local level, I also differ from them to some degree.
Libertarians have some good ideas, especially at the national level, but they often take there ideas too the extreme and ignore the importance of some of the things that Federal Government does to provide standards that promote unity within the nation as a whole. They also ignore the importance of the Federal Government being at least moderately involved in international affairs as part of it’s efforts to promote world peace and protect the nation from destructive out-side forces; such as those we saw during WWII when we had a military policy of keeping to ourselves.
The Green party is focused on things that I believe have been overly exaggerated. While I agree that having clean air and a clean environment improves quality of life for everyone, it has to be balanced with reality and a sense that Man is also a part of nature as the dominate creature on this earth. I believe we are meant to take care of this earth, and use it to our benefit while maintaining those uses and it’s resources for the future; however, now that we’ve cleaned up 90% of the pollution using simple yet affective methods, it now gets exponentially more expensive and intrusive on our lives to prevent the rest. The cost to benefit is not worth while.
Other parties just don’t have enough of a presence in the political spectrum to have gotten my attention.
My advice to everyone, is to get out and vote, but not for a particular party, rather for the person who most closely will represent your views and ideals, regardless of their ability to win. Doing anything less only drowns out your true voice, and prevents politicians from knowing what the people truly want. Not to mention that voting for the “lesser of two evils”, really only ends up giving you evil.
Check out some of my other posts on this blog:
3 point Plan to fix Social Security
Internet Issues
Thanks to Microsoft, We all know how to play Solitaire
The Future of communications
Merging of Technology
Gun Rights
Bad Gun Laws
A letter to my State Senator
Drug Prohibition
I’ve never understood how putting drug users in jail helps. Certainly we don’t want a bunch of drug addicts running around causing public problems, but are victums of addiction really who we need to put into our jails and prisons. What we really need is better boarder security to prevent the drugs from getting into the country, along with a change in the way we classify drugs, drug users and distributors.
Health Care
Thoughts on “Health Care” Reform
Universal Health Care Points to Consider
Education
BSA celebrates 100 years of Scouting
Environment
Everyone want’s clean air to breath, but we also want economic progress, not a return to per-industrial living. I believe that we can and have achieved both progress and a cleaner environment with technological advances. Cars today are ruing cleaner then the air in the most congested cities. Our air is cleaner today then it was even a few decades ago. We have technologies for clean burning coal plants, safe nuclear plants, and environmentally friendly oil drilling. If we in the U.S. don’t do it, then we risk allowing less developed, and less environmentally concerned countries do it for us.
Climate Change Finally in Reach of its True Goal
Energy
Oil Crisis? Why?
Election Political Process
Freedom Wins in case over Campaigning – Citizens United v. FEC
The State of a Nation
The Problem with Politics
Violent Crime
The Government vs. You
Taxation
Article I Section II Clause III says “…direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States…”, Article I Section VIII Clause I says “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes. . .”. The 16th amendment changes it from “shall be uniform throughout the United States” to “without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”. I know it also includes “income” specifically in the amendment to make sure everyone we in agreement that it was to be allowed going forward, but I thing the argument that any kind of uniform taxation was originally allowed could easily be made; much more so then the huge stretches that we use today to pretend like the commerce clause (Article I Section VIII Clause III) some how authorizes all kinds if crazy regulations.
What the article fails to show, one of the biggest problems with today’s’ economy are the confusing and burdening tax codes. That’s why I’m looking for a candidate that is willing to greatly simplify the tax code. Something so simple as to have a single tax bracket for everyone, regardless of income or how the income is earned, with all of us having the exact same standard deduction, such as 2x the set poverty level. That would also be my plan for welfare reform, making it so low income and the lower end of the middle class don’t pay taxes, and the middle class get to keep most of there money to help keep the economy going, and the rich pay their fair share while also getting the benefits of a stronger economy.
Government Spending
Bailouts R us vs. Inflation
How to balance the massive U.S. federal government budget
The Real threat of Monetary Inflation
Anti-Bailout vs Anti-filibuster
Economic Liberty
Shall we partake of the “ism”‘s?
It didn’t work for Japan, so why will it work for us?
The Answer to Financial Problems, the Banks, and Everything
How Inflation affects Prices
National Debt
How to balance the massive U.S. federal government budget
Financial Freedom in 7 steps.
Welfare
True Welfare Reform will encourage people to be industrious and self reliant. Certainly we all have hard times at one point or another in our lifetime, but is it the Federal governments responsibility or even their capability to take care of us? What we really need is for the Federal government to get out of the way of allowing state and local governments to take care of their own. We also need to encourage non-profit and religious organizations to provide the help they can in a much less expensive way than any government can.
Constitution
My Treatise on The US Constitution
LDS Church Leader, Elder Oaks, on U.S. Constitution
The 56 Men who Birthed A Nation
Not Commanded to Save the Constitution?
A Forgotten Holiday
Enumerated Powers
Personal Liberty
Affirmative Action Abolished
Separation of Church and State
The Importance of Self Governance
Proposition 8 hits home
The right to life and choice
Self Governance
Social Liberty
California Votes Dismissed by Court
Immigration
This country was built on the backs of immigrants who came here searching for freedom and a chance at prosperity. Today we still have a large attraction for immigration, but our laws are too restrictive to allow for the demand to be met. What this inevitably leads to is an underground or black market of illegal immigration. We need to get back to a more liberty centered idea of immigration, allowing those in who want to come to help build the U.S.A. without a lot of unreasonable restrictions, and keeping out those who wish to harm us or abuse our hospitality.
Trade and Tariffs
The original form of taxation used by the United States was related to trade. Not long ago it was the barrier or dam that kept our jobs and investments from going over seas. While trade with other countries certainly has potential for economic benefit world wide, I also thing it’s important to have a country or even individual states that can be self sustaining. For example, we have been buying hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil from countries that aren’t always very friendly to us. We are funding there ability to appose and threaten us, when we have the ability to provide a substantially larger portion of our own oil then we do today.
Foreign Policy
While I agreed with the war in Afghanistan, and was glad to see more pressure put on Saddam Husein, the war in Iraq was not well justified. Even worse, the Iraq war was not done with unilateral support of congress or the American people as it should have been. I remember being 13 years old when we stopped half way into Iraq and left Saddam to brutalize those who apposed him. I was shocked that we didn’t take him out of power right then, when we had more support from the Iraqi population. I could help but thing that decision would come back to haunt us, and it did as we found much less support from the Iraqi’s the second time around.
Getting involved in Libya was certainly not justified nor is it constitutionally authorized.
National Defense
Why isn’t our National Guard in charge of securing the boarder? Why don’t we have a very long skinny military base that boarders the boarder?
Bill of Rights
Enumerated Powers Act & The 10th Amendment
Separation of Church and State
Privacy
While we certainly don’t want certain aspects of our lives out in the open, and certain things would be better off not being easily accessible or given to certain people or groups, the reality is that eventually everything comes out sooner or latter as historical discovery, or in the next as we meet our maker for a final judgement.
The real danger here is that governments have a tendency to abuse their position by invading our personal lives. That power then gets abused by those who don’t agree with us to make up reasons why we should be punished for things that otherwise are not criminal nor harmful to others.
Government Regulation
The Clean Slate Amendment
The Problem with Politics
Shall we partake of the “ism”‘s?
Religion
Mormons in Politics
Is Religious Freedom Being Threatened?
What do Mormon’s Truly believe about the purpous of government?
LDS Church reasserts it’s Political Neutrality while encouraging activism.
My commentary on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration
Obama’s Post Mid-term Election Speach
Seth.Hollist.org Moves to Spaldam’s Rants
My Extremist Demands
Conservative vs. Liberal Mentality.
The New, New World Order of Collaborative Government
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