Full Text of Speech by Phil Maymin on August 15, 2006 announcing candidacy

Connecticut is the Constitution State because back in 1639, it was the home of the first written constitution in the history of the world. It was called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. It would eventually inspire much of the American Constitution. The individual rights spelled out there more than 400 years ago are still included in the current Connecticut constitution. One of the most enduring principles was: "The foundation of authority is in the free consent of the people."

Have we truly and freely consented to the ever-expanding and over-reaching authority of the federal government? To the warrantless wire taps, the excessive taxation, the wars being fought halfway around the world? To the limitations on what food we can eat, what pills we can take, what medical treatment we can pursue? To what kinds of toilets and showers we can use in our own homes?

I am here to represent those of us who believe we have not given our free consent. I am here to represent those of us sick and tired of the stranglehold the two-party system has taken on our liberties. I am here to represent new directions.

I, Phil Maymin, am running for U.S. Congress on the Libertarian ticket from the Constitution State.

I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I am more of a Republican than my opponent Christopher Shays and I am more of a Democrat than my opponent Diane Farrell. Democrats say they stand for social freedom, but they have no problem stealing your money to control the economy. Republicans say they stand for economic freedom, but they have no problem stealing your money to control the culture.

Both parties steal your money to make the government bigger. Both parties steal your money to spend on government programs for special interest groups to get their donations and votes. Both parties voted to increase the debt and increase spending. Both parties voted for the invasive laws of the Patriot Act. Both parties voted to invade Iraq. Both parties support amnesty for illegal aliens.

Both parties consistently vote for larger government and less freedom.

Shays has been in office ten terms. That's nearly twenty years.  Has government gotten smaller? Do you have more freedom now? Of course not.

Farrell lost to Shays in 2004. She is endorsed by all the big government organizations: labor unions, federal employees, and so on. What is it that labor unions want do you suppose? More economic freedom? Let the free market set wages? Of course not.

Despite their protestations, Shays and Farrell are not that different from each other. Both would increase spending. Both of them also use debt like a personal, bottomless wallet. Farrell increased her town's debt by 600%. Shays has increased the federal debt by 250% from the time he took office. Both of them raise the amount of taxes collected. Shays and Farrell each watched the debt, spending, and taxes grow every single year. Even their stance on Iraq is not that different. Both would have voted, as virtually every politician of both ruling parties did, to allow the Iraqi invasion. Both want a gradual pullout of troops now based on achievable benchmarks.  They are as different as night and later that night.

I would have voted to cut spending, decrease the debt, and slash taxes. And I would not have voted to go into Iraq in the first place.

Like most Americans, I've been employed by the free market my whole life. I'm running now on the Libertarian ticket because it is the party of principle. I stand both for social freedom and economic freedom. People who endorse and support me understand that I make decisions based on principles, not to entice the raising of more funds. Political expediency does not apply to me. I am not part of a political machine. I am not part of the two-party establishment.

Nearly four hundred years ago, Connecticut led the world by writing down principles that were not to be violated, principles of freedom that government dare not encroach on. Now Connecticut can lead again by sending a representative to D.C. who understands that the proper role of government is securing the rights and freedoms of the people. Not launching offensive wars. Not redistributing income to special interest groups. Not legislating what faucets and toilets we can have in our own bathrooms.

The choice is not about left and right but between government control and freedom. Between old ways and new directions. It is time for Connecticut to lead again.