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Printed From Acorn-Online.com New Canaan Advertiser Phil Maymin, the Libertarian candidate in the Fourth Congressional
District, doesn’t want voters to flush away their ballots this
November, calling a vote for a Democrat or a Republican a “waste.” Communist Iraq
Jumping right on the back of the elephant in the room, Mr. Maymin called for a July 4, 2007, deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq, which he declared is a communist country. “Iraqis have guaranteed employment, free health care and free education at all levels. But the fact that the oil is owned by the people is the biggest thing that distinguishes it from other countries,” he said. Though oil makes up 86 percent of Iraq’s gross domestic product, the country is now facing a shortage, which is one of the reasons for the erupting chaos, he said. “What happens when the people own everything?” he asked. “Look at Ukraine, formerly the ‘bread basket of Communism,’ where the people owned everything. During that time, not once were the people able to feed themselves.” Labeling himself the only candidate in this race who would have never voted to go to war in Iraq, Mr. Maymin did acknowledge that work must be done before the U.S. armed forces can be removed. “There was no link before we invaded between Saddam (Hussein) and Al Qaeda. Now there is. We ask now, ‘What do we do to solve it?’ ” he said. Iraq is divided into 18 regional governments, which are each at different levels of preparedness toward achieving self-governance, Mr. Maymin said. Before a transfer of power, each region must meet criteria that have to do with its ability to both quell terrorism and establish its own central control and stability. “Meeting that (criteria) could go on 50 years if we don’t set a deadline,” he said. “We need not just an idea, but a fixed date.” Economy
Turning the focus away from the turmoil in Iraq to the weakened national economy, Mr. Maymin described the Libertarian Party’s “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” philosophy. “The freer the economy of a country, the more wealth there is and the less poverty,” he said. If elected to Congress, Mr. Maymin’s first act would be to “slash taxes and pay down the national debt.” “We should remove the IRS completely, and replace it with a simple, 23 percent flat tax on retail items. April 15 then becomes just another day. All the money you make, you keep,” he said. To keep the economy afloat without boxing out the poor, he reasoned, “the troubles of those who can’t afford to pay sales tax can be alleviated with rebates.” Not only will they get rebates, he added, “they will get rebates a month ahead of time to compensate toward the sales tax.” Hypothesizing about a future America with minimal government control, Mr. Maymin was asked about how to avoid companies becoming mini-governments themselves. His response was that monopolies maintained by market power, and not by force, are healthy for the economy. “The first transcontinental railroad was private, and it was cheap,” he said. “When government took over control there was a wasteful bloating … People who were paid to build the railroads were paid by the government on a per-foot-of-track basis. That’s why we have these meandering routes from New York to Boston and no efficient, high speed bullet-type trains.” Immigration
Mr. Maymin took a hard-line stance on immigration that reiterated his belief that the duty of the government is to protect national security. “We need to secure the borders — seal up every inch,” he said. “Every immigrant I’ve ever met has been a wonderful person, but the most important question is about national security ... We can’t fight a war on terror if we’re leaving the back door open. The people who are here illegally, are here illegally. I do not support any amnesty.” Arguing for the use of manpower and technology to build walls around the country, Mr. Maymin said, “Building walls to keep people out is a reasonable Libertarian thing to do. Building them to keep people in is a communist thing to do.” Other Issues
On a range of other issues, Mr. Maymin was consistent in his argument that government should stay away from business and out of people’s lives. When asked about transportation in Connecticut, Mr. Maymin said that competition should be allowed among contractors to fix the highway problems and to break the “government monopoly.” “When the project is turned over to the (lowest) bidders, they are accountable to the marketplace,” he said. “Then they will start implementing improvements, add extra lanes to highways, and create new technology with tolls that don’t slow traffic.” Though he calls Social Security a bankrupt system, Mr. Maymin said older generations should “expect to get what they’ve been putting in.” The younger generations, on the other hand, “should not expect to get anything out of it,” he said. “People nearing retirement age understand they’ve been paying into the system. It is not unreasonable for them to get money... but for the rest of us, the numbers don’t work. It’s a system that needs to be phased out,” he said. On education, Mr. Maymin argued that there is not enough choice for parents on how and where their children should be taught. “Look at the choice of cell phone plans you have, and all the different phone services nationwide ... Look at the menu of McDonald’s and everything that a free market provides. Now look at your choice of schools. Do you go where you want? No, you go where you live,” he said. Calling the situation “another example of a federal monopoly,” he argued “the people of Connecticut, the parents, should determine how to educate their children.” The Libertarian Impact
If he is elected to Congress, Mr. Maymin said it will be a wake-up call for lawmakers across the political spectrum. “If you elect a Republican or a Democrat, nothing will change,” he said. “If a Libertarian is in Congress … and (the politicians) see that the principles are espoused by the people, then they’re going to make sure to vote to look as Libertarian as possible.” Using that argument, Mr. Maymin says he has already impacted politicians, taking credit for influencing Rep. Shays’ recent switch on his position on the war in Iraq. Though his argument for small government would seem to contradict his decision to run for office, he said “A Libertarian understands that the rights of the people are superior to his own desires.” Calling America the most Libertarian country in the world, having been founded on Libertarian principles of “life, freedom and personal responsibility,” Mr. Maymin said a vote for him “changes the future.” “A vote for me gets into the minds of the politicians,” he said. “It is really a vote for your children and your grandchildren.” © Copyright by Hersam Acorn newspapers |
