Politics is a herd mentality. Politicians don’t really lead. Politicians reflect what they think is consensus opinion.
The voice of the Republican party is up for grabs. It’s a contest right now.
If we had zero corporate tax in this country, tens of millions of jobs would get created in this country for no other reason.
My opinion, having done this now for two cycles, is I think the national media really likes me and likes what I have to say. But, at the end of the day, ‘He’s a Libertarian,’ and that denotes some loose screws, maybe.
New Mexico is 2-to-1 Democrat. I got elected as a Republican. I think I did a great job of showing people that government doesn’t have to spend money to make you happy, that government really needs to be providing a level playing field.
I think I view the system the same way that Ayn Rand views the system – that it really oppresses those that create, if you will, and tries to take away from those that produce and give to the non-producers.
My next-door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
The retirement age needs to be raised. A portion of Social Security ought to be privatized, if not all. And there probably needs to be some means testing. It’s a Ponzi scheme that’s not sustainable.
I ran two campaigns for governor in a state that’s 2-1 Democrat where I did not mention my opponent in print, radio, or television. I don’t know if any other politician at a gubernatorial, congressional, or a senatorial level can make the claim.
Am I not correct in saying that Iran has never voiced that they are developing a nuclear weapon, nor do they have any intention of using a nuclear weapon against the United States? That’s never actually been voiced. I don’t know where that has come from, but it hasn’t been from Iran.
One of the things government should be around for is to deal with catastrophes. It should do that well. To me, that’s a government function, and we shouldn’t be playing political games with it.
I majored in political science and English, but starting from the age of 17, I’ve paid for everything that I’ve had in my life. It was a personal choice. My parents would have helped me in any way whatsoever, but for me, you know what? I can make my own way.
I would say that a wasted vote is voting for anybody you don’t believe in. If you believe in the third party, that’s the guy you need to voice for. That’s how you change things.
I reject the insurance model. I think we should have a free-market approach to healthcare.
Our government should not be spying on the electronic communications of American citizens. Nor should our iPhones or Android devices be subject to unreasonable searches and seizures.
I hope that people will see that we don’t have to sit by the sidelines and watch as the two major parties limit their choices to slightly different flavors of the status quo. It is, in fact, possible to join the fray, stand up for principles and offer a real alternative.
I’m going to make the claim that I’m stronger than Obama when it comes to civil liberties, and I’m going to make the claim that I’m stronger than Romney when it comes to dollars and cents.
I was the Republican governor of the heavily Democratic state of New Mexico. I focused on good government, and I got it done – just like my running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. The people of New Mexico reelected me by a comfortable margin. Ditto for Weld.
As I told the students every time I visited a campus, you are the director of your own movie, and if you aren’t enjoying what you are doing, change it.
I don’t smoke marijuana anymore. I don’t drink. Marijuana is a handicap. So is alcohol. Alcohol is a terrible handicap. But in spite of being a handicap, it shouldn’t be criminal.
Getting elected Governor of New Mexico, I really did enjoy that job. I thought I made a really big difference, and I think the same running for president of the United States – that I could make a really big, positive difference.
Imagine a libertarian president ending impediments to free markets.
In a zero corporate tax rate environment, if the private sector doesn’t create tens of millions of jobs, then I don’t know what it takes to create tens of millions of jobs.
Imagine a libertarian president challenging Congress to repeal the PATRIOT Act.
Regardless of who wins, an election should be a time for optimism and fresh approaches.
Most Americans are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I’m advocating a balanced budget. But along with that, look, there should be gay marriage equality. A woman should have the right to choose. Let’s not build a fence across the border.
If I was a state, I would like to see education left to the schools themselves, but I don’t want the federal government involved in education. I think that it ends up setting standards that cost you time and money and don’t make any difference in education. I want to stop that.
Using a broad brushstroke, I think Libertarian – most of America are socially accepting and fiscally responsible. I’m in that category. I think, broadly speaking, that’s a Libertarian. A Libertarian is going to be somebody who’s really strong on civil liberties.
Millennials – who will soon be a full one-third of American adults – may be especially ready to become engaged in politics with a candidate who wants to give them a government that will leave them alone and get its finances in order so that they don’t inherit an economic collapse.
Immigration is a good thing. We should make that as easy as possible.
Everyone else is parsing it in terms of lowering the corporate income tax. Eliminate it. It’s not that big of a generator of income, and it’s a double tax. Get rid of it, and you would have an explosion of hiring.
That’s the first sign you know you’re a Libertarian. You see the red light. You stop. You realize that there’s not a car in sight. And you put your foot on the gas.
Where in the Constitution does it say that because we don’t like a foreign country’s leader, we should go in and topple the dictator?
I had my freedom, and I had my comfortable life, but I couldn’t accept the fact that the politicians were making it increasingly difficult for my kids and millions of others to achieve their dreams as I had achieved mine. So, in 2012, I ran for president.
I think the government should be out of the marriage business and leave marriage to the churches.
New Mexico is the second Hollywood. No, it is, it is. They built all sorts of film studios.
It is clear from the reaction to our campaign so far that our message is resonating. I look forward to continuing to take this message to all Americans, and showing them that I can be as successful running the country as I was running the state of New Mexico.
We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. ‘America, land of liberty and freedom?’ You know, that’s baloney. More than 2 million Americans are behind bars now. Communist China has four times the population and they have 1.5 million people behind bars.
Hillary – at the end of the day, isn’t that going to be about bigger government? Isn’t that going to be about more taxes?
I don’t believe there should be any restrictions when it comes to firearms. None.
I’m absolutely a Ron Paul fan.
It is long overdue that we have a woman as a legitimate contender for the White House. But Hillary Clinton is the definition of the establishment so many are determined to reject.
With regard to Trump, he’s saying some things that I just think are ridiculous and would disqualify any other candidate.
There’s an unintended consequence when it comes to drone attacks in Yemen. Yeah, you take out the al-Qaida stronghold, but you also wipe out the other half of the block. That makes Yemenis against the United States for the rest of their lives and all their descendants.
I’m not a stone-thrower when it comes to Hillary Clinton and her emails and her server. I don’t think there has been criminal intent on Hillary Clinton’s part. I don’t see an indictment.
I don’t seek the counsel of God. God doesn’t speak to me on what I should or shouldn’t do.
I have had the good fortune to be able to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. I have enjoyed the freedom I had gained from building a successful business from scratch, making some money, and creating the lifestyle I wanted.
I am totally a fringe candidate, and so is Bill Weld: you know, two Republican governors serving in heavily blue states, outspoken, small government guys, outspoken on the social liberal side. We’re fringe, totally. We’re fringe.
People are clamoring to hear good ideas as opposed to the lesser of two evils… Either the Democrats are going to win or the Republicans are going to win, but the losers are all of us out here as citizens that really do want meaningful change, and none of it’s happening. There’s no dialogue regarding meaningful change.
Given the divisiveness and pain that have accompanied several state religious freedom laws, I approach attempts at legislating religious exceptions to anti-discrimination laws with great sensitivity and care.
I don’t think you’ll ever hear me invoking God in anything I do.
We are a nation of immigrants, and if the truth be known, don’t we need a whole lot of immigrants to be buying homes and to drive our economy and to take jobs that U.S. citizens don’t want?
