As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty;
a world in which all individuals are sovereign
over their own lives, and no one is forced
to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of
others.
We believe that respect for individual rights
is the essential precondition for a free and
prosperous world, that force and fraud must
be banished from human relationships, and that
only through freedom can peace and prosperity
be realized.
Consequently, we defend each person's right
to engage in any activity that is peaceful and
honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom
brings. The world we seek to build is one
where individuals are free to follow their
own dreams in their own ways, without interference
from government or any authoritarian power.
In the following pages we have set forth our
basic principles and enumerated various policy
stands derived from those principles.
These specific policies are not our goal, however.
Our goal is nothing more nor less than a
world set free in our lifetime, and it is
to this end that we take these stands.
-- Preamble of the national Platform of the Libertarian Party
Cut Back Government at All Levels
Government in America has grown to the point where it has become the
master rather than the servant of the people. It threatens our liberties
and is destroying our economy. The Libertarian Party advocates cutting
government and taxes through privatization of activities now performed
by government, elimination of useless agencies and regulations, and adherence
to the philosophy that government be limited to those functions that cannot
be served by individual action, the market, or voluntary charity.
Repeal the Income Tax
The Libertarian Party supports repeal of both the federal and state income tax. The LPC has endorsed the Free The People initiative, currently being circulated, which would eliminate the California state income tax.
What would it mean for your family if you never had to pay income tax again? You would have thousands of dollars more each year to spend as you choose -- to improve your quality of life, to give your children a better education, to help your church or favorite charity, or to save for your retirement.
And it's the income tax that gives the federal government so much power to control your life -- to hire armies of bureaucrats to write endless volumes of regulations, and to bribe state and local governments to go along with their schemes.
Could America survive without an income tax? Certainly. There are hundreds
of departments, agencies, and programs that
are not even provided for in the Constitution, but now make up the
majority of the federal budget. Without them there would be no need for
the income tax.
What would happen to your favorite government program? Most government programs duplicate functions that would be better done by private business or could be more effectively provided through private charity. Without an income tax, you would have the money to pay for these services or support these causes yourself, without wasting your money on government bureaucracy.
Should we replace the current income tax with a new kind of tax? A "flat
tax" or national sales tax? No. The Libertarian
Party is opposed to any new taxes.
Make Our Streets Safe
The Libertarian Party supports individual liberty and responsibility,
and advocates holding criminals responsible for the harm
they cause. To this end, we present an outline of policies to make
our streets safe again.
This insane "war", which is more and more becoming a war on the civil
liberties of all Americans, interferes with the freedom of
peaceful citizens, wastes taxpayers' hard-earned money, corrupts law-enforcement
officials -- and does little to reduce the use
of drugs! The Libertarian Party supports the relegalization of drugs
as the only moral and practical answer to this problem.
The so-called "War on Drugs" is costing American taxpayers billions of dollars, endangering our children, eroding the protections of the Bill of Rights, creating enormous profits for drug dealers, and corrupting our police and judicial system. And it will never achieve what its supporters say they want -- a "drug-free America". It's time to end this failed "war".
Some people will always make bad choices about using drugs, whether they are legal or illegal. Alcohol, tobacco, and other legal drugs cause more health problems than all the illegal drugs put together.
But prohibition is no cure, because it is worse than the disease. America's previous "war on drugs" -- alcohol Prohibition -- also led to an increase in violent crime and ended as a failure. New proposals to outlaw tobacco suffer the same flaw. The problems caused by misuse of drugs can be real, but they cannot be solved by the criminal justice system.
An increasing number of thoughtful Americans from all walks of life -- physicians, business people, writers, even law enforcement officials and judges -- are coming to the conclusion that the Libertarian Party's position on this issue is the correct one. It's time to repeal the laws which make drug use a crime, and dismantle the corrupt machinery of this "war".
Stop Attempts at Censorship on the Internet
The Libertarian Party opposes the so-called "Communications Decency Act", which imposes restrictions on freedom of expression on the Internet far beyond those which apply to traditional speech and press. Stop Internet Censorship
Politicians are trying to take away your right to read what you want, and to say what you want.
The Internet is making it possible for new voices to be heard -- the voices of people who simply could not afford to publish their ideas or display their artistic talents to a wide audience using older technologies. Established interests of both the left and the right fear new voices, and are trying to control what appears on the Internet through new laws and regulations.
America's Founders couldn't foresee the Internet, but they knew that government control of information was not only a violation of personal liberty -- it was a threat to their hopes for a nation based on the principles of self-government. So they gave us the First Amendment.
Preserve the Right to Self-Defense
The Libertarian Party supports the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of life and liberty.
Improve the Market for Health Care
Instead of proposing expensive government programs and new regulations
for health care, the Libertarian Party advocates
free-market solutions to provide choice and quality in this important
area.
As with health care, the Libertarian Party advocates choice, rather
than more taxpayer money or government bureaucracy, as
the way to bring quality education to our children.
Libertarians respect the right of every individual to make his or her own choices in every aspect of life. Who knows better how to run your life: you, or the government?
And unlike some who call themselves "pro-choice" on a single issue, the Libertarian Party supports choice across the board: in how you choose to spend your money, raise your children, and save for your retirement. These choices should not be forced on you through a one-size-fits-all "plan" cooked up by politicians. It's your life, not theirs!
Libertarians also recognize that with choice comes responsibility -- the responsibilty to respect the rights of others, and the responsibility to deal with the consequences of your choices. The government shouldn't force you to pay for other people's choices -- but you shouldn't expect government to force your neighbors to pay for your choices, either.
And Libertarians recognize that people won't always make the right choices. Libertarians don't take their stand for choice because they necessarily support the choices that some people might make, but because letting individuals make their own choices and take responsibility for those choices is the only way to respect their rights.
The Libertarian Party carries on today in the tradition of the Founders:
The Libertarian Party didn't wait for the Internet to become popular
to stand up for principle: The LP has always supported
freedom of speech and the press, and has had language specifically
supporting freedom of online comunication in its
Platform since 1991. The Libertarian Party joined with thousands of
concerned Internet users in "turning its web pages black" in protest of
President Clinton's signing the unconstitutional "Communications Decency
Act" in 1995. The Libertarian Party continues to speak out today against
the attempts by Democrats and Republicans to find loop-holes in the First
Amendment, so they can turn the Internet into a government-controlled medium.
Americans of all backgrounds
are sick and tired of the growing problem of political corruption and abuse.
Every day
more and more examples of
the abuse of power by elected and appointed officials hit the newsstands.
These
problems are epidemic in
both the Democratic and the Republican parties.
The House Bank -- set up
with bipartisan support -- was supposed to be a convenient way for busy
congressmen
to cash their paychecks.
What it turned out to be was a scam for many congressmen -- a way to write
bad checks
often totalling more than
a congressman's pay. If you or I did this at our local bank, we would be
subject to criminal
prosecution and fines in
most states. Why should congressmen allow themselves to do something wrong?
Should we
be surprised that a group
of people who cannot balance their own checkbooks cannot balance our national
budget?
Both parties in Congress
have voted to give themselves dozens of special privileges -- everything
from free airport
parking to health clubs
to cheap haircuts to passing laws that do not apply to them. How different
is this from the
way that kings, queens,
and dictators make demands of their citizens while they do what they please?
Both the Democrats and the
Republicans vote to use our tax dollars to pay for their election campaigns
and their
conventions. Tens of millions
of taxpayer dollars are used for this every four years. They use our money
for their
purposes so that they don't
have to use their own. Isn't it time that members of Congress pay their
own bills instead
of making us pay them?
Then, to make it harder to
challenge their power, both parties have cooperated in enacting laws in
almost every state
that make it very difficult
and extremely expensive for any other candidate to get on the ballot. Even
billionaire Ross
Perot has commented that
the law in most states makes it difficult to get on the election ballot.
If the business of
Congress were anything other
than politics, people would be calling for Congress and its members to
be subject to
anti-trust laws to prevent
their monopoly from being abused ever again. Congress has done a good job
to make sure
that the laws they write
to rule over others don't apply to Congress or its members!
And to add insult to injury,
Congress has had no problem finding the time or spending the money to give
themselves
a big, fat raise. Wouldn't
you love it if you only had to vote "yes" to get a huge raise whenever
you wanted one! If
nothing else, doesn't this
make it clear that members of Congress see themselves as a special, privileged
class?
Libertarians believe that
elected officials should not hide behind special privileges that exempt
them from the rules
they impose on the people
who elect them. Libertarians believe that elected officials do not deserve
and should not
have any rights or privileges
that are different from those of any other citizen. We support:
Elimination of special rights and privileges for elected or appointed government
officials.
Revision of any law or regulation that exempts the government or its officials
from compliance.
Ending government funding of any political party or candidate.
Revision of state and federal laws to enable all candidates for elective
office to be included on election ballots.
President Bill Clinton has
brought the need for health care reform to the front of the political agenda.
There is no
doubt that our system is
in crisis.
Twenty years ago, health
care was a $42 billon per year industry. Today, health care costs Americans
more than $2
billion per day, more than
14% of our Gross Domestic Product. These soaring costs are putting enormous
financial
pressures on American businesses,
forcing thousands of small businesses to reduce or drop benefits for their
employees. Moreover, health
care costs are an increasing burden to already strained family budgets.
At the same
time, nearly 35 million
Americans lack health insurance.
But President Clinton's proposals
for socialized medicine are worse than the disease. The Clinton plan would
increase costs, destroy
jobs, impose broad new taxes on the American people, and lead to the rationing
of care.
The only health care reforms
that are likely to have a significant impact on America's health care problems
are those
that draw on the strength
of the free market. The Libertarian Party has developed a comprehensive
proposal for
health care reform that
will reduce health care costs, while extending access to care.
The Libertarian Party believes there is a better way. Our five-point plan is as follows:
Establish Medical Savings Accounts. One key to controlling health care
costs is strengthening the role of the
individual health care consumer. As part of this process, an individual
should be exempted from taxes on
money deposited in a Medical Savings Account (MSA), in the same way that
he currently pays no taxes on
deposits to an IRA. Money could be withdrawn from an MSA without penalty
to pay medical expenses. This
would increase consumer responsibility, while increasing access and controlling
costs.
Restructure tax policy. As a second consumer-based reform, taxes should
be restructured to establish equity
in the treatment of employer-provided health insurance, individually purchased
health insurance, and
out-of-pocket medical expenses. All health care expenditures should be
100% tax deductible. This will add a
measure of fairness to current tax policies that penalize the self-employed,
part-time workers, and employees
of small businesses, while subsidizing health care for the most affluent
in our society.
Deregulate the health care industry. There should be a thorough examination
of the extent to which
government policies are responsible for rising health costs and the unavailability
of health care services.
America can help lower health care costs and expand health care access
by taking immediate steps to
deregulate the health care industry, including elimination of mandated
benefits, repeal of the
Certificate-of-Need program, and expansion of the scope of practice for
non-physician health professionals.
Replace the FDA. The Food and Drug Administration is clearly an unnecessary
burden on the American
health care system. There is no evidence that agency offers Americans any
real protection, but there is
massive evidence that it is causing great harm -- driving up health care
costs and depriving millions of
Americans of the medical care they need. The agency should be abolished
and replaced with voluntary
certification by a private-sector organization, similar to the way Underwriters
Laboratories certifies electrical
appliances.
Privatize Medicare and Medicaid. The current Medicare and Medicaid systems
have clearly failed. Costs are
skyrocketing. Patients are receiving second rate care. And, providers are
being shortchanged. The time is ripe
for drastic reform. The federal government should begin to restructure
the system to give Medicaid and
Medicare recipients more flexibility to purchase private health insurance.
Public schools are supposed
to provide a good education for our children. More often than not, they
don't. Each
year public schools graduate
more and more students who are unable to read, write, or do basic arithmetic.
Our
children's talents are wasted
because we continue to trust politicians to do this important job. Politicians
have had
decades to fix these problems,
and they haven't been able to do so.
In recent years, government
involvement in education has grown rapidly. At the same time, the quality
of the
education offered to most
public school students has gone down. We are finding, as with so many other
government
efforts, that throwing more
money or more regulations at this problem does not fix it. The best way
to end the crisis
in education is to deal
with the main cause -- government involvement.
The politicians who run the
public schools have created new regulations and mandated new programs.
These are
imposed on local schools.
We have more bureaucracy and less innovation. We have more red tape and
less
creativity. More resources
are spent on these matters. The cost of education goes up. The quality
of education goes
down.
Many public schools have
become dangerous places for our children. The news is filled with reports
of drug use,
rapes, assaults, and murders
in our schools. It's difficult to expect a child to learn in a place where
the child does not
feel safe. Yet most families
have no choice but to send their children to the local public school, no
matter how
dangerous.
It's no surprise that poor
children suffer the most under the current system. Wealthy parents can
afford to send their
children to better or safer
schools. Poor parents have no choice. Their children generally end up in
the schools with
the worst problems. These
children end up at a public school, which is obligated to accept every
local student, even
those who are not interested
in learning or who have a reputation for being disruptive or dangerous.
The current
system traps poor children
in poor schools. This is just one reason that many parents have given up
hope that their
children will escape the
poverty they have known.
To solve a crisis, you must
recognize and eliminate its cause. The crisis in education is no different.
The most
important step is to end
government control of education. We must move toward a system where parents
have
good, safe, affordable choices
for educating their children.
To transfer control of education
from bureaucrats to parents and teachers and encourage alternatives to
the public
school monopoly, the Libertarian
Party would:
Support a true market in
education -- one in which parents and students would not be stuck with
a bad local
school, because they could
choose another.
Implement measures such
as tax credits so that parents will have the financial ability to choose
among schools.
Provide financial incentives
for businesses to help fund schools and for individuals to support students
other
than their own children.
Eliminate the U.S. Department
of Education, which spends billions on education and educates no one. The
growth of this agency and
its numerous regulations is a major reason for runaway costs in American
schools.
Millions of Americans who
are willing and able to work are unemployed. Republicans and Democrats
argue over
band-aids like extending
unemployment benefits and creating make-work government jobs. Meanwhile,
they ignore
the major cause of unemployment:
their own policies. When government officials inflate the supply of money,
when
they give special privileges
to banks, and when they try to plan the economy, they cause cycles of boom
and bust --
cycles that misdirect investors,
destroy healthy companies, and put workers out of work.
Some politicians propose
that the government should guarantee a job to every American. Other politicians
believe a
national industrial policy
will put people to work. The Soviet Union tried these policies for decades.
The result was
national bankruptcy and
widespread poverty. Why should we make the same mistakes that the Soviets
made?
The only cure for unemployment
is a real job. The only effective way to create real jobs is to have a
strong
economy.
The Democrats and Republicans have destroyed jobs by:
taking money consumers and businesses would otherwise use to purchase goods
and services,
taking money individuals and companies would otherwise use for investment,
subsidizing foreign governments, foreign businesses, and foreign citizens,
financing their massive budget deficit with borrowed money that otherwise
could be used for business
expansion and job creation,
smothering workers, business people, and investors with endless regulations
and bloated bureaucracy, and
restricting commerce and trade.
Each year, our government
takes over $200 billion in taxes from American consumers and businesses
to subsidize
foreign governments, foreign
companies, and foreign citizens. The U.S. provides foreign countries free
defense,
direct military aid, direct
economic aid, guaranteed loans, and other subsidies too numerous to list.
Our government
is sending your hard earned
dollars to many of our fiercest competitors. This puts businesses here
at a competitive
disadvantage.
The U.S. corporate income
tax discourages the flow of capital into America to open and expand businesses
and
create new jobs. Companies
that pay lower taxes can produce goods and services at a lower cost and
be more
competitive in world markets.
Companies that pay higher taxes have to pass those extra costs on to someone
--
usually their customers.
This raises prices for American consumers and helps price American goods
out of foreign
markets. The result is lost
jobs at home.
More jobs are lost because
of useless regulations and bureaucratic mandates. Large companies must
devote
resources to comply with
each new regulation instead of becoming more competitive, expanding, and
creating new
jobs. Small businesses,
which generate the vast majority of new jobs, frequently cannot afford
to comply. They go
out of business and unemployment
rises.
The free flow of goods and
services is a major source of employment in a market economy. Anything
which restricts
trade, either within a country
or between countries, contributes to unemployment. Democrats and Republicans
may
talk about eliminating subsidies,
trade barriers, and tariffs, but they haven't done it. The current U.S.
policy of
subsidizing agriculture,
limiting imports, and erecting countless other barriers to trade is the
exact opposite of the free
trade position that our
government claims to support.
To enable Americans to find
jobs, we must do everything in our power to give workers, and the companies
they
work for, the ability to
compete in world markets. The Libertarian Party supports five major initiatives
to achieve this
goal:
Phase out all direct and indirect subsidies to foreign nations, foreign
companies, and foreign citizens.
Eliminate the double taxation of corporate profits.
Eliminate regulations and mandates that make companies less competitive
and cost jobs.
Unilaterally end all domestic subsidy programs, trade barriers and tariffs.
End government economic meddling that results in depressions and recessions
that destroy jobs.
America suffers from an epidemic
of violence and crime, victimizing one family out of four every year. There
is a
murder every half hour,
a rape every five minutes, and a theft every four seconds.
Despite decades of tough
talk, the anti-crime policies of the Republicans and Democrats have clearly
failed. The
Libertarian Party believes
a fresh approach is needed. That's why we're offering this five-point plan
for making
America's streets safe:
Protect Victim's Rights. Protecting the rights and interests of victims
should be the basis of our criminal justice
system. Victims should have the right to be present, consulted and heard
throughout the prosecution of their
case.
In addition, Libertarians would do more than just punish criminals. We
would also make them pay restitution
to their victims for the damage they've caused, including property loss,
medical costs, pain, and suffering. If
you are the victim of a crime, the criminal should fully compensate you
for your loss.
End prohibition. Drug prohibition does more to make Americans unsafe than
any other factor. Just as alcohol
prohibition gave us Al Capone and the mafia, drug prohibition has given
us the Crips, the Bloods and
drive-by shootings. Consider the historical evidence: America's murder
rate rose nearly 70% during alcohol
prohibition, but returned to its previous levels after prohibition ended.
Now, since the War on Drugs began,
America's murder rates have doubled. The cause/effect relationship is clear.
Prohibition is putting innocent
lives at risk.
What's more, drug prohibition also inflates the cost of drugs, leading
users to steal to support their high priced
habits. It is estimated that drug addicts commit 25% of all auto thefts,
40% of robberies and assaults, and
50% of burglaries and larcenies. Prohibition puts your property at risk.
Finally, nearly one half of all police resources are devoted to stopping
drug trafficking, instead of preventing
violent crime. The bottom line? By ending drug prohibition, Libertarians
would double the resources available
for crime prevention and significantly reduce the number of violent criminals
at work in your neighborhood.
Get Tough on Real Crime. The Libertarian Party is the party of personal
responsibility. We believe that
anyone who harms another person should be held responsible for that action.
By contrast, the Democrats and
Republicans have created a system where criminals can get away with almost
anything.
For instance: sentences seldom mean what they say. Fewer than one out of
every four violent felons serves
more than four years. Libertarians would dramatically reduce the number
of these early releases by eliminating
their root cause - prison over-crowding.
Since nearly six out of every ten federal prison inmates are there for
non-violent drug-related offenses, it's
clear that drug prohibition is the primary source of this over-crowding.
It has been estimated that every drug
offender imprisoned results in the release of one violent criminal, who
then commits an average of 40
robberies, 7 assaults, 110 burglaries and 25 auto thefts. Early release
of violent criminals puts you and your
family at risk. It must stop.
Protect the Right to Self-Defense. We believe that the private ownership
of firearms is part of the solution to
America's crime epidemic, not part of the problem. Evidence: law-abiding
citizens in Florida have been able
to carry concealed weapons since 1987. During that time, the murder rate
in Florida has declined 21% while
the national murder rate has increased 12%.
In addition, evidence shows that self-defense with guns is the safest response
to violent crime. It results in
fewer injuries to the defender (17.4% injury rate) than any other response,
including not resisting at all (24.7%
injury rate). Libertarians would repeal waiting periods, concealed carry
laws, and other restrictions that make
it difficult for victims to defend themselves, and end the prosecution
of individuals for exercising their rights of
self-defense.
Address the Root Causes of Crime. Any society that lets kids grow up dependent
on government welfare,
attending government schools that fail to teach, and entering an economy
where government policy has
crushed opportunity, will be a society that breeds criminals. No permanent
solution to crime will be found until
we address these root causes of crime.
The Libertarian Party would increase employment opportunities by slashing
taxes and government red tape.
We would also end the welfare system with its culture of dependence and
hopelessness. Most important of
all, we would promote low-cost private alternatives to the failed government
school system.
The Libertarian Party's anti-crime plan would do what the Democrats and Republicans have not done:
Respect the victim's rights and make criminals pay full restitution.
Hold all criminals responsible for their actions.
Double the police resources available for crime prevention without any
additional government spending.
Reduce the number of criminals at large on our streets.
Defend the most effective crime deterrent available, the private ownership
of guns.
Create jobs, end welfare dependence, and improve education.