Political Philosophy for John A. Buttrick

Candidate for
State Representative; District 25

Keynote Speech to Arizona Libertarian Party Convention March 14, 1998 by John Buttrick

We certainly have come a long way, haven't we? The last time I stood before you to make a keynote address was in the Spring of 1994. At that time we had approximately 5,000 registered Libertarians in this state. Now we have close to 20,000.

In the Spring of 1994, we were in the middle of raising some $20,000 that it was going to take to get petitions signed to get the party on the ballot for the November election. Today, we have zero dollars budgeted for such an efforts because we have permanent party status as a result of the increase in registration.

In the Spring of 1994, I had just announced I was running for governor in the race against Republican and Democratic candidates who would eventually spend $3 million each on their campaigns. As I addressed you that day, I had not raised a single dollar for my campaign. Today, I stand before you having announced formally last week that I am running for the Arizona House of Representatives in District 25 here in Phoenix. Fundraising for that effort began months ago and I am pleased to inform you that we already have raised over five figures.

In 1994, our goals were modest. We wanted to get five percent of the total votes cast so that we could achieve ballot status for the 1996 elections. We wanted to jump start the registration drive and we wanted to gain some level of increased recognition in the media and with the voters generally. We achieved those goals for the most part. Although we did not get the five percent number, the registration increases made that point moot and we did gain a level of legitimacy in the state that was unparalleled in party history. In November 1994, over 200,000 Arizonans cast at least one vote for a Libertarian Party candidate. Our candidates for governor and senator were allowed to participate in statewide televised debates with the old party candidates. Newspapers, radio and television outlets regularly carried our views as part of their campaign coverage.

But this year we have much more ambitious goals. Of course we want to run a series of strong campaigns for all the major offices in the state, but we also want to do something that we have never done before. We wish to elect a Libertarian to the Arizona State Legislature.

In 1994, we had done little planning before the state convention. Today I am pleased to tell you that months of planning have brought us to this point. We have a hard working core of volunteers, we have a fundraising plan, we have carefully selected the race we are running in, we have a whole new stream of tactics and strategies never before used by the Libertarian Party in the state (and some not used by any party in this state). We have a website which you can visit at any time, buttrick.org. We have a dedicated telephone line, 235-2616, that you can call to hear me talking about the issues, hear campaign news, make contributions or volunteer. The first wave of our large 4 x 8 signage has already been prepared and is ready to be erected. We have brochures that we've printed that are ready for distribution. We know when and how we are going to use direct mail in District 25, we know which subsets of voters we are going to target. We even have an idea for a videotape which might actually include portions of this speech on it and which could be distributed immediately before the election.

Yes, we have come a long way.

But when all is said and done, as Libertarians we know that what's really important is the message that we bring to the people of Arizona. Because it is ideas that count, not mere tactics. Let me try to summarize for you the message that I intend to carry to the people during this campaign.

The Libertarian Party stands for freedom, both personal and economic freedom for you and your family. I truly believe that government that governs the least governs best. I believe that individuals flourish when allowed to be peacefully productive.

But, unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live. We live in a state with a legislature that passes over 300 new laws every year. That's almost a law a day. Did you wake up this morning saying to yourself, "Gee, I sure hope there's a new law today"? As a result, we now face the unfortunate truth that there is no human activity too trivial for that state legislature to miss a chance to regulate, tax, prohibit or control.

Let's look at what the state legislature has done to us in a couple of different areas. First, let's talk about your money.

As we stand here today in 1998, Arizona state government expends over $5 billion of your tax dollars per year and you get far too little in return.

It's time to let more Arizonans keep more of their own money to save, invest or give away to charity.

Let's start with the unfair car tax. Whenever you buy a car and every year when you re-register that car, you have to pay tribute to the state as if the government owns the car and you are merely renting it. That burden is unfair and intolerable. I say end it now.

Let's move to abolish the state income tax, as other states have done; there is no reason Arizona can't do it also.

Let's reduce bureaucracy and end government-run programs on a dollar-for-dollar basis as taxes are decreased so we don't run a deficit.

Next, let's stop any more "corporate welfare" schemes like stadium taxes before they begin.

Finally, let's always balance the budget and, in the event of a surplus, let's return that money to the taxpayers rather than leaving it in the hands of the state legislators (who we know will simply spend it, probably unwisely).

Second, let me address the issue of crime and your safety.

We all deserve to be safe in our home and on the streets of Phoenix. In my view, in order to achieve a higher level of safety, we have to implement a multipoint program to inject a little more justice into the justice system.

First, it's time to protect victims' rights by giving them veto power over "plea bargain" deals between government prosecutors and violent criminals. The victim ought to be able to say "no" in situations where prosecutors want to let violent criminals off with reduced sentences. Also, violent criminals ought to be paying restitution to their victims as a matter of course.

Similarly, we should eliminate parole for violent criminals. At the present time, the so-called "truth in sentencing" provisions in Arizona allow for virtually automatic parole after 85% of a sentence has been served. I'm for 100% of the truth in sentencing. The assumption ought to be that each violent criminal will in fact spend all of his or her sentence time in prison. If they misbehave in prison, the sentence should be extended.

Third, we have to put an end to the drug prohibition that is causing violent crime just as alcohol prohibition did decades ago. By creating a complete underground economy ruled only by the gun, we are practically reinventing street gangs, street crime and violent activity on an extraordinary scale. No one's personal property is safe while we have large numbers of marauding drug dealers and users whose only "law" is the law of the gun.

Next, we ought to ensure that the United States Constitution and the Arizona Constitution's guaranteed right of self defense by private ownership of firearms is not abrogated by government. We have the right to defend ourselves against criminals.

Finally, we have to go to the root causes of most crime and try to eliminate them. By that I mean poor education, unemployment and welfare dependency.

In sum, a great deal of your money is spent to fight crime and you get much too little in results. We can change that, but it will require resolve, commitment and common sense that is now in short supply in the legislature.

Next, let's talk about education and what the state legislature has done to our children. We live in a society where the fundamental needs of our children to food, clothing, shelter, medicine and recreation are without question the best that can be provided in the world. We have access to the highest quality goods and services at the lowest possible price; a better delivery system cannot be found. But compare those items to the last essential factor that must be provided to our children, education. In the United States we consistently lag behind the rest of the world. Why? The reason is simple. The government has seized the education industry as its own fiefdom and, like everything else that the government touches, it has created a substandard system. As long as the government monopoly school system survives, we can expect our children to be short changed when it comes to education.

As a step forward, we've got to encourage students and parents who choose to send their children to non- government schools to do so without penalty. At the present time, we are making these people pay twice for the privilege of escaping the government schools. First, they pay taxes and then they pay school tuition. This is unfair particularly to lower and middle income parents who simply cannot afford the private school option. Those families should be able to move their children to non-government schools and receive a tax credit so that they pay for their children's education only once and get to choose the form of education they think is best for their own children.

It's time to face the music and close bad public schools when the students in an area can be better served by non-government schools. Similarly, we have to start thinking about discharging underperforming or unnecessary bureaucrats, administrators, employees and, yes, even bad teachers. We all know that many teachers and other employees in the public schools do a fine job and work extraordinarily hard under very adverse circumstances. But we also know that there are some teachers and bureaucrats who are not doing a good job. What happens to them? In the past, their jobs have been virtually sacrosanct. They get the same pay as the good teachers and have, in effect, lifetime job security. That is not the way real competition works in any other industry. Education is too important a product for our children to be shortchanged. We need to inject a little real competition and one way to do that is to make the government schools more efficient by choosing to reward those teachers and administrators who perform and terminating those who do not. As private schools grow and flourish, we should not shrink from closing underperforming government schools.

Finally, we ought to become "home schooling" friendly for those families who choose that option for their children. Instead of setting up administrative and bureaucratic road blocks to home schoolers, we ought to applaud their efforts and support them.

The truth is, politicians from the two old parties seem to be fixated on controlling you and your family.

Notice how many of the 300 or so laws passed by the politicians in the Arizona State Legislature are aimed at controlling your behavior even when your actions do not threaten the rights of others.

Politicians are very interested in curbing free speech rights, limiting reproductive rights, sweeping aside your privacy rights and committing wholesale mischief in the personal rights area.

For instance, in 1996, you voted two to one to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical conditions suffered by their patients. But the State Legislature arrogantly refused to enact the law making this possible. Why? Because the politicians think they know more about your health and medication than your doctor. That outrageous act of legislative arrogance means that patients undergoing chemotherapy or suffering from glaucoma in Arizona cannot legally get the medication they need.

I say "shame" on the Arizona State Legislature for ignoring the people's vote on that issue.

But the greater shame will be if we continue to reelect old party politicians on November 3.

I have some special words for those of you who are Republicans, or who have voted for Republicans year in and year out.

If you believe in the free market, if you believe in less government regulation of business, if you believe in lower taxes (not just empty words, but the actual lowering or elimination of taxes like the car tax and the state income tax), if you are opposed to government mandated racial discrimination masquerading as affirmative action, if you believe that violent criminals should serve their full terms in prison; if you believe those things, then it's time you voted for someone who believes in freedom just as you do. If you must vote for one Republican, then do so, but save the second vote for me so that I can affect real change in the state legislature consistent with our shared beliefs.

I have some special words for those of you who are Democrats, or who have voted for Democrats year in and year out.

If you believe in the Bill of Rights, if you believe in free speech, if you oppose corporate welfare or special government favors for anyone, if you voted to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their glaucoma and chemotherapy patients and were outraged when the state legislature wouldn't follow your wishes and failed to enact the law to allow that to occur, then it's time you voted for someone who believes in freedom as you do. If you must vote for one Democrat, then do so, but save the second vote for me so that I can affect real change in the state legislature consistent with our shared beliefs.

Now I want to say a few special words to those of you who are not registered as Republicans or Democrats and who consider yourself independent voters. If you can't trust the Republican and Democratic politicians, if you want someone who owes nothing to the old party leaders who won't vote trade, who will vote his conscience, then you finally have a choice. I owe nothing to the special interests and nothing to the old party politicians. I will be your independent voice in the legislature.

I can't make you any guarantees about what will happen after I am elected, but I promise you this. I will fight for individual freedom from the day I am sworn in until the end of my term. Every bill I vote on will be considered on its merits, not because I owe somebody a political favor. Any bill I propose will be a bill that will increase your personal and economic freedom. I will never propose or support a bill which regulates or taxes you more than you are regulated or taxed at this moment. And you know you can trust me because I'm a Libertarian and Libertarians keep their word.

It's time for fundamental change in the state legislature. You will not get that change by continuing to vote for Republican and Democratic candidates. That's a fact. If you elect me, it will be a first for District 25 and a first for the State of Arizona. And I promise you, you will never regret having taken that step.

Thank you.