Candidate: Libertarian president, free nation
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By Ed Hoskin. LaCrosse Tribune (LaCrosse, Wis.) September 14, 2000. Presidential candidate Harry Browne told La Crosse voters Wednesday he wants to create a better America, but he needs help. The Libertarian Party candidate held a rally at the Radisson Hotel, and about 150 people attended. "We are offering dramatic improvements in people's lives,'' Browne said. "We are bound to win eventually. I admit it's a long shot, but the fact of the matter is, we will not have a free country until we have a Libertarian president." Browne advocates reducing the size of the federal government, ending income tax, ending "the insane war on drugs'' and privatizing Social Security. "I'm fed up with people looking out for my best interests,'' he said. "I want an America of 250 million leaders -- people in charge of their lives and making their own decisions." Tariffs and excise taxes are more than sufficient for national security and other government costs, Browne said. Limiting the role of the federal government will save money and greatly reduce intrusion, he said. On illegal drugs, Browne said there are 1 million people in America's prisons who have never committed a crime that hurt another person. Before drug laws, there wasn't a drug problem, he said, and there were no violent gangs fighting over aspirin or whiskey territories. "We must put politicians back in chains, so we are not in chains,'' he said. "Put them in the limits of the Constitution so we can have freedom." A vote for the Libertarian Party, the country's third largest political party, isn't a wasted vote, Browne said. People waste their votes by supporting candidates with a better chance of winning, but with whom they don't agree, he said. Browne, 67, a former investment adviser and author of 12 books, said he came to La Crosse because "we have a lot of Libertarians here and we go where the activity is." The party's U.S. Senate candidate, Tim Peterson, also attended at the rally. "It doesn't matter that (Browne) isn't going to win,'' said Paul Brown, 41, of La Crosse. "The idea is to vote for someone who closely represents my views." The rally was a new experience for 16-year-old Mike Beekman of La Crosse. "I look at the other candidates, like Al Gore and George W. Bush, and I want other options,'' Beekman said. |
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