Libertarian
Candidate in 2004 for
US House of Representatives – District 2
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Norm Olsen Libertarian
Candidate in 2004 for |
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"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." – Mahatma Gandhi
As government gets bigger and bigger, it gets less competent and more inefficient. Consider the government services which mean the most to you, and consider what level of government provides those services. Police, fire protection, parks, street maintenance, courts, libraries, etc are all provided at the county or municipal level. These levels of government also represent the smallest tax burden of all levels of government. It is clear that big government is ineffective, incompetent, and inefficient. A vote for Norm Olsen is a vote to drastically reduce the size of the federal government; a vote to return control to citizens at the local level; a vote to repudiate the idea that only the bureaucrats in Washington DC are smart enough to run your life; your input is not relevant.
The federal government still treats illegal aliens better than it treats our honorable veterans who have served, and often paid a severe price in their physical and mental well being. We as a nation owe it to our veterans (and their families) everything that was promised as the bare minimum, and should be seeking funds and means to go beyond this bare minimum in taking care of those who have served us so well, and so honorably. With regard to "Is this ailment service related?"; the presumed answer should be yes, until proven otherwise.
The federal government is in the process of destroying the dollar, and hence, the basic wealth generating fabric of our nation. The politicos in Washington DC are selling the financial future of our children in order to preserve their sorry political careers.
Consider: despite full knowledge of a record breaking deficit in 2003, the DC bandits passed a Medicare Prescription Drug benefit for which they did not provide a single dime of new revenue. They added this new benefit to Medicare, a program which is already totally bankrupt. The Washington DC bandits essentially sold the financial future of your children to the devil, for the sake of preserving their political careers. How are you going to explain that to your grandchildren?
Since the end WW II, the United States has been interfering in the affairs of numerous countries. We now have troops stationed in 100+ countries. In so doing, we invite the wrath of the activists in these countries. This wrath may or may not be justifiable, but we must recognize that we provide these activists with this tool to use against us, while our presence and financial aid usually do nothing but prop up unpopular, ineffective, and often brutal governments. As a foreign policy, this is simply dumb.
Our national government, as run and administered by the politicos in Washington DC, has the poorest record on earth when it comes to managing money, producing new deficit records each year. It refuses to fix its own social security and senior health plan which represent an unfunded liability of $51 trillion dollars. It can't manage forest land without it burning down, it has trouble delivering the mail on time, it can't keep illegal drugs out of its own prisons, and it can't even hold an honest and fair election. Yet this same bunch of bumbling politicos insist on going into every other country of the world and telling them how to solve their problems. Is there anything dumber in the whole world?
We must bring all of our troops home. We must reshape our military so that it can do its only justifiable function: defending the United States. We must extricate ourselves the best we can from alliances such as NATO. (Can you believe it? The Berlin Wall came down 13 years ago, but NATO is alive, well, and GROWING???) We must trade freely with the rest of the world. And if we really want to help the poorer countries around the world, we must stop subsidizing agriculture in this nation, thus giving the poorer nations a chance to compete in our market the only way they can (i.e. agriculture).
The primary reason why healthcare is costing the average citizen much more than it should is that the federal government is involved. Not only is the federal government involved, it actually is the payer, or guarantor, of one-half of all healthcare bills in this nation. We all have read of the $600 toilet seat; and now we have the same bureaucrats buying 50% of the healthcare delivered in this nation. No wonder healthcare costs are going through the roof. This absolutely huge bureaucracy has no effective means of controlling costs, or of encouraging efficiencies. More importantly, this huge bureaucracy has no motivation to achieve such: "It's someone else's money. What do I care?"
Healthcare costs can only be controlled when the decision-making process is returned to individuals and their medical service providers. When citizens get actively involved in managing their own healthcare, with their own money, the costs of healthcare will become realistic. That means high deductible insurance and healthcare savings plans. In the current environment of incredibly large governments and incredibly high tax rates, the health savings plans need to be tax-free. As a Libertarian, I long for the day when the size of government is reduced to the point where all this "tax-free government control of your money" gimmick can be totally eliminated.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and in 1967 graduated from Union College, Schenectady, NY. While I majored in Physics, I chose to embark on a career of software development; the hot new technology at the time. I moved to Colorado in 1972, and have lived in the 2nd Congressional District since the 1980 gerrymander.
I am 58 years old and have been a widower for 11 years. I have two children. Linda is 25 and lives in Arizona with her husband who is serving in the Army. Eric is 22 and is a senior at CSU in Fort Collins.
I have held several positions in software development management and have been self-employed since 1987. My business specializes in Geographic Information Systems. I have been active in Libertarian politics for eight years. I have served as the Campaigns Director and am currently the State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado.
Email: norm@NormOlsenForCongress.org Phone: 303-263-4995
Last updated: 10/22/04 by Webmaster