Holly Ammons
Photo Editor
On Nov. 8, I will cast my ballot for Gary Johnson. While his interview faux paus have become viral, his policies are not as widely known among voters.
Johnson is running on the Libertarian ticket with Bill Weld. Both are former Republicans with successful governing terms. During Johnson’s first term as governor, New Mexico experienced tax cuts and improvements to the education system, earning Johnson a second term in the heavily Democratic state.
Johnson is the bridge between Democrats and Republicans. He describes himself as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”
Gary Johnson is a major proponent of fair trade and small government. He pushes for a simplified tax code, which would eliminate interest tax loopholes, and ending the double taxation placed on small businesses.
He also proposes that income and payroll taxes be replaced with a “consumption tax” that calculates taxation by the amount a taxpayer spends, rather than the amount he earns.
As for his health care policy, Johnson believes that we should have a free market approach to medical services.
“We would not have insurance to cover ongoing medical need,” Johnson said at a CNN Libertarian Town Hall in June 2016. “We would have insurance to cover ourselves for catastrophic injury and illness.
“And if we could bring genuine competition to health care, health care would be one-fifth the cost of what it is right now.”
According to Johnson’s campaign website, Gary Johnson “believes in the sanctity of the life of the unborn.” However, he also believes that abortion is a very personal decision for a woman to make and that the government should play no role in making that decision.
Johnson also advocates for the legalization of marijuana. Although he does not support the legalization of other currently illegal drugs, Johnson thinks that we should focus on rehabilitation and harm-reduction programs rather than our current criminal prosecution approach.
A major component to Johnson’s campaign is his foreign policy. Basically, Johnson does not believe that America should be the world’s police.
“We need to build a strong military,” Johnson’s website states. “But we should not use our military strength to try to solve the world’s problems. Doing so creates new enemies and perpetual war.”
International affairs are not the only thing that our government inappropriately polices.
“Gary Johnson believes that people, not politicians, should make choices in their personal lives,” Johnson’s site states.
“Responsible adults should be free to marry whom they want, arm themselves if they want, and lead their personal lives as they see fit — as long as they aren’t harming anyone else in doing so.”
In addition to these policies, Johnson wishes to reform the education system by eliminating the federal Department of Education in order to allow state and local government to implement changes that best help their students.
Johnson also plans to reform the criminal justice system and focus on rehabilitation over incarceration. He believes in fair religious freedom that does not lead to discrimination or the barring of civil rights.
“Americans want to be able to choose a president who is capable of reason, of learning from failures, and of telling them the truth, even when it hurts,” Johnson says. “I’m offering that choice.”
