Steven A. Rosile
Libertarian Candidate for
United States House, District 4
Kansas 2008

Mission

My mission is to restore Constitutional principles and reduce the intrusiveness, size and expense of the federal government. That this must be done, and done soon, should be obvious to all Americans in the wake of the violations of our rights and Constitution that have occurred since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

The list is long and includes making war without a Congressional Declaration of War as the Constitution specifies. Warrant-less wiretapping, sneak and peek searches, imprisonment without charges and even torture are now everyday, routine occurrences.

These violations by the federal government of the Supreme Law Of The Land, the United States Constitution, must be stopped and the rights of the people restored. This will not come about until the voters of this nation refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils, which is, after all, still evil. Instead, vote for candidates from the Libertarian Party, other minor parties or independents. Otherwise, the major party candidates will take your votes as approval of their past misdeeds and as a mandate to take even more of the wealth, rights and property of We, the People.

Send a message, send a demand, that real change is what You, the voting public, seeks by casting your vote for a non-major party candidate for every office that has such a choice. Or write in someone you feel is a better choice whenever you are faced with unacceptable candidates. Please, do not waste your vote. A vote for real change in 2008 will be a vote for someone that is not a major party candidate.

This is the only way to get the attention of officeholders in Washington, DC, and in our state capitols across the nation. Stop voting for the lesser of two evils and start voting for America!

Profile

Place and Date of Birth: Stillwater, Oklahoma. April 15, 1952

Kansas Residency: Continuous for 55 years, has lived in Sedgwick, Butler, Johnson, and Douglas Counties. Is now residing in Sedgwick County.

Occupation: Currently is working in the construction industry. Has worked in concrete flatwork and masonry, as an auto mechanic and repair shop owner, aircraft assembly and modification mechanic at Boeing Wichita, and sound reinforcement technician, booking agent and promoter for acts such as the late Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, Asleep at the Wheel, Ray Wiley Hubbard, Bugs Henderson, Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, and Kim Simmons and the New Savoy Brown.

Education: 1970 graduate of Wichita Southeast. 1992 B.A. Political Science from Wichita State University, graduated Magna Cum Laud and Honors Program. Attended the University of Kansas Law School but did not graduate.

Marital Status: Single.

Length of affliation with Libertarian Party: 32 years. Was a delegate to the 1993, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008 Libertarian National Conventions in Salt Lake City, Utah, Anaheim, California, Indianapolis, Indiana, Atlanta, Georgia and Denver, Colorado. Has served as Chair (2001-2005) and Secretary (2005-2008) of the Libertarian Party of Kansas (LPKS) and is editor of the email newsletter of the Libertarians of South Central Kansas, the LSOCK News.

Previous political offices sought: United States House of Representives First District Kansas 1992 and Fourth District 2000. Secretary of State for Kansas 1994 and 1998, and United States Senate 1996, 2002 and 2004.

Information

Positions on Issues

1. Budget Deficit and National Debt
2. Money and Inflation
3. Health Care
4. Education
5. Abortion
6. Environment
7. Trade
8. Agriculture
9. Subsidies
10. Taxes
11. Census
12. Welfare
13. Social Security
14. Firearms
15. Crime
16. Death Penalty
17. Campaign Finance Reform


Positions on Issues

1. Budget Deficit and National Debt:

The deficit and debt are the most damaging of all factors to the economy.

The tremendous growth of government under the Bush II administration should alarm all Americans due to the massive forced government borrowing. This diverts funds that otherwise would be available to our entrepreneurs and businesses.

Without access to these resources new businesses can not be established, and existing businesses are unable to expand and modernize their operations which translates to no new jobs and the loss of existing jobs. The deficit must be brought under control in the next few years if the U.S. is to remain a great nation.

This goal is achievable without any tax increases. Reductions in federal spending, however, are absolutely necessary. The Libertarian Party is the only political party that has a plan to eliminate the deficit and debt over a reasonably short period of time. The democrat and republican parties both continually enlarge the federal government and increase its powers. The democrats by increasing taxes now and spending, spending, spending while the republicans increase spending by borrowing, borrowing, borrowing, the net effect of which is reducing the value of the dollar via inflation. In reality this is also stealing, stealing, stealing from future generations of Americans that are not even born yet. Talk about taxation without representation!

In fact, the Libertarian program can accomplish these goals with tax decreases, and eliminate the personal income tax altogether by greatly reducing the size and number of federal agencies outright and through the implementation of "sunset laws", such as those that have already been enacted by many states.

In effect, all federal agencies, except the few that are expressly authorized by the Constitution, would automatically expire after some specified term of years. This would force all of these agencies to justify their budget and existence at regular intervals, and so would greatly facilitate the downsizing and elimination of unneeded bureaucracy while fully funding those few agencies which are truly essential to ensuring the American way of life.
The burden of the national debt on the citizens of this nation, and their children and grandchildren, is simply scandalous.

The total is now over 9 Trillion dollars and growing at over $10,000 a second.

To eliminate the debt we must first deal with the deficit in the manner I have previously outlined. In addition, we should sell off some of the huge tracts of public land in the western states that the federal government has no legitimate need for and apply these revenues to paying off the national debt, and to fully fund and privatize Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

2. Money and Inflation:

The US Constitution, Article I, Section 10 states in part "No State shall...make anything but Gold and Silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debt..." This is sound policy and the American Dollar was once a gold or silver coin. Paper money was merely a receipt that clearly stated :Payable on Demand in Lawful Money" or "Redeemable in Lawful Money at the United States Treasury or any Federal Reserve Bank". Lawful Money being gold or silver coin. However, the Federal Reserve, which is not Federal any more than Federal Express is, but rather is a privately owned bank that has usurped control of our money and wealth. It creates
"dollars" out of mere booking entries and then charges interest for the use of it.

This is unconstitutional and is the true cause of inflation and the increasing cost of everything and the destruction of savings and retirement accounts. The value of just two standard silver dimes, as were last minted in 1964, is enough to purchase a gallon of gas today. That's right, gas is still only $0.20 a gallon in silver money, about the same as in the great depression many years ago. The United States should never have abandoned a metallic currency and if we had not done so we would not have been in one monetary crisis after another for the past thirty five years.

We must return to metallic currency, gold and silver, to stop inflation and maintain the value of our dollar and our savings. As the US Mint has been minting one ounce gold and silver coins for 22 years now, I propose that the Dollar be set at one ounce of pure silver and all prices and contracts be stated in weights of silver or gold. This will be difficult but it is possible. This will restore our monetary system to what the Constitution mandates and repair our economic system and prevent it from being subject to the evils of paper money manipulation.

3. Health Care:

Much of the current mess in health care can squarely be placed on government intervention. I have reliable information that our retired citizens are paying as large a fraction of their income on health care today under Medicare and all the myriad additional programs enacted subsequent to it as they were in 1965, before the government initiated these programs, and that the bureaucracy and related regulations and paperwork are responsible for much of the increase in health care costs. For these reasons I oppose any form of national health care, and desire to remove the federal government from responsibility for providing health care services for anyone, with the exception of military hospitals for our active servicemen. Veterans Hospitals should be abolished as they are with few exceptions substandard medical facilities. Disabled veterans should be treated at public facilities of their choice, and the fair market value of their treatment should be paid for by the military establishment, as is only just.

4. Education:

The federal government has intervened in education with the result that our public schools graduate students that are unable to read, write, or do mathematical computations at the level that business and industry require to be competitive in a global economy. Responsibility for education must be returned to local communities, parents and educators must work together to improve the quality of education of our greatest natural resource, our children.

5. Abortion:

On a woman's right to obtain a legal abortion, I am pro-choice. However, I respect the beliefs of, those who disagree with this position. I understand their outrage at the thought of their forced tax dollars being used to finance abortions, and I oppose federal or state funding of abortions.

6. Environment:

This is an issue of utmost concern to all of us. It is also one of the few areas that I depart from the strict application of fundamental Libertarian philosophy. The position taken by the party purists is privatization of resources for conservation and efficient utilization, and in addition so that environmental damages can be addressed by private litigation in the courts. The underlying premise is sound, in my opinion, but is lacking in that it does not adequately cover many real world situations, such as air pollution, where it may be impossible to determine the specific source for purposes of litigation, and many of the problems are the result of aggregate, diverse causes. Acid rain and ozone depletion are two examples of this difficulty of identification. For these reasons, and the fact that solutions to global environmental damage necessitates coordination between nations, I feel that this area qualifies for some governmental control. This may involve setting standards for vehicular and industrial emissions, monitoring of pollutants in the air, water, and soil, funding of research to determine the extent, causes, and hopefully solutions, that will enable us to reverse the damage already sustained, and encouraging the use of renewable, cleaner burning fuels such as ethanol.

7. Trade:

I support a policy of free trade with all nations that are not declared enemies of the United States. Unilateral free trade is to our benefit. When we save on goods bought abroad it allows us to spend more on current consumption and savings, allowing us to consume more now, and consume more later. That said, I would not allow any foreign businesses or countries to dump products at below production cost for the purpose of gaining market share and to crowd out domestic industry.

8. Agriculture:

The business of farming and ranching should be left under the control of farmers and ranchers. The Department of Agriculture and the Commodity Credit Corporation should be abolished.

9. Subsidies:

Subsidies of all forms for manufacturers, farmers and ranchers, and business and individuals should be abolished. There is nothing more efficient than free enterprise to produce and distribute goods and services that the people truly want and need. Government involvement actually does more harm than good by restricting competition and setting up regulatory agencies that are then captured by the industries they are supposed to regulate. An example of this is the legislation currently pending in Congress that would eliminate lawsuits against manufacturers and marketers of FDA approved prescription drugs that harm and sometimes even kill people. This is an outrage! No recourse in the courts for compensation if you or your loved ones are injured or killed from prescription drugs just because the FDA approves them.

10. Taxes:

Federal taxes must be limited to those found in the U.S. Constitution, Art. 1, sec. 8, imposts (user fees), excises (consumption taxes and license fees), and duties (import and export taxes). Direct taxes on natural persons are prohibited by the Constitution without apportionment and this is the ONLY thing so important that it is stated twice. At Art. I, sec. 2, cl. 3: "...Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states... according to their respective numbers...". This sets up the formula for apportioning Representatives to the US House as well as the formula for direct taxes (and the return of excess funds - based on population not agencies doling out grants). This limitation on direct taxes is also found at Art. I, sec. 9, cl. 4: " No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census..." The 16th Amendment authorizes an unapportioned tax on corporate "income" only, not natural persons who earn compensation or "wages" for work. This is an equal exchange of property, not "income". The 16th Amendment, as properly construed and limited by the US Supreme Court in several early 20th century decisions, only applies to the profits of those legal fictions known as corporations, not natural persons. The I.R.S. and the income tax must only be applied to corporations and must end their fraudulent and illegal taxation of natural persons.

11. Census:

The current misuse of the census by the Federal government must cease. The census is mandated by the Constitution for the purpose of apportioning the number of representatives each state is entitled to send to the United States House of Representatives, and apportioning direct taxes among the states. For this Constitutional purpose the Census only needs to know how many people live at each residence and nothing more.

The personal, financial, and racial information demanded by the Census is an affront to every American and must be eliminated.

12. Welfare:

It is estimated that no more that $.08 of every tax dollar that is allocated for federal welfare programs are actually received by the needy. This administrative overhead is total waste and it is imperative that the federal government gets out of the individual welfare business so that these wasted funds can remain with the people of the respective states, where, under their control through private and public means the needs of the truly needy can more effectively and efficiently be met.

13. Social Security:

This program is not insurance and has been operated as a huge Ponzi scheme by the government to fleece our citizens and to force our children to pay for todays government excesses. Benefits must be maintained for those who have paid into the system and depend on it for sustenance during their retirement, but the entire system must be phased out and completely privatized or totally eliminated.

The use by private companies of SSNs for identification must be prohibited as this practice violates personal privacy and has resulted in the proliferation of identity theft. This has destroyed the lives of increasing numbers of Americans.

14. Firearms:

I support absolutely the right of citizens to own and bear arms, for purposes of sport, self-defense, and militia.

15. Crime:

Government has the responsibility to protect all of us and each of us from force and fraud against our person and property. But this duty does not extend in any degree to protecting one from him or herself. The so-called war on drugs typifies the great harm the government itself causes when it oversteps its boundaries. This "war" is not a war on drugs, but a war on people and on the Bill of Rights. We now have more people in prisons in this country per capita than any nation on earth, the bulk of whom are convicted of drug crimes. Prohibition should have taught us that the government can not stop the use of drugs (alcohol) and that attempting to do so creates crime, corruption, and violence.

For these reasons possession, use, and sale of all drugs must be legalized for adults. This is not advocating the use of drugs. What is tolerated is not the same as what is advocated. Through education we can curb drug use. But prohibition fails because it creates huge profits. The struggle to control these profits is the root of the increasing violence seen across the country. The only solution to this violence is to remove the profits from the drug trade by legalization. We can deal with abuse and addiction as a medical problem, and effectively reduce them through education.

16. Death Penalty:

My position on the death penalty is that the state should only be allowed to seek it for multiple or serial murderers and murder committed in a jail or prison. The chance of executing an innocent human being must be nil or society is committing a grave injustice.

The distinction between a single and multiple murders is that many murders are between family members or persons that know one another. This can be the result of domestic violence, child or spouse abuse, a long standing grudge or rivalry, or even an argument between good friends that gets out of hand. Many of these persons are unlikely to ever repeat their crime and so pose little threat to others or society. The distinction also gives an incentive to one who commits a single murder to not kill again.

The provision that jail or prison murder be punishable by death is to lessen the incidence of violence in these volatile environments. Guards, workers, prisoners, all would be better protected to the extent that fear of execution and death is a deterrent to a diverse group. Many of those serving long or life sentences could only be deterred by such a fear.

17. Campaign Finance Reform:

The Federal Election Commission must be abolished and the federal financing of the Democrat and Republican Nominating Conventions and Presidential Elections ended. Federal funding for all other Presidential candidates must also stop.

All expenditures in excess of $200 in furtherance of a federal election campaign shall be made public.

The candidate may spend as much of his own money as he cares to, subject to the condition above. A candidate may borrow money to spend on his campaign as his own from any person or entity, subject to the condition that all such loans be made public, as well as the terms of repayment.

No one but a natural person residing within the geographical boundaries of the representation of the office may contribute to a federal election campaign, except the candidates home state and national Party organizations.

All contributions to a campaign for federal elective office shall be without limitation, but public disclosure is required for amounts in excess of $200.

The practical effect of these reforms is to drastically reduce the amount of money being spent on election campaigns. This helps to assure that all candidates would have incentive to participate in forums and debates that include all candidates. Without the ability to buy an election by merely broadcasting more television ads than your opponent, the political process of choosing those who will represent us might become more than the sham it is now.

In addition to the above the 17th Amendment must be repealed. The states would be then have proper representation in Congress as the legislature of each state would elect the Senators from that state. States would regain the representation in Congress that they must have to insure the proper distribution of power between the states and the federal government.

Related links

• www.lpks.org
  Kansas Libertarian Party