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WELCOME ALL RON PAUL R3VOLUTIONARIES!

Working to keep Utah's First District,
"The Land of the FREE and the Home of the Brave,"
Not the Land of the "cowed" and the Home of the Bailed Out!

If you live in Northern Utah including Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Coalville, Dugway, Layton, Logan,
Morgan, Ogden, Park City, Snowville, Tooele, Tremonton, and Wendover, (See First District map)
send a message to Washington. Vote for

"JOE THE LIBERATOR"

12 November -- Creative Live Center panel following "It's a New World if You Can Take It" presentation at the Sedona Arizona Creative Life Center. See: http://www.sedonacreativelife.com/pre1064.html

6 November -- Dr. Buchman on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Dr. Joseph Buchman, who completed his campaign for the United States Congress in Utah's First District on Tuesday (with 2.2 percent of the vote), will be a guest in the first hour of nationally broadcast Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. (1:05 am to 2:00am Eastern, 10:05pm to 11:00pm Pacific) tonight November 6/7 2008.  

He will discuss his campaign, including his call on the US Congress to pass legislation protecting whistle blowers, and removing any secrecy oaths that prohibit disclosure of government waste, fraud or criminal activity within black budget programs, as well as issues involving any evidence of extraterrestrial contact with the earth.

Dr. Buchman will share his experience of being ridiculed around this issue, especially in light of President Elect Obama's recent selection of John Podesta, former Clinton Chief of Staff and UFO disclosure advocate, as the head of his transition team 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ttSXYwZsg

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06podesta.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/10/22/ufo.records/

He will also be promoting his grassroots exopolitics initiative

www.ThePeopleOfEarthApologize.com

which urges all of the People of Earth to develop a global peace consciousness, as well as the Million Fax on Washington

http://www.faxonwashington.org

which over the remaining 74 days of the Bush administration's transfer of power to President Elect Obama's team is the exopolitics initiative of the year.

He will also discuss the possible establishment of an exploratory committee to consider a 2010 run for the United States Senate.

For more information see:

www.BuchmanForCongress.com

and

www.ThePeopleOfEarthApologize.com (Dr. Buchman's "grassroots exopolitics initiative")

Coast to Coast AM is broadcast on over 500 United States radio station affiliates, as well as Canadian stations, several of which stream the show on their station's Web site. The show's Streamlink service offers live Internet feeds of the show by subscription. The program is also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio in the United States, on Talk Radio 165.

Listen online at 

http://www.knrs.com/pages/player.html

or find a local AM station at:

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/info/wheretolisten.html

The first hour of Coast to Coast AM is typically rebroadcast four hours later in Western time zones (3:05 to 4 am Mountain, 2:05 to 3 am Pacific).

Dr. Buchman will also be appearing in-person on a panel following the "It's a new world if you can take it" presentation at the Sedona Arizona based Creative Life Center on Wednesday November 12th, 2008.

http://www.sedonacreativelife.com/pre1064.html

2 November PRESS RELEASE -- LATEST KSL POLL REPORTS
BUCHMAN AT 12 PERCENT!!
300 PERCENT INCREASE IN PAST THREE DAYS!
(It was a typo; apparently they a new proofreader. Tuesday I received 2.2 percent of the vote.)

3 November -- MONDAY, 8pm to 11pm (Mountain Time). Libertarian Congressional Candidate Joseph Geddes Buchman will be interviewed on the national Rollye James Show. XM-165, and streaming at www.rollye.net). CALL IN and ask Dr. Joe ALL your questions. 88 88 ROLLYE -- That's 888-876-5593 toll free.

3 November -- FROGS speak

"I don't agree with him at all. I don't mind paying my taxes. Taxes are good."

Comment overheard at the Park City Film Festival, just after my video ran pointing out that the average American now pays over 50 percent of his lifetime earnings in taxes to an increasingly wasteful, unaccountable and non-transparent government which can't even live on that, and has borrowed another $10,000,000,000,000.00, mostly from other nations.

If not for federal withholding, hidden sales and other taxes, and the lack of even a high-school level of economics education, this frog might notice how hot the water has gotten, how such high levels of taxation are a drag on the economy -- actully reducing the amount of real dollars available for confiscation, waste, fraud, crimianl acts and a tiny bit of "wealth redistribution" by our government, and begin to think about at least complaining, much less actually doing something, before being boiled to death.

Conversation with two friends:

ME: Do you know what you call it when you work, and the product of your labor is taken away from you by force, without your consent?

Friend A: Socialism?

Friend B: No, that's called Communism.

Friend A: No . . . wait, what's Facism?

ME: Any other guesses?

Friends A & B: What is it?

ME: When the product of your labor is taken by others without your consent, it's called SLAVERY. America has become half slave.

Friend B. No it hasn't.

Friend A: Don't be stupid. Look at the interstate highways and all the other benefits we get from government.

ME (to myself): I wonder what it is called when the product of your labor is taken by force, largely wasted, returned in small measure, and you no longer care? 

Or what it's called when the product of your labor is continuously taken by force, and you don't even notice? 

I'm not sure there's a word out there for an act so far beyond self-destructive that it remains apparently undefined and perhaps ultimately indefinable.

Election day results at:

http://electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/30010.html

I'll be with other Libertarians watching the results at Lumpys and Mos in downtown SLC Tuesday night.
I think we'll all need a Liberty loving friend or two come Tuesday night.



"The far greater, immeasurable cost is
the lives of our lost and injured sons and daughters.
This is an impact that, like those of every war, ripples out for generations to come."
Joseph G. Buchman, March 2008.

The Libertarian Party is the only party committed to the principles of non-aggression.

"A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from
the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 1801.

That's ten thousand billion dollars.

What is a billion?
One billion seconds ago was 1972.
One billion minutes ago was about the year AD 100.
At the current rate our government is spending money,
one billion dollars, was 3 hours and 53 minutes ago.

According to the Truth in Accounting Institute future government spending currently required
by federal law exceeds $57 trillion dollars.

That's $188,000.00 for every man, woman and child in the USA

3 November -- UPDATE -- it's getting far worse

US Treasury seeks to borrow a record 550 billion dollars for November/December 2008

"Our children, grandchildren and their children will inherit this debt.
If we continue to spend at this rate, they will surely condemn us for our greed and shortsightedness.
Much of our nation's debt has been paid for by foreign governments. This makes any
meaningful "foreign policy" with them impossible. We must return to the wise and frugal government
Thomas Jefferson and our founders intended. Or we will wind up like every other nation that histroy shows
lived beyond its means. We must act now. Democrats and Republicans have shown they cannot be trusted
with our nation's finances. I call on Congress to:

1) reassert its Constitutional Authority over black budget, out of control military
    and executive branch spending.

2) provide life-time protection to whistle blowers as a percentage of the waste
    and fraud their disclosures provide.

3) pass legislation to remove any secrecy oaths which in any way prevent,
    prohibit or discourage such testimony (including any related to ET and UFO
    issues.)

4) hold public hearings.

5) require transparancy like that in The Online Goverment Open Accountability Ledger Initiative

"On September 10th, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield testified before Congress that over two trillion dollars was missing from unauditable accounts at the Pentagon.

"Catherine Austin Fitts, Assistant Secretary of HUD testified that billions more were missing in unauditable accounts there and across the federal government.

"A billion there, a trillion here -- it starts to add up."

"We must regain control of our nation's finances.
It's time for real change -- a Libertarian voice in Congress."

-- Joseph Geddes Buchman, April 2008.
MS, Finance, Purdue University 1983.
PhD, Indiana University 1989.

1 November -- Drug Abuse is bad; the "war" on drugs is much worse.

The "War" on Drugs has cost over a trillion dollars and resulted in more than 37 million arrests of Americans for nonviolent offenses. Building prisons is the fastest growing industry in the United States. More than 2.2 million Americans are currently in jail for nonviolent "crimes," more nonviolent prisioners than any other nation in history. And every year we arrest an additional 1.9 million more. We cannot affor the War on Drug it's not winable and it's bankrupting us as we borrow money from China and other nations to pay for it.

I support LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). The mission of LEAP is "To reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition." I believe freedom and education, not punishment and incarceration, are the best way to reduce or eliminate harmful drug use.

1 November -- SUMMIT COUNTY LIBERTARIAN MEET THE CANDIDATES
Breakfast/Lunch to be held at the No Worries Cafe and Grill (I-80, exit 140)
TODAY!! Saturday November 1, 11:45am to 1:45pm. (Breakfast menu available till noon.)
Confirmed Summit County candidates include current Libertarian Congressional candidate Joe Buchman, past Libertarian Congressional candidate Lynn Badler, and Constitution Party County Council candidate Gary Shumway.

30 October -- NEW RADIO commercials hit the air. Running nationally (and internationally) on XM-165, 570AM KNRS in Salt Lake City, and via websites like this one.

Hear them here!   Debt (60 sec) and   Disclosure (60 sec)  or  read the text versions.

30 October -- About Super Duper Dell for Gov

Andy McCullough, our Libertarian candidate for Attorney General summed it up best in his blog today:

"I talked with Doug Wright on his KSL talk show. The subject was our candidate for Governor, "Superdell" Schanze. He wanted to know how even 2% of the electorate could support that nut. I told him that the more I see, the more I think Dell is not as crazy as he seems. He got on the cover of the latest Salt Lake Weekly, and he got a whole hour of air time on KSL today. I'm lucky to be mentioned at all, even though I have run an active campaign and spent over $10,000. It seems that the way to get noticed is to act crazy; and now we have to wonder who really is crazy."

Like Andy I have lived first-hand the bias of the media. Despite requests from my Democratic opponent, Morgan Bowen, I've been excluded from debates, from serious media coverage and access.

THANKS again to the Standard Examiner of Ogden for being THE ONE major exception to this rule.

29 October -- Let's ALL "Party Like It's 1773!"

Just received the endorsement of the Boston Tea Party. I agree wholeheartedly with the Boston Tea Party platform statement that:
". . . supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose."  

29 October -- Poll Results Look Promising

The Salt Lake Tribune reported the results of a Mason-Dixon poll taken of 400 likely voters in each of Utah's three Congressional districts. Four percent may not seem like much, but it is a start, and I'm pleased to be running ahead of the Constitution Party candidate, as well as higher than the 2006 Libertarian candidate. We'll are doubling our advertising over the weekend with a target of reaching well over six percent in the election.

Utah House District One

29 October -- Response to the Standard Examiner's endorsement of Congressman Bishop

Dear editor,

In your endorsement of Rob Bishop you stated:

"Bishop is committed to keeping the (Hill Air Force) base secure and an integral part of our local economy. . . He also believes more funding is needed for our nation to adjust and meet military and diplomatic initiatives over the next 10 years."

My response:

Hill Air Force base should not continue to be funded for any reasons related to its economic impact on the community. Period.

Each military base should be funded based only on its value to our national defense and for no other reason whatsoever.

The US Air force is, and should be, headed to smaller, unmanned, more lethal technology which will no longer require the long runways, large buildings or infrastructure of the Hill Airfare Base or others like it. Our community would be best served by preparing now for its eventual, certain closure. Otherwise, given the level of federal debt, we're just borrowing from other nations, including China, to keep it and other bases open. And that is certainly NOT in our national defense interests.

Joseph Geddes Buchman, PhD
Libertarian Candidate for Utah's First Congressional District

The page takes awhile to load, but the video of my interview with the Standard Examiner Editoral Board as well as those of the other candidates they have endorsed can be found HERE.

28 October - Coalville, North Summit High School Candidate's Night

Thanks to the government class at North Summit High School for Candidates' Night last night and to Morgan Bowen for the lively debate. Congressman Bishop and the Constitution Party candidate, Kirk Pearson were missing. It was also a terrific opportunity to learn about all of the candidates for Summit County offices. The Park Record covered the debate,

". . . Joe Buchman, a Libertarian from Summit Park who is running a long-shot campaign against Bishop and Bowen, disagreed with the bailout of the financial industry as well. He said he is worried about the national debt, which he labeled "unconscionable," said he wants whistleblowers protected and said Americans have relinquished rights to the federal government.  He charged there is little difference between Republican and Democratic politicians once they are elected."

The full story is HERE.

24 October - THANKS! to the League of Women Voters

Thanks to the League of Women Voters of Utah for their Voter's Guide. You'll find brief descriptions of my positions on issues important to the League in that guide. Apparently the Republican, Democratic and Constitution party candidates have yet to respond to their questions.

22 October - THANKS! to the Ogden Chamber of Commerce

Thanks again to the Ogden Chamber of Commerce for their Candidates' Night, and to Congressman Rob Bishop who has always had a kind word. Unfortunately our Democratic and Constitution party opponents weren't there.

21 October - THANKS! to the Standard Examiner

A public Thank You to the Ogden Standard Examiner for the hospitality and respect I experienced during the half-hour long interview with their Editorial Board. The Standard Examiner, in my experience there, is truly living up to the Constitutional role of a free press that our founders envisioned as necessary for the very survival of our Constitutional Republic. I wish I could say the same for other media outlets in Utah.

I was especially impressed by their October 14th editorial ("Bring us some real debates") and by their Editorial Agenda which states in part, "We will still suffer the same disappointing government if we keep returning to office those people who keep disappointing us. . . Shame on us if we're content with the status quo."

20 October - New Video Released

See our NEW VIDEO National Debt, Federal Spending, Taxes AND ET!

14 October - Radio Interview Now Available Online

Was on the Rollye James Show last night, XM 165. Rollye is a terrific host and brilliant libertarian. Best interview to date!
Listen to the broadcast HERE.

Congressman Bishop, Democratic nominee Morgan Bowen and me.
Utah State University debate, 19 September 2008.
I am one of only three Libertarians running for Federal office
who has been able to debate their Demopublican opponents.

17 September - My One Minute Position Statement

See the Salt Lake Tribune Candidates' Page for this statement. It's the core of my campaign in one paragraph:

Candidate's statement: Libertarians are committed to non-aggression, personal freedom and individual responsibility (Free Agency). Libertarians know that, "No human being has the right to initiate force against any other human being for any reason whatsoever." Every other politician and political party uses force to do whatever they seem to think is best for others. Libertarians don't. The end, no matter how good it seems, is never justified when using an evil or forceful means. Dr. Buchman served as tenured professor of business at Utah Valley State College from 1993 to 2001. He lives with his wife and four children in Park City.

2 September - The wouldn't let me in the debate (I'm polling four percent; they require five), but they did allow a 2 1/2 minute statement.

Recorded my KUED-TV "Free Speech" message last week. Watch the video by clicking on the photo below.

KUED-TV Free Speech Message

Frequently Asked Questions

Why protect Whistle Blowers?

Because I have been one and my family and I know the something of the prices whistle blowers pay.

I blew a whistle on what was Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) for what I strongly felt and still adamantly feel was fraud in at least one of their new degree proposals.

Someone there, whether from incompetence or conscious intent, falsely used my name in a proposal to the Utah Board of Regents.

See: http://www.utahsbr.edu/Agendas/2001_Agendas/Aug2001.pdf (Tab C, page 20).

I was never offered that job, much less accepted. They had no basis whatsoever for falsely reporting to the Regents that they could count on my teaching in that program (which began only a couple of weeks later)!!!

Nor was I aware my credentials had been used in this proposal until I found it six months later while Googling for my own name. In other words there were lots of people at UVSC who knew I was not there, who reviewed and approved this proposal before it was submitted but didn't bring it to my attention. In fact I had been gone from UVSC for over two years when this was sent to the Regents. (I was on a two-year unpaid leave of absence to teach at Indiana University.)

(Three years earlier I'd reported a fellow faculty member who told me he "got release time from UVSC to be a BYU student ward bishop." I'd also stumbled across a UVSC vice president, Gill Cook, using college facilities to repair his vehicles.)

That kind of whistle blowing tended to result, in my experience, in a quite hostile work environment. It's something I've felt my family and I have been paying the price for ever since.

When I sought legal counsel over this issue, the school turned the matter over to the State Attorney General's office, whose job, very well executed I must say, was to defend the State and its schools, and not, really, to look into the truth, or lack thereof, in that proposal or anything else that had happened to me.

In the end my attorney missed a deadline with the court (the one where Judge Harding had served before being arrested), and the case was dismissed without ever being heard.

Where I had hoped some part of the State of Utah would come to my defense over the matter, or perhaps even see fit to reward my efforts for integrity and honesty in higher education, it instead, in my experience, sought every avenue to silence me.

That's one of the key differences I hope to bring to Washington -- namely not only protection for those who, at the risk of their own personal interests and careers report waste, fraud and criminal behavior for the betterment of us all, but gratitude and equitable compensation.

I believe this could save our nation hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars.

"Because I have known the torment of thirst, I would dig a well where others may drink."
From the forward to, Two Little Savages, by Ernest Thompson Seton

I’ve also been getting quite a few emails these past few weeks from potential voters asking questions about my positions.

This one from Carl S. is one of my favorites.

>>1- How do you feel about corn being turned into a gas-like fuel?<<

I wouldn't stop someone who wants to do this from doing it (it's closer to moonshine than anyone is talking about), but it takes more energy than it produces, drives up food prices, causes children in third world nations to starve so we can drive our SUVs here.

Of course I do not believe taxpayer money, not a dime, should be wasted on this.


>> 2- What are your feelings on nuclear energy? <<

Nuclear plants should be built only where private insurance companies are willing to underwrite the cost of a disaster.  This would tend to limit them to being built far from populated areas, and use advanced technologies. Fusion power is less risky.  Thanks to excessive government interference, we're stuck with a Model-T level of plant.


>> 3- Should automobile companies be required to sell automobiles with higher Mile Per Gallon results? <<

Required by whom?  Our federal government?  Absolutely not.

If elected I will work to end Soviet-style central planning by our federal government and free the marketplace to innovate.  The automobile was not designed by a congressional committee. Can you imagine what it would look like if it was?


>> 4- What specifically do you want to do to help with the energy issues of today? <<

Get the federal government out of the way.  Can you imagine how our government would respond if electricity or gasoline were invented today?  Too dangerous to allow the public access.  Need to keep hidden for "National Security."

Innovation by private entrepreneurs is the ONLY thing that caused the US to enjoy the highest standard of living.  Sadly that kind of government policy is in our past, and has largely been socialized away in our future.


> Immigration Issues:
> 1- What do you feel is wrong with our immigration policy now?<<

We give health care, education, housing, food, transportation to every immigrant, legal or not.

End welfare, then open our boarders to all who seek freedom, a fair chance and nothing more.

Otherwise we will continue to lose industry to foreign nations who offer cheaper labor.


>> 2- What should happen to the illegal aliens currently living within the United States now? <<

End welfare, then let them choose.  Deport or jail all with any other criminal activity or public health concerns.


> 3- What are your thoughts on babies of illegal aliens born in the > United Stated receiving citizenship? <<

There should be no such thing.

>> 4- What should happen to companies that hire illegal aliens? <<

Pay the cost of deportation.


> Economic Issues:
> 1- Would you have voted for the bailout bill recently passed by Congress? <<

Never.  It is the beginning, or middle, of the end of free enterprise in America.  And it was not just a bailout bill.  It was three bills crammed together, two having nothing to do with a bailout.  It was, in my opinion, criminal.  185 billion in dollars in new federal programs, unrelated to the bailout, to buy your congressman's vote.  

It is the beginning of fascism in America, where the state, not its citizens, own all industry.


> 2- What can be done on "pork projects" that are added into bills? <<

I'll hold media conferences and publicize, like former Senator William Proxmire's "Golden Fleece" awards, to publicize and ridicule the wasteful, fraudulent and criminal acts of the federal government.

> 3- What are you feelings on healthcare for everyone? <<

Great.

You don't expect the federal government to provide this do you?  It can't do education, roads, public housing, the space program, alternative energy (yes, it's spent hundreds of billions on this since the 1970s with zero result), our National Parks, or anything else.

There's no way I want those 435 politicians in Congress and the political appointees who live off the public dole to be, or to supervise, my doctors!


> Other Issues:
> 1- What are you feelings on space exploration? <<

Love it. Makes for great TV.  Think the networks should pay for it. I'll be certain to watch as well as happy to send them some of my money.

Force people to give their tax dollars for it, or be hauled off to jail for not paying their taxes?  No way.


> 2- If a bill sponsored by member of another party came to your desk that was really good for the country, but your party begged you not to vote for it, how would you vote? <<

I will vote for whatever maximizes individual freedom, minimizes taxes and gives us America back as the land of the free and home of the brave.  If that's what you mean by "good of the country," then I will support it over any other concerns (not that the Libertarian Party would ever ask for anything but maximum freedom).


> 3- How will you communicate with your constituents and keep them informed and involved? <<

Email seems good.  I'd try to bring national media attention to waste, fraud and criminal behavior.  Would live here, and not in DC as much as possible.


> 4- What are you feelings on same sex marriage? <<

I have no feelings on it one way or another.  In terms of public policy, I don't believe "marriage" is ANY of the government's business any more than communion, confession, baptism or the like.  It belongs in a church.

Non-violent, lawful contractual relations between adults are likewise absolutely note none of the government’s business.

> 5- What are your feelings on abortion? <<

I believe life begins at conception.  But I don't want a government so invasive that it can act to protect that life. Can you imagine the feds knowing within minutes of conception?

Therefore I support each woman's choice to end an unwanted pregnancy early in the term -- first one, two or three months at most.  After that,, I believe the state should act to protect that life.  Late term abortions, except in matters related to saving the life of the mother, especially when caused by violent acts by others should be prosecuted as murder.


> 6- How do you feel about Dell Schanze running for Governor of Utah on the Libertarian ticket?<<

Mostly embarrassed.  I do not intend to vote for him.  He does not represent my views.

> Big Question:
> 1- How do you respond to the concern citizens have that their representatives are in the back pocket of business and lobbyists? <<

Many are, especially military contractors. President Eisenhower in his farewell address warned us of this.

It's time for something other than the single Demopublican/Republicrat Party that has ruled without ceasing for over 60 years.

As one of only  435 members of Congress, I can't change much in Washington.  But I will investigate, draw public attention to waste, fraud and criminal acts by other members of Congress, and our government.

And I will never vote for anything that does not advance the cause of individual liberty.  That's where innovations in technology, health care and national security REALLY come from.  That's the only way the problems you cite above can be solved.  

What have we not learned from history?  Do we really think becoming more like the failed Soviet state, we will be more secure, healthy, wealthy or wise?

20 August

The eclipse was fantastic, but even more amazing and delightful was meeting Jarbaysan who works with a free-market (libertarian) think tank in Mongolia, and who noticed the Libertarian Party logo on my shirt as we were boarding the flight from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. We met a couple of weeks later and agreed that Mongolia currently has the most personal and public freedoms of any nation on the planet. They are working to reinvent American free enterprise as it was at its most powerful. The economic engine that gave the USA the highest standard of living, best health care, most technical innovations (from electricity to internal combustion engines), and remains the only true source of our national security.

Just before totality near Khovd Mongolia, 1 August 2008

26 July to 12 August -- In Mongolia and China

My son and I will be in Mongolia (near Khovd) for the total solar eclipse on 1 August, and then in China August 7th to 11th for the opening of the Olympics.

I'll be back to the campaign, and back to updating this site then . . .

22 July -- Voter Information Packet 100 word summary

The following is my statement for the Utah Voter Information Pamphlet: (see page 7).

Joseph Geddes Buchman is a life long Libertarian, retired tenured college professor and ardent proponent of personal freedom, individual responsibility and free agency. He holds an earned PhD from Indiana University and a Master's in Finance from Purdue. He seeks an end to the "Nanny State" and all new borrowing from other nations, which has resulted in a 10 trillion dollar debt, and over 100 trillion in unfunded, mandated federal spending -- bankrupting our grandchildren.
He supports no new federal programs, including those for alternative energy, for which the free market, not the government, is the only nonviolent, permanent solution.

15 July 2008 -- The Health Care Crisis

I sent the following in response to a question regarding my views on how the federal govenment can fix the "health care crisis" in America.

Our Federal Government is the cause of, and NOT the solution to, the "health care crisis" in our nation.

The welfare state, with, in effect, open borders and legislation that requires hospitals to care for everyone who comes to them, regardless of their ability to pay is a key part of the cause of the health care"crisis" in the USA. Obviously we would bankrupt our nation in an attempt to provide the level of health care we have become accustomed to, to everyone on the planet.

The philosophical root of this problem is the false belief among many that health care is a right. Or at least a right for those born within the borders of the USA. It is not.

Cutting edge health care, for which the USA was at one time known, was the result of dedicated human beings devoting years of study, and tens of thousands of dollars of their own money to pursue an education.

It was the result of competition among large corporations, risking millions of their stockholder's dollars to develop new technologies and new drugs because of the profits they could expect to earn.

Our out of control, nanny state, federal government has just about killed each of those free-enterprise efforts with excessive regulation, taxation, price controls and other disincentives for innovation.

Meanwhile there is a fundamental misunderstanding among most of the public as well as the media, which finds "crisis" news coverage more useful for maximizing ratings, than coverage of what's working in our world, about the true cost of health care in the USA.

The cost of an MRI In 1960 -- infinite. Unavailable at any price.

The cost of hypertension medications, even for president Roosevelt in 1940 -- infinite. Unavailable at any price.

Our public gratitude toward those businesses who engaged in the research and development to bring these to us, sometimes fighting through years of federal government required delays -- just about zero.

The cost of those delays to the businesses seeking to recoup their investment in R&D -- high enough to have stopped a significant amount of R&D in the USA.

It is excessive governmental wasteful regulation that has cause the so called "health care crisis" in the USA. It is the false perspective that access to health care is a universal "right" (or at least a"right" to those who happen to be born within the borders of the USA) that drives the illusion of this "crisis."

The concept that one is responsible for one's own health, and that of his or her family has been nearly lost in the USA. Instead we rest assured that our health care system can "fix it" for us. This, more than anything else, I believe drives unhealthy eating, unhealthy low levels of exercise, unhealthy disinterest in personal education around disease prevention. We are a society that has, over the past 70 years, transferred our personal responsibility for our own well-being to others.

One cause of this was the wage freeze that was implemented by our federal government during WWII to prevent inflation. In an economy where many of the best potential employees had been drafted or volunteered to serve in WWII, businesses were left to compete for employees by increasing wages, and thus the price of their goods and services. The federal government put a stop to this during WWII in a misguided attempt to control inflation.

Employers with wages frozen then began competing for employees through benefit packages, including health care -- for the first time eliminating the direct payer-payee relationship between patient and physician.

That eliminated, or greatly confused, the free market forces of health care. When you pay your health care provider directly, you seek the best possible care for your dollar. You seek to maximum value for your investment. With third-payer providers -- a direct result of the WWII policies of our federal government, that free-market efficiency has been lost.

Nonetheless, while government is the cause of this crisis -- the dramatic increase in some costs; the proposed solution is often more, not less government. Any physician who pursued this treatment program would be quickly run out of town. But not our federal government; it continues to grow on our health care industry like the cancer it is.

I lived the impact of this first hand.

My dad, the best physician I've ever known, took time with his patients. Had his office in our home as one way of reducing his costs and passing those savings on to his patients. Made house calls. Answered the office phone personally at night. Did Boy Scout and High School football and basketball team exams for free. Took time with his patients.

By the time he retired he told me he felt like he had been forced to become a half-time accountant and half-time physician by the federal government. He saw himself as a small businessman. Did all of his own paperwork, taxes, insurance billing -- all of which became increasingly complex and time consuming over the course of his career (from about 1962 to 1988). Absurd DRGs (diagnostic related groups) reviewed by those with a (seemingly marginal at best) high school education.

He quit before his time. Could have continued in practice, but retired rather than increase his prices and hire the staff he needed to handle the paperwork so he could continue to practice medicine the way he felt was best.

He was a good physician. Invested much of his time in continuing education. Caught many diseases early, especially cancers. Because he took time with his patients, something physicians cannot afford to do today. At one time had six patients all over 100 years old.

But the loss of his dedicated service, and that of so many others like him, is not noticed in our health care crisis debate today. Instead the loudest advocates for reform demand more government review, more regulation, more third-party payment schemes (with more bureaucrats employed in the system), More votes for those who promise to provide
"universal" health care with such "improvements."

Unnoticed is the free-market in health care that is emerging from this mess -- for those who can afford it.

Another good friend, Dr. Roger Billica, former CMO of NASA, has a private practice in Fort Collins, CO.

His website says:

"We believe that health care is a matter best kept between the patient and the doctor. Therefore we do not accept insurance or third party payment, and request that payment be made at the time of service. We do provide each patient with a detailed statement or superbill that can be submitted to most insurance companies for direct reimbursement. We accept cash, checks, and VISA and MasterCard. "

(See: http://www.meta-ehealth.com/site/office/index.jsp )

I saw Roger a couple of years ago. Paid $500.00 up front for 90 minutes of his time. More for tests he ordered later. And for the first time since I was a child being cared for my my dad, felt a physician actually CARED for me. Cared about my well-being and health. Had the time to really check me over. Wasn't rushed trying to get the 10 patients per hour that many are required to see in order to meet the cost-return requirements of health care as it's offered by those on the federal dole.

And it was worth every dime I spent.

Value in return for my cash.

The lack of that direct relationship is the key source of the "health care crisis" we face.

That and the nearly total lack of gratitude among patients for the technological and pharmacological innovations that, from another point of view, have actually reduced the cost from infinite (unavailable) to one which is inflated due to massive, unnecessary federal regulation.

Hope that gives you all you need. I'm leaving in a few hours for China and Mongolia (after a week at a Boy Scout summer camp) and may not be available for an interview or email reply until August 12.

If you pay my friend Roger at Tri-LIfe health $500 or so, he might be willing to talk with you about this issue. I'm sure he could provide more insight than I have above.

But if that seems in any way unfair, or something we need the federal government to correct, then you've missed my point entirely -- and are part of our health care crisis.

10 July -- In Las Vegas attending the Freedom Festival, see http://www.freedomfest.com.

What a fantistic experience this is, meeting Steve Forbes, listening to Ron Paul on video and helping to staff the Libertarian Party booth. Plus, thanks to a major airline delay, I was given Bob Barr's tickets to the Penn and Teller (life-long Libertarians) show!

4 June -- Back From Denver, working for the Barr/Root Presidential Campaign (as well as my own campaign for Congress.)

C-SPAN has posted streaming video of the presidential debate, nominating speeches, and balloting online.

Libertarian Presidential Candidates Debate (Bob Barr, Mike Gravel, Dr. George Phillies, Dr. Mary Ruwart, Mike Jingozian, Steve Kubby and Wayne Allen Root.) Former Senator Mike Gravel can be seen autographing a copy of his book to me at about 45 seconds in.

Nominating Speeches and Balloting (Willy Star Marshall's delegation report for Utah starts at 3:46:44)

Bob Barr Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speach

24 May – Live From the Libertarian Presidential Nominating Convention in Denver

Among those are former Senator Mike Gravel (to whom I expressed my profound and abiding gratitude for his 5-month long filibuster that ended the Vietnam era draft, and for reading the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record), former Congressman Bob Barr, Libertarian author and philosopher Dr. Mary Ruwart, drug policy activist Steve Kubby, and entrepreneur Wayne Allen Root.  I’m looking forward to the debate tonight and the vote for our Presidential ticket tomorrow morning.

01 May -- National Press Club Announcement

	To view the April 21st, 2008 Washington DC National Press Club media conference where I formally announced my Campaign for Congress, click on the photo to the right. (To view my announcement, play from 17:25 to 21:25.) .

24 April -- Washington DC

Great time in our nation's capitol last week I'll post more details later. A couple of quick updates --

I gave interviews to a number of media outlets including the Desert News, Salt Lake Tribune and KSL radio. Dr. Edgar Mitchell (6th man to walk on the moon) was the keynote speaker at the exopolitics conference banquet where I was introduced as well. Other speakers included Dr. Scott Jones (30 plus year career naval aviator), Paul Hellyer, former Canadian Minister of Defense, Dr. John Alexander (Los Alamos advanced weaponry research director), Dr. Jesse Marcell Junior (served as a flight surgeon in Iraq a couple of years ago at age 68). Overall I was pleased with the SLC Tribune article, even if they did characterize this as being something out of the "X-files." KSL chose to play wacky alien music in the background during the two sentences they used from a 5 minute interview I gave to them.

One day I am certain our media will cover this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

But, hey, I'm truly grateful for ANY coverage of these issues. I am convinced that if there is advanced life out there, then they must be Libertarians -- grounded in the same principle of non-aggression that is at the core of the Libertarian Party that, "No one has the right to initiate force against anyone else for any reason whatsoever, no matter how good the cause might seem at the time."

Why am I certain that, "There are no Republicans or Democrats out there; If ETs exist they must be Libertarians"

Because any philosophy (literally "the love of wisdom") which begins with or allows violence and aggression toward others, when there is access to the kind of technology that can destroy civilization, would mean they would have blown themselves to bits long ago.

The earth teeters on the edge of that perhaps more than we know.

I firmly believe the prohibition of aggression inherent in Libertarian politics is the most enlightened, ethical and advanced political philosophy possible. More than anything else, that's why I'm a Libertarian, that's why I am running for office and that's the philosophy that I deeply feel needs to be heard around the planet. That's a voice I'm willing to be. And, if elected, the philosophy I'll do my best to bring to Washington.

22 April -- Salt Lake Tribune article on my campaign: UFO enthusiast chases truth, seat in Congress

5 April -- One of the most common questions I'm asked is:

"Who is the Libertarian Presidential Candidate?"

The answer is:

"That will be decided at the Libertarian National Convention, May 22nd to May 26th, in Denver."

More information, including discussion of former US Congressman Bob Barr and former US Senator Mike Gravel's intentions to seek the LP Presidential Nomination can be found at:

http://www.thirdpartywatch.com

3 April -- KCPW Interview

Interviewed at KCPW, the local npr affiliate, today. Portions are scheduled air tomorrow or Monday.

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr announced his intention to seek the Libertarian Party's Presidential Nomination on the Sean Hannity radio show today.

26 March -- Park Record Interview

The PARK RECORD (Park City, Utah) ran a story about my campaign for Congress on the front page of its March
26-28, 2008 edition titled: "Immigration, Taxes and Little Green Men."

Comments on the story may be posted here.


Easter Weekend

Enjoying a quiet weekend at home with Cindy and our four children.

Looking forward to next week and answering emailed questions about UTOPIA (Utah's Governmental Broadband project), reviewing in detail the materials sent by the US House Clerk's office on Federal Election Commission Requirements, as well as mailings from the National Right to Life, and Gun Owners of America. My favorite so far -- a political candidate specialty merchandise catalog. Buttons, Bumper stickers, Yard Signs, Coffee Mugs and sponges. Sponges? . . . Maybe I'll get my dad a "Clean the House with Buchman" sponge. I think he'd like that.

21 March -- How the Libertarian Presidential Candidate is Selected

Several friends have been asking: "Who is the LP candidate for President?"

That will be decided at the LP Convention to be held May 22 to 26 in Denver. There are at least nine Libertarian Presidential Candidates running right now (see: http://www.lp.org/libertydecides and http://www.votemary2008.com). Wayne Allen Root has a home here in Park City and visited with the local LP in February. Dr. Mary Ruwart is the author of the book: Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression. Other news accounts in the past week indicate former Congressman Bob Barr may enter the race, and there's hope among many that Ron Paul will choose to return to the LP. I encourage everyone to read the ideas of each of these candidates. It will be a robust and fascinating convention in Denver just two months from today! C-SPAN has broadcast portions of the LP conventions over the past two decades. I expect they will be in Denver as well. Stay Tuned!

19 March -- First media interview; my policy positions:

First interview with the local newspaper today. Among the topics I remember discussing:

Immigration Policy

We cannot have one until we secure our borders. We do that in Korea, we did it during the cold war in Europe, we're doing that in Iraq, so why not here? I don't know how we do that, but it's clear we can when we devote sufficient reasources to do so.

That said, I want a free America. A true beacon on a hill to all freedom loving, tynary fleeing people on earth. The problem is our welfare state -- free education, free health care, free housing . . . obviously we cannot afford that with open borders. Hard working immigrants, seeking opportunity and freedom, not a "free ride," are key to our economic growth, national security and future as a nation.

The War

It's making us far less secure, bankrupting our economy, and whatever good is coming from it has not been proven to be worth the cost; we have other needs. The government cannot do everything it wants to do, and does very little, if anything, well or efficiently at all. There are better ways to spend the estimated $3,000,000,000,000.00 ($3 trillion) dollars that would leave us far more secure and economically stable.

Don't Libertarians believe in the elimination of all laws?

Absolutely not! The primary role of the Federal Government is to pass and enforce laws that serve to protect individual liberty, to secure individual rights over mob rule, to provide courts and a national defense. The Bill of Rights is a great example of the kind of laws Libertarians wholeheartedly support.

Why are you running?

To increase the awareness of Libertarian ideals. I was especially inspired by Dr. Ron Paul's campaign in the Republican Party. Last week I met with a couple of Democrats in the state party here in Utah, one of whom, like me, had voted for Ed Clark when he ran as a Libertarian for President in 1980. Thanks to the thousands of Libertarian candidates who have run since the founding of the LP in 1971, Libertarian ideals have found their way into the mainstream political debate.

The Second Amendment

As a full-time, tenured college professor for over 20 years, I wish even one law abiding student or faculty member at any of the universities where recent mass killings have occurred had taken out the murderer immediately. The ideal of a gun free zone is certainly appealing, but why do we assume government can make these kinds of laws real? especially in the face of even a single determined criminal? The illusion that a law alone can create a weapon-free, gun-free, crime-free zone, is fantasy, puts more people at risk, and has tragically been shown time and again does more harm than good.

NASA

One of the least-objectionable federal spending projects, returns some technological value, but it would have been far better to have gone to the moon based on education, persuasion and voluntary contributions. Today NASA, sadly, stands more in the way of private space exploration, than in support of free competition in space.

Disclosure

If we all could see ourselves as one people, on one planet -- the way any ET visitor would surely see us, the way Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders in Apollo 8 first saw us, it would transform everything, especially the way we treat each other. If we knew we were being watched by a far more advanced intelligence, if we knew there was a greater community out there waiting for us to grow up enough to join it, how would that change our politics?

I've put up a website to encourage this way of thinking: www.thepeopleofearthapologize.com, and I'll be attending the exopolitics conference in Washington, DC next month.

I believe there is incontrovertible evidence that we are not alone in the Universe. Like Barry Goldwater, Jimmy Carter, Bill Richardson, and Dr. Ed Mitchell, I call on our Government to open its ET files now. I believe I’m in rather good company on this issue.

18 March -- Welcome here!

Website launched. More information on the Candidate, Campaign and our Commitments coming soon (before the end of this month.)

17 March -- I'm running.

Filed the required papers in the State of Utah Lieutenant Governor's office to become a candidate for the United States Congress from Utah's First District.