Gary Johnson's Libertarian Views Will Shake the 2012 Presidential Election
Gary Johnson has been the dark horse in this year's presidential campaign. The former New Mexico governor has been scooped up as the Libertarian candidate after dropping out of the Republican race.
Gary Johnson has broken through as THE third-party candidate, rising in popularity with one million Google+1 and 200,000 Facebook supporters. Johnson is an emerging face for socially liberal Republicans, whose anti government spending and pro civil liberty stances just might make him a contender in November's election.
Former Governor Johnson has more experience than both Obama and Romney, serving two consecutive terms as arguably the most popular governor of New Mexico in the decade. Not only did he leave office with a $1 billion surplus, maintained no tax increases for six years, and vetoed 750 bills (more than all of the other 49 governors serving at the time) in office, he also managed to increase the funding for education by 1\3. Gary Johnson is a self-made business tycoon who grew a one-man, door-to-door handyman business into one of New Mexico's most successful companies, employing over 1,000 people.
Gov. Johnson plans to reduce the federal spending by 43%, slashing military funds, Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security entitlements. Johnson is a staunch anti-war advocate and promises that his first budget cut will be military spending, cutting 43% by recalling many troops from not only Afghanistan and Iraq but also from countries like Germany and Japan, and by reducing military spending on weapons technology, oversea bases, intelligence, and uniformed and civilian personnel (Johnson fired 1,200 government employees during his two terms as governor). Johnson is also opposed to involvement with Libya and Israel.
Gary Johnson plans to convert Medicare and Medicade into block grant programs and allow the states to decide how to spend the money.
Gary Johnson would like to abolish the IRS all together and do away with every tax except for the Consumption tax in order to promote business growth and create tens of thousands of jobs in the private sector. He especially wants to eliminate the Corporate Income Tax, which he believes is essentially a double tax and creates a hindrance for businesses to grow and expand their workforce.
Johnson's stance on civil liberties has set him out against the rest of the candidates by far. He has opposed SOPA (even blocking out his own website during the Internet-wide protest of the bill), has advocated for an amendment to the constitution including equal-rights for marriage, and not only wants to legalize marijuana, but also regulate and tax it to stimulate the economy and reduce border violence with drug cartels. He is hugely opposed of the War on Drugs and believes that drug addiction should be treated as a medical issue rather than a criminal one.
For Ron Paul supporters unhappy with Romney's nomination and Democrats disenchanted with Obama's lack of involvement regarding civil liberties, you might want to take a look at Gary Johnson. Many have been unaware of Johnson's candidacy because he has been excluded from sixteen of the eighteen CNN debates, but thanks to recent media attention and fans on social networking sites, Johnson has seen a wave of recognition. If he makes it to 15% in polls, he will be invited to the presidential debate. Although his campaign funds are a meager sum in comparison to Obama's and Romney's, this candidate's no-nonsense budget reform and advocacy of personal freedom will more than likely draw votes from both parties and perhaps may help break the stranglehold that bipartisan politics has on America today.
Here are two fun facts about Gary Johnson: he has climbed Mount Everest (with a broken leg!) and he and his wife stomped out a fire in New Mexico during the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000.
If you want anymore information regarding Gary Johnson or would like to support his campaign, please visit his website.
Who are you voting for in the 2012 election?
Gary Johnson's View on Abortion (Please Watch the Whole Video)
A Libertarian's View on Abortion
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Comments (Please no hate, just debate)
- AUTHOR
Hello, Chuck! Thanks for reading and commenting on my article! I 100% agree with you that both Romney and Obama are puppets. I'm so glad to see so much support for third party candidates in this election. I think people are tired of the two party system.
Of course the best way make a change in parties is from the ground up, by electing third party candidates to local office, then state office, congress and so on.
I included the videos about abortion to answer the questions one commenter had about his views. I completely agree that abortion has nothing to do with this race as the president cannot overturn Roe vs. Wade.
I am currently using Twitter with my 39,000 followers to promote Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. I want all the soldiers brought home. They both want to do that whereas Romney/Obama do not want that. Do you know why? Because they are both controlled by big corporations that make billions manufacturing stuff for military.
Abby Martin has a new show and says that Romney/Obama does not matter. They are the same. There is no left and right. She says Bush legalized torture and wiretapping and Obama codified it. At both conventions they are simply promoting weapons of mass distraction. She outlines what the U.S. just spent $9 billion on. A big portion was to modernize all our tanks even though we have not used tanks in a war in 20 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URvPgLY20-A
Both Stein and Johnson want to legalize marijuana. On other important issues they stand the same even though they say that Stein is a liberal left and Johnson is conservative right. Johnson wants the Fed to be reformed and Stein wants us to have organic food. I am for both. In Russia food grown with chemicals like pesticides is illegal.
People love to talk about abortion but it is not an issue at all. Prop 37 (label GMO foods) is up for vote. Abortion is not up for vote. The president has nothing to do with it. It is in the hands of the Supreme Court. Now the president appoints a new one if one leaves, but Bush Sr and his son had 16 years as president between them with no effect at all on abortion. Also judges that are being considered can refuse to answer on how they stand on abortion or it is legal for them to lie or change their mind since both are the same.
Also the Supreme Court does not vote on it every month. They would actually need a case to reach the Supreme Court to do anything and that will not happen with abortion being legal (and illegal past 24 weeks). A superior court would need to challenge that and end up ridiculed. The Supreme Court does not want to be a flip-flopper like politicians.
- AUTHOR
Thank you, Ellieface! I'm always so happy to hear from supporters of Gary Johnson--people who really think and vote for their conscience rather than the lesser of two evils. I'll of course be voting for him as well this November
Noosepaper, I love this hub so much! I have been a fan of Gary Johnson's for a while and will definitely be voting for him this November! Thanks for sharing all this information. :)
Ron Paul says the Ron Paul revlolution is growing but he is not running for president in 2012. I heard his August 26, 2012 speech. It is opinion that Gary Johson was the most popular governor of New Mexico. But it is fact that he was the first governor of NM to be elected for 2 terms.
Good article. I like Johnson he makes a lot of sense although I think Ron Paul puts across the libertarian views more forcefully, particularly on the economy.
The key will be whether he can get the majority of disgruntled Paul supporters on board after the GOP convention. I hope he does, the debates will be nothing but meaningless soundbites if it is between the 2 puppets.
Great article! Those who have pointed out no state employees were fired are right though. He did it all through attrition without letting anyone go. Other states are actually trying to follow his lead like here in North Carolina now.
- AUTHOR
Unfortunately he wouldnt because both Republicans and Democrats are in favor of big government for the most part. What did you find unsatisfactory about him as a governor, may I ask?
Popular. Nice Guy. Last time we put a nice guy in DC they ate him alive.....anybody else remember Pres. Carter? (a superlative human being.....)
I saw an interview with this guy on CNN, it was interesting. He might be able to make a difference in the results of some close states. I've read that he was very popular in New Mexico when he was governor.
Lived it. Not good. Too weak and ineffectual to run a BIG gov. like the USA. Not connected enough. Ideas so far out of the box that he would get nowhere in DC.
I'd vote for him.
- AUTHOR
I wasn't aware of that fact. I received my information about the jobs from this website:
(Johnson fired 1,200 government employees during his two terms as governor)
That info is wrong. Johnson didn't fire anyone solely to reduce jobs. Those jobs went away through attrition. Which means if the person left the job, moved away, quit or retired, the position was not filled by anyone new. If anyone was fired, it was for poor performance or bad behavior, not to cut the size of government.
my understanding, re: the loss of 1200 jobs during his tenure, was that was through attrition, no one was fired.
- AUTHOR
Okay first, according the supreme court a fetus is viable at 24 weeks. When a fetus is viable it means it can survive outside of the womb. Also, the campaign he is running has pretty much nothing to do with abortion because thanks to Roe vs. Wade it is legal and safe. Gary Johnson, like most Libertarians, believes in allowing SAFE practice of abortion for women so that they are not forced into unwanted pregnancies, or worse, unlicensed abortions. This follows the same reasoning for why Libertarians want to legalize and tax marijuana, so that not only decreases border violence, but allows Americans to have safe, regulated marijuana.
I'm honestly not sure what you're argument is. Libertarians believe first and foremost that the government should not dictate how we as Americans should live our lives. That being said, there are one of two routes in this country for abortion: legal and illegal. Clearly, in order to uphold the Libertarian belief that we should be allowed to do as we please with our body, Libertarians must support a woman's right to choose. Abortion is an option, which is exactly what Libertarianism is about: your right to have the OPTION to live as you would like. Doctors are not forcing women to have abortion and neither are Libertarians. They are simply protecting women from what will inevitably happen of abortion is illegal: dangerous operations and unnecessary deaths.
Gary Johnson doesn't want to change anything because abortion is already legal thanks to Roe vs. Wade. He simply doesn't want UNSAFE ABORTION.
And, at this point, it seems as if you are not even trying to research the opinions of Gary Johnson or other outspoken Libertarians, and that you are simply trying to poke holes in the Libertarian Party and the candidate Gary Johnson based on rigid doctrine quoted from one source.
"He is pro choice up to when the fetus is viable"
Who decides when a fetus is viable?
And why is it his business at all?
This is Republican policy, not Libertarian.
Seems to me that he's like all the others. They are Libertarian where business is concerned, but not when it comes to women.
- AUTHOR
Unfortunately, government has to be involved with abortion to protect people's rights to do what they want with their own life and body (one of the fundamental pillars of Libertarianiam). If those of us who believe in protecting civil liberties don't stand up to the puritanical religious right who try to strip others of their personal freedoms in the name of God's will, no one will. And I don't want to live in an America where no one stands up for their personal freedoms.
- AUTHOR
If he was really for civil liberties he would be neither pro choice nor pro life? That doesn't make any sense. Obviously as a libertarian he is giving women the right to CHOOSE if she would want an abortion. The only sensible, libertarian thing to do is allow freedom of choice rather than completely turning a blind eye to civil liberties such as a woman's right to choose. He also doesn't believe the government should fund abortion at all because it's not the government's place to assist in abortion, but it is the governments place to step in and ALLOW a woman to choose when the religious right is basically running our supposedly secular country. I apologize for sounding curt at all, but a woman's right to choose is one of the biggest civil liberties America faces and libertarians and Gary Johnson both support a woman's right to choose.
"Government should be kept out of the matter of abortion
Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration."
Source: National platform adopted at Denver L.P. convention , May 30, 2008
Abortion is a woman’s choice and does not concern the state
THIS is libertarian!
Ahhh, there is the sticking point!--and his way out. Because, if he was really for civil liberties, it would be none of his business whatso-ever.
Another phony libertarian!
- AUTHOR
He is pro choice up to when the fetus is viable
What's his stand on abortion?---speaking of civil liberties....
Is he anti, or choice?
- AUTHOR
I believe Johnson is a lot smarter and a lot more moderate than Paul, but Paul has so much experience and face time so he's gotten a lot more attention. It's very surprising to me that he has been overlooked since he was one of the most effective governors I've seen in a while.
I respect Jill Stein very much and believe she is a very intelligent woman, but as a Libertarian my concerns are more focused on the budget and civil liberties.
It's very nice to see more third-party supporters! :)
Ha! Jill Stein wins. If only your poll was the election. I just wanted you to know who did that.
I actually kind of like Johnson and quite a few of his policies. I'm not a libertarian, though, and his position on the environment, to me, is kind of weak. I don't know why Paul gets more of the libertarian attention than Johnson does. Johnson seems a lot smarter to me.
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