2016 PLATFORM

2016 PLATFORM

I first wrote this platform before the state of Oklahoma officially recognized the Oklahoma Libertarian Party. I do NOW have a political party in which I can embrace officially and do so as a registered Libertarian. This personal platform is not complete and is still a work in progress. It applies to state, local and national policies.

Some of my Libertarian friends will criticize it for lacking libertarian purity.
Some of my Republican friends may criticize it because because of my social liberty views. Some of my Democratic friends may criticize it because of my economic liberty views. Anyway....My personal platform. smile emoticon

CRAIG DAWKINS 2016 PLATFORM (Version 1 - March 13, 2016)

I believe liberty extends to every human being and the role of government is to insure maximum freedom for every person by using vested power to protect individuals from aggression, both foreign and domestic, in preservation and respect for all human rights.

Principles of Personal Liberty:

1. Marriage Equality: Human beings have an inherent right to enter marital relations and contracts with any person who has reached the legal age of consent. “Traditional Marriage” laws are abhorrent to liberty and impose a religious order in violation of human freedom.

2. Free Trade: Human beings have an inherent right to freely engage in the exchange of goods, services and labor. All goods and services should move seamlessly across any and all national borders without regard to national origin. Laws that restrain immigration, trade of goods and services are agregious violations of human rights.

3. Incarnate Rights: The first right of ownership is to one’s own body. Human beings have a right to treat their own bodies as they see fit. No government has a right to restrict what a person does with or to their own bodies so long as no others received direct tangible harm from such actions. Laws that prohibit foods, pharmacological substances, other conceivable substances, suicide, prostitution, or any other voluntarily consumed or engaged activity, violate human rights.

4. Metaphysical Rights: The right of one’s own spiritual conscience is absolute so long as no others received direct tangible harm from such beliefs and customs. No government authority has a right to impose metaphysical systems on human beings. Laws that enforce a particular religious tradition or ban other belief traditions are a violation of liberty.

5. Self-Defense: Individuals have a right to protect against aggression of others, whether such threats are foreign or domestic. Government has a duty to prosecute a defense against such threats by allowing citizens and peace enforcers to deter such aggression with lethal force if necessary. Individuals have a right to erect barriers of entry, be they physical, electronic, or other, in the protection of their own property, so long as no others received direct tangible harm by such actions. They have a right to employ such protection by contract. Laws that restrict weaponry or other types of self-defense violate human rights.

Principles of Criminal Justice

1. Justice: When an individual has been damaged by the aggression of others, government has a duty to impose penalties in defense of individual property rights. Such damages require a policing authority and judicial system to assign appropriate penalties for such violations. Since justice cannot be perfect, government cannot be allowed to implement capital punishment in adjudicating the guilty. Allowing government to impose death as punishment gives government an “ultimate solution” that requires angelic perfection. Since such perfection is out of reach by government, such punishment must be prohibited.

2. Civil Asset Forfeiture: Individuals must be secure in their own person and property. No governing authority has a right to seize property without due process of trial. Current laws that allow policing authorities to seize property without such requirements results in robbery by government and is a violation of individual liberty.

3. Prosecution of the Poor: Prosecution of the poor often results in government placing the innocent behind bars. This happens most often because of the prosecutorial system overwhelms the financial resources of those targeted by the police state. As such, critical reforms are needed to insure that only the guilty are punished by the justice system.

4. Felonies and Misdemeanors: The state of Oklahoma currently has a “tough on crime” mentality that has resulted in mass incarceration of Oklahomans. Oklahoma currently incarcerates more women per capita than any state in the nation. Oklahoma ranks second in the incarceration rates of men. Oklahoma should scrutinize all laws that create felons and look for ways to keep people out of prison so that they can sustain their own economic liberty.

5. Commutations and Pardons: Any person who has been convicted of a victimless, non-violent drug crime should be released from prison.

6. Policing Technologies: Ban the use of traffic cameras, security drones, and other autonomous technology in issuing ticket citations in Oklahoma. Also, body cameras should be used on all state law enforcement officers for their protection and that of the public at large.

7. Motor Vehicle Laws:

a. Repeal Oklahoma’s seatbelt law. People have a right to determine the amount of safety they seek for themselves and government officials can have an opinion about what is prudent but should never impose personal behavior codes that do not involve the rights or property of others.

b. Repeal Oklahoma’s texting ban. Just as gun restrictions are ineffective and dangerous, texting bans actually endanger people because people don’t observe those laws but take more dangerous actions to not be detected by law enforcement officers.

c. Reduce the use of traffic lights on state and local roadways and install roundabouts to manage traffic flows, saving taxpayers the cost of upgrading electronic traffic systems.

Principles of Healthcare

1. Market Healthcare: Healthcare costs are best confronted by a market system. As such patients can best make decisions about their care when they know the probability of successful outcomes and the prices they will incur prior to procedures being contracted. A law requiring full disclosure prior to medical procedures are incurred will result in better opportunities for patients and the market of healthcare.

2. Mental Health: Mental health among Oklahomans is at a crisis level. Oklahoma ranks second among all states for the percentage of residents with a severe mental illness. Oklahoma also ranks second in the percentage of residents suffering from mental illness of any kind. Mental health facilities have been neglected in the state of Oklahoma. Clearly markets have not been able to generate a solution. Oklahoma could find a solution to this problem by legalizing cannabis and by using tax incentives to encourage charitable solutions. Instead of treating addiction as a crime, appropriations should be directed toward mental health and addiction recovery, away from incarceration and enforcement agencies.

3. Unleash Pharmaceutical Markets: Ending restrictions on over-the-counter medicines would help Oklahomans have better access to medicines. Emergency contraception and overdose prevention drugs should be allowed and sold in our stores without a prescription.

4. Unleash Provider Markets: Oklahoma ranks in the bottom of the states in doctors per capita. Allowing nurse practitioners to freely practice basic preventative medicine would help bridge that gap.

Principles of Commerce:

1. Brewers, Wineries and Distillers: Make Oklahoma friendlier to free markets by allowing Oklahoma distilleries, breweries, and wineries to distribute their production directly to retail outlets across Oklahoma. Also allow distilleries, breweries, and wineries outside of the state of Oklahoma to direct ship their products to people who order their products.

2. Licensing and Competitive Barriers: End licensing requirements for many non-life critical professions. Rather than serve to protect consumers, many of these licensing requirements prevent competition, decrease choices, and protect established companies and their profits.

3. Alcohol Laws: Modernize Oklahoma’s liquor laws allowing beer, wine, and strong spirits to be sold in all retail outlets at their own option.

Principles of Elections and Democracy

1. Voting: End straight party voting in Oklahoma. A major party isn’t on the ballot but individuals are running for political office. Ending straight party voting advances the ideals of individualism over collectivism.

2. Ballot Access: End barriers to political competition by legalizing all political parties in Oklahoma, allowing citizens to register with the political party of their choice.

3. Elections: Offices that are sought only by one political party should be placed on the general election ballot where all voters can have a voice, rather than one political party electing a candidate for political office.

4. Campaign Finance: End political campaign donor limits, only retaining disclosure requirements.

5. Election Timing: In order to increase voter participation, elections should be held on common high turnout events. The costs of precinct officials can be offset by aggregating ballot initiatives onto a single ballot.

6. Legislature:

a. Constitutionally reorganize the state legislature to include more participation in number of elected office holders, bills heard and voted on.

b. Change the state Constitution to a unicameral legislature with strict rules on bills, committee chair selection, and transparency of all legislation considered for passage.

7. Presidential Elections: Award electoral votes by congressional district rather than winner take all in presidential elections.

8. Redistricting: Change the state Constitution so that a non-partisan commission is responsible for redistricting due to census changes in population.

Principles of Tax Policy

1. Tax Code: Modernize our tax code, eliminate tax winner/loser policies, tax everyone the same level and reduce the tax rates for every tax payer in Oklahoma.

2. Income Tax: Continue phase out of income tax to zero over the next twenty years.

3. Sales Tax: Eliminate taxes on goods purchased from out of state retailers.

4. Gasoline Tax: Increase the diesel fuel tax in Oklahoma to be 85% of the rate of the state of Texas. Since damages to roadways come primarily from heavy trucking, taxpayers should not be carrying the financial burden for the trucking industry.

Principles of State Government

1. Agency Consolidation:

a. Constitutionally eliminate the Oklahoma Department of Labor and merge its functions into the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission and the Weights and Measures division of the Department of Agriculture.

b. Eliminate the ABLE Commission and merge its function into the Tax Commission.

c. Eliminate the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and merge its relevant functions into the OSBI.

d. Eliminate all state owned resorts by selling them to the highest bidder.

e. Eliminate the office of Auditor and Inspector and move all audits into a contractual model using private sector auditing firms.

2. Government Workers: Eliminate public union collective bargaining, including police and firefighter unions. In many cities in Oklahoma, collective bargaining has resulted in heavy politicking by unions in low turnout elections, to hand pick their own interests to serve as “management” at the bargaining table. This burden should be lifted from our communities.

Principles of Education Reform

1. Colleges

a. Fund OHLAP at the highest tuition and fee costs of Oklahoma community colleges in Oklahoma.

b. Concealed carry permits should be allowed on all college campuses statewide. Private institutions should retain the right to determine their own rules, but public institutions should not be “gun free zones” as a matter of law.

2. K-12 and Technology Center Districts

a. Abolish all school districts and redraw all them with a mandatory minimum of 3,000 students per district. This kind of overhead can and should be reduced, leaving more financial resources for teachers, students, facilities, academic programs of all kinds.

b. Create a voucher system where parents can send their children to the school of their choice, given the space available at private/public schools and public districts.

c. Install a system of academic freedom for K-12 teachers by discipline statewide. Install a system where teachers in subject disciplines attend conferences together, developing best practices and curriculum.

d. Place all technology centers under the authority of the statewide community college board of regents system and eliminate current administrative structure.

Principles of Social Policies

1. Federal Programs:

a. If Oklahomans are going to continue to pay taxes to the federal government, then Oklahoma should continue to obtain federal funding for programs imposed on taxpayers in our state. This includes the expansion of Medicaid. It makes no sense for Oklahoma taxpayers to be subsidizing the rest of the nation’s uninsured when we have so many of our own.

b. Social welfare in the US totals above $1 trillion annually and is currently expended in hundreds of duplicative programs across every state. Currently roughly 88% of benefits to the poor come from in-kind assistance. Only 12% comes from direct cash assistance. The poor and taxpayers alike would benefit from the elimination of all in-kind assistance programs and direct all assistance to direct cash assistance in the form of minimum income as envisioned by Frederich Hayek.