2022 PLATFORM

 2022 PLATFORM

Here’s my own personal public policy platform. It’s not complete and is still a work in progress. It applies to state, local and national policies. This platform builds from one I produced in 2016 and 2020. I’m happy to say that some of those items were modified or taken off my 2022 because they were addressed by the governments in which they were directed. 

CRAIG DAWKINS 2022 PLATFORM

I believe liberty extends to every human being and the role of government is to ensure 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, book and speech bans about LGBTQIA+ topics 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. The only exception to this idea is when war mongering nations engage in warrantless wars, or who assist in said wars against peaceful people. In such times, continued trade rewards the aggressor, and harms innocent victims. Generally speaking, laws that restrain immigration, trade of goods and services are egregious 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 reproductive rights, 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.

6.            Gender Identity: Individuals have a right to express their gender preferences whether they conform to their biological assignment at birth or depart in some way. As such there should be no bathroom laws that prohibit transgender people from using their preference of public restroom facilities. Governments must be restrained in enforcing arbitrary rules based on biological gender assignments that differ from that of the individual.

Principles of Criminal Justice

1.            Border Patrol: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished and its customs duties and functions dispersed to other federal agencies. All ICE concentration camps MUST be closed and the laws that created the policy to violently separate families entering the USA should repealed for all time.  Federally constructed walls should be given to the states for their own maintenance and placement with an obvious goal of removing them over time. These walls should be replaced with welcome centers that have a quick and easy check-in system and offer immigrants instructional helps and guides to assist them in their resettlement to America.

2.            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.

3.            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.

4.            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.

5.            Felonies and Misdemeanors: The state of Oklahoma currently has a “tough on crime” mentality that has resulted in mass incarceration of Oklahomans. While Oklahoma has made strides in reducing incarceration, the state of 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.

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

7.            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.

8.            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.

9.    Social Justice: Black lives matter. Not because they matter MORE than other lives but because they are equal in every imaginable way. Because American society continues to send messages that black lives are less important than the lives of other racial ethnic groups, it’s important that black lives be a focus of social justice. Also, the fashion in which black communities have been policed in America, under a “broken window” policing model, must change. Strong emphasis on community policing is necessary to restore trust between the African Americans and police.

a. Redlining: The government policies that have led to a ‘market’ segregation of our society must be confronted. Success and wellbeing in America have much to do with how and where people can live. In America, we have cities that routinely prevent affordable housing that abuts closely to higher income areas. This has resulted in poor people not being allowed to access better school districts in higher income areas. Limits on affordable housing have entrapped poor people in places they cannot escape via housing markets. Affordable housing markets have been obstructed by government. This must stop.

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.            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.  

2.            Cannabis: Legalize all of it for medicinal and recreational purposes. Allow the importation of cannabis into Oklahoma from across the globe. There should be no protectionism that favors Oklahoma cannabis producers over any other. Let the market decide. Also there should be no “3-tier system” of distribution in Oklahoma. Cannabis growers should be allowed to distribute as they see fit.

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: There should be an independent commission that drafts political districts, not elected politicians who game the redistricting regime into gerrymandered perversions. No political party should control redistricting.

9.            Reduce the number of signatures required for ballot initiatives. Make it easier for the public to access law making via direct democracy.

10.         Abortion rights (reproductive rights) secured in the Oklahoma state constitution.

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 taxpayer in Oklahoma. This means that tax exemption for churches should only apply to charitable activities engaged in by churches. Sales of religious materials and tithing revenues should be taxed the same as any other enterprise. Churches should be allowed to speak on any and all political concerns without regard to tax policy.

2.            Income Tax: Continue phase out of income tax to zero over the next twenty years and replace with a fixed rate property tax.

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

4.            Capital Gains Taxes: Repeal all taxes on capital gains. 

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 Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and merge their function and mission into the Oklahoma 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.            Restrict funding of OHLAP at the highest tuition and fee costs of Oklahoma community colleges in Oklahoma.

2.            Consolidate K-12 and Technology Center Districts, redraw district boundaries to match.

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.

e.            Stop the public funding of school athletics and allow the private market to nurture and promote athletic activities as separate trusts affiliated with school districts. That means that stadiums and facilities should be leased to trusts for such use and maintenance. Costly stadiums for declining sports will continue to be more and more costly over time. Districts should consolidate their athletic activities into fewer multipurpose facilities and coordinate their use.

f.            End all curriculum mandates from the state legislature. No book bans, no limits on curriculum. Education should include a broadly diverse sources and should NOT be tools of indoctrination.

Principles of Social Policies

1.            Federal Programs:

a.            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 a small portion (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. Today this is called universal basic income (UBI).