U.S. House of RepresentativesCandidate for District 17

High levels of taxation are a burden on individual citizens, a drag on our economy as a whole, and a continuing source of injustice. Discontent about taxes was one of the reasons our country was founded, and it is one of the primary jobs of our representatives in Congress to protect the people from being over-taxed.

Ideally, our goal should be to replace as many tax-supported functions as possible with ones based on market solutions and voluntary actions, which would allow for dramatic cuts or even the elimination of many taxes in effect today. Meanwhile:

• I will not vote for any tax increases, tax rate increases, or "surcharges". Taxes are already too high. That's true for personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, "payroll" taxes, excise taxes, and tariffs.
• I will support any proposal to reduce income tax rates across the board, or to "flatten" them by reducing the higher rates, as long as it doesn't increase taxes for any other group.
• I will not vote for any new taxes – including any National Sales Tax or Value Added Tax (VAT).

Although new taxes are sometimes offered with the promise that they will replace existing taxes, things are extremely unlikely to work out that way. If any new tax is instituted, it will most likely at best be coupled with a reduction in some other tax which will then start creeping up again – and in the long run we'll end up with higher taxes overall than before.

Although some argue that we should increase rates for some people in the name of "fairness", I do not believe that shifting the burden from one class or special interest group to another is the answer. Current levels of taxation are already unfair to average working people because they would be better off being able to spend the money that they earn themselves. And the wealthy are already paying far more than their share of total taxes. The so-called "1%" are currently paying more in federal income taxes than all of the bottom 90% combined!

Taxation is inherently unjust, because it takes people's money without their consent. There is no way to make the income tax "fair" by taking more of anybody's income. The only way to make income taxes "less unfair" is to reduce them for everybody, to the point where they are not a significant burden on anybody.

Other taxes should also be reduced or, better yet, eliminated. The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration but now being continued by the Biden administrations are a kind of tax that hurts American consumers – and in the long run also American businesses as other countries respond with similar actions. Congress should act to roll back these tariffs, and to remove the president's ability to impose them unilaterally.

How can we avoid increasing taxes, given current spending levels, without continuing to add to the national debt?

We can't! The correct solution is to lower the level of spending – both to eliminate the deficit and so that taxes can also be reduced.

Everyone can see we have a problem with health care. In some ways, America's health care industry is the envy of the world, leading in technology and with some of the best facilities anywhere. At the same time, costs are soaring, making even basic services unaffordable to some and a significant burden on others -- and on our country as a whole. As Warren Buffett has often commented, it's become like a "tapeworm" on our economy.

The advances are coming from the work of our biotechnology and other high-tech companies (many of them right here in Silicon Valley), the researchers at our universities, and of course the many dedicated and skilled health care practitioners. But the benefit of these advances is being held back by the way health care services are managed, delivered, and paid for.

Some say this is a failure of the free market, and call for more government involvement. But we do not currently have a free market in health care. This is one of the most heavily regulated industries in our entire economy! Almost everybody in the United States has their health care paid for either directly through a government program or through insurance programs that have their current form because of regulation, subsidies, and tax policies. At the same time, government policies limit the supply of medical professionals, and drive up the cost of equipment and drugs. And individuals are powerless to control any of this, because they don't even understand what they are paying. Yes, it's a complicated mess that needs to swept away. But "single payer" or "Medicare for All" isn't the answer -- and in the long run would make things even worse.

The right answer is to get the government out of the way so that the basic economic principles that have led to lower costs in almost every other industry are allowed to function.

• De-couple health insurance from employment by eliminating the special tax treatment of health insurance, while at the same time increasing the standard deduction by a similar amount. This will enable consumer choice, make the market for insurance more competitive, and eliminate the need to switch providers when switching jobs. Employers will be happier too, not having to worry about any of this!
• Increase supply of services by cutting back limits imposed or enabled by government policy. More doctors, more nurses, allowing medical services to be offered by new classes of providers enabled by new technology, eliminating "certificates of need" that limit competition among hospitals -- these and other steps will create a competitive environment that will drive down costs.
• Introduce real competition in the pharmaceutical industry too, by repealing laws that limit the ability of patients to purchase drugs across state lines and from other countries.
• Clearly separate the "welfare" aspect of government health policy from the rest. There will always be people who need help paying for health care, just as there are people who need help paying for food. But decreasing costs for everybody through competition will help these people too, and make it more practical for those who want to provide such help through private charity to do so.
• Whatever remains of government programs to pay for health services for specific segments of the population -- the poor, the elderly, veterans, etc. -- those should not be confused with, and should not be allowed to distort, the market for the entirely separate service of "insurance". Health insurance should be left to the private sector and deregulated so that individuals will be better able to select the kind of coverage that fits their needs, and not forced to pay for services that they don't want.

The so-called "War on Drugs" is in reality a war on people. It's certainly true that people can use drugs in ways that are dangerous and make their own lives worse. However, drug prohibition is more dangerous than drugs themselves and comes with a staggering cost in both money and human lives. The War on Drugs is a continuing threat to individual liberty, to domestic order, and to peace in the world. Furthermore, it has provided a rationale by which the power of the state has been expanded to greatly restrict our right to privacy and to be secure in our homes.

There has been a lot of political activity recently relating to "legalization" or "decriminalization" of marijuana. The sentiments behind this are mostly good, and some of the changes have helped some people. But there are three big problems with this: (1) the "war" against many other drugs is still going full steam, (2) these changes haven't led to a free market, even for marijuana, and (3) the federal government continues to interfere with marijuana, against the explicit wishes of voters in the various states.

There are ways to help people who get into trouble using drugs. But these services can best be provided through private action, by people who care about the individuals involved and by medical professionals. The War on Drugs doesn't help bring this kind of positive change, and in many cases it makes it harder for the victims to find their way to getting help.

What we should be demanding from Congress is an end to this counter-productive and expensive "war".

• End the classification of marijuana and other drugs that makes them subject to federal regulation.
• Abolish the Drug Enforcement Agency and the components of all other agencies that have as their primary function the hunting down of drug users, sellers, and producers.
• Free from federal prisons anyone convicted of non-violent drug-related "crimes".