(Originally posted at IndyPolitics.org)
Libertarian 5th CD candidate Chard Reid chimes in in this edition of “Why are You Running”?
As a high school finance teacher, it is my personal mission to ensure that every student in my classroom learns to balance their budget, to avoid debt, and to save for the future. How many of you think that our elected officials in Washington need to learn the same lessons?
I’m running for office because it is clear to me that our elected officials simply do not care about being fiscally responsible. Certainly, they must understand that running budget deficits will only serve to increase our debt, depreciate the value of the dollar, and lead to higher taxes in the future. The real problem must be that they just don’t care. Their number one priority is reelection. In contrast, my only priority is to get America back on the road to sustainable economic growth. Let me be perfectly clear: I do NOT want to be a Washington insider for the rest of my life—I want to be a teacher. I love kids, and I love helping them learn to be fiscally responsible. But in this season in my life, I feel called to run for office because there are no other candidates of conviction running in this race.
From the outset, I want you to notice an important distinction between my opponents and me. I am the only candidate in this race willing to take a firm stance on the issues. I am the candidate of substance and principles, and my opponents are merely talking pieces of the establishment parties.
You will also notice that I’m the only candidate in this race with my own budget proposal. I call it the “Road to Reality” because it will serve to bring America back to a realistic path of sustainable growth and free market principles. My proposal balances the budget within two years by eliminating programs that are unconstitutional, redundant, and wasteful. My budget is critically important because my Republican opponent supports a budget that will increase the national debt for another 28 years before it even balances the budget.
Finally, I am running for office because I am tired of seeing our elected officials trample the Constitution. It is important to remember that the federal government only exists because the states agreed to grant it limited powers through the Constitution. In their wisdom, our Founding Fathers only delegated seventeen specific powers to the federal government, and they clearly stated in the Tenth Amendment that all other powers would be reserved to the people and to the states.
In essence, the 10th Amendment is a leash on our federal government that prevents it from getting outside of its realm of authority. But a leash is only as good as the person holding it. For the past 100 years, the Republicans and Democrats have proven that they are altogether unworthy of holding the federal government accountable to the Constitution, and quite frankly, it’s time to pass the leash on to someone who is more principled in their stance for liberty.
Unfortunately, our current politicians resent the constraints that the Constitution puts on their power, so they have begun to disregard its principles. I will fight to make sure that the federal government only passes laws that it has the Constitutional right to pass, and I will insist that my fellow elected officials abide by the Tenth Amendment.
If you are satisfied with how our federal government is currently run, then you should probably vote for one of my opponents because they will continue to maintain the status quo.
But if you’re like me, you understand that the United States is way past the point of needing minor adjustments. Rather, it is time to completely restructure the size and scope of our federal government. It’s time to reclaim the roots of our once constitutionally limited government and reassert our natural rights to life, liberty, and property. It’s time to fundamentally simplify government!