Nick Coons is Libertarian a congressional candidate in Arizona's 5th district for 2010. http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com Last month, a Phoenix police officer was killed by a drunk driver when he slammed his truck into the officer's patrol vehicle.  He was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault.  The drunk driver had four warrants out for his arrest, two of which were for DUI, and he was an illegal alien. I was listening to talk radio the other morning as the host was discussing this tragic event, focusing the discussion on the drunk driver's illegal status in the United States, a... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=22 Many have claimed that our current economic situation is because we lack regulations.  They say that businesses were too free to do what they wanted, and experienced no negative consequences for their bad decisions.  It is so commonly spoken, "The problems of today are due to de-regulations," that it's just accepted without question. Well guest what; I agree.  I am in favor of more regulations on the economy, and even stronger than what our gov... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=21 There's a lot of discussion going on after Tuesday's election about how history is being made.  On one hand, I'm glad to see that the bulk of the country has gotten past the race issue such that we've elected a black man to the highest level of government.  On the other hand, it was Dr. King himself who said that we should judge a person by the content of their character, not on the color of their skin.  Judging by Barrack Obama's political content, I can't say that ... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=20 We're all aware of inflation's existence, and if we've been around for awhile we know that "I used to buy (name of some item) for a lot less when I was a kid."  Most people have accepted inflation as a natural occurrence, and understand that as along as their own income continues to increase to match the rate of inflation then everything will be fine. On the contrary, the inflation that we see year after year (known more specifically as "monetary inflat... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=19 The propositions appearing on this November's ballot can be confusing if you don't study the text of each one. I've done the legwork on these, and will outline the pro-freedom position on each one. Prop 100: Protect Our Homes - YES This measure prevents the legislature from enacting a real-estate transfer tax.  A real-estate transfer tax, something which currently does not exist in Arizona (but is being proposed in Tucson) would require that the seller of their home pay... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=18 The most common argument I hear against voting for the Libertarian candidate or registering Libertarian is that people are afraid of wasting their vote.  I've never really understood the logic behind the wasted vote argument, but it goes something like this: "Why should I vote for a Libertarian when they're not going to win anyway?" This implies one of two things: We think that the Democrat or Republican is going to win simply because he received your one ... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=17 I watched a portion of the presidential debates the other day.  Both candidates said that we needed to look at the root causes of the current financial crisis, and both demonstrated very clearly that they had no clue what the root causes were. In March 1999, the dot-com bubble burst as it was realized that many investors put their money into companies that did nothing.  The Federal Reserve expanded credit and lowered interest rates by increasing the money supply in an at... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=16 The generally accepted method of defining one's political views is along a straight line, with the far left being one extreme and the far right being another.  Most people would tend to place themselves somewhere along this line.  The far left would represent those that espouse a great deal of personal freedoms and zero economic freedoms.  The far right would highly advocate economic freedoms but zero personal freedoms.  Someone in the center would subscribe... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=15 "The Libertarian Solution" launches its first show Wednesday, September 10th at 7pm on 1310 KXAM. The following press release was just sent out to media outlets.  Please help us get the word out, and don't forget to tune in! PHOENIX, AZ - A new political radio show unlike any other launches in Phoenix on Wednesday, September 10th called "The Libertarian Solution".  The hosts will focus on local, national, and world issues, and... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=14 Gandhi once said: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." The intention behind the comment was to highlight how many Christians, whose professed goal in life is to live like Christ, do not resemble him in any way. From a political standpoint, many Christians advocate government attempts to impose their morals on society, such as banning gay marriage, outlawing drugs and prostitution, or stealing from their neig... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=13 As a libertarian, one of my goals is to promote the free market. For many reasons, and in almost every case, the free market can provide better services at lower costs than their government counterparts. But there are several myths I'd like to dispel that sometimes make this claim less than believable. Myth #1: The United States has a free market. A free market is one free of regulations and taxes such that business can operate without interference from government. From tha... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=12 There seems to be a common theme in politics, especially in the economically liberal crowd, that the rich don't pay their "fair share" of taxes. The term "rich" isn't usually too well defined. For some it refers to people that live in lush mansions, and for others it's a term used to describe people who make more than $43,000/year, the income of the average American family. This concept is normally coupled with demonizing those same people, and bei... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=11 It seems that with our government trying to promote democracy around the world, we've started buying into the idea that the term "democracy" is synonymous with freedom.  To understand why this is in no way true, we need to understand what democracy really is.  Let's start with a quote to sum things up: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch." - Benjamin Franklin In a society where one person tells... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=10 Imagine our country without taxes of any kind; taking home your entire paycheck and never again having to file a 1040.  No more sales taxes, property taxes, or withholding taxes.  Sound too good to be true?  What if 200 years ago someone said, "imagine our country without slavery"?  It seemed an unattainable goal, but it happened, and we're far better off for it. The first thing most people would think is that we simply can't survive i... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=9 Politicians often like to jump on to their high horse and preach that they're for better education, cheaper and higher quality health care, true help for the needy, and more higher paying jobs.  They say this with the implication that their opponent is not for these things.  But who among us is against making health care better and more affordable?  Who is against people being educated?  Who is against the creation of jobs, or helping those that are truly in... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=8 The cost of health care has become a major concern to many people. Washington keeps talking about how they're going to fix it, either by placing new regulations on doctors and hospitals, or by using your tax dollars to pay for it. But few politicians seem to understand the basics of economics when attempting to solve this problem. As many of us have no doubt learned in even the most rudimentary economics course, the first law is that of supply and demand. Prices go down when either the... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=7 This is the other question I've been asked a few times as well.  Most people that I speak with, when I tell them that I'm running for the US Congress in 2010 in Arizona's 5th Congressional District, tell me that I should run now in 2008 instead of waiting.  For those that are interested, here are the reasons that I'm waiting: I'm currently the co-owner and operator of a small business in Tempe and Mesa that's been in business just short of 11 years.  This busin... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=6 I have been asked this several times, especially since Ron Paul and I share many ideas and he's a Republican, and because I spent a good deal of time promoting his presidential campaign. When Ron Paul entered politics in the 70s, Republicans had much more in common with Libertarians, so it wasn't a stretch for a libertarian-minded person to run as a Republican, because they were still somewhat of a small government party, And because it is one of the two major parties, running as a Repub... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=5 Social Security is one of the largest scams ever perpetrated on us by our government, as the following figures will clearly demonstrate. If one makes $40,000/year, with 12.4% of that* being paid into Social Security, this person could retire at age 65 and collect benefits of $12,180/year. If one makes $40,000/year, does not pay Social Security taxes, and instead puts that 12.4% into a mutual fund investment beginning at age 30 until retirement at age 65, this person will have saved up ov... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=4 In the past decade, we've seen two bubbles, and the emergence of a third is on the way.  The first was the tech bubble in the late 90s.  People invested in companies that didn't actually do anything, and many of them rightly lost their investment.  When the stock market began to collapse because of this and shortly after 9/11, the Federal Reserve swooped in to the rescue by "lowering interest rates," which is another term for "pumping newly-p... http://www.nickcoonsforcongress.com/blog/view.php?id=3