Doug Peterson
Libertarian | Arkansas
Candidate Profile
Moderate
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Doug Peterson
Party
Libertarian
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
State Senator, Dist. 35
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Purdue University, W Lafayette, IN, BA, 1982
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
When medically necessary or the life of the mother is at risk.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Neutral
An individual has the sole right to terminate his or her life. Government should not intervene. If a competent adult clearly expresses a desire to die, indirect assistance should not be prevented.
ECONOMY
What changes, if any, should be made to the tax code?
The Fair tax is a dramatically better model than the income tax. It is a method that allows individuals to control how much they pay in tax by directly controlling their spending. Individuals at or near the poverty level receive direct payments that more than offset any taxes paid on their purchases. The IRS can be completely eliminated at huge cost savings. Expenses for preparation of income tax forms are completely eliminated. The government could be funded at its present level with about a 23% tax, but I would target 15% and reduce federal government to that level.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
This is not really that complicated. Any high school civics class could produce a balanced federal budget. I would propose a 35% reduction in the size of the federal budget. Paring back federal government over-reach to the levels authorized by the Constitution would accomplish much of this. For example there is no Constitutional authorization for US Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development or Agriculture. Federal power was designed and intended to be limited and these and other abuses should be terminated.
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Neutral
This is a local question. It is perfectly reasonable for citizens of a state of local region to determine that publicly funded education serves the public good to a degree that outweighs the cost. They must also be able to decide when the value ends and terminate their support.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
Never.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D)Tax-payer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be de-funded.
The answer lies somewhere between C and D. We have a severely disrupted system right now and there is no reasonable way to simply terminate major programs like Medicare and Medicaid. They would need to be slowly and carefully transitioned to better market based solutions. There are thousands of steps necessary to revitalize a badly broken system like we have, but it can be done a little at a time. I want health care that follows a model more like cell phones than VA and BIA hospitals. Cell phones are cheap, reliable, always getting better and available to the poorest end of the economic spectrum. I want medical care and prescription drugs to be like that. That happens through market forces, not strict government control.
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
Covid-19 was badly bungled. There was no justification for government vaccine mandates. No employer, acting as an agent for government should demand covid vaccinations. Government should never be in the role of destroying businesses, jobs, and economic production.
NATIONAL SECURITY
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism?
The US defense focus should be primarily within our borders. We should dramatically reduce our footprint internationally. Any domestic attack should be met with forceful and immediate response, but it is not our role to serve as the protector of the entire world.
I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Neutral
All persons in Israel and the world are entitled to basic individual rights and personal liberty. I support individual liberty regardless of national borders or ethnicity.
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Disagree
We should do more to encourage legal immigration. The impact of immigrants in America is net positive. The economic impact is overwhelmingly positive.
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Anyone who wishes to come to America to work for a better life should be encouraged to do so and we should make the path easier. The birth rate in the US has fallen below what is need to sustain economic prosperity. We have an economic need for human resources and it will be mutually beneficial if we accommodate additional workers. Adjustments to welfare entitlements will need to be made.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Strongly Agree
Competition makes things better. Any potential harm to the weakest public school systems is more than offset by the benefit gained by poor students that would otherwise be locked out of better schools.
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Agree
There are certain aspects of social interaction that we generally agree upon as moral and ethical. Those values are consistent with the Judeo-Christian ethic. For example, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This consensus of morality is a necessary part of our social structure and form of government. This is not a claim that only the Judeo-Christian system is moral or that the U.S. is an inherently Christian country, but it is a moral country.
I support adding gender identity as a specially protected class in non-discrimination laws.
Choose not to answer
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition
Disagree
The proper role of government is to acknowledge a declaration or dissolution of marriage as declared by a church, social or religious organization. Anything more is establishing a religious preference by government. This is all terrific when it aligns with our religious preference, not so great when the government decides to turn against our preference. We must defend choices that we find unpalatable in the name of freedom. Freedom preserved for others is freedom ensured for ourselves.
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Disagree
While I do not believe that the existing institutions of U.S. are fundamentally racist, this is a flawed description of CRT. There certainly were racist laws, practices, and institutions in the U.S. and vestiges of this racist heritage remain. It is entirely proper to examine this history and the lingering effects in an attempt to explain social and demographic development.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a Christ follower. I serve no king but Jesus. I attempt to live my live as His disciple and in answer to His call to love and serve others.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Disagree
What laws would you propose to change present voting practices?
Arkansas is on pretty solid ground. We have all paper ballots. Use voter ID. I oppose blind mailing of absentee ballots.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Racial disparity continues to exist. We need to continue to work to identify the root causes and implement just solutions. I don't know where the level of "domestic security" begins. It certainly is a threat if you are locked up, threatened or profiled because of race. So, yes it clearly is a threat to some of us. We can make great strides by improving economic opportunity to reduce the impact of poverty. Both crime and poverty disproportionately affect minorities. Poverty is a leading indicator of engagement with the criminal justice system, so reducing poverty is likely to pay dividends on multiple levels.
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
It's probably much easier to exceed reasonable limits on the B side, so I would lean slightly closer to A.
I support the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas resources.
Choose not to answer
ABOUT YOU
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
The legitimate purpose of ethical government is to ensure the best opportunity for citizens to flourish and succeed by defending individual rights including life, liberty and property, to protect and defend citizens from those who initiate violence, and defend against theft and fraud. These basic principles build a firm foundation of domestic security and tranquility. There are a few basic extensions beyond these that residents could choose to collaborate on for mutual benefit such as environmental protection, education and infrastructure. The cost/benefit ratio begins to degrade quickly as governments progress farther from these basic elements. Many other things can be done by government, but they generally are not done as well as market driven solutions.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Choose not to answer
As a Libertarian I do not fit neatly into the common left/right paradigm. A better metric would be authoritarian/libertarian. Most Republicans and Democrats fall well onto the authoritarian end of this scale. Both are perfectly happy to impose their worldview and their rules on you under force of law as long as their side gets to write the laws. This is exactly opposite of libertarian philosophy. Our philosophy is much simpler: "Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff." Otherwise, live free
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
I have never served in office, so I have no public record, but I have filled out many surveys on Ballotpedia, Arkansas Right to Life, Good Party, Project Vote Smart, Alliance Defending Freedom, and others.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
What else would you like voters to know about you, including your legislative priorities?
I am a Christian, Libertarian, Constitutionalist. My wife and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary this year. Our three grown children are all married and living in Texas. We have three grandchildren. I retired in 2016 after almost 35 years as an Air Traffic Controller. I graduated Purdue University in 1982 with a degree in Political Science. I have lived and worked in six states. I keep bees, cut firewood, volunteer at the local food bank and attend church in our community. I believe defense of individual freedom is the benchmark of good government. I have never run for public office before, but I know that if good men who believe in limited government and individual liberty do not step forward and offer themselves as servants of the people, we will be ruled by parties who care only about re-election and power. Freedom matters. Our founders understood that a just and equitable government must be founded on the principle of individual liberty. Government's righteous duty is to to defend life, liberty, and property. If an individual's actions are not causing harm to another, then it is no concern of government. I am not afraid of your freedom, you shouldn't be afraid of mine. I will fight to defend your freedom, even if I don't agree with your actions. If we want a different result we must do something different. The two Parties want us to believe that they are the only choice. They both operate from exactly the same two page playbook. Page one is "Do whatever is necessary to win elections and maintain power." Page two says "Always blame the other side." They want us divided and isolated. They work diligently to suppress third party and independent candidates. Most of us don’t operate at the margins of the political spectrum, we don’t have to vote that way. You have the power. The political parties are heavily invested in the fiction that they are the only choice. The two parties ignore the people once elected. Instead, they serve special interests and big money donors. It does not have to be that way. The Arkansas motto is “Regnat Populus” which is “the people rule.” We can reclaim our state. No political action committee owns even one single vote. Your vote outnumbers them. A vote for third party and independent candidates is a vote for hope. We can forge a better future and it starts with your vote. Personal property tax is an unfair, inefficient burden on the people and business interests of Arkansas. It is unjustly biased against rural residents and small business owners. We enacted a Constitutional amendment in 1992 to exempt furniture and other specific personal use items, but left in place taxes on things like lawn mowers and backyard chickens. This is an inappropriate source of revenue for the state and frankly, none of the government’s business. It requires an entire bureaucratic structure to assess and collect these taxes. Personal property taxes should be eliminated. Our state and our country are badly in need of criminal justice reform. One in five incarcerated people in the world are in the USA. Arkansas has the 6th highest incarceration rate in the US. Our recidivism rate is higher than most of the rest of the world. Half of the prisoners on Arkansas death row are racial minorities when they make up about 18% of our state’s population. What does this accomplish? Is this just? Are we somehow better of safer because of it? We must do better.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police officers should be personally immune from prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy (qualified immunity) while on duty.
Strongly Disagree
This is a badly flawed definition of qualified immunity. In practice qualified immunity is generally extended to an officer when acting in any manner whatsoever in the line of duty unless the behavior exactly matches actions that have been previously disallowed. If an officer is charged with beating a suspect to death with a table leg, he could be covered by qualified immunity if training and previous rulings declared beating a suspect to death with a baseball bat was not allowed. End QI.
I support redirecting funds from police departments to mental health and community programs.
Strongly Agree
Although providing additional funds would likely be a better answer, ending prosecution for victimless crimes will reduce the burden on law enforcement and funds will be available for alternative sentencing programs.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
We have too many restrictions already in place. The 2nd amendment has been significantly compromised, although we have seen improvements in recent years. The Federal department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be abolished. Regulating firearms based on appearance is absurd. Sound suppressors are a significant health benefit and they should be encouraged rather than effectively banned. Repetitive flip-flopping on the definition and legality of "pistol" vs "short barreled rifle" is a foolish exercise. People who commit violent crimes with firearms should be vigorously prosecuted. No one should be a criminal for owning a particular gun or accessory.
Victims of gun violence should be able to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers.
Strongly Disagree
