Joe Buchman

Strongly Agree

Abortion should be available, especially early in the term, but not involuntarily funded by tax dollars.

Strongly Agree

My father was, and my oldest daughter is a medical doctor. End of life care should be compassionate - caring. Needless suffering is not medical care when the patient expresses a clear desire to end that suffering.

Obviously for rape, incest, life of the mother and other similar issues. As a matter of Principled Liberty - whenever the woman desires it, especially early in the term. Late term abortions are horrific, rare, and should only occur when the unborn child is diagnosed with an imminent terminal condition (2-chambered heart for example), or for the life of the mother. Our government, most politicians, and many voters have shown a shocking lack of compassion on this issue and a commitment to birth without regard to anything after that moment. This is a complex, heart-wrenching issue. As a candidate who raised three daughters, one of whom is an MD, I would have urged each of them to carry any child to term regardless of how they got pregnant, even in the case of a rape. I would support them unconditionally. As I also would if any of them had chosen to abort. I believe one or more of them use an IUD which prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall. Some consider that murder. That point of view is lacking in both compassion and understanding, IMO.

Strongly Agree

But not redistribution forced by government. Charity, family, religious and social institutions, sure. Reacquisition of all money taken by force or fraud is a legitimate role of government. But the involuntary taking of the legitimate fruits of other's productive effort is, simply put, theft. It destroys incentives for productivity, and that makes us all poorer, especially in the long-term.

Strongly Agree

33 trillion in current debt and 300 trillion in mandated by federal law but currently unfunded future spending is an extensional crisis for our nation. We are walking a dangerous path, one shown by history, to lead to ruin and destruction. Both of the too old, two-old political parties in the USA have been UNITED on this destructive spending for over a Century. It is insanity.

The best form of taxation is one based on consumption and not on production. The entire code needs to be put on the ash heap of history where it belongs. 100 percent taxation of another's productive activity is rightly termed "slavery." In the USA today those who engage in productive activity are taxed at about 50 percent. Eventually those who are prohibited from benefitting from the results of their productive activity . . . quit. Or only work at a subsistence level. This is the essence of the destruction of a society. Taxes on consumption are better, but the ideal, one to which we should be moving over the course of the next few generations is a society based on voluntary giving, not involuntary taxation (aka theft).

Neutral

Religious liberty - the freedom of expression, speech and non-violent behavior is the core of a moral society. Religions should receive equal protection under that philosophical moral imperative for all non-initiation-of-violence rites and practices.

Strongly Agree

But not required by government. Consumers are free to boycott. Media is free to expose such practices. But no law should prohibit any non-violent private discrimination. Liberty can be ugly, depending on one's point of view. But true change come from within, not from the threat of force being used for misbehavior. Every parent learns this in the course of raising a child. Forced behavioral change for non-violent acts results in life-long resentment, not love for others.

Hopefully something between mutual respect and non-interventionalist tolerance.

Government - for military or other similar service. Schools should be private and free to do whatever they choose. Same with employers.

D, but not immediately. I respect contracts and we have contracted with individuals to provide a wide variety of health care. In the long-term, and philosophically, the best health care technologies, drugs, and practices arise from free markets and profit seeking by private firms and organizations. Contrary to much political rhetoric this results in BETTER CARE and LOWER COSTS (over time). Imagine we had locked in the quality of care of 1784 as a Constitutional right. Today I wonder what new technologies and treatments would be available if not for a lifetime of socialized medicine and third party payments - a system instituted largely due to President Roosevelt's imposition of wage and price controls during World War II. The dramatic rise in the cost of medical care in the USA is entirely a result of ill-informed, government intervention, which has moved massive amounts of money to those organizations which have lobbied the government to intervene. The FDA as, IMO, increased the cost and decreased the quality of medical care due to such immoral self-interested lobbying.

D) in terms of the government. US Citizens should, of course, feel free to donate to whatever causes they feel passionate about. As a hard-core (small l) libertarian I passionately believe freedom should be advanced planet wide. But it makes no sense to me to take by force the fruits of the productive efforts of the citizens of one nation, to fund any overseas war.

Strongly Agree

All peoples everywhere should have the right of self determination.

Strongly Agree

Not just to the USA. To every nation on Earth. The degree to which any nation effectively diminishes the Liberty of its citizens is the degree to which it is a threat to others and should be condemned.

Be the beacon of peace and prosperity that sets a undeniable beacon of hope to every human, everywhere. Unfortunately we have become too much like our adversaries in our misguided efforts to combat them.

Strongly Agree

In the short term. A nation without borders is not a nation; a society with guaranteed "free" health care, education, clothing, housing, transportation, etc and open borders is obviously doomed. In the long term we should live up to the language inscribed on the Statue of Liberty - welcoming all peaceful immigrants to a land of equal OPPORTUNITY. In that world, eventually, borders would effectively disappear.

Neutral

Our immigration laws are a nightmare mess. There is no such thing as "State or Federal Funds." There are only dollars taken by force from producers. That should be minimized and then eliminated.

All peaceful people who have the ability to support themselves and their families, or who are welcomed by those offering charity.

Neutral

All non-violent orientations and identities are none of the government's business.

Disagree

The United States has an ugly history of racism and we should all be working to move away from that part of our past. There is still work to be done. But all institutions are not fundamentally racist, at least not in my experience of them, nor in the experience of my friends of color who express that to me. That said, I have black friends who do not feel safe today travelling in some parts of the USA. This saddens me greatly.

Earth is a testing ground. We are here to learn to become inherently peaceful and loving to each other. None of us are perfect at that yet (as far as I know). I certainly am not. I find great value and reward in self-reflection and praying for divine guidance and promptings. I cannot imagine a God, a Creator, who wishes to tax or enslave any of His/their creation. Such a Being would be, in my view, the essence of Evil. Therefore I see no value in any human being advocating for that authority or power either. I seek political office, in part, to advocate for those moral, ethical, and religious convictions.

Neutral

Photo identifications can also be faked. The system of voting should ensure each eligible voter votes only once. That involves more than just a photo, IMO.

Greater penalties for fraudulent voting. Greater transparency and record keeping. Easy access to academics, the media, and others to verify the integrity of elections, and the actions of election officials.

Strongly Disagree

Unjustly acquired wealth should be returned to those from whom it was fraudulently or forcibly taken. Those who feel that others were disadvantaged are free to create charitable giving organizations to create such redistribution voluntarily. The native Americans in the USA have clear evidence of treaty violations which should be addressed politically. This is a complicated issue that cannot be solved, or resolved by a simple mass redistribution based on race alone.

Racism is evil. All evil is a threat to everyone on the planet, not just in the USA.

Neutral

Private land owners should be free to do any peaceful activity they choose; activities which damage the property or lives of others should be either prohibited or compensated for after the fact where prohibition is impossible. Everyone on Earth has a birthright Right to clean air, water, and a sustainable environment.

There will be no economy possible if we are all dead from environmental destruction; but there will be no human life possible if every blade of grass is protected. This is not a simple choice between A and B as offered above. In my view governments are the greatest polluters on the planet, and the USA is among the worst, from our military footprint, to the massive amount of paperwork and energy consumed in compliance with unnecessary laws and regulations. My hope is that inventors and private industry will find effective ways to reduce pollution and quickly. Unfortunately governments stifle rather than protect and reward such innovation.

Lean Liberal

I am a classical liberal in the traditional meaning of that word. Minimal government, minimal taxation, maximum personal freedom for all non-violent activities and working toward a society that can effect change through persuasion, education, and media exposure rather than by force or the threat of force. I consider myself a small-L libertarian - one who advocates for fiscal conservatism in the extreme, and social-freedom/liberty, likewise in the extreme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mmoIIbDSaE

no

Here's the 200 word (max allowed) statement I submitted for the UTAH VOTER GUIDE: The most important political issue of our time is our place in the Cosmos. Questions from our childhood, “Why are we here?” and, “Are we alone in the Universe?” motivate this campaign. These are not only religious and scientific questions, they are now increasingly *political*. Why run as an Independent when you have no chance to win? – Answer: To give voters the opportunity to bring attention to this issue by voting for the only candidate advocating them. In July 2023, the US House held a Hearing with three military witnesses who testified to the US government having recovered craft, bodies of apparent pilots, and evidence of a decades-long legacy program of reverse engineering. Programs funded by a seemingly criminal misappropriation of funds, and outside of Congressional oversight. As a life-long libertarian, and former chair of the Libertarian Party of Utah, I have consistently called for whistleblower protection for waste, fraud, criminal activity AND evidence of ET engagement with humanity. This revelation would, if confirmed, transform our society in much the same way as the Copernican Revolution did 420 years ago. Imagine the possibilities: Ending war on Earth; New sources of clean energy; Hope for a future of peace and prosperity.

Choose not to answer

Just no. Way too much abuse of authority.

Neutral

I support reducing tax burdens on all tax payers. If it proves more fiscally responsible/efficient, moves to a smaller burden on tax payers, then government should do that. It also seems there are a rising number of private charities that police could turn to as an alternative, rather than creating another taxpayer funded bureaucracy.

The least safe people are those who have entered an area with signage that says "Gun free zone." I am hopeful innovators will create a non-lethal form of weapon, one which could disarm/disable a violent criminal without killing them. But a society where only government officials have the guns has never in all of human history resulted in anything peaceful, Liberty-protecting, or moral. Not once. Not ever.

Neutral

Everyone should be free to sue for whatever. Should they be guaranteed to be able to succeed, absolutely not. Are there cases where such a lawsuit might be justifiable - doubtful. But I do not support a prohibition on anyone seeking restitution through the courts in advance.