Gary Johnson: The Most Underrated Republican Candidate

Which of the eight current Republican candidates for president is just as qualified, if not more so, for the high office as Mitt Romney, substantially more qualified than Herman Cain, Rick Perry and all the others, yet least recognized and appreciated in the pack?

That’s right; it’s Gary Earl Johnson, 58, a humble yet hugely successful self made rags to riches businessman, multi-millionaire, marathon runner, triathlete, conqueror of Mt. Everest, and popular two term governor of New Mexico, renowned for his conservative anti-crime, anti-bureaucracy policy, low taxes, budget busting, judicious use of the veto power, and walk the walk libertarianism.

This guy turned a one man door-to-door handyman service to earn money for college into Big J Enterprises, an impressive multi-million dollar corporation, one of the largest mechanical contracting construction firms in New Mexico, employing over 1,000 workers.

Which of the other candidates can boast that kind of success? He knows how to put people to work. He knows how to start, grow and manage a business from scratch. And he knows how to successfully manage government with no nonsense libertarian ideas.

So why is the Republican Party ignoring Gary Johnson? The simple answer: He’s a Libertarian -- not a religionist social conservative, that’s why. He doesn’t pander to the religious evangelical right. He believes in the true meaning of liberty and small government. That’s why the most qualified candidate of them all will not even come close to the nomination of his party for president.

The right wing social conservative statists don’t like the fact that Gary Johnson visualizes and articulates well the benefits of legalizing the harmless substance marijuana, which would decrease the U.S.-Mexican drug trade by 70 percent, significantly reducing illegal immigration and Mexican drug cartels border violence.

Gary Johnson would maintain a strong national defense while ending the expensive folly of nation building in countries which take billions of our hard earned tax dollars and give us nothing in return. He understands the futility of our building schools, roads, hospitals in foreign lands, and propping up corrupt foreign governments. He would end U.S. involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, bring the soldiers home, and focus our foreign policy on the protection of U.S. citizens and interests.

Gary Johnson would not condone the torture of criminal or terrorist suspects. He would end the Bush and Obama administration secret death panels and their licenses to kill American citizens and others anywhere in the world without due process. He would end the barbaric practice of holding suspects in places like Guantanamo Bay indefinitely without regard to the most basic and fundamental  legal processes.

In true libertarian fashion, this politician has declared that government should not be allowed to restrict commerce that doesn’t hurt anyone. Online gaming, for example, should be legal for adults. Civil liberties as set forth in the first eight amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and which are foundational to Americans, must be preserved against the tide of national security expediency.

The Patriot Act, for example, should be allowed to expire and proper judicial oversight should once again require federal investigators to establish probable cause in investigations seeking search warrants. Habeas corpus should be respected entirely, requiring the government to either charge incarcerated individuals with a crime or release them.

The TSA should take a risk-based approach to airport security. Only high-risk individuals should be subjected to invasive pat-downs and full-body scans. The TSA should not have a monopoly on airport security. Airports and airlines should be encouraged to seek the most effective methods for screening travelers, including private sector screeners; screeners outside of government that can be held fully accountable for their successes and failures.

The best way to respect the lives of all citizens is to allow each to make their own personal decisions. Women should be allowed to make their own reproductive decisions. Stem cell research should be conducted by private laboratories that operate without federal funding. Government should not impose its values upon marriage.

Americans can't afford to continue borrowing 43 cents out of every dollar we spend.  Balancing the budget is necessary for Americans to remain a free, prosperous, and secure nation. The terms of entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which threaten to bankrupt the nation, should be fairly revised. Spending on fiscal stimulus programs, transportation, energy, housing, and all other special interests boondoggles must stop.

Government should lower the tax burden to stimulate the economy; eliminate punitive taxation of savings and investment; simplify the tax code; stop using it to reward special interests and control behavior; and eliminate the corporate income tax so that America will once again be a great place to start a business.

Americans should reject crony capitalism, auto and banking bailouts, state bailouts, corporate welfare, cap-and-trade, card check, and the mountain of regulation that protects special interests rather than benefiting consumers or the economy. 

Federal Reserve policy should be confined to maintaining price stability, not bailing out financial firms or propping up the housing sector. Support of Fannie and Freddie should cease.

The federal government should butt out of education. The abusive and failed War on Drugs must end just as Prohibition had to end in the 1930’s. Federal spending must be cut not by millions or billions, but by trillions. ObamaCare and the Medicare prescription drug benefit should be repealed. Military spending and foreign aid should be cut by 43%.

Sensible policies like these reveal Gary Johnson as man of thoughtful integrity. Unfortunately, that also makes him the most underrated and least appreciated of all the presidential wannabe’s.