Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.
The following came from Aaron Toman, Libertarian candidate for U.S. House 2nd District, which covers rural Oahu and the neighbor islands. His opponents are Democrat Jill Tokuda and Republican Steve Bond.
Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.
1. What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?
It’s difficult to decide as to what the biggest issue is. Is it the economy and the cost of living that is forcing many residents to move from their home to find some relief on the mainland? Is it government corruption and nepotism plaguing our state? Is it the rising chances that our youth will be drafted to fight in WWIII? Or is it the rising number of vaccine injuries from the Covid jabs that are becoming more prevalent without any recourse for justice?
While it’s difficult to decide which is the biggest issue, my 11-point platform has an actionable plan to address each of these issues and more.
Amending the Jones Act to exclude Hawaii will bring financial relief with lower prices on all goods shipped to Hawaii. Removing qualified immunity will stop the government corruption and nepotism by holding government officials to the same legal standards as all citizens, as no one is “above the law.” Repealing the Selective Service Act will stop our youth from fighting in wars that the U.S. has no place being in. Lastly, amending the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, will allow those injured by vaccines to seek justice and proper treatment.
2. What can the U.S. Congress do to reduce gun violence?
It’s proven that prohibition does not work. Prohibition of alcohol gave rise to organized crime to be the sole manufacturers and distributors of alcohol, who used violence to protect their market share. The prohibition of drugs gave rise to cartels to be the sole growers, manufacturers and distributors of drugs, who used violence to protect their market share. Prohibition of firearms will only create the same situation with the government as the sole distributor who will use violence to protect its market share. To reduce gun violence in America, Congress must end all forms of prohibition and allow the free market to thrive.
The U.S. government is the main perpetrator of gun violence. By having Congress remove qualified immunity from government officials, they will be held liable for the violence and murders they commit on a daily basis. If government employees know that they will be held to the same legal standard as all U.S. citizens, they will be less likely to commit crimes and violence in the first place.
Prohibition of alcohol and drugs did not stop their existence. Laws do not stop criminals, laws only stop law-abiding citizens! Criminals will always have firearms, the question is: Will you?
3. The polarization in Congress is worse than ever. Some say democracy itself is in trouble. How would you work to end the political polarization that divides both the Congress and the country?
The answer is simple: End the two-party political system. The country as a whole is traveling down a dangerous road that leads to “us vs. them.” Americans are so diverse in thoughts and actions that it’s unrealistic to fit everyone into two columns (Democrat vs. Republican). The U.S. would be better off with five-plus major political parties that give Americans actual choices and bring about political discourse that is constructive, instead of destructive.
Compromise is key in a constitutional republic (often mistakenly called “democracy,” which incorrectly implies a “direct democracy”) and when we are limited to a two-party system, the political leaders don’t look for compromise, they look for how to win the majority so they can force their beliefs upon all citizens. Then the other party gets their turn as majority and the cycle continues.
By electing the nation’s first Libertarian congressman, Hawaii will forever change the political landscape. Hawaii would elect the Libertarian Party’s first House minority leader, a powerful platform that will bring a third voice to the center stage of national politics. Someone to disrupt the status quo, who will question both sides of the prior system and will seek compromise from all sides.
4. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while currently financially sound, risk future funding concerns because of changing demographics. What would you propose to shore up the country’s major safety net programs?
These programs have been a failure, are currently failing and will continue to fail into the future. Like most programs that have “good intentions,” the execution has been terrible. Most Millennials and GenZ have accepted that they won’t see a penny from these programs, GenX will be lucky if they see any return from their lifetime of payments.
If you are lucky enough to receive payments, you’ll quickly realize that you were scammed. It has been proven time and time again that if an individual were to invest the money themselves, they would achieve greater returns than the pitiful monthly payment provided.
How do we “shore up” these programs? Many will not like the answer, but the simple answer is: We don’t. We don’t keep throwing money at a dumpster fire hoping that it will one day become a good investment, or maybe a better example: We don’t keep investing in the failed Honolulu rail simply because “we’ve already invested a lot of money into it.”
The sooner we pull the plug, the sooner citizens can start properly preparing for retirement. The longer we continue propping up this failed system, the worse the effects will be when it finally collapses.
5. Is the U.S. on the right path when it comes to mitigating climate change and growing renewable energy production? What specific things should Congress be considering?
If asked 10 years ago, I would have said the government isn’t doing enough and provided a long list of things they should be doing. At the time, I could see no greater threat than climate change and believed our government needed to address it directly.
Fortunately for me, I have a love for learning and I never stopped researching on the topic. Through the years, one thing has become clear: Government-mandated prevention and mitigation is ineffective and oftentimes harmful overall. We must allow the free market to determine how prevention and mitigation is done across the world without government Interference!
All the efforts taken by the “Western World” have been voided by the rest of the world. All the sacrifices forced upon the people of America have provided zero results for the worldwide issue and this trend will continue, if it doesn’t worsen, with continuing a “top-down” approach from our government. We must educate the people with reliable, unbiased, open source information to let individuals and nonprofit collectives determine what are the best options moving forward.
To answer the question: The U.S. is not on the right path and Congress should consider letting the free market decide.
6. What is your view on the U.S. role in foreign policy? What can the U.S. do to build better relations with the Asia-Pacific region?
Plain and simple: Stay out of foreign policy. Focus on America, American people, American needs and American safety.
We are not the “World Police” and we need to stop acting like it. Our government’s policy to act as “World Police” has turned America into the “enemy of the world.” Our CIA has participated in more coups around the world and trained more terrorists than any other organization worldwide. It’s no wonder that the average person around the world has a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to the U.S., including U.S. citizens.
The best thing that the U.S. can do to build better relations in the Asia-Pacific region is to participate in true free market trade with all nations, including China. Stop the trade wars.
The U.S. should be offering every country in the region the same agreement: “1% tariffs on imports and exports across the board.” Both countries can trade freely knowing that there is an equal playing field.
If two countries have good trade relations, most other relations tend to follow in the same positive path. If you can freely trade for the resources you require, there is significantly less incentive to take them by force.
7. Should the state renew the U.S. military’s leases on training grounds in Hawaii? Should there be new conditions on the leases and if so what?
Here’s a wild thought: Let the people decide, not the easily corrupted government officials. Put it for a statewide referendum to be voted on by every citizen in the state.
I would assume the state government doesn’t want to, because they already know the answer that it would produce. While we’re at it, let’s talk about how much land the state owns and keeps the people out of. Do we have an option to terminate leases with the state and return the land to the counties or the individual towns? Of course not.
If the people truly had the choice, no leases would be extended and the land would be returned to the people. It’s not “anti-military” to want less training conducted on our aina, it’s “pro-Hawaii” to stand up for our land and local people.
How many years have passed since they stopped using Kahoolawe for “training”? Was what they did to the island in the best interest of Hawaii or its people? Almost 35 years since a court order to stop and Kahoolawe has not been cleaned up yet. When will we ever be able to use the island? When will current “training” sites be no longer usable?
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Publish date : 2024-09-06 13:38:00
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