Archive for the ‘Conversations’ Category

St. Louis Libertarian Election Night Watch Party

November 3, 2008 | Conversations

On November 4th…

VOTE LIBERTARIAN!

Then come to the

St. Louis Libertarian Election Night Watch Party

Join us for pizza, appetizers and drinks as we watch the election results come in. This will be a great opportunity to socialize with other libertarians, reflect on the campaign season, and plan for the future.  Festivities will begin when the polls close, 7:00 P.M.

Talayna’s Pizza

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My County Magazine: Candidate Survey

October 3, 2008 | Conversations, Positions, Voter Information

My County Magazine, published in Western Missouri, has a comparison of the candidates for public office online.  My responses are quoted below.

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What are your top three priorities to accomplish?

REDUCE TAXES on all Missourians, not just the middle class or the well-to-do.

ELIMINATE INTERFERENCE in the daily lives and property rights of all Missourians.

Bring about a SMALLER GOVERNMENT, reducing expenses and removing non-essential services, and returning the money to YOUR pocket book for YOU to spend as you wish. Who knows best how to spend your hard-earned money: you, or the legion of legislators and rule-makers who work in our state government?

How do you plan to accomplish them?

The Governor submits a budget to the legislature.  I will accomplish my goals through the power of the VETO, if the legislature attempts to increase the budget I’ve submitted.  The state will effectively go on a diet, for its future better health.

In addition, I will call for and support legislation and constitutional amendments to forbid the state government from interfering in its citizens’ lives.  The taking of one person’s private property for the benefit of another via eminent domain, all in the name of “economic development,” must be stopped.

How do you plan to pay for them?

All three of my priorities will reduce the cost of government.  Therefore, I plan to “pay” for it by giving the money back to the citizens; and once the legislature has reduced the tax rates for all Missourians, both rich and poor, I plan to “pay” for it by keeping the money in the possession of the people.

What unique characteristic or qualification do you possess that makes you the best person for this job?

I am not a politician - which makes me unique. I have to work for a living.

I am a computer software engineer — we don’t just study a problem or pass a new law further restricting how Missouri does business: we actually solve the problems. Libertarians fight for YOUR individual freedoms, and personal responsibility for the choices we make.

I am also a Catholic music minister, a singer, a landlord, a small, internet business operator, a member of MENSA, and a newlywed husband.

I know what it’s like to have to make ends meet through hard work and a realistic budget.

Why should voters elect me instead of my opponents? Only I will bring about a smaller government. My opponents promise new and expanded programs, spending to the limit of the state’s checkbook from taxes and fees. Only I will fight for your individual freedoms and liberties, while my opponents have accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions - which they spend wastefully on negative advertising and misleading statements of “truth”. Do they think we are that stupid? No, we are not.

Don’t waste your vote — vote for Life, vote for Liberty, vote for Andy.

When was the last time you had a one-on-one conversation with a member of the opposite party?  What did you hope to accomplish?

Also unique in our state, an office-mate of mine is running for State Representative this year.  Two candidates working at the same non-political office running for state office the same year.  It must be something in the water.

He is a Democrat.  I am a Libertarian.  We had been talking about the economy, and the $700 BILLION dollar (or more) bailout that was proposed over the weekend.  As has been typical, we agree on many more points than we differ.  We were not trying to persuade each other of the rightness of our own views, or the wrongness of the other’s views.  We were discussing what would be best for our respective 401(k) plans.

Do you vote a straight party ticket, or what criteria do you use to vote when evaluating a candidate?

I do not.  I gather information about each candidate, and each issue.  I do not let my feelings get in the way.  I evaluate each candidate or issue based on the principles of government that I hold dear:  life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, individual choices and responsibility for those choices.  I never vote for the “lesser of two evils”, because that choice STILL chooses evil.  And then I vote.

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Missouri Press Assocation Gubernatorial Debate: Video

September 13, 2008 | Conversations, Press and Media

Courtesy of KSDK, the St. Louis NBC station, all four segments of video of the debate are available online:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

and Part 4

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Missouri Press Assocation Gubernatorial Debate: Closing Remarks

September 13, 2008 | Conversations, Press and Media

Closing Remarks

Thank you very much.

Thanks to our sponsors for inviting each of us to be here today.  What a giant step forward it is to see more points of view.  Debates should be about the issues, and should give every candidate for the office the opportunity to share their own viewpoints.

Just as a free market brings about a healthy competition in business, and so will the debates bring out a healthy competition in this November’s election.  These debates will be the job interview, if you will, for the position of Governor; the interview with the people of Missouri where they will say “SHOW ME what you’ve got”.

And all of us will give it our best shot.  It’s up to us to answer your questions.  It’s up to you to take what we say, and vote accordingly.

As I opened with earlier, I am a computer programmer - a software engineer, and we build practical solutions, not just study them into oblivion.

Computers only do what they are told to do.  If you want to change how the computer works, you have to replace the software with something else, and then reboot the computer.  Well, it’s time to reboot the government.  It’s time to get rid of the programs that don’t work, and put in workable solutions.

Don’t waste your vote.  Don’t waste your vote.  That’s what they told you four years ago: they said you shouldn’t vote for a third-party candidate, because it’ll be a wasted vote.  They said that you needed to have the Republicans and the Democrats in charge to move the state forward.  I say, “Don’t waste your vote”.  I say, “There’s a better choice out there.  A choice only you can make.”  I say, “Only you can reclaim your independence, and reclaim the politics of this state.”  I say, “And only you can do it.  Don’t waste your vote.”

(adapted from a speech by Peter Hutchinson, MN Gubernatorial candidate, 2006)

The leaders you elect make decisions that affect YOUR job, YOUR health care, YOUR energy costs, YOUR security, and the legacy you leave to the future.

I promise that my government will stay out of your business, will leave your money and property alone, and will allow you to live peacefully as you choose.  This November, please vote for me, Andy Finkenstadt, for Governor of the State of Missouri.

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Missouri Press Assocation Gubernatorial Debate: Opening Remarks

September 13, 2008 | Conversations, Press and Media

Opening Remarks:

Thank you, Mr. Moderator.   Thank you to the Missouri School of Journalism; to the Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors;  to the Missouri Broadcasters Association.  And, thank you to the Missouri Press Association for inviting me here today to speak about the Missouri Governor’s race.

My name is Andy Finkenstadt - and I’m the Missouri Libertarian Party candidate for Governor.  I bring a unique perspective on how things will be improved in Jefferson City and in Missouri at large.

I am a computer software engineer.  Engineers do not create a blue-ribbon panel to study an issue.  Engineers SOLVE the problems put before them.

A lawyer looks at a problem and tends to say, “There ought to be a law.”  I say in response, “We have too many laws already, we don’t need any more.”  A politician looks at a problem and tends to say, “Hey, we should study that.”  Computer programmers see a problem and address it in a more direct and methodical way, we actually solve it.

Earlier I said I was the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor.  The word Libertarian comes from the word LIBERTY.

As Libertarians we seek a world of liberty:
a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives;
and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is essential for a free and prosperous world,
that force, and fraud, must be banished from human relationships,
and that only through this freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest,
and we welcome the diversity that freedom brings.
The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free,
free to follow their own dreams in their own ways,
without interference from government or authoritarian power.

I hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives,
they have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as
they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of OTHERS to live in whatever manner they choose.

As they say, “The right to swing your fist stops at my nose.”

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle:
that the state has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor.
Even within the State of Missouri, all political parties other than the Libertarians
grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals
and seize the fruits of their labor without consent.

Libertarians, on the contrary, DENY the right of the government to do these things:
and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual.

What are those rights?

First, the right to life:
accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others.

Secondly, the right to liberty of speech and action:
we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press,
as well as government censorship in any form.

And thirdly, the right to property:
we oppose all government interference with private property,  such as
the taking of one person’s private property with eminent domain
for the benefit of private developers
all in the name of “economic development”;
we oppose bans against smoking in private venues,
and of course, we oppose robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments must not violate individual rights,
we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals.
People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others.
They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders;
and the resultant economic system,
the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

(adapted from Libertarian Party Principles, http://www.lp.org/platform)

I am not here to “tickle your ears” with so-called solutions to problems that call for bigger government regulation and interference in your life, or so-called solutions that result in larger government spending of yet more of your tax dollars, taken from YOUR paycheck each and every week.

I am here to tell you that I will reduce taxes for everyone (not just the rich, not just the middle class), and I’ll do it by reducing the size of our government.  Reducing taxes leaves more money in your pocket to spend as YOU see fit, without some government middleman getting in the way.  After all, who knows best how to spend your hard-earned money:  you, or the legion of legislators and rulemakers who work in our state government?

You know the answer already.   And that’s what Libertarians fight for every day:  YOUR right to do as you please with your money, with your time, with your treasure, and with your talents.

I bring to the citizens of Missouri more than 20 years of experience in creating solutions that actually work, and that maximize your personal liberty.  When I am elected Governor on November 4^th, there will be a new way of doing business in Jefferson City.

And it will be truly revolutionary.

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