Robert Broadus for Congress

When reading Robert Broadus’ website, several things caught my attention.  Rather than just making a general statement about abolishing unconstitutional government programs (because they violate the 10^th amendment) he names specific institutions that he would get rid of.  I don’t recall ever having seen a Republican specifically say that they would defund the Department of Health and Human Services.  (Most of the flow of federal tax dollars which go to Planned Parenthood runs through the DHHS.  It should be called the Department of Hell and Inhumane Services.)

Broadus also makes this statement:

“The United States have not declared war since World War II.”

This fact is not news to me.  Constitutionally conscious candidates have brought up this fact many times.  When I copied this sentence into Word, the squiggly green line appears underneath the word “have”.  Does Mr. Broadus have bad grammar?  No.  The united States is not a single entity, but a union of states.  (The Pledge of Allegiance is wrong to call it “one nation”.)

I also thought it was funny that Mr. Broadus, believing that income taxes should be abolished, still gave this assurance to those who like big government:

… people who enjoy paying taxes and truly prefer sending their money to the Federal Government for safekeeping will be allowed to do so.  The government would keep this money, deducted in the amount they choose, from their paychecks for the duration of the year, to be redistributed to the owners in full on April 15th of the following year, or whenever the owner requests it.

Another thing is that Broadus isn’t afraid to touch the issue of D.C. voting rights.  The problem is that the residents of Washington D.C. have no representation in Congress because they are not citizens of a state, but on the other hand, it would be unreasonable to make D.C. a state because of its relatively small size and other practical considerations.  Broadus has a common sense solution to the problem.  The area of Washington D.C. could be ceded back to Maryland.  This would not even require a Constitutional amendment, as I had once proposed.  This position which Broadus is taking shows that he is not politician, but a statesman.  Though he is a conservative, and though the residents of D.C. tend to be more liberal, what he is advocating would give them more of a say in government.  This shows that he is a fair-minded individual, wanting preserve liberties and voting rights for everyone, not just those he agrees with. 

Broadus also takes the typical libertarian positions on the issues which most people are talking about right now.  He opposes federal healthcare programs (including Medicare), policing the world with our military, gun control, paper money, and unnecessary federal energy regulations.  He opposes gay marriage and civil unions, but believes that the federal government should not get involved and that there should be no tax breaks or other special government-granted privileges which depend upon marital status.

I give my full endorsement to the Broadus campaign in his run for Congress in Maryland’s 4^th district.  He is running in the primary on the 14th of this month.  Click here to contribute.