While major-party candidates in Utah's 2nd Congressional District race debate tax cuts and Social Security, Libertarian Ron Copier distinguishes himself by opposing military action in Iraq and a policy of pre-emptive invasion.
"This gives Russia excuses to attack Chechnya, China to attack Taiwan and Pakistan to attack India," says Copier. "This is about oil."
Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson and Republican John Swallow support President Bush's Iraq policy, although they say an attack should be launched only as a last resort to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Copier disagrees just as strongly with the administration's economic policies, saying the country is "headed in the wrong direction." He criticizes the GOP and Democratic candidates for making the election about who would support Bush more.
"To fight to be George Bush's puppet is not what we need," he said.
While he supports the core Libertarian principles of smaller government and lower taxes, Copier said he does not endorse more radical proposals to do away with Social Security.
"Social Security was a mistake to ever start but we are stuck with it and we need to fix it," said Copier. He supports the Bush plan to allow people to take part of their Social Security payments and invest it in order to have the chance for higher rates of return.
He proposes an end to the nation's drug war and what he calls "victimless crime laws" and "morality laws." "The current administration's infatuation with trying to enforce sexual abstinence or limited birth control choices on the world is not sex education, it's sex un-education," he said.
-- Dan Harrie
Courtesy of the SL Tribune
http://www2.sltrib.com/politics/Main/Story.asp?VOL=10242002&NUM=10006
