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Campaign Literature
The following copy is what has been used on various brochures developed for this campaign.
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The Basics
DEFENSE:
Given the amount of money our nation has devoted to the military and its endeavors since World War II, it is ludicrous that our nation can be brought to its knees by fanatical desert-dwellers from half a world away. But that is what has happened since most of that money has been, and continues to be, spent on offensive capabilities and defense of other countries.
The Constitution charges the federal government with providing for national defense, not building arsenals capable of wiping out whole other countries (if not, in fact, the world), and not providing for military defenses of other countries.
We certainly have enough conventional weapons and forces to protect our borders, yet we have no viable defense against long range missiles that others may use against us (shame on our national leaders over the last 50 years for not taking care of that threat). And we obviously do not pay adequate attention to foreign visitors who may intend to do us harm. We can rectify these problems without increasing spending, and without infringing on the liberties of our citizens.
SPENDING:
Give federal politicians and bureaucrats any reason to spend money, and they will do so gladly; especially if it means job security - your vote - in the next election. Never mind that they have no Constitutional authority to spend tax money on the programs they create. Never mind that we will never see as much money come back from Washington D. C. as we have sent there.
Too many good people have decided to worship the federal government, to depend on it for solutions to their problems, to expect salvation at everyone else’s expense.
The Constitution strictly limits the authority of the federal government and of the Congress. All other powers, according to the 10th Amendment, are reserved to the states or to the people. But you would never have thought that after looking at a federal budget, which includes programs delving into virtually every aspect of our lives.
As your Representative, I would not support federal spending on programs not authorized by the Constitution. I would return that power and that money to you.
TAXES:
Anyone who tells you that you get more back in services than you have paid in taxes and the costs of compliance to federal regulations would have a bright future in the used car trade. Even if you don’t pay directly, you will pay through the increased costs of goods and services you buy from those who do pay them. Prior to that, you have earned less working for those who must pay first for taxes and regulations, many of which are directly connected to your employment.
Unfortunately, taxes are necessary to pay for services politicians and bureaucrats promise to provide. To reduce taxes without first cutting those costs is irresponsible, increasing the deficit for future taxpayers to ultimately pay - for benefits they never received.
Balanced budgets do nothing to curb excessive spending by politicians. Alternative methods of taxation do not address the root problem of politicians using your tax money to pay off their political promises.
As your Representative, I vow to cut the spending in order to end the theft (through taxation and regulation) of your earnings.
As Representative from Indiana’s 7th Congressional District,
I would be a voice for limited, responsible, Constitutional government.
I promise the least, but offer the most. I make no promises to any specific interest groups. I will not set one group of constituents against another in my campaign. My issues are simple, but of benefit to all.
I offer not just choice, but an enhanced ability to make those choices. You, not politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C., are the best judge of how to live your life, how to raise and educate your children, the career you choose, the charities you support, the spouse you marry, the medication you use, the healthcare you want, the doctor you see, and the retirement you desire.
Government mandates by politicians and bureaucrats deprive you of your choices, and their taxes and regulations limit your ability to make the few choices they leave for you.
Exercise your freedom and liberty. Assume responsibility for yourself, and expect it of others. Don’t choose their choices, choose your own.
Barry Campbell was born and raised on the northeast side of Indianapolis. A graduate of Lawrence Central High School, Barry went on to earn a Bachelors Degree from Valparaiso University with an interdisciplinary major in Criminal Justice.
Barry is now married, living with his wife Robin, and five year old daughter Christine, on the near southeast side of Indianapolis. He works in retail loss prevention management.
Barry joined the Libertarian Party because of its steadfast principles and consistent support of individual liberty and Constitutional government.
Barry is Director of the “Champion of Liberty” Awards Program of the Libertarian Party of Marion County, and is the Administrator of the “Morris A. Campbell Memorial Scholarship” - a college scholarship also sponsored by the Libertarian Party of Marion County.
Contact Barry at:
Campbell for Congress
1402 E. Kelly St.
Indianapolis, IN 46203
phone: (317) 490-1469
e-mail: 1791@usa.com
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The Shorter Version
You can choose lower taxes, less regulation, more liberty, more responsibility, and more choice. You never need a license, a permit, or a receipt to exercise a right.
Too many good people have decided to worship the federal government, to depend on it for solutions to their problems, to expect salvation at everyone else’s expense.
They make the rules that keep them in power. They take your money for their own use, then grant favors to the politically powerful. They don’t allow other voices to be heard. When you succeed, they change the rules. They are the Republicans, the Democrats, and their media. We are the other voice, the only real choice. We are Libertarians.
Freedom can’t be forced; not here, not in any foreign nation. Let’s bring our troops, our children, back from the 100+ nations where we have them stationed. Bring them home to do what they are supposed to do -
defend our nation.
As Representative from Indiana’s 7th Congressional District,
I would be a voice for limited, responsible, Constitutional government.
I promise the least, but offer the most. I make no promises to any specific interest groups. I will not set one group of constituents against another in my campaign. My issues are simple, but of benefit to all.
I offer not just choice, but an enhanced ability to make those choices. You, not politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C., are the best judge of how to live your life, how to raise and educate your children, the career you choose, the charities you support, the spouse you marry, the medication you use, the healthcare you want, the doctor you see, and the retirement you desire.
Government mandates by politicians and bureaucrats deprive you of your choices, and their taxes and regulations limit your ability to make the few choices they leave for you.
Exercise your freedom and liberty. Assume responsibility for yourself, and expect it of others. Don’t choose their choices, choose your own.
EN ESPAGNOL:
Puedes escojer bajos taxes, menos regulación, mas libertad, y mas opciones. Tu nunca necesitas licencia, ni permiso o un recibo para ejercitar un derecho.
Muchas personas buenas an decidido encomendarse al govierno federal, y dependerse de el, para soluciones a sus problemas, y esperar solución al costo de todos.
La libertad no puede ser forzada; no aquí, no en una nación extranjera. Hay que traer a nuestros soldados, nuestros hijos, de regreso de las 100+ naciones en donde los tenemos estacionados. Traerlos a nuestro hogar para que hagan lo que deben hacer - defender nuestra nación.
Hacen las reglas que los mantiene en poder. Toman tu dinero para su propio uso, y conceden favores a los políticos poderosos. No dejan a otras voces ser oídas. Cuando te superas, cambian las reglas. Son los Republicanos, los Demócratas, y su medio. Somos la otra voz, la única opción verdadera. Somos Libertarianos.
Como Representante del 7mo Congreso del Distrito de Indiana, yo seria una voz limitada responsable del govierno Constitucional. Yo prometo lo menos, pero ofresco lo mejor. Yo no hago promesas a ningun grupo de intereses en especial. No hare un grupo de constituyentes contra a otro en mi campana. Mis propuestas son simples pero a beneficio de todos. Yo ofresco no nomas opción, pero una abilidad mejorada para dar acavo esas opciones. Tu, no políticos y burócratas en Washington D.C. eres el mejor juez de como vivir ti vida, como crear y educar a tus hijos, de la carrera que tu escojas, de la pareja con la que te casas, de los medicamentos que usas, de la ayuda de cuidado que tu quieras, del doctor que tu vez, del retiramiento que tu deseas. El govierno mandatorio de políticos y burócratas te privan de tus opciones, y sus taxes y regulaciones limitan tu abilidad para hacer las pocas opciones que te dejan. Ejercita tu libertad. Asume responsabilidad para ti mismo y espera eso de otros. No escojas sus opciones, escoje la tuya.
Campbell para el Congreso
1402 E Kelly St
Indianapolis, IN 46203
(317) 490-1469
1791@usa.com
www.campbellforcongress.4t.com
(Spanish translation courtesy of Maria Lopez)
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Fair Tax Addendum
One Choice
One choice that you will have this November will be to support replacing the income tax with a national sales tax; specifically, the so-called “Fair Tax” introduced into the House of Representatives as H.R.25.
Quite simply, folks, let us not make the same mistake as was made with the Patriot Act. Read this one before you make a decision.
A stated purpose of the Fair Tax Act is “to tax all consumption of goods and services in the United States...” Emphasis should be added to the word “all”. The Fair Tax is unlike the state sales tax you are accustomed to, which has many exemptions. Rents are taxed. Electric service is taxed. Food is taxed. Insurance premiums are taxed. Telephone service is taxed. Medicine and healthcare services are taxed.
There are only two exemptions to the Fair Tax. The first is intangible property, which is defined by the Fair Tax Act as “copyrights, trademarks, patents, goodwill, financial instruments, securities, commercial paper, debts, notes and bonds, and other property deemed intangible at common law.” The second is used property, which is defined as “property on which the tax imposed by section 101 has been collected and for which no credit has been allowed...” In other words, prior ownership does not qualify property as being “used”. In still other words, only intangible property would be exempt from the tax when it is first enacted.
The Fair Tax is only a fixed amount (23%) during its first year. After that, it is the sum of (a) the general revenue rate, which is fixed at 14.91%, (b) the old-age, survivors and disability insurance rate and, (c) the hospital insurance rate. In other words, it will be 14.91% plus Social Security plus Medicare. With Social Security and Medicare costs only going up, it is a foregone conclusion that the Fair Tax rate will increase shortly, maybe immediately, after the first year.
Even at 23%, the stated tax rate is misleading because of the way it is applied. The Fair Tax is imposed on “the gross payments for the taxable property or service”. The Fair Tax Act defines gross payment as “payments for taxable property or services, including Federal taxes imposed by this title.” Unlike current state sales taxes, which are applied only to the selling price, the Fair Tax is applied to the selling price plus the amount collected to pay the tax. In other words, it taxes itself.
The easiest way to explain this is with an example. Suppose you wanted to sell a pen for $1. If the Fair Tax were applied like a normal state sales tax, you might expect the total cost (the gross payment) to the buyer to be $1.23. But the Fair Tax is applied to the gross payment, or in this case, 23% of $1.23, which is 28 cents. That leaves you with 95 cents, not $1. If you want to make $1 on the sale of the pen, you would have to charge the buyer $1.30. 23% of $1.30 is 30 cents, leaving you with $1. A 23% tax on the gross payment amount is, in fact, a 30% tax on the selling price.
This is verified by the Fair Tax Act’s description of a receipt, which it says shall include (1) the property or services price exclusive of tax, (2) the amount of tax paid, (3) the property or service price inclusive of tax, and (4) the tax rate, which is here defined as, “the amount of tax paid (per paragraph (2)) divided by the property or service price inclusive of tax (per paragraph (3)).” Applied to the example given, a receipt would show (1) $1, (2) 30 cents, (3) $1.30, and (4) 23%, or 30 cents divided by $1.30. But anyone with even rudimentary mathematical skills (even those educated in government-run schools) will recognize that 30 cents is, in fact, 30% of $1.
Who is responsible for paying the Fair Tax? According to the Fair Tax Act, “IN GENERAL - the person using or consuming taxable property or services is liable for the taxes imposed by this section, except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection.” Paragraph 2 goes on to say that the consumer is not liable if they have a receipt as was described above. In other words, if you don’t like keeping the records required by the IRS, just imagine having to keep receipts of every purchase of a product or service you make. The Fair Tax Act also states, “the person engaged in a dispute with the sales tax administering authority or the Secretary, as the case may be, shall have the burden of production of documents and records...”
Of course, the Fair Tax folks didn’t neglect the possibility of barter transactions. Barter is taxed “as if gross payment had been made in money at the tax inclusive fair market value of the taxable property or services purchased.”
For those who are bothered by national government control over the States, one of the stated purposes of the Fair Tax Act is, “To increase the role of State governments in Federal tax administration...” Those who are familiar with the provisions of the Brady Bill that were found unconstitutional may recognize the similarity to this aspect of the Fair Tax.
Fair Tax proponents claim businesses will reduce costs because they will no longer need to administer payroll taxes. To an extent, this is true, yet wage and earnings information still must be reported to the Social Security Administration by employers in order to determine Social Security benefit eligibility.
Individual reporting will hardly be decreased either, since an annual registration of every family member must be submitted to qualify for the family consumption allowance. This allowance is limited to 23% (or whatever the stated future tax rate may be) of the poverty level. Since the effective tax rate to the consumer will be 30%, taxpayers are losing from the very beginning.
Since the Fair Tax Act also charges the Social Security Administration with distributing the monthly sales tax rebate, it is logical to assume that the Administration’s size and costs will increase. If for no other reason, that will necessitate an increase in the tax to fund Social Security. Since that is part of the formula to calculate the Fair Tax rate, it also will have to increase. Before it has even begun, an increase of the Fair Tax rate is a certainty.
Add to this the fact that Fair Tax proponents assume States will enact conforming taxation methods (State sales taxes on the same products and services as the Fair Tax), and we can reasonably expect very soon to be paying a total sales tax of nearly 40% on every new product and service we purchase.
Keep in mind that the Fair Tax is designed to be revenue neutral, meaning raising the same amount as current payroll taxes. For that, and only that, can we be thankful to the folks who support the Fair Tax - for demonstrating how outrageously expensive our current national government has become, thanks in large part to another choice available to you in November.
Another Choice
Another choice available to voters in November is the one that has gotten us to the point where some feel the first choice is preferable or reasonable. While many choose the opportunity to get something for nothing, the result is that others get nothing for something. The national government cannot give anything to certain groups that it has not first taken from others.
We are already to the point that we are mortgaging our children’s futures to pay our current debts. What legacy, besides that debt, are we leaving for them? After decades of national government involvement in education, welfare, and healthcare; are we better off? Our education and healthcare systems used to be the envy of the world. Now they can be described as above average at best. After decades of national government involvement with welfare, are there any fewer homeless, jobless, or poor? Despite the best of intentions, the results are plain to see.
We’ve become so obsessed with squabbling over the scraps available from the national government, that we’ve forgotten our God-given right to something better. Our freedom and liberty is not meant to provide politicians from the national government with power and position. The national government is meant to ensure our liberty and freedom to provide for ourselves.
Fortunately, there is an opportunity in November to choose your own choice.
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