Candidate:Gov't should not handle society issues

Source: The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.迷你倉Jan. 21--JOHNSTOWN -- Ken Krawchuk calls it the separation of society and state.It is a system in which governments would concentrate on their constitutionally-mandated duties. Meanwhile, an infrastructure would be created to handle societal issues. Its work would be funded by collecting voluntary donations from the community.Krawchuk, a Libertarian Party candidate for governor, feels the separation would help reduce taxes and the size of government."I would create a separate entity, call it society," said Krawchuk during a meeting last week with The Tribune-Democrat. "It would look just like government because it would use the same constitution, so there'd be a federal society, so there'd be a president of society and a congress of society. And, also, on the state level, there'd be a governor of society and state representatives of society, state senators of society. Locally, there'd be a mayor of society and a town council, whatever the setup would be. It would look just like government, but the main difference is that society would not have the coercive power of taxation or any coercive powers at all for that matter."Along with explaining society, Krawchuk discussed his overall political philosophy by saying, "I'm a Libertarian, and we Libertarians are different from the two old parties because we are the party of principle. Every law we support or oppose can be traced back to one central idea, the idea that your life is yours, that your property is yours, that you have the God-given inalienable right to live your life your way without interference, provided only that you respect the rights and property of others. It's the golden rule on a political level."Other foundations of his platform include promises to veto any tax increases and phase out personal income taxes over four years.This is the third time Krawchuk has run for governor. He received slightly more than 1 percent of the vote in both 1998 and 2002.Drugs and crimeBetween 2010 and 2012, Johnstown experienced a significant increase in assaults and burglaries, which the ad hoc Johnstown Crime and Violence Commission attributed, in large part, to increased heroin trafficking.Krawchuk, a resident of Abington in the Philadelphia suburbs, feels those issues can be addressed by making sure violent criminals stay in prison longer and letting citizens convicted of victimless crimes go free.He wants to eliminate parole for violent offenders. "I think it's insane to let these guys out of prison, especially after we've finally gotten them in there through our convoluted criminal justice system," he said. "When I'm governor, every violent criminal or person who commits fraud, they will serve every single day of their sentence."But Krawchuk does not believe individuals convicted of drug possession alone should be imprisoned."These people don't belong in prison. Again, using the power granted by my job description, I have the power of the pardon," said Krawchuk. "My first day in office, I'm promising I will pardon every single nonviolent drug offender. Now, if they committed a real crime, then they'll stay in jail. If they dealt drugs to kids, they're going to stay in jail. But if their only crime was kicking back, watching 'The Simpsons,' smoking a joint, they've got a get-out-of-jail-free card from this governor. So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to empty the prisons of people who don't belong there, so we can keep the people in there who do belong there, the people who do violent crimes, people who do fraud."Act 47Krawchuk compared Pennsylvania's financial recovery program for distressed municipalities to a narcotic.Johnstown joined Act 47 in 1992, hoping it could provide some short-term stability and assistance to get the city through a difficult economic time. It would now be difficult for the city to cut itself off from the program, mainly because participation allows it to impose a higher earned income tax than what would otherwise be allowed by law."I view any kind of grants or things like that as a drug," Krawchuk said. "Oh, you're having a problem? You're儲存倉sad today? Here, have some free sample drug, have some grant money. It won't hurt. It's only a couple of bucks. Next thing you know, you're starting to count on it. Next thing you know, you're addicted to it. You have to have it. This grant money is just like drugs."Cultural issuesKrawchuk described his abortion position as "pro-option."He supports a prenatal adoption plan where individuals or organizations could assume responsibility for children whose mothers are considering abortion and then take custody of them after they are born."We can save many more babies and preserve a woman's right to choose," Krawchuk said. "Do you want to save more babies? I've got the plan. Do you want to preserve a woman's right to choose? I've got the plan."The Libertarian candidate also supports the rights of same-sex couples."What's good for the goose and the gander is good for the goose and the goose and the gander and gander," he said. "I don't see any reason at all why anybody should care who you love, why you love them or anything like that. It's none of my business. Who am I to get in the way of true love?"Liquor, bridges and pensionsPrivatizing liquor sales, putting together a comprehensive transportation plan and reforming pensions became known as Pennsylvania's big three issues last year.Krawchuk would like to see roads and liquor sales privatized.For the most part, he supports how the state collects funding for its roads and bridges."I wouldn't make many changes to how the roads are because, as a Libertarian, I like how the roads are funded right now," he said. "Everybody says, 'Oh, there's a gas tax." I don't see it as a gas tax. I see that as a user fee. If you use the roads, you're paying the fees. If you're not using the roads, you're not paying the fees."When discussing the state's pension crunch, he said, "Going forward, what we should do is have not a defined-benefit plan, like we do now, but rather a defined-contribution plan. ... Looking backward, that's a tough nut to crack because what we should do is look at the money that's there. What do we have? And now say, 'All right, here's what we can afford' and then use that as what the pension's going to be."EducationParents, according to Krawchuk, should have more of a say where their children go to school."What I would like to see is that parents can choose any government school for their child and the funding that would have gone to their local school will follow the child to the school of the parents' choice," he said. "That way, good schools will get more funding and grow, and the poor schools will get less funding and they'll be eventually forced to shut down. When I say, 'good schools' and 'poor schools,' it's not my opinion, it's not your opinion, it's not some unelected board of education in Harrisburg or some out-of-state, Common Core curriculum. I'm talking about the people who matter. It's the opinion of the parents."Natural gasThe potential financial boom the commonwealth could experience from the burgeoning Marcellus Shale natural gas industry is "the best thing that's happened to Pennsylvania in many, many years," according to Krawchuk.But he wants to make sure the environment is protected from any potential problems with gas well leaks and the handling of waste products."One thing that I would like to do is see a fundamental change in how we address environmental issues," Krawchuk said. "The No. 1 thing that I would like to do is I would like to see pollution treated as a trespass. Just like you're not allowed to come into my house without my permission, you cannot have your junk leaking on to my property without my permission. And, if you do, all of the remedies that are there for trespassing could also be used against a polluter, so you would have to get your stuff off of my property. You would have to stop your trespassing."Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Dave_Sutor.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) Visit The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) at .tribune-democrat.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉最平