Bill Slantz,
LP Missouri
Candidate for
Congress
Bill Slantz is ready to cut the size and scope of government drastically, and he’s taking that message to the people of Missouri in his Libertarian Party campaign for a congressional seat representing the state’s Eighth District. His first step: Abolishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“If elected, I will immediately sponsor legislation to eliminate the DHS (they have served their purpose), the TSA (let the airlines take care of their own security), the EPA, the DEA, and the IRS,” Slantz wrote. “Also, I will immediately sponsor legislation to cut the budget of every other federal agency by 10 percent each year over the next four years.”
Slantz faces competition on the June 4 special election from Democrat Steve Hodges, Republican Jason Smith, Constitution Party candidate Doug Enyart, all of whom will also appear on the ballot, and two declared write-in candidates. Although the electoral field is crowded, Slantz believes that his Libertarian message has a strong chance of resonating with Missouri voters.
“We should be free to do as we wish, as long as we do no harm to anyone else,” Slantz said in a radio interview. “Rules and regulations and laws that infringe on those freedoms are not good for our society, not good for us as human beings.”
He makes the case that eliminating such harmful laws have immediate, practical benefits to Americans. The war on drugs is one of the costliest Big Government programs currently in existence, in terms of tax dollars spent, human lives wasted, and communities damaged.
“By ending drug prohibition, we can return $2,000 to each American family, build real personal responsibility, and dramatically reduce violent, prohibition related crime, including much of our ‘Border War,'” Slantz wrote. He notes that eliminating the laws that ban drugs doesn’t entail support for drug use — it’s a common-sense position that should be advocated by voters of all stripes. “Those who wish wisely or foolishly to use drugs should be free to do so and those who wish to keep drug use off their property should similarly be free to do so,” he wrote.
Slantz also hopes to bring many other Libertarian solutions to the people of Missouri and throughout the United States. He advocates an end to government intervention in the economy, wants to eliminate federal safety regulations in favor of private safety certifications, set schools free from government bureaucracy, end all energy subsidies and excessive regulation, rescind laws limiting the private ownership of firearms, and remove government from the provision and regulation of health care.
These are ambitious goals for any legislator, but as a long-time owner of his own business, Slantz is used to pursuing and reaching ambitious goals. He urges voters to break away from the same failed policies of ever-expanding government that Republicans and Democrats consistently support. Only by abandoning them and instead supporting Libertarian Party candidates like Slantz can the tide be turned in favor of small government.
“The Democrat and Republican dichotomy is outdated, irrelevant, and self-destructive,” Slantz wrote. “Through my eyes there is very little difference between a Democrat and a Republican. Ultimately they believe Big Government can solve our problems and they have no incentive to make their jobs any less important. It is they who have put us here!”
