Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson proposes a 43 percent cut of government, part of his “common sense business approach to government.”
Johnson, a Republican who often holds libertarian views, said he would cut from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense in a speech here Jan. 24.
“The biggest threat to national security and our way of life is that we spend more money than we bring in,” he said. “We need to right the financial ship or we’ll be left with nothing.”
Johnson also spoke about the choice of education through the use of vouchers, the legalization of marijuana to reduce drug related crime and his record-breaking use of the veto power to reduce government size and taxation as New Mexico’s governor.
“The fact that I won reelection in a two to one Democratic state speaks volumes that people like good stewardship with tax dollars,” he said.
Johnson believes the Republican Party needs to expand its base in order to develop further.
“Really, the basis of being a Republican is that they do a better job of balancing the checkbook,” he said.
Johnson said he cannot comment on rumors of a presidential bid because of his honorary chair position on OUR American Initiative, a libertarian non-profit group.
“All the other candidates seem to be talking about the same things on every other issue. Back to my hypothetical run, if you give [the voter] my name next to a check off box, [they] may say this is how we want to look at the world,” he said.
AU Students for Liberty sponsored the event.
“We’ve noticed that the political discussion at AU is Republicans versus Democrats. We hope to show students that there is a third path,” said Karina Zannat, acting president of AU Students for Liberty.
kfroehlich@theeagleonline.com
