FREEDOM, DIVERSITY, PROSPERITY

This time there is someone on your side. I’m a working class Texan. I grew up in a Dallas suburb called Allen, went to the University of Texas at Austin and fell in love with Central Texas and a firecracker of a woman named Jax. My wife and I both work 40 hours a week. She is a Bartender and an Operation System Technician; I am a Finish Trim Carpenter. I am self employed and pay over 14% of everything I make directly to social security, which equals over one hour of work a day, though I do not feel secure about our retirement. We have health insurance, but the only plan we can afford is catastrophe insurance which has a very high deductible. I am a normal hardworking American, I am what a Representative is supposed to be and I am running for United States Congress District 10.

Running for office is the best way I know to help people. My goals are to a) change the course of human history by growing respect for human rights and limited government, b) further the freedom movement started by Dr. Ron Paul, c) make National News by earning 10% of the vote in a three way congressional race as a Libertarian. I have shown myself capable of proving a political point through direct action. In 2006, I ran for Justice of the Peace in Northern Travis County. I received 34.49% and 19,932 votes, the highest vote percentage of any Libertarian in a contested race in the Nation. Out of 66 precincts, 17 reported 40% or more including four with 50% or more in my favor. I need your help proving that what our founding fathers fought for is still worth fighting for. We can make our own lives better, grow this Political Renaissance, this Freedom Movement by standing up and making our voices heard one dollar and one vote at a time. Vote Finkel for Congress and donate as much time and money as you can afford. I will continue to give all I can and will stand up for individual human rights as long as I live. This election can be a real step toward positive change. We can be the People in the History Books we just have to Take Action.

This job of Representative is one I already do as I represent Travis County on the Libertarian Executive Board of Texas. Also, I am the Vice-Chair of the Travis County Libertarian Party. This has prepared me for large meetings with in-depth Parliamentary Procedure. I want to work for you not the system. I’m not a lawyer; I’m not a political insider. I am a normal working class individual that likes to stand up for the little guy. I respect people and their ability to make their own decisions about their own lives, about their own money, about where the fruits of their own labor go. I want to listen to people and work not only to find simple solutions to everyday problems but to implement them. Right now the safest thing we can do for our civil rights and for our standard of living is to make the government Smaller, More Open, and Simple.

Every thing I do is predicated on the idea that every human being has the exact same inalienable rights. These rights are based in the idea of ownership. You are born owning your own body and have the right to honestly and without coercion acquire property and freely trade goods and services. Government is there to handle situations were some type of provable force has been initiated toward a person’s body or property or interfered with the free exchange of goods and services. The benefit of government is to release the burdens of tyranny by protecting individuals ability to make their own decisions about their own life. To protect human rights, continue prosperity, and further diversity we must be very discerning about where our government is involved. We have to remember that using government to enforce “good ideas” or social beliefs is similar and just as wrong as spreading democracy with a gun. Any time we ask the government to make new laws or start a new program, in the end we are asking to enforce those ideas or fund that project by sending a man with a gun on his hip and the threat of a cage to someone’s front door. There are definitely reasons to do that but it can not be because 50.1% of the people agree with you.

Democracy in its proper use is one of many checks on government power not a justification for the majority of people to force their will on a minority. We are a limited Republic, we elect representatives; our government is limited by inalienable human rights and is organized under the Constitution.

I am a Libertarian Activist, this is our pledge, “I certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.” Libertarians generally believe that the Government is simply there to make sure you are not hurt or stolen from and that the resulting legal system, national defense and governmental infrastructure should be paid for mostly through user fees.

In congress I want to a) drastically reduce taxes for low income, middle income, small business and the self employed, b) cut spending and balance the budget, c) streamline the educational system and allow for more local decisions, d) work to make the federal government more open and accessible, e) stop eminent domain abuse, f) dramatically cut overseas military spending, g) address the healthcare crisis in this country by listening to doctors, patients, insurance companies, and other healthcare providers, h) allow for more options in social security, i) oppose government regulation of the internet, j) implement a substitute for the income tax, k) addressing growing environmental problems by making people, businesses and most importantly the government criminally and financially responsible for their environmental impact.

Thank you, I sincerely appreciate your concern for the future of humanity and your interest in our government.I understand how hard it is to keep a positive attitude in this complicated struggle for a good life. Let’s make this election mean something.

We can be the People in the History Books we just have to Take Action.