Question: How important is credibility in the Oval Office? Have you lied to the public since beginning your campaign? Have you ever broken a federal law? Would you swear an oath to never lie to us as president?
Submitted from Judith of Cornish, Maine through PBS Online (10/24/00)
Answer from Howard Phillips:
Will The American People Require Integrity And Credibility Of Those Who They Vote For In November?
In response to your last three questions:
No, I have not lied to the American people since beginning my campaign; no, I have not broken any federal laws; and yes, I would take an oath to never lie to the American people as President.
Of course credibility and integrity in the oval office is important to me, but perhaps just as important is whether it is important to you, the American people. After all, Bill Clinton lacks credibility, yet he still remains as President. The questions should be whether credibility, integrity and respect for the Constitution will be required by the public of those whom they vote for. After all, in today's political environment, truth is sometimes a hard commodity to come by.
For example, both Vice-President Gore and Governor Bush have been misrepresenting the facts to the electorate. Look at the question of taxes, each of them has some kind of a proposal for tax reform. Theoretically these proposals will result in the American people being able to get back some of their money they send to Washington. But really all that either one of them is doing is talking about the ways in which they are going to rearrange the system by which they plan on collecting more money from us year after year.
When the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994, federal revenues totaled $1.3 trillion annually. Since then, they've grown to roughly $2 trillion per year. In that same time period, federal expenditures have grown from $1.4 trillion annually to $2 trillion per year. In each case, this is an increase that approximates 50 percent. This is not something that is out of control. This is something that has been determined by the Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
The reason federal spending grows is that programs are not cut and more money is provided for them year after year. The reality is that government spends at least as much as it takes in.
There was not a balanced budget this past year, nor will there be one this next year. Claims of a balanced budget are predicated on ignoring the fact that during the past three fiscal years the federal government has taken $305 billion in FICA taxes from what was intended to be a deposit into the Social Security Trust Fund.
In contrast, consider the Constitution Party's constitutional approach to solving the problems of out of control federal taxation: The Constitution Party is committed to the complete elimination of the IRS and the complete reform of our present tax system. We will eliminate taxes on income, capital gains, inheritances, gifts, business activity and FICA taxes as well. The federal government would derive its revenues instead from a 25 percent revenue tariff on foreign goods imported into the United States as well as excises targeted on nonessential goods and services.
Both of these categories of taxation represent taxes that can be avoided if people choose to purchase American goods. They can avoid paying any tariff and if they choose to avoid purchasing nonessential goods and services they can likewise free themselves from the burden of excise taxes. The consequence is that families will be allowed to keep all that they earn and there will no longer be pressure on both spouses to enter the work force
We in the Constitution Party are going to cut the bloated federal government down to "constitutional size" and do the same in the category of taxes. We are not going to raise $2 trillion in a year or $2.5 trillion a year or the $3 trillion a year which the Democrats and Republicans contemplate raising. We are going to cut tax collection by the federal government back to about $500 billion a year, because that's all the federal government needs to conduct its constitutional activities as spelled out in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution.
The Constitution Party offers America a rebirth of freedom.
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