Liberty Maven

Continuing our interview with Collins Bailey here is part 2. If you haven’t read part 1 yet, check it out.

For all Liberty Maven interviews see the interview page.

LM: President Bush and Congress recently worked out an agreement on an economic stimulus bill. If you were in Congress for the vote on this bill would you have voted for it?

Bailey: It is truly amazing how quickly Congress can act when it stimulates their reelection. Since Congress is running a deficit of one billion dollars per day, any additional spending will be offset with a further devaluation of the dollar causing a loss of buying power equal to the “rebate”. The money for the “stimulus” bill will be paid with money borrowed from China and Saudi Arabia.

Yes, I would have voted for “stimulus bill”, but not as my first preference. Furthermore, I would have cut spending to pay for it, so that the buying power of the American worker was not further eroded. I would have raised the personal exemption from $3,400.00 to $15,000.00.

LM: What is the federal government’s role in stimulating the economy?

Bailey: The federal government’s role in stimulating the economy is to do the opposite of all those things that they do and are doing to cause recession. What Congress has done to cause recession is:

• Over regulation.
• Excessive taxation.
• Budget deficits and trade deficits.
• Driven American industry overseas.
• Free trade deals that are not FAIR trade.
• Encouraged illegal immigration.
• Given away American sovereignty.
• Driven up the cost of health care and limited our choices.
• Robbed the Social Security Trust fund of every last dime and replaced it with a debt obligation of over $175,000.00 for every man, woman and child in this nation. The United States is now the largest debtor nation in the world.
• Favored special interest groups at the expense of “We the People”.

What the federal government must do to stimulate the economy is:

• Stop unconstitutional spending.
• Balance the budget by cutting spending.
• Start paying down the federal debt.
• Eliminate ear marks and pork barrel spending.
• Raise the personal exemption from $3,400.00 to $15,000.00.
• Eliminate duplicate regulatory agencies.
• Change the tax code so that we stop rewarding industry for moving overseas.
• Require that those that sell goods in this country have the same quality and regulatory standards to meet as imposed by Congress on our own industry.
• Stop paying welfare and Social Security to illegal aliens.
• End birthright citizenship for illegal aliens.
• The deregulation of the telecommunications industry by Congress serves as an example of what Congress needs to do to bring down cost and improve service in the heal care industry.
• Our foreign policy must put “We the People” of America first.
• Hold Social Security moneys collected in the Trust fund to be used ONLY for benefits to the person that paid in the taxes.
• Congress must stop putting bandaids on the challenges we face that will last just long enough to cover their term of office, and instead deal with those challenges NOW.

LM: Do you believe the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was necessary legislation? It was passed in the wake of corporate scandals like that of Enron.

Bailey: I think it was poorly written and has a lot of problems. I think we have learned a lot from hind sight regarding the regulations that caused the mortgage bubble.

LM: As a Congressman would you work to modify or abolish the regulations within Sarbanes-Oxley?

Bailey: Yes.

LM: Your foreign policy views seem to be counter to the current prevailing views within the Bush administration. Many Republicans, including the likely nominee John McCain, support a war of offense rather than defense. You seem to disagree with this as you tout a “humble foreign policy” on your web site. Could you explain how such a foreign policy makes America stronger against the threat of terrorism?

Bailey: “A more humble foreign policy”; “more judicious use of our troops”; “opposed to nation building” were all the stated policy of 2000. Our foreign aid and foreign policy have made us less safe. I am opposed to giving foreign aid to those that would seek our detriment.

This nation’s leaders gave foreign aid to Saddam Hussein and Osama Ben Laden in the past. Our leaders must understand the religious and cultural differences of those that oppose us in order to have the best results. We must define success and have a way to measure results. There are persons that are benefiting from the current placement of our troops in the oil producing parts of the world. But it is not the American people. Just look at the cost of gasoline. With 572,000 troops overseas; with over 700 bases overseas; with troops in 130 nations; we continue to step in between the Hatfields and the McCoys and end up drawing the ire of both.

I strongly support a more sensible foreign policy that is focused on protecting American personal and economic Liberty here at home.

LM: The recent campus shootings at Virginia Tech and now Northern Illinois have been used by some as examples to push for stronger gun control laws. Some have stated that if guns were allowed on campus to begin with, many lives could have been saved. Also, some believe that if the airlines were allowed to arm their pilots and flight attendants the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented or minimized. Do you believe college students should be allowed to carry guns on campus, concealed or otherwise? What about allowing the airline companies to arm their own employees in the interests of security?

Bailey: Yes. I support the Second Amendment as written.

LM: Who is your favorite founding father and why?

Bailey: Our founding fathers are for me part of the “so great a cloud of witnesses” that “we are compassed about.” I have so many that I am inspired by. Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Jay, Paul Revere, James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Tom Nelson, Robert Morris, Caesar Rodney, etc. It is a very long list for me. For each of those that I have listed there is a story that inspires me in my life today. I do not have a single favorite.

One of my favorites is Richard Stockton. He wrote a friend, Joseph Reed, in 1764 – the year before the Stamp Act – that in regard to public service, that “the public is generally unthankful, and I never will become a Servant of it, till I am convinced that by neglecting my own affairs I am doing more acceptable Service to God and Man.” Although he did not live to see the end of the American revolution, his public service after he wrote that letter is quite impressive, including signing the Declaration of Independence.

[He was:] Member of the Executive Council of New Jersey (1768-1774); member of the Provincial Supreme Court (1774-1776); associate justice of the State Supreme Court (1774-1776); member of the Continental Congress (1776); a signer of the Declaration of Independence. [Editor's note: See the Richard Stockton wikipedia page for more information on him.]

This concludes the 2nd part of the Collins Bailey Liberty Maven interview.