Liberty Maven

Amit Singh is running for Congress in Virginia’s 8th District. He was kind enough to agree to participate in an interview. As you can tell from the interview he is dedicated to a limited and more open federal government. Please help his campaign by donating at his website: Amit08.com.

This is part 1 of the interview. For all Liberty Maven interviews check out the interview page.

LM: Your website (Amit08.com) has a very good description of your professional background. Could you complement that information with information about some of your hobbies and interests outside the professional realm? Additionally, could you elaborate a bit more on why you have decided to run for Congress?

Singh: I love to listen to live music especially bands like Dave Matthews that do a lot of improvisation during their performances. I used to collect a lot of live concert recordings but it is too difficult to keep up with nowadays. I also love to play basketball. I play in a league at work and I think it’s a great team sport that has a lot of skills that transfer to other areas. A little cliche, but I love to travel. I try to visit one new country a year. Last year I went to China which was amazing. This year I was hoping to go to Turkey but I’m not sure if that will happen given the campaign!

As far as running for Congress, I have always been a doer, for example I started my own company when I got frustrated working for others. I have written Jim Moran (the current VA 8th District incumbent Democrat) dozens of times with no response. This year, inspired by the presidential election and uninspired by local candidates, I took it upon myself to spread the message of limited and transparent government. Running for office is a great way to express your views and even make a difference.

LM: Who is your favorite founding father and why?

Singh: Thomas Jefferson of course! He founded my alma mater, the University of Virginia but he also encapsulated the spirit of freedom and understood the dangers of powerful governments over the people.

LM: Corporate regulation of public companies such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act seems to be either loved or hated. What is your position on Sarbanes-Oxley and corporate regulation in general? Should Sarbanes-Oxley be repealed or modified?

Singh: While I like some of the concepts in SOX (i.e. CEO signing the tax returns) I do not like the government enforcing the regulations. I believe the investors in a company should demand many of the same things required by SOX. I think by forcing all companies to follow SOX they are less competitive in the global market and are more likely base their operations offshore. I would vote to repeal SOX.

LM: Over the years politicians have pushed for Congressional term limits. Do you support Congressional term limits?

Singh: I do support Congressional term limits. The reason is because Congressmen with seniority have a disproportional affect on citizens they do not represent. Much of this is due to special interests which is entirely a different topic.

LM: Today, President Bush said he believed we are not headed in to a recession as he touted the economic stimulus package. Ron Paul has said we are already in a recession. Do you feel the stimulus package will save us from a recession? What is the federal government’s role in preventing a recession?

Singh: I think the stimulus package will help a little but not enough to pull us out of the recession. With overspending abroad and bloated domestic agencies, the spending is the major problem. With even less tax revenue, we will only go further into debt.

This concludes part 1 of the interview.  Check out part 2 here.