TEN STEPS TO ACHIEVING THE AMERICAN DREAM

By Steve W. Kubby

We personally know Steve and his wife Michele. We've come to know Steve Kubby to be a man with vision who can lead with integrity. We hope that after you've had a chance to get to know him a little better as the result of reading this position paper, you, too, will have the courage to break away from the old script of politics deciding what is best for you.

Jessica Haynes
Carmel, California
April 15, 1998

Gene A. Cisewski
Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1998

Contents

Introduction: Achieving the American Dream

Step 1: Courageous People Think for Themselves and Live Happier Lives

Step 2: To Get a Better Life, You Have to Take Action

Step 3: Better Education Gives Your Children More Opportunity

Step 4: Ending Violent Crime so You Can Live Safer

Step 5: New Solutions to Make Health Care More Affordable for Everybody

Step 6: Ending Tax Slavery so You can Make Your Own Decisions

Step 7: Cleaning House to Preserve the Environment

Step 8: Bring Peace to Our Rich Melting Pot Heritage

Step 9: Nonaggressive Solutions to Poverty in California

Step 10: Elect Steve Kubby Governor

Introduction

From Washington's sex and power scandals to conflict of interest charges in California's Office of the Insurance Commissioner, people have adequate reason not to trust their government. Repeated polls show that Americans no longer trust the people who govern you and me. So what's a person to do? If we know that the politicians from the Democratic and Republican Parties do more harm than good, where can you and I turn?

On February 4, 1998, a Lake Tahoe entrepreneur who played a lead role in the passage of California's Proposition 215 announced his intention to seek the office of Governor. In making that announcement, this person said:

"I'm running because I'm fed up with bad government, corrupt politicians, and arrogant officials. Like you, I'd like the government to support my liberty, protect and serve my family, respect my personal property and stop passing and enforcing laws that assume I have the intelligence of a child."

The person who said that is Steve Kubby. And the reason that we, along with a groundswell of other people throughout California, know that Steve Kubby will be different from all of the other politicians is simple. Instead of joining one of the big, old parties where certainly he would have found easy success in the political arena he joined the Libertarian Party.

The Libertarian Party is known as the Party of Principle. That's because Libertarians consistently embrace our country's founding principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility. With a great deal of spirit, the people who make up that party embrace Thomas Jefferson's vision as stated just before he became our third president in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1801.

"Still one thing more, fellow citizens a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."

As Jefferson led our nation into an era of greater peace and prosperity, the time has come for you and me to seriously review the claims of big government. Does it serve and protect us? Or is it simultaneously regulating and polluting our nation?. Now you and I face a new millennium. It's time for government to grow up and return local and state government decisions to the people. Steve Kubby offers us the kind of leadership that will take California into a new millennium where you and your family can achieve the American Dream.

This book shows you how Steve Kubby's refreshing solutions to the problems facing all of us will make life better. It will show you how getting back to our founding principles can mean greater prosperity for you and those you love.

We personally know Steve and his wife Michele. We've come to know Steve Kubby to be a man with vision who can lead with integrity. We hope that after you've had a chance to get to know him a little better as the result of reading this book, you, too, will have the courage to break away from the old script of politics deciding what is best for you.

Jessica Haynes
Carmel, California
April 15, 1998

Gene A. Cisewski
Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1998

Step 1: Courageous People Think for Themselves and Live Happier Lives

Did you ever notice that the happiest people in the world all share one trait? Rich or poor, people find happiness when they take control of their own lives.

These happy people may have been raised to take charge of their own lives. Or they may have made a choice as an adult to take control of their own destiny. They may have even tapped into the many self-help books available today. Whether following Nathaniel Brandon's The Six Pillars of Self Esteem, Wayne W. Dyer's Your Erroneous Zones, Shirley McLaine's Out on a Limb, or even Ayn Rand's John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, people find that happiness is somewhere deep inside themselves.

Politicians today try to tell people that politics can make people happy. The truth is that politics are often much more likely to make people feel more confused. But that doesn't slow down those politicians. They pass about 2,000 new laws and regulations every year right here in California. Every one of these laws tells you how to live. Yet after nearly 20,000 new laws were passed during the last ten years, few people are happier.

On the other hand, all of those laws do terrible damage. With so many laws on the books, it is impossible for you or me to keep track of all of them. Many of those laws violate the Constitutional principles our nation's founders established so that we could be a peaceful, prosperous, and free people. As a result of all of the laws the politicians pass no matter how well intentioned they started out fewer people have respect for the law.

Conventional thinking from the two big, old parties is increasingly out of touch with the people. The way those politicians think is that every time a problem is found, they can fix it. And when their fix doesn't work, do they undo the confusion? Never. Instead, they pass more laws, create more restrictions, and increases your taxes. You've heard their old excuses before: "if we only had more money everything would be better."

People who readily think for themselves quickly see the big lie in this type of conventional thinking. People who do not think for themselves hope the politicians have all the answers. Unfortunately, too many people buy into the bureaucratic wisdom, and the results are not pretty. Consider:

Our politicians, led by President Lyndon Johnson, started a War on Poverty more than 30 years ago. After all that time and billions upon billions of tax dollars going into their programs, we have more poverty in America than when they started that war.

Our politicians, led by President Richard M. Nixon and one of his lieutenants, Dan Lungren, started the new War on Drugs more than 25 years ago. Yet more harmful drugs are available today than before the war started. And worse, Americans have been stripped of many civil liberties to support this war while sick people are being deprived of alternative medicines to maintain the politicians' war.

Poverty and drug abuse are problems people have as individuals. There is no one solution to solve those kinds of problems. Yet there are many better, more compassionate, solutions to help people in need than going to the government. You don't hear too many of those because of the way media and politicians have become so dependent on one another.

If you and I wish to change the world for the better, we have to change ourselves first. We have to take control of our lives. You might say we have to govern ourselves. When you do that, you will discover that the answers to most of your problems cannot be found with government and politicians.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote:

"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angles in the form of kings to govern him?"

Steve Kubby and the Libertarians are the concerned people who understand this important distinction about people. You and I have a choice. It is important to realize that what will help me may hurt you. Government comes in one-size-fits-all. It has to if equal protection under the law is to work. That means that we have to limit the power we give politicians and take greater responsibility for ourselves. So how do you and I do that?

Step 2: To Get a Better Life, You Have to Take Action

When you or I attempt to control others even when we truly believe it is for their own good we often end up hurting them. Forcing people to do good creates animosity instead of good will. That make life more tense, and thus more violent.

That's different from preventing people from doing bad things. When people hurt you or take from you by force or fraud, then government has a role to play. Libertarians like Steve Kubby believe that government's only proper function is to preserve the equal rights of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Perhaps the most misunderstood part of our founding principles is that "pursuit of happiness" issue. The founders did not intend to guarantee everybody would be happy. Rather, it was their intent that you and I would be left free to discover our own happiness. You and I could do this in any way we wanted, so long as we didn't hurt or defraud others in the process.

More and more Californians know that government won't create happiness. Many become frustrated by politics because they put too much faith in the system to provide them happiness. A prominent share of our citizens have given up faith and dropped out of the system. They don't even bother voting. You can't blame them if the only option a person has is between two bureaucratic parties shuffling back and forth emotional and political promises. After all, when you settle for the lesser of two evils, you still get less.

Fortunately, you have a new choice. You can have a better life for yourself and the people you love. However, don't expect it to just come to you. You've got to take action to make the dream a reality. That means you and I have to get involved in politics. Not necessarily the two parties that presently monopolize our government, rather, reregister to vote for Steve Kubby and learn about the Libertarian party. Become active in the fastest growing movement designed to give you back your power. This will help you to create your future, pursue your personal happiness and feel at ease that "Big Brother" is not monitoring your choices.

The first action is an act of discovery. Look deep inside yourself to discover what would make you happy. Then, as long as it doesn't hurt or defraud somebody else, go for it with all you're worth. Here's how you can take action. These steps will show you exactly how we can solve many of today's problems that face California. From violent crime, to pollution; from a better education for your children to finer health care for your family; there is a better way. It is an avenue that may not always appeal to the bureaucrats holding office. That is because they lose control over you. What a refreshing idea!

The next action is one of learning. Through reading and research you expand yourself, your values, and your lifestyle. Some politicians figure that if they can regulate your values, the country will be cohesive. However, if the government take control of gamboling, guns, drugs, real estate, environmental control, and other social problems, we need to look at how it affects us individually. As one of the Libertarian Party founders, David Nolan, points out:

"By outlawing objects as opposed to actions we shift the blame for crimes away from the perpetrators, and make criminals of people who have harmed no one. Even worse, by criminalizing the possession and use of something, the government effectively turns its distribution over to the real criminal element of society. It was the prohibition of alcohol which gave rise to organized crime in the 1920s. Additionally, these laws do little to deter people intent on committing real rimes like murder, rape, robbery, and extortion. They simply deprive law-abiding citizens of their liberty, and, in some cases, the means to defend themselves."

To have a happier and more prosperous life, you have to look around you. Then you can chose to take action and claim that happiness which best matches a lifestyle for well being, contentment, good health, and personal satisfaction.

As Albert Einstein stated, "The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every citizen feels duty bound to do his share, in this defense our Constitutional rights are secure."

Juxtapose Einstein's statement with Clinton's recent interpretation of the Constitution and make a decision as to what type of leader you want.

Clinton says, "When we got organized as a country, we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans. There's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the public housing projects, about how we're going to have weapon sweeps and more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities." --Bill Clinton, on MTV's "Enough is Enough" - March 22, 1994

A part of this decision to chose personal well being includes getting involved with politics. It is one of the most exciting worlds you will ever enter. We invite you now to learn and review the following 8 steps to live the American Dream.

Step 3: Better Education Gives Your Children More Opportunity

You and your children deserve the best education possible. A good education is the key to a happier, more prosperous life. To get the best possible education, you need to review and reanalyze what conventional thinking has offered you an your family. After all, it's very likely that traditional solutions are what created the mess we face today.

The tax-supported public schools are in trouble. Teachers can't teach well because of discipline problems. Violence at schools has gone up while test scores have gone down. Just how bad have the public schools gotten? Look at the results:

The U.S. has 27 million illiterates along with 40 to 50 million people who can barely read at the fourth-grade level. More than half of all 18-year-olds cannot find Britain or France on a map of the world.

Politicians as a whole believe that more money will solve any lagging or unforeseen problem. If that were true, then why are the schools in the District of Columbia in such turmoil. No public school system spends as much per pupil on education as does your nation's capital. Yet for the past two years the fall opening of classes was delayed because many school buildings were found unfit and dangerous. And D.C.'s public schools show some of the worst results in the country, despite having the most money.

Unfortunately, in Washington, D.C., as in many places around the country, the public school system is in such a sad state that most public school teachers won't even let their own children set foot in those schools. Instead, they send their own children to private schools. All parents and children deserve those better choices.

To best see why we have the school system we have today, one has to look at the history of public schools. Way back in the 1830s, Horace Mann led the movement for "public schools." On the surface, it sounded good. Every child would have access to an education. But there was a different agenda at work.

When the public school movement began, it did not come from a cry for reform from the people. Instead, it was led by intellectual families. They wanted to take control of education away from parents and put it into the hands of engineered social regulation. Their real agenda had two harmful goals.

The first goal was based on racism and a distrust of the diverse cultures that make America so rich. With the influx of immigrants who wanted to work to achieve the American Dream, those elite folks used their power and influence to maintain their prejudices. Instead of embracing a free and open society, they chose to structure and re-define education. Most ethnic groups grew to resent the way those elites chose to undermine their parental rights. The most obvious example of how the people responded was the growth of Catholic schools.

The second goal in centralizing education in government hands was also based on fear. The intellectuals and 'old monied' families who controlled our country saw that the "common people" were rising and becoming politically active. To help keep the common people in place, the public schools were to teach values that were considered blind obedience at the time. Government schools would teach middle and lower class children:

Conformity;
Equating patriotism with loyalty to government; and
Perpetuating a myth that knowledge is best acquired when taught by a repeatable and uniform system - preferably designed by the elite.

Throughout the later part of the 1800s, virtually every school had its own school board that controlled education in their communities. What has been named the "progressive era" early in this century, actually was the beginning toward restructuring local control.

That loss of local control became worse in the 1950's when funding for schools began moving to state governments. What happened then was that more and more money went into bureaucracies instead of teaching.

According to Steve Buckstein of the Cascade Policy Institute, the Portland, Oregon school district has 600 employees in its central office. That's one central office employee for every 92 students. On the other hand, the Catholic school system has only five central office employees. Their ratio is one central office employee for every 2,300 students! The government-run schools have 25 times as many people in their central office who do not teach. And the Catholic schools show better results in educational scores and a better record of college placement than public schools.

Beyond the wasted dollars this educational system has supplemented social experiments that have failed and curtailed students confidence. Consider those programs that were designed to measure children's IQs and followed up with bureaucratic "tracking." The result is students with special needs are labeled as being slow and intelligent students are held back with mounds of paperwork for teachers and an unproved tracking system. This creates mediocrity in our public school system. The follow example John Gatto (New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991) put it:

"David learns to read at age four; Rachel, at age nine: In normal development, when both are age 13, you can't tell which one learned first the five-year spread means nothing at all. But in school I will label Rachel learning disabled' and slow David down a bit, too. I adjust David to depend on me to tell him when to go and stop. He won't outgrow that dependency. I identify Rachel as discount merchandise, special education.' After a few months she'll be locked into her place."

When people stereotype students with standardized tests and a centralized bureaucracy, enormous problems emerge. And those problems become worse for racial minorities. It's little wonder that Wisconsin's State Representative Polly Williams (a single mom from Milwaukee's inner city) led the fight for school choice in her state.

Another prime example of wasted dollars is when voters passed the California State Lottery. Californians were told that there would never be another shortfall of funds for the schools again. Today we see one of the top issues on California's list of social, economical, and financial woes is bankrupt schools.

You don't have to settle for a second rate education. Steve Kubby's son Sky started out in the public school system. Yet by the time Sky was a freshman in the Truckee school system, it became apparent that he wasn't getting a good education. Sure, to most people a school might seem good to them. But few people compare schools. Sky, who was a straight-A student in the public schools, became a D student in his first semester at the private school Steve chose for him. That didn't last for long. At the new, private school Sky quickly learned how to study and retain more knowledge. His grades rose steadily and at 22 he's now successful with his own business. Steve's young daughter Brooke will not set a foot in a government run school. He knows you don't get better education for your children with uniformly government-run schools. Many parents now consider this system as a 12 year babysitter and refer to these institutions as a relief during day hours. But is it truly in the best interest of their child's future.

The way to achieve the best education is to return choice and control to parents. History proves that centralized control generally gives you poor results and wide scale waste of resources. Steve Kubby is the only candidate for Governor in California this year who will develop policies that lead to a separation of school and state so your children get the best education possible.

The future is open when the present system is deregulated. Schools will develop, competing for your children's talents. Some will specialize in mathematics and the sciences while others will focus on art and literature. They will have to perform better to attract students. With the rapid technological developments coming your way in communications, from satellite television and the Internet to interactive media, the opportunities for your children will have is exciting. That is, those opportunities will be there only if we break out of the old thinking that holds back your potential and mine.

Step 4: Ending Violent Crime so You Can Live Safer

At a policy forum on crime control, Judge James Gray of the Orange County Superior Court made an important observation. He noted how fast California constructs new prisons and fills them up. Judge Gray told the audience that if the current pace of prison construction and incarceration continues, by the year 2020 every Californian will be either incarcerated or working for the prison system.

He's right you know. No nation, not even China or the former Soviet Union, imprisons as great a percentage of their citizens as does America. The problem is that we keep the wrong people in jail and let the truly dangerous people roam the streets.

More than half the people serving time in prisons are there for nonviolent offenses. They didn't hurt anybody. They didn't rob anybody. They just made a poor decision. Yet with mandatory minimums and three-strike laws, non-violent people spend more time in prison on average than criminals who killed a person, raped somebody, or violently assaulted an innocent victim.

Gun control is not an answer. One does not attack the car when a drunk driver kills an innocent victim. It's the individual who does something wrong who should face the wrath of society. Time was that almost every boy carried a gun to school. Today, in a climate where guns are regulated more than ever, we read about terrible things happening. The evidence shows that in those communities that outlawed handguns, the chance a criminal will break into your home while you and your family are there skyrocketed. Gun control is a quick fix invented by politicians (and carried forward by well-intentioned folks who got caught up with this movement.). If you want safer streets, then we have to go to the core of violence in America. It's the government and the war on drugs that is directly responsible for most of the violent crime you and I fear.

Steve Kubby is the only candidate for governor in California this year who has the courage to take a refreshing stand that will guarantee safer streets for you and your family. It's easy to say "get tough" with expensive programs that so far have all failed. Because of these programs you become a victim twice. First, when you are victimized by the crime itself and then when you asked to pay the bill for the failing crime prevention programs. Instead, Steve Kubby has called for an outright end to the war against non-violent offenders so that we can make room in our prisons for the truly violent criminals.

Look to the lessons of history to see why this makes so much sense. Not so long ago in America, alcohol was made illegal. During that time we know as Prohibition, organized crime moved in to supply the demand for liquor. Streets became battlegrounds. Criminals bought off law enforcement officers and judges. Bad booze blinded and killed people. Civil rights were trampled to keep people from drinking.

When alcohol prohibition ended, the murder rate in the United States began a free fall that lasted for years . . . until the politicians started a new prohibition against drugs. Most of the violence associated with drugs has nothing to do with somebody abusing a substance and then attacking innocent people. That violence comes from the underground economy that springs up for any prohibited product. Because people involved with drugs cannot use legal methods to settle disputes and win market share, they turn to violence. Most experts agree that if all drugs were made legal today, violent crime would be cut in half.

You and your loved ones could breathe easier. Your neighborhood will be safer. Consider some of the benefits you'll get with an end to this unwinnable war:

Legal companies will take over marketing drug products, meaning that they will be held responsible if they put bad stuff in drugs.
Those legal companies won't try to hook your children by going to public schools to "push" their products after all, tobacco companies and liquor manufacturers use advertising, not personal representatives on school grounds. And no advertising is more powerful than good parenting.
Drugs will become weaker like in the days when Coca-Cola put just a little bit of cocaine in their original recipe instead of caffeine.
Millions of dollars in taxes will be saved because we won't have to lock up people just because we don't like their behavior.
Violent crime will drop at record rates because there won't be a demand for the underground organized crime infrastructure that's now in place.
People who want to escape from drug abuse will be able to get help without fear of a prison term.

To prop up the war on drugs, people have been given a lot of false propaganda from our own government. You may have heard that today's marijuana is ten, 50, even 100 times stronger than that which people experimented in the 1960s. That is not true. According to Dr. John Morgan of New York University's School of Medicine (and the author of the Mercks Manual's Drugs of Abuse section) there has been no change in the potency of marijuana.

Instead, the government made this up. Politicians know that more than 30 million Americans had tried marijuana without bad effects. They also know that most people who had tried pot in their younger days no longer smoke it. So they have invented a potency argument, thinking that folks like you will just go along and believe what they are told.

How can somebody make such a charge against our own government? Consider that it was not until the 1960s that the active ingredient in marijuana was even discovered! Since that time, all potency testing has been done exclusively at one facility at the University of Mississippi. It was not until the early 1980s that they analyzed enough different samples from around the country to be statistically significant. Since 1980 or so, when the government started to analyze enough marijuana to get a fairly accurate picture of its strength, their own studies prove that the potency has not changed.

You may also have heard the story that marijuana leads to stronger drugs. There is nothing in the chemical makeup of marijuana that does this. Instead, it's the drug war that makes this link. Think about it this way. If you were going to deal in an underground product, what would you want? Something like marijuana that's bulky, hard to conceal, and carries penalties as harsh as for anything you might offer? Or would you want something you could easily hide in the palm of your hand that brought in more money at less risk? The answer is simple. The people who sell drugs have responded to the war on drugs by pushing harder drugs. The war on drugs is responsible for:

Increased use of harsher drugs;
The invention of harder, cheaper drugs like "crack" cocaine and CAT;
Use of children to run drugs without facing adult criminal penalties;
Aggressive, personal sales of drugs on playgrounds;
Resistance among people to seek help to end drug abuse;
Increased violent crime;
Increased organized crime; and
Unsafe neighborhoods.

We need to look at ending or restructuring this attitude toward drugs. The war hurts more innocent people than the drugs themselves. And we need to make those people who opt to use drugs take responsibility for their own choice. That means that:

Taxpayers should never have to bail out drug abusers for their bad choices;
Drug abusers should never get a reduced sentence for crime committed under the influence; and
Employers should never be forced to keep a drug abuser on the payroll because it's a "disability."

An end to the drug war will also help bring equality about. Most of today's drug laws, if you go back and investigate the Congressional Record, were rooted in racism. Alcohol and tobacco were the drugs of choice for the white America who controlled government. Other drugs were more prevalent with ethnic minorities. It's amazing to read how politicians from another era were very open about outlawing certain drugs so that they'd have an easier way to control growing minority populations. Marijuana was outlawed to control Mexican communities . . . and interestingly enough, it was not outlawed in the U.S. until after alcohol prohibition had been repealed. Opiates were regulated with an eye toward controlling Asian immigrants to the U.S. This list goes on.

You can see that the racist roots in America's drug policy even today. When a poor kid from the city gets a prison sentence far more severe for possessing "crack" cocaine than that of a rich suburban kid with the same amount of powder cocaine.

One final note about drug prohibition. As a result of the government's attitude toward drugs, a number of chronically ill people are presently being arrested in California for using medicinal marijuana. Proposition 215 is being repudiated by some judges while being upheld by others. This inconsistency is creating a political war in which innocent citizens are caught in the middle. There are proven facts to show that certain herb's do in fact have therapeutic uses. For instance, people suffering the agony of AIDS wasting syndrome and cancer are finding relief by using natural herbs constructively.

Steve Kubby knows first hand that when we get the government out of the way we can find good in what conventional wisdom cannot see. Twenty three years ago he was told by his doctors that he had Adrenal Cancer and could expect to live six months to maybe a year. Chemotherapy might help, but it would ravage his system and not give him much more time. Steve, somebody who helped lead Californians to approve the Medical Marijuana initiative, took a different route. Today he feels great. His doctors at the Mayo Clinic are amazed because nobody they've ever diagnosed with his type of cancer survived before.

So great was Steve Kubby's recovery that he and his wife Michele decided a little more than two years ago that it was time for another addition to the family. The result, a healthy family with a bright two-year-old named Brooke.

After the successful passage of Prop 215, Steve Kubby was invited to address the State of the World Forum in San Francisco. World leaders, including former heads of state and prime ministers like Mikhail Gorbachev, received his speech well and sought out his advice on this subject. At the forum, Steve was able to confer with former San Jose Police Chief Joe McNamara. The two of them found common ground on principles to return personal safety back into the homes and hands of Californians.

Join with Steve Kubby if you really want safer streets and the assurance that violent offenders will be punished for their acts. Steve Kubby will save you billions in tax dollars by freeing the courts and prison spaces allowing non-violent individuals the opportunity to get back into society and have contribute to the economic system.

Step 5: New Solutions to Make Health Care More Affordable for Everybody

Steve Kubby recognizes that affordable health care readily available to all people is a priority. Yet, like centralized government schools, the government cannot accomplish this goal. Back when President Bill Clinton tried to force his federal health care program on all of us, the Libertarian Party took the lead in offering alternatives with Project Healthy Choice.

The only health care reforms that will give you better care at more affordable prices are those that draw on the strength of free markets and fair competition. There are five key points to what Steve Kubby will work on to help guarantee you the best health care possible.

1. Californians should be allowed to establish medical savings accounts. One key to controlling health care costs is strengthening the role of the individual consumer. If you want to see a real look of surprise come onto your doctor's face, try this. Next time he or she tells you that you have to have treatment, tell them you want to know the cost of each procedure and what it is supposed to do for you. Prices stay down when consumers make individual choices. There's not too much choice left in health care today. You get what government approved doctors tell you the government has approved. Breaking up the health care monopolies created by government will put you back in control. Medical Savings Accounts (MSA) are the first step.

As part of this process, you can be exempted from taxes on money deposited in your MSA. This would be just like the money people put into Individual Retirement Accounts today. You could take the money you put into your MSA, without a penalty, to pay medical expenses and you wouldn't have to use all of the money in a year or lose it like some politicians recommend. Instead, you can let the money build up in case something serious needs more attention in the future.

Then we could deregulate health insurance companies so they can offer people a basic catastrophic coverage at very low premiums. This protection would help people when some serious medical condition threatens them. At present there are so many confusing medical programs to chose from in the insurance business, many consumers find themselves spending more and getting less actual coverage. In deregulating insurance companies, consumers have the power then to voice how much they are willing to pay, to whom, and through which convenient payment plan is easiest for them. By letting individuals like you and I pick and choose where we'll spend our own medical dollars, costs will go down.

2. We could change tax policy as the next consumer-based reform. Taxes have to be restructured to give people equal treatment between employer-provided health insurance, individually purchased health insurance, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. All health care expenditures should be 100% tax deductible. This will add an important measure of fairness to corrupt policies now that penalize self-employed people, part time workers, and employees of small businesses. Today's policies subsidize giant corporations at the expense of the little guys.

3. We could deregulate the health care industry. In many cases, government policies are responsible for rising health costs and unavailability of health care services. California can take major steps to deregulate the health care industry by changing laws to eliminate mandated benefits, repealing Certificate-of-Need programs, and allowing the expansion of the scope of practice for non-physician health professionals, like nurse midwives, chiropractors, and nutritionists.

4. We also could work hard to persuade our Congressional delegation to replace the FDA. The Food and Drub Administration is an unnecessary burden on the American health care system. There is no evidence that agency offers you or me any real protection. On the other hand there is massive evidence that the FDA causes great harm, driving up health care costs and depriving millions of Americans of the medical care they need. Abolishing that agency and replacing it with voluntary certification by a private sector organization would help Californians immediately.

How would such a private agency work? Well, it's not just a good idea, but one that already has a good working model. Many years ago, shortly after the light bulb was invented, everybody wanted their home wired for electricity. In those early days of electric power, insurance companies found themselves paying for more house fires than they could imagine. They discovered poor wiring was the culprit. So to cut their losses while saving many homes from fire, they established Underwriters Laboratories. You can see the UL label on many home appliances you buy. The rule became that if you wanted fire insurance, you made sure that you installed wiring that was UL approved. A similar group should be organized to provide standards for new medical procedures and drugs. Steve Kubby believes that at no time should the government be able to deny a patient's choice of health care. That's a private matter between the patient and health care provider. Likewise, no government agency should force medical providers to perform procedures which they don't believe are good, medically or ethically.

5. We could privatize Medicare and Medicaid. Again, you and I will have to turn to Washington to do this, yet California can take the lead with waivers to start innovative programs to replace these two programs that cost too much and give patients second-rate health care.

Step 6: Ending Tax Slavery so You can Make Your Own Decisions

If I walked up to you with a gun and told you to give me all your money, you'd call that stealing, wouldn't you? It doesn't matter why I want your money, the fact that I take it from you by force makes it theft.

What changes if I get together with others to take your money by force? We most commonly call this kind of activity "gang-related" today. Each member of a gang who steals your private property is just as guilty of theft as one person robbing you alone.
Theft is theft. How can children believe parents who teach theft is wrong when they see their parents voting for politicians who regularly use their positions of power to fund and support their special interest programs.

How much do you really pay? In addition to the direct taxes you pay, there are other hidden tax costs, like import duties, license fees, compliance costs to keep records, enforcement costs and penalties to the government, and regulatory costs. According to the Tax Foundation here's what you pay:

Federal taxes 22.4% of your income State & local taxes 11.8% of your income Compliance costs 22.2% of your income Regulatory costs 12.7% of your income

70.1% of your income is now consumed by government taxation!

Imagine how much better-off low income families would be if they could keep their own money to buy the things they need and want.

Add to the terrible consequences of having so much of your income taken away legally by the federal government Californians are also required to pay steep state and property taxes. We've got a system that Democrats like to call "progressive" because the richer a person is, the greater a percentage of income is supposed to be taken.

You and I know that's not how it really works. With loopholes and credits and a system so complicated that the average person can no longer do their own taxes, the rich get off paying a lot less. If you can afford tax lawyers and accountants, you don't have to pay much for this progressive system. If you're middle class or poor, you have to suffer a bigger brunt. This system is arbitrary, confusing, and too great a burden for many Californians. This is exemplified by the mass exodus of business owners to other states for tax purposes.

Look at all of the candidates running for governor who want your vote this year. Only Steve Kubby has called for phasing out the state personal income tax over the next four years. And only Steve Kubby stands for a reevaluation of state taxes.

There is a way to be more efficient with tax monies and our resources. There are other states that do not have a sales tax or an income tax. These states like New Hampshire, Nevada, Washington, and Montana can be examples for us to create government supported systems without depending upon taxation.

Step 7: Cleaning House to Preserve the Environment

The first thing you and I have to do if we really want to clean up our planet is to identify the biggest polluters. Who is the biggest polluter in our country today? The government of the United States of America.

How is it that the government can excuse its actions as a polluter when in fact it is perhaps the worst offender? Start with the military. In 1991, Pentagon spokesperson Kevin Doxey told the National Academy of Science that, "We have found some 17,400 contaminated sites at 1,850 installations, not including formerly used sites." He was referring to toxic solvents used to de-ice military planes, byproducts from the manufacture of nerve gas and mustard gas, and radioactive waste. Back in 1988 the Energy Department estimated that it would take 50 years and $100 billion to clean up just 17 of these sites.

You cannot expect the greatest polluter of all time to protect you. Instead of guaranteeing you the right to a hazard free environment, government sets acceptable standards for pollution.

Steve Kubby embraces private property, strict liability, and the principle of trespass to protect you and me from polluters.

Liability is the first key element to policies that will clean up our environment. It means that those who pollute our air, land, and waters have to be held accountable for the damage they do. Unfortunately, the Democrats and Republicans conspire in secret political dealings to waive liability for polluters. This all started back in the late 1950s.

At that time, private insurance companies would not insure nuclear power plants. The insurance companies felt that the huge risks involved with a possible nuclear accident were not acceptable. Because of that, power companies refused to consider nuclear power. Leave it to the politicians and some well placed lobbying to change that. Congress passed the Price Anderson Act. That law limited the amount of money victims could claim if they suffered from an accident caused by the nuclear industry. That law also specified that 80% of the damages they would allow had to come from tax payers not the people or companies that caused the damage.

Once the law was passed, nuclear power proliferated because they wouldn't have to be so careful. Instead of protecting your rights and mine, the government sided with special-interest groups.

Private property rights are equally important in protecting the environment. A long time ago the British learned how to stop pollution of their rivers. Fishing rights in British streams and rivers are considered private property that can be bought and sold. During the last century, polluters have been routinely dragged into courts by angry owners and forced to clean up any damage they caused. Every owner became an environmental protector because each of them stands to profit from nurturing the environment.

Before the government got involved, shrimp fishermen on the Gulf of Mexico claimed parts of the gulf as their property. They used the time-honored practice of homesteading. They formed a voluntary association to keep the waters productive and to avoid over fishing.

Private ownership encourages preservation of endangered species, too. Compare the elephant herds in Zimbabwe and Kenya. In Zimbabwe, the homesteading claim of natives to the elephants on their land is respected. The elephants and their products can be freely bought and sold. The natives have a good enough incentive to raise as many elephants as possible to improve their own lives. They also had the incentive to report and convict unscrupulous poachers. The results saw their herd increase from 30,000 to 43,000 over the past ten years. People will protect the environment when they own it. On the other hand the Kenyan government built their elephant protection plan along the lines of U.S. government policies. And during the exact same period that the numbers of elephants grew in Zimbabwe, Kenya's herd shrank by 67%.

Trespass is simple. If your neighbor does anything to pollute the air you breath, the land which you own, or the water from which you take nourishment, they have committed an act of aggression that must be stopped. And then they have to be held liable to make right the wrong they caused. Under current policy, if a simple majority says some pollution is acceptable, you have no say in the matter. Steve Kubby believes that nobody has the personal right to trespass against your environmental safety. At present many Californians tolerate gross environmental violations because they have become desensitized to the everyday destruction of our air, water, flora and fauna.

The bottom line is that Steve Kubby would make polluters responsible for the damage they cause. Not you and me and other taxpayers. The polluter. If somebody pollutes or destroys that piece of the earth owned by another (and that can include nonprofit groups like Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, and more), the polluter would be required to restore that property. In practice, this could be so expensive that a polluter might be bankrupted by his or her own carelessness. However, if an individual is aware of the consequences of his or her actions, we will see a drastic improvement in our decisions to protect the earth. Most Californians polled would pay more to guarantee clean air, pollutant free water, and chemical free land. When we make polluters, not taxpayers, responsible for the damage they do, the profit will be gone from pollution.

Since California is the 7th largest economy in the world, our leadership in this direction will help to influence the other 49 states and the nations of the earth. we have Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yosemite, Muir Woods, one of the most stunning coastlines, incredible desserts, majestic mountains, and crystal clear lakes. We have powerful entrepreneurs juxtaposed to relaxed and carefree nature lovers. What a wonderful balance of personalities to keep California diverse in its financial strength and natural geological beauty. Steve Kubby is asking you to remember how valuable the environment is and like your health, without it you have nothing. Let us vote for making the polluters responsible for their actions so we can keep California pristine and profitable.

Step 8: Bring Peace to Our Rich Melting Pot Heritage

"The Negro's great stumbling block is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to order' than to justice, . . . who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Letter from Birmingham jail, April 16, 1963

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963

So why can't white folks have a black hero? Steve and Michele Kubby recognize many of the powerful, intellectually sound principles that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed during his all too short life, especially the ideas he espoused leading up to the march before politicians started to get into the act. His two ideas expressed above fit exceptionally well at any gathering of Libertarians.

Today's debate about the diversity of our country is one driven by extremes. There's the extreme right that wants to build a stone border to the south. To keep out people of color, they would erect a border that the communists in East Berlin would have envied. They see an image of melting pot as a means to assimilate everybody into a singular, lockstep culture. People who won't assimilate should be kept out. Meanwhile, the extreme left wants to bring about their version of racial utopia with propaganda which compels everybody to live the way they see fit. Forced bussing, forced integration, and forced affirmative action are tools they use which in fact result in more racial conflict.

An entire industry has grown up around strife in the United States. Today's Affirmative Action debate is but one example. While we can see new disparities cropping up involving minority enrollments at California colleges and universities without the help of the Affirmative Action programs, repealing Affirmative Action was not a bad move. Yet replacing it with old prejudices is not the answer, either. Steve Kubby sees that education is the core to equal opportunity and here is his plan to create a level playing field for all.

It is time to reject the extremes of the left and of the right. It is time to look at each individual's character rather than their race, nationality, gender, sexuality, or age. Any society that tries to lump people into groups and make them fit a form is headed for trouble.

Meritocracy. That's a $20 word for you. What it means is that people should be judged by their own merit. You earn your own way and are rewarded for your own merits. If you do something wrong, only you should suffer the consequences of your error. If we want a more peaceful state, we have to judge people by the content of their character. Not by some classification established by politicians.

Step 9: Nonaggressive Solutions to Poverty in California

"The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer people become."
Lao-Tsu
Tao Te Ching

As mentioned earlier in this book, since the politicians declared war on poverty a greater proportion of our people millions more fell into poverty. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. This income disparity got wider as the politicians set up more and more programs that were supposed to help the poor. That's because the legislation politicians passed into laws promoted subsistence income lifestyles. That aggressive use of law, which many thought was for a good purpose, worked to disadvantage people in many ways.

It is sad that many politicians refuse to look at the big picture. They lose sight of the fact that the more that government defines the standard for supporting low income programs, the effect is spin cycle experiments allied with costly tracking follow up. They implement more legislation to solve the programs that have not yet delivered. They need more money, which further aggravates the problems they've already caused. Finally you have an honest choice with Steve Kubby and the Libertarians. These good folks see how the system has failed our neediest people and are compassionate enough to make the tough changes to help more people escape the poverty cycle.

When is a safety net not a safety net? When it's a trap that captures people, forcing them to stay in their place.

Today we see programs in California, indeed the entire nation, that lure people into dependency on the government for a pittance of an income. Instead of serving as a safety net to help people during brief periods of misfortune, it's become a way of life. Like people who inherit family businesses, second and third generations follow their parents and grandparents in choosing public assistance as a career. To suggest that this is compassion is nothing short of a humiliating truth. It's plantation thinking, keeping the poor and under educated in their place where the politicians can look after them.

The cost for government poverty programs is astounding. But the really shocking fact comes not in how much the government gives to the poor. It's in how much the bureaucracies keeps for themselves. Fully 74% of the government dollars allocated for the poor go to the welfare bureaucracies instead. That's how much it costs to administer government welfare programs: 74 cents for every dollar. If a private charity spent that much on overhead, the IRS would yank its tax exempt status in a flash.

If we want to reduce poverty in California - and with the growing Asian crisis we'd better act now. We have to recognize that government welfare programs are not curing people's woes. While some initiatives for low income housing are benefiting many individuals, enough loopholes exists that cunning politicians and individuals transform this beneficial program into a money making scheme. We can chose to redesign these programs utilizing less government so that people can be free to use their talents to create a better life for themselves and for their families. If we do not do this, our shrinking economy will be further crippled by higher taxes and more regulations. We also have to make it easy for charitable organizations to step in and fill the void for those people who, because of disability or other uncontrollable factors, cannot work for themselves.

Steve Kubby is suggesting that we elect politicians who are willing to leave people alone. Some of the most well-intentioned programs really hurt people. Give the responsibility of financial independence back to the people so they have an opportunity to invest and save and make it on their own. Chile's recent social reform is perhaps the most remarkable and successful experiment based on this concept.

Minimum wage laws sounded like a good idea. Instead, they rob many people of entry level positions where they could learn a new career. At the same time, those laws drove up the costs of goods and services, making it harder for people who were in real need to earn a basic lifestyle of food, shelter and clothing. Every time the government raises the minimum wage, thousands of poor people get thrown out of work.

Licensing laws squeeze out small business to the benefit of giant corporations. Yet 60% of all new jobs created come from companies with fewer than 21 employees. And these same small businesses provide 80% of all new minority positions. Aggressive regulations that stifle small business destroy jobs, especially for disadvantaged workers. Meanwhile, large companies become monopolies, extracting higher prices for goods and services.

Welfare payments destroy the will to work for people. By the end of the 1970s, the median family income was $1,500 lower than potential welfare benefits. This system fails to remember the concept that if you give a person a fish, he or she will eat for a day. Yet when you teach people to fish, they will eat forever. You and I have voluntarily elected to support a system that entices the poorest among us to stand in line, waiting for government to throw them a fish. That's not compassion, that's cruel.

If this book is in your hands, it is not an accident. Perhaps it is that you or those who try to buy the Governor's office are not for you. Perhaps it is because you feel it is time fro creative new solutions. Perhaps you are tired of approximately 2,000 laws being implemented each year in California.

If you are reading this book, perhaps the Kubby campaign is a heartfelt opportunity for you to make a difference today and for each of your tomorrows. Kubby is looking for volunteers just like you. If you don't have extra time, just call in your support and share the most important issues you want attended too. At the very least, pass this book onto others...friends, family, acquaintances, or even a friendly stranger.

You can't see how vividly accurate Field's view point is when you look at big parties' candidates running for Governor in 1998. There you get the usual party politicians battling it out. There's the hard line, big-brother, authoritarian politics of Dan Lungren. Then there's the giant corporate viewpoint of Al Checci. Don't forget the steady, same-old, same-old politics as usual from Gray Davis. Or how about the increasingly confusing viewpoint of Jane Harmon?

We believe what you truly seek, desire, expect, demand and ask of your leaders is a view that focuses upon the issues discussed in these chapters. Facts don't lie. Because the big party politicians use TV to assault you with soundbites instead of substance, we put this book together to show you how you and I can do the job of making California better. In most cases, it boils down to getting government out of your way. It means that politicians have to stop taking away your Constitutional rights and your income for failing programs. It means more power for you to pursue you own happiness.

You have a fresh new choice. Steve Kubby is the kind of person who will listen to you and not be trapped into the stale, old policies of the past.

Steve Kubby, 51, lives in the Lake Tahoe area with his wife Michele and their two-year-old daughter Brooke. His son Sky, 22, is an entrepreneur in his own right.

Fresh out of grad school, Steve Kubby started a camp for children called Earth Camp One (ECO). ECO was featured in articles in National Geographic, Newsweek, and other national publications as an innovative and successful approach to child development. Adrenal cancer forced Steve to sell ECO.

Following that accomplished and widely acclaimed venture and while still facing the challenge of his cancer, Steve founded a small property management firm in Lake Tahoe. He built an innovative company that managed rental properties. The company was serving 150 accounts when he sold the business in order to create something new.

Steve launched Ski West Magazine. In just five years' time, Ski West Magazine was on news stands throughout the U.S. and seven other countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where it was the number one ski magazine. This magazine continues in print today as Adventure Journal.

Steve Kubby earned his B.A. degree from California State University at Northridge in 1968 and continued there with post graduate work. He received his teaching credentials in 1973. He's also written and co-written books, including The Politics of Consciousness and another focusing on hemp and medical marijuana issues.

Steve Kubby stepped into the political fray as a leader in the Prop 215 campaign to allow sick people access to medical marijuana. After seeing that voters were ready to adopt new solutions to the challenges you and I face - solutions that the usual politicians haven't the imagination to grasp - he accepted encouragement from many Libertarians to run for governor to lead people into the new millennium.

As you've read these pages, you've learned what Steve Kubby would like to do as governor to give you, and the people you love, a better world. You only get one chance between youth and retirement to express, experience and complete your dreams. Life is not a practice run. Steve Kubby will lead the charge for better education, a cleaner environment, more opportunity to achieve success, and to realize your potential.

All the politicians from the two big, established parties tell you they are ready to implement new legislation to make your life better. The problem is, they fail because they are not adhering to the original Constitution which promotes personal liberty and freedom. They are telling you what you need in your life to make your future mesh with the lives of others. But the result is another 2,000 laws in one year to protect the system. You feel it in more rules, regulations, taxes and fees.

Ask yourself which person represents real Republicans: Jesse Helms, Dan Lungren, Arlen Spector, Christie Todd Whitman, or David Duke? They all run as Republicans but surely are not consistent in their thoughts and actions. Then ask yourself which person represents the real Democrats: Jesse Jackson, Jane Harmon, Al Checci, Sam Nunn, or Lyndon LaRuche? They all run as Democrats yet are about as far apart as they come.

All Libertarians embrace a principle that says that the initiation of force or fraud is wrong. When you vote for a Libertarian, you know what you're getting. You'll get a principled individual who understands that a big, centralized government is not for your best interest and well-being.

And Steve Kubby is not alone. Nearly 100 Libertarians will appear on November ballots in California in 1998. Libertarians joining Steve in statewide races this year are:

Governor: Steve Kubby of Lake Tahoe
Lt. Governor: Calaveras County Supervisor Thomas Tryon
U.S. Senator: Ted Brown
Secretary of State: Gail Lightfoot
Controller: Pamela Pescosolido
Treasurer: Jon Peterson
Attorney General: Joseph Farina
Insurance Commissioner: Dale F. Ogden

In addition, Libertarians are starting to win elections in record numbers. Last year, in Pennsylvania's off-year elections, 34 of 65 Libertarian Party candidates for public office won! And here in California nearly 30 Libertarians now hold public office, including Art Oliver, mayor of Bellflower; Bonnie Flickinger, past mayor and current member of the Moreno Valley City Council; Sandi Webb, Simi Valley City Council; Michael Gentry, Lake Los Angeles Town Council; Nyle Keller, Loomis County School Board Trustee; Anne Lindl, Livermore School Board Trustee; LeRoy Nelson, Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Governors; Robert Patchin, mayor of Villa Park; and Thomas Tryon, Calaveras County Supervisor.

If you believe the Libertarian Party doesn't have enough effectiveness and you would be wasting your vote, please consider this:

How Important is One Vote?

--In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
-- In 1649, one vote caused Charles I of England to be executed.
-- In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of French.
-- In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union.
-- In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
-- In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a Republic
-- In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency.
-- In 1923. one vote gave Adolf Hiltler leadership of the Nazi party.

This election caters to both rich and poor. This election challenges a tightening of Constitutional rights versus personal freedom. When you say my vote doesn't count, or your don't read about your choices in the political arena, you lose your right to the future.

The new millennium is upon us. It's time to take a hard look at how intrusive politics have become in our everyday lives. It shouldn't be that way. As the new era dawns, you have a new choice with Steve Kubby. You can greet the new era where it is possible for you and the people you love to experience peace and prosperity like never before. Or you can stick with the same old stuff which we have blindly accepted as truth from the Democrats and Republicans.

Without knowing all of the facts available to you in this California Gubernatorial race, you allow for a vacuum that attracts power hungry individuals, politicians, and bureaucracies. Steve Kubby states, "Freedom isn't something that is given to you. It is something that must be continually asserted."

The power is yours. Exercise it.