Phil Hallman, the Libertarian candidate for the Utah Congressional 3rd District, is sticking to his party's values.
Hallman first heard of the Libertarian Party while he was at Mesa Community College. He was so attracted by the party's platforms that he founded his school's College Libertarians.
"I used to be a registered Republican, but as I'm looking at the party now, there are none of the conservative values left that I was attracted to," said Hallman, a Provo resident.
Hallman's platform centers around a Libertarian Party motto: "More freedom, fewer taxes, smaller government." His campaign is focused on immigration, revising gun control, reforming drug laws, and an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
"I'm the only candidate for open and fair immigration," Hallman said. "We should allow labor to cross borders as freely as capital."
Hallman's study of economics has greatly influenced his politics. He points to the emergence of black markets as the result of outlawing certain behaviors. Criminals will be the ones to manage foreign labor if we outlaw it, just as criminals are the ones that began to sell alcohol during prohibition, Hallman said.
Drug laws need to be reformed for the same reasons, Hallman said.
"We need legalized marijuana for medical purposes," Hallman said. "It's ridiculous that we won't pay for patients to go to a hospital, but we'll pay for them to spend a year behind bars for illegal drug use."
Hallman's platform also includes an opposition to stringent gun control laws.
"Guns are our last resort against tyranny, and we shouldn't restrict peaceful citizens from carrying them," Hallman said.
The last two points of his campaign center on the Iraqi war. He is calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq because it is an illegal war, Hallman said.
"I'm also calling for us to try administration officials who have been involved in torture," Hallman said. "We need to try those that have broken the law and the statutes of the Geneva ConventionHallman said.
Copyright Brigham Young University 26 Oct 2006
