OCF Candidate Survey 2006
Candidate: Garrett Michael Hayes
Party: Libertarian
Running For: Governor
State: Georgia
1
QDo you think organic agriculture should receive a fair share (at least 2.5%) of government resources spent on agriculture?
A No
Comment: Government resources should not be spent on agriculture. The free market should prevail.
2
QDo you support strict standards for processed foods, dairy, and body care products that are labeled or marketed as organic?
A Undecided
Comment: "Undecided" is the answer here, only because the question mixes several elements. All consumer products should be clearly labelled with a complete list of ingredients, or a clear statement that the maker has chosen *not* to list the ingredients, and any mislabeling should be severely punished.
3
QDo you support more aggressive government action to assess the harms of pesticides, take harmful pesticides off the market, and hold companies responsible for diseases and environmental damage caused by pesticides?
A Undecided
Comment: "Undecided" for the same reason given in question 2. I believe that a process of strict liability is the best answer to health and environmental concerns. Neither companies nor individuals should be held liable for effects about which they do not know. However, fraud, deceipt, rigged research, or any other such falsehood should immediately "pierce the corporate veil" and result in personal financial and criminal liability for anyone who tries to hide the bad effects of any product. And in that context, the failure to test for ill effects should negate any claim of ignorance.
4
QShould people have the right to pass consumer safety laws at the state or local level that require food labels to include information on dangerous ingredients?
A Yes
Comment: People do in fact have this right. The creation of fedral laws that "nullify" state laws is actually prohibited by the US Constitution, and they are enacted by Congress only through subterfuge and decipt.
5a
QDo you support Country of Origin and labeling that helps consumers choose local products?
A Undecided
Comment: This should be at the discretion of the seller. However, again, any mislabeling should be severely punished.
5b
QDo you support government action to help US farmers develop local and regional markets and to reduce non-renewable energy use on their farms?
A No
Comment: Leave this to the free market.
6a
QDo you support mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients?
A Yes
Comment: I would support such labelling. However, the question as posed *presumes* that the practice is hazardous, an assumption I do not share.
6b
QDo you support mandatory pre-market safety testing for all genetically modified foods and crops?
A No
Comment: Refer to question 3 above, on strict liability.
7
QDo you support universal testing for Mad Cow disease and a ban on feeding slaughterhouse waste to farm animals?
A No
Comment: I do not support a ban, but I am adamantly opposed to any government agency prohibiting testing that a producer wants to institute. If a beef producer wishes to increase market share for their product by comprehensive testing, they should be free to do so.
8
QDo you support a restructuring of trade-distorting US farm subsidies?
A No
Comment: I support an *end* to farm subsidies. Once again, we should let the free market decide.
9
QDo you support a significant shift in US farm subsidies to help family farmers and ranchers make the transition to organic?
A No
Comment: As stated above, I support an end to agricultural subsidies.
10
QDo you support a significant shift in subsidies to help US farmers adopt conservation and renewable energy practices on farms?
A No
Comment: As stated above, I support an end to agricultural subsidies.
11
QDo you support increases for WIC (Women, Infant and Children), the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and other programs to help low-income Americans buy organic food?
A No
Comment:
12
QDo you support universal health care with a preventive focus and a major emphasis on better nutrition?
A No
Comment: I am absolutely, adamantly and unconditionally opposed to any form of government run or subsidized "universal health care."
13
QDo you support 80%-by-2050 reduction in climate destabilizing greenhouse gas pollution?
A No
Comment:
14
QDo you support ending the Iraq war and redirecting funds from the $500 billion annual military spending in the U.S. toward greening the U.S. economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and converting U.S. agriculture to organic practices?
A Undecided
Comment: The question assumes linkages and strategies that I do not support. It seeks to combine a war question with an agriculture question, when the two are separate issues.
15
Q Do you support requiring electronic voting machines to produce voter-verified paper records and election officials to use these records to conduct mandatory audits of election results?
A Yes
Comment: As an experienced information technology professional with almost 28 years in the industry, I am appalled at the lack of concern being show by our officials over the possibility of election fraud with the new DRE voting devices. Whether or not such fraud has already occurred is a major question, but, by the very nature of the problem, one we cannot answer. Voter Verified ballots are a must.
16
QDo you support eliminating the distorting effect of special interest money on our elections and politicians by requiring full public funding for all federal, state, and local elections?
A No
Comment: Placing the funding for election campaigns in the hands of political appointees would be the final nail in the coffin of elected representation. The history of all such programs of "campaign finance reform" tells us very clearly that they always work out to the benefit of incumbent politicians and exclude challengers.
17
QDo you support legislation to prevent internet companies from rigging the system to serve only the highest-paying users and discriminate against users they don’t like?
A No
Comment: Rather than restrict what any given company can do with the assets that they have put into the marketplace, we should instead remove the barriers to competition that these providers have convinced our politicians to grant them. Phone companies, cable companies and other such providers have effective monopolies only because they have been granted them by the government. Those blocks need to be swept aside so that competitors can provide the services that people really want.
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