Seth Hollist's responses to the Collin County Women League of Voters, 2012 primary elections
questionnaire
Occupation: Information Backup and Recovery Specialist,
Political Columnist for
Examier.com
Campaign Phone: 972-413-TX32
Answers were limited to 1000 characters, leaving insufficient room for a full answer to some questions.
What training,
experience, and attributes qualify you for this position?
I have been heavily involved in politics for over a decade
in many ways.
I served as a Salt Lake
Republican Party county delegate in 2002-2003. I’ve working on campaigns, most
notably for Morgan Philpot in 2002, and the Ron Paul Dallas 2012 political
activist group.
I’m also an active writer
and blogging (
blog.spaldam.com) on political issues; most notably as
Examiner.com’s Collin County Independent Examiner (
http://www.examiner.com/collin-county-independent-in-dallas/seth-hollist).
I'm always following the latest political news stories and
issues in a variety of ways, from many different perspectives and sources.
I frequently write my representatives to try
and provide solutions and issues.
I'm
currently working on a treatise about the U.S. Constitution
(
http://worldhistory.spaldam.com/index.php5?title=Seth_Hollist%27s_treatise_on_The_US_Constitution)
to help myself better understand it.
I’m
also taking the Hillsdale College free on-line courses on the Constitution.
What would you
propose to stimulate job growth in this country? Explain how your proposal
would actually create jobs.
The problem that most politicians have when they propose job
growth, is that they forget it is not the government that creates jobs; at
least not without further taxation or deficit spending to pay the salaries and
benefits of more government employees.
The reason we have an official unemployment rate of around 9%
- and an actual rate of more than double that - is because of the size and
intrusiveness of the government that is preventing entrepreneurs and small
businesses from thriving. If you look at all the nations worldwide, you'll find
a pattern that clearly shows the bigger the government is vs. GDP, the higher
the unemployment rate is.
The answer is clear; get the Federal Government out of the
regulatory business. Eliminating bureaucracies such as the EPA, HUD, DOT, and the
Departments of Commerce, Education and Energy would be a good start. These agencies
have proven ineffective at achieving their objectives and today only create
barriers to progress and innovation.
What should be the
U.S. position with regard to China’s economic policies?
The best policy we can have with any nation is open dialog
and trade. China should be allowed to
pursue its own economic policies, while we provide an economic model that is so
superior that all nations, including China, will eventually want to follow us.
Tariffs, or import and export taxes, are the only real means
of affecting another countries economy that the U.S. constitution
authorizes. If we feel the Chinese
workers are unfairly exploited, the only means of fighting this, that we should
pursue, is through diplomatic persuasion and tariffs that insure our domestically
produced goods can compete on equal ground.
These same policies should be applied universally and
equally, so that all nations are clear on what they can expect when doing
business with the United States of America and the companies within it.
What changes, if any,
should Congress make in immigration policies, and why?
This nation was built on the backs on immigrants looking for
peace, freedom and opportunity. As we move further away from making these
things available to ourselves and the rest of the world, we will continue to
deteriorate as a world leader.
My personal and recent experience with immigrant friends is
that they are treated worse than the criminals who choose instead to illegally
invade our country. In other words, our immigration laws are too strict, while
our border security is too lax. We will have a difficult time fixing either
one, without also addressing the other.
I favor an immigration policy of providing - at clearly
designated entry points into the country - short term guest visas to anyone who
is reasonably able to make the journey, pass a background check and clear any
terrorist watch lists. This would give them ample time and opportunity to gain
employment or voluntarily leave. Violations, including seeking government aid,
would be treated as grounds for exportation.
What changes, if any,
would you support to the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs and
why?
Social Security and government funded health insurance are
two of the three biggest expenses threatening our government’s ability to be
fiscally responsible. I do not believe the Federal Government has the
constitutional authority to provide these kinds of services to anyone beyond government
employees and vets.
However, I do think these programs can be saved (
http://blog.spaldam.com/2010/04/spaldams-3-point-plan-to-fix-social.html),
but only if we are all committed to it. I would point out that saving Social
Security means keeping a government enforced retirement plan (instead of just
making gains on savings and investments nontaxable) that was originally meant
to only help those who out-lived the average life expectancy.
I would also point out that government
programs already pay for a majority of all health care provided in the U.S.A.
today, and may be the reason for the inflated cost of health care.
Finally, such programs should really be the
sole responsibility of the states.
How would you balance
the development of energy sources with environmental concerns?
The air and cleanliness of the environment today is already
very much improved over what it was even just a few decades ago. To give credit
for this to laws and government is short sighted and disrespectful to the
scientists and engineers who have actually made it possible through discoveries
and innovation. Yet still today many
more great ideas get left by the wayside thanks to political posturing, special
interest funding of "green" corporations, and illogical mandates and
regulations of bureaucracies like the EPA.
I believe that energy independence is becoming increasingly
vital to the survival of our nation. The way to reach this is to enable our
innovative scientists, engineers, and private corporations to explore and tap
into our vast natural resources. To allow this to happen, we need to get our own
government out of the way, so innovation and true capitalism (without the
cronyism) can provide many diversified sources of energy in clean and
responsible ways.
How would you address
the federal budget deficit and why? Please be specific.
The real reason we have a 15+ trillion dollar debt,
increasing by nearly 1.7 trillion a year, is because the Federal Reserve has
given the Federal Government a blank check in exchange for a globally reaching
monopoly over monetary policy. Without
this blank check, and politicians willing to raise the debt ceiling every time
we reach it, our government would be forced to be more responsible with our
money we provide it through taxation.
The deficit is a simple matter of being responsible, doing
without things we don't need, and ultimately changing behavior. Improving and
diversifying revenue can also help.
First, we need to pass an actual budget, which hasn't been
done in years. Without a hard set budget, it’s a free for all every time a new
law is passed.
Second, we must stop spending money on unconstitutional
programs, government run corporations that should be privatized (i.e. Fanny
& Freddy), bailouts, and undeclared wars against countries that aren’t
threatening us.
Third, we need a simplified, easy to understand tax code. If
we must tax income, let’s set a single percentage, and a single standard
deduction, based on the poverty level, and leave it at that.
Fourth, end the Federal Reserve’s monopoly strangle hold on
our economy that has caused instability most notably in: 1920, 1929, 1970’s
inflation, 1987 stock crash followed by the S&L crisis, 2001 .com, 2008
recession, and today’s inflation trends.
What other issues do
you believe will be most pressing in the next session of Congress, and what is
your position on these issues?
I’m currently drafting an Amendment that will bring to light
the mistakes of the last century - thanks to “progressives” / “Humanists” -
that have enabled the economic, monetary, energy, and moral crises that we now face.
It includes “sunset” requirements, preventing “back-door” legislation, and insuring
constitutionality on all bills. It targets
two laws and two amendments passed/ratified in 1913 that created unequal
taxation, the Federal Reserve, limited the U.S. House to 435 members, and changed
senators from state ambassadors into popularly elected politicians.
The dollar is continuing to be look down on by many,
including China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa who are already creating
an alternative. This will lessen our purchasing power of foreign goods;
especially oil that is almost universally traded in dollars. Surviving this
power shift will require self-sufficiency, and less intrusiveness into the rest
of the world, while protect our own assets and interests.
