www.JoeCobb.com

Hello, I’m Joe Cobb. I’m running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, which covers part of the West Valley and stretches from Tucson to Yuma.

I’m representing the Libertarian Party, and I’m asking you to vote for me because our nation needs a new direction in politics.

If you vote for me, you will be voting for a candidate who will cut spending and taxes and cooperate with other congressmen to make our country a better place to live and raise children.

The Libertarian Party combines the best ideas from the two old political coalitions, economic freedom and personal freedom, and we offer you a chance to vote for a new direction for American politics.

The Democratic and Republican parties are sharply divided. Most of us don’t really agree with either one. The Libertarian Party is a third way. Libertarians believe the government should leave honest citizens alone. We would always support cutting taxes and cutting government spending, and we would end the war in Iraq.

Libertarians are not social conservatives. I am deeply offended at the way the Republican Party is going, in the direction of more and more laws and regulations that affect your personal life. Your personal life, in the privacy of your own home, should be nobody’s business but your own. Our Constitution was written with this kind of individual freedom in mind.

It makes me very sad that the Republican Party is no longer the party of Barry Goldwater, who was a proudly independent Arizonan. He was my first political hero, way back when I was just a boy. The Republican Party has rejected the libertarian spirit of Barry Goldwater and Arizona.

The Democratic Party always has been the party of big government, big spending, and more taxes. It’s dominated by labor unions and progressive special interest groups. You don’t want to vote for those guys, but you should vote, as an American, to protect our country and to protect your individual rights.

Many voters look at those two bad choices and just vote against the worse candidates. That’s a mistake. That is really wasting your vote.

I used to work for the United States Congress in Washington, DC, and I know how that game is played. In Congress, I would vote with the Republicans on economic issues, like tax cuts, where I agree with them. I would vote with the Democrats against the war in Iraq and on social issues, where I agree with them.

Let me give you some examples:

On the immigration question, the real issue is whether honest people willing to work should be allowed to come to America. I say, ‘Yes.’ America needs more workers. Immigration is how the Social Security bankruptcy will be avoided. But these new people should not come to the United States illegally. They should not be sneaking across the border, and dying in the desert.

The problem is an 80-year old quota system. It was created in the 1920s to make racial quotas for people from different countries. I think the quota system should be abolished. I would offer a legal green card to anyone who comes to the United States to work. At the same time, I would restrict all of our welfare programs, so new Americans would not be eligible for welfare benefits.

I support cutting taxes. When I worked for the U.S. Congress, we all knew the retirement of the Baby Boomers would become a crisis for the government. Medicare is already bankrupt and Social Security is going there fast. The Democrats want to raise taxes right now and the Republicans will do it when you’re not looking. They’re all afraid to tell you the truth.

But instead of trying to cut wasteful pork barrel spending to make money available for really important things, the news is full of stories about greedy Congressmen voting for special interest spending and taking bribes, sex scandals, and fighting with each other.

Don’t vote against any candidate. Vote for someone you want to vote for. You cannot send a message to Washington, DC, by voting against the Democrats or against the Republicans. Voting for the lesser of two evils sends no message about what is good.

If you vote for me, and for the Libertarian Party, your vote will count and it will be seen to count for something positive. It will count as a vote for lower taxes, for individual rights to privacy and private property, and it will make a difference.

Don’t waste your vote by voting for Democrats or Republicans. Vote for Libertarian candidates and make a difference.

[This speech was recorded by KTVK in Phoenix and KSMB in Tucson as a public service message and broadcast on television November 1-6, 2006, approximately two dozen times. KAET-PBS, Phoenix, also broadcast the message before the election. KSWT in Yuma broadcast a similar message, but without a teleprompter, it was more ad lib.]

Election Results: 3,746 votes (3.7%) out of 103,479 cast.

I believe in full equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals regardless of their sexual orientations or perceived gender identity or presentation.

I would call for the immediate repeal of federal and state Defense of Marriage Acts.

I would do away with the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, thus allowing our gay and lesbian service men and women to serve their country openly and proudly.

I oppose the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment and all state constitutional amendments seeking to define marriage as a bond between one man and one woman. I would do away with all special benefits and privileges granted to individuals on the basis of their marital status. I would like all state governments and localities to get out of the business of granting marriage licenses and allow people to enter into contractual relationships to order their lives as they see fit, but so long as the government continues to grant marriage licenses to heterosexual couples, I believe gay couples are entitled to the “equal protection” of the laws and should be allowed to obtain government issued marriage licenses as well.

I do not believe the government should require religious institutions to perform marriage ceremonies that go against their church doctrine.

I oppose all laws that discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered Americans and feel they deserve full equality under the law.

Vote ‘NO’ in Arizona on November 7 against Proposition 107.

[ Historical Note: Proposition 107 was defeated on November 7, 2006. ]