{"id":17334,"date":"2016-08-11T01:15:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T08:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/libertarian-options-for-house-are-similar-in-background-different-in-detail\/"},"modified":"2016-08-11T01:15:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T08:15:27","slug":"libertarian-options-for-house-are-similar-in-background-different-in-detail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/libertarian-options-for-house-are-similar-in-background-different-in-detail\/","title":{"rendered":"Libertarian options for House are similar in background, different in detail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: Alaska\u2019s state primary elections are less than a week away, and except for the incumbents, most of the names on the ballot probably aren\u2019t familiar to most Alaskans.<\/em><\/p>\n

In these last days before the primary, the Empire will be introducing you to the men and women appearing on the Aug. 16 ballot. This is the fourth of six stories devoted to the topic. For the first story, click here<\/a><\/strong>, and the second, click here<\/a><\/strong>. The third is here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

When it comes to the U.S. House on Tuesday, three Democrats are facing off against each other. So are four Republicans. The two Libertarians in the race seem similar on paper, but each man says he represents a different choice for voters.<\/p>\n

Jon Watts of North Pole and Jim McDermott of Anchorage each say they believe in traditional Libertarian values but differ on some individual issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe libertarians are the ones who want to take over the government so they leave you alone,\u201d Watts said.<\/p>\n

The Libertarian winner in Tuesday\u2019s election will face the leading Republican, leading Democrat and independent candidate Bernie Souphanavong in November.<\/p>\n

Watts and McDermott each served in the Air Force for more than 20 years, each have a background in small business, and each hold degrees from Wayland Baptist University.<\/p>\n

Both men believe in reducing America\u2019s military presence overseas in favor of a strong defense at home. Watts said he would only support foreign military intervention if the United States was directly threatened.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I like the idea of bringing our troops home,\u201d said McDermott, who explained that he doesn\u2019t believe that American airstrikes have helped matters in the Syrian Civil War.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve poured fuel on the fire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both men also believe in Alaska Native tribal sovereignty and a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that for whatever good reason, it\u2019s just or moral to take away an individual\u2019s capability of self-defense, regardless of circumstances,\u201d Watts said.<\/p>\n

Watts said he believes the biggest national issue is \u201cthe ongoing debasement of our currency.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes in the abolition of the Federal Reserve and \u201csome commodity-based standard\u201d for American currency. He said that doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be the gold standard.<\/p>\n

McDermott said his principal concern is the wave of regulation and restriction placed on small businesses. \u201cFederal government itself … has become a barrier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both men agree that while personal liberty is important, there must be some restriction on the ability of Americans to donate money to political campaigns. Each man said \u201cartificial entities\u201d like corporations and political action committees should be restricted or banned.<\/p>\n

With regard to immigration, Watts and McDermott each said Donald Trump\u2019s idea of evicting illegal immigrants would be impossible to implement and might restrict American freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems insane to me \u2026 is he going to start asking people for their papers?\u201d McDermott said.<\/p>\n

McDermott said he\u2019s passionate about making immigration an easier process for people who do it legally. Watts said he thinks increased screening is necessary to prevent terrorism, but he\u2019s \u201creally against banning (specific) groups,\u201d alluding to Trump\u2019s statement that he would ban Muslim immigrants, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n

With regard to climate change, each man said he supports the idea of increased research and is concerned about the idea of a broad new tax on emissions or industry.<\/p>\n

Watts and McDermott differ on what should be done about the wave of racial violence that swept across the United States this summer.<\/p>\n

Watts said he doesn\u2019t think the problem is one that can be fixed by the federal government. \u201cIn communities, we need to meet each other hand to hand and eye to eye. … I don\u2019t know that the government is appropriate to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McDermott said he believes there is a role for the federal government, which must oversee local police departments to ensure they are operating fairly.<\/p>\n

He pointed to a report released Wednesday that found significant injustice within the Baltimore Police Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that the Justice Department is coming in, helping these communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Regardless of which Libertarian candidate wins on Tuesday, Watts said he hopes that voters will go with the victor in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about right or left,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about free or not free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Contact reporter James Brooks at 523-2263 or james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AK_OK.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

More news:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Juneau on track to see the most burglaries in a decade<\/a><\/p>\n

Number of charges reduced for alleged arsonist with drug, mental health problems<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Juneau’s oldest bars is getting a new name and new look<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: Alaska\u2019s state primary elections are less than a week away, and except for the incumbents, most of the names on the ballot probably aren\u2019t familiar to most Alaskans. In these last days before the primary, the Empire will be introducing you to the men and women appearing on the Aug. 16 ballot. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":17335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-17334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17334"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}