Roger Barris

Civil Rights

You want to end the divisiveness over gay marriage?  Then get the state out of marriage and let it be a private relationship between the parties.  Recognize that where there are plenty of alternative suppliers, no one should be forced to bake a cake for a ceremony they find objectionable. Learn more

Criminal Justice / Public Safety

Civil asset forfeiture is a disgrace and a complete violation of both the letter and spirit of the 5thand 14thAmendments.  The Federal government must cease its practice of civil asset forfeiture and it must also cease its encouragement of this activity by state police, sometimes in direct defiance of state laws, such as with the Federal “adoption” of assets seized under state law.  These outrageous violations of individual rights without due process of law must be stopped. Learn more

Prosecutorial abuse must stop.  The jury trial for criminal offences, as a fundamental right of US citizens, is being extinguished by the power enjoyed by District Attorneys.  In excess of 90% of all trials end in plea bargains in a process where DAs have enormous discretion and power.  Although this reform needs to be undertaken primarily at the level of the states, the Federal Government can lead the way through requiring greater transparency and disclosure in Federal cases.  Like the doctrine of “qualified immunity” with police [link police abuse], the doctrine of “absolute prosecutorial immunity” creates abuses and undercuts accountability. Learn more

The Federal Government supplies excess military equipment to local police forces.  This can include things like armored vehicles, bayonets and grenade launchers, items more suitable for an occupying army than a police force.  There is evidence that, when this equipment is made available, it will be used, including in circumstances where it is not necessary.  This should be stopped. Learn more

The Supreme Court has invented, without Constitutional or legislative backing, a doctrine of “qualified immunity” that makes it virtually impossible to sue a government employee, including a police officer, for actions taken in the line of duty.  Under this doctrine, police are unaccountable even for gross and obvious violations of rights.  Reversing this doctrine is particularly important because the internal processes for investigating and punishing police misbehavior, which are frequently hamstrung by the protective rules of police unions, are clearly inadequate.  Restoring a right for civil suits can help make police accountable. Learn more

The criminalization of activities through regulation should be stopped or sharply curtailed.  The Federal Government literally does not know how many acts are punishable with criminal censure in Federal regulations, yet citizens are supposed to have knowledge of these.  On a related matter, the standard of mens rea should be applied in both laws and regulations so that a citizen cannot be found criminally liable without actual knowledge and intent. Learn more

Defense / Veterans

We need to shut all, or nearly all, of the 800 military bases we have in over 70 countries around the world.  We need to bring home all, or nearly all, of the 200,000 military personnel that we have deployed to over 150 nations around the world.  We need to do this for humanitarian reasons – especially for the sake of our own troops – and we need to do this for financial reasons. Learn more

As your Representative, I will fight to end these pointless and counterproductive wars.  And I will fight to bring control over these foreign interventions back to Congress, where it belongs. Learn more

We will never have fiscal responsibility until we rein in military expenditures. Learn more

Drug Policy

We should be also promoting alternatives to opioids, including marijuana legalization, where there is growing evidence that – contrary to the “gateway” narrative – readily available marijuana decreases opioid abuse. Learn more

It means drug injection sites, like they are experimenting with in Philadelphia, where the risk of overdose deaths or HIV/hepatitis infections are greatly reduced. Learn more

It means making naloxone readily available to treat opioid overdoses, including over the counter, as it has been in Italy for over 20 years and in Australia since 2016. Learn more

It means “good Samaritan” laws under which a person can help a drug user without fear of prosecution. Learn more

It also means trusting doctors to do what is right in their treatment of patients with chronic pain and not establishing arbitrary rules which sometimes drive patients into the black market, where drugs are far more potent (fentanyl) and unpredictable; the fact that opioid prescriptions have been falling since 2012, while opioid deaths have been going in the opposite direction, should tell us something. Learn more

Finally, the failed War on Drugs is a major cause of conflict between the police and local communities, especially minority ones.  The persecution of these victimless crimes needlessly puts police and local communities on a collision course, often with deadly consequences.  We cannot expect a constructive relationship between police and many local communities so long as the War on Drugs continues. Learn more

Ultimately, we should consider decriminalization of all drugs. Learn more

Obviously, marijuana should be removed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. Learn more

Economy

Lastly, we need to reform the bankruptcy laws so that, if a bank gets into trouble, the losses will fall on lenders and not the public.  This will eliminate the need for bailouts and ensure that lenders are incentivized to control banking risks. Learn more

There is a last element of ignorance in these policies.  The reason that America runs a foreign trade deficit is simple: as a country, we consume more than we produce, which shows up as a deficit in our foreign trade. Learn more

Instead of attempting to micro-regulate banks, which will inevitably fail, we need to require them to hold much more capital.  This was, in fact, the usual situation of banks before the Federal Reserve, deposit insurance and “too big to fail” eliminated market discipline.  The best solution would be to remove these policies and simply allow the market to dictate.  Since this is politically infeasible, the second best solution is to require much more capital. Learn more

We need to get the government out of the business of subsidizing and distorting the housing market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and the FHA should be shut down and the tax deductibility of mortgage interest should be eliminated.  The private sector is perfectly capable of providing housing finance and will do so on a safer and more economical basis without government interference. Learn more

Education

You want to end the divisiveness over how to educate our children?  Then allow charter schools, education savings accounts and voucher programs to flourish so that parents and children can choose their own schools. Learn more

We should remove all government subsidies and loan programs from higher education. Learn more

There is no legitimate role for the Federal government in K-12 education and the Department of Education, which was created in 1979 solely as political favoritism, should be abolished. Learn more

The only solution for K-12 education is competition and parent choice, through things like vouchers, education savings accounts, and charter schools. Learn more

Environment / Energy

We should implement a carbon tax but only on the conditions that all other taxes, subsidies, and rules are removed and that other taxes be reduced by an equal amount. Learn more

Government Reform

Whether it is the absurd extensions of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, or the threatening of Colorado’s marijuana legalization, or the EPA’s overreach, or the failures of Congress to pass budgets or control the Executive’s use of military force, or the passage of ambiguous laws and the creation of the “administrative state,” or a thousand other examples, both old parties have overridden the Constitution whenever they have found it to be politically expedient.  This must stop. Learn more

The recent practice of creating massive bills in secret and then not giving legislators time to read and debate them must stop.  Moreover, the Federal Government should adapt the wise requirements of the Colorado constitution: a bill must have a single subject, which must be clearly stated in its title. Learn more

The practice of “mandating” benefits and privileges, to be paid for by the private sector instead of reflected in government budgets, must end. Learn more

All (or nearly all) laws should “sunset,” meaning that they must be re-approved in the future or will automatically terminate. Not only will this eliminate outdated laws, it will also impose greater discipline on lawmakers and will be a natural brake on the tendency to over-legislate. Learn more

It is also important to push regulations to the state level to the maximum extent possible. Learn more

Congress should be subject to term limits. Learn more

We must also realize that the best method for controlling behavior is competition in a free market with clear property rights.  Many of the areas commonly thought to require regulation – such as many forms of pollution – can be addressed better through clear property rights and litigation or private negotiating.  We should be alert to opportunities to replace inefficient and inflexible government rules with private action. Learn more

Regulations, like laws, should be subject to “sunset” provisions which will periodically force their reconsideration. Learn more

The government should present its financial affairs with the same system used by nearly all private companies: accrual accounting that takes into consideration not only the short-term consequences of government action, but which also reflects the long-term commitments we are making. Learn more

We must move away from “command and control” regulations which prescribe how an objective is to be achieved, in favor of regulations which require outcomes and create incentives but which allow the private sector to find the most efficient methods.  Not only will this improve efficiency but it will also minimize “regulatory capture” and other forms of cronyism, which thrive on command and control regulations. Learn more

One of the problems with the deregulatory efforts of the current administration, however, is that too much of it has come from Executive action.  This offsets some of the worst abuses of Executive power of the Obama years, but creates the risk that a future administration will reverse course again.  This type of yo-yoing is probably the worst of all possible outcomes since it makes it impossible for businesses to plan.  A greater effort must be made to cement deregulation in legislation. Learn more

Guns

There is no more fundamental right than the right to self-defense.  Without this, all other rights are moot. Learn more

Healthcare

We must also acknowledge that the biggest reason we have a healthcare crisis in America is that we have a health crisis.  Our biggest health problems relate to “lifestyle” diseases like diabetes, many forms of cancer, heart attacks, and much of dementia.  The statistical evidence is overwhelming that these are heavily affected by things like diet and sedentary lifestyles.  But insurance companies are usually prevented to price for these different risk factors.  This undercuts incentives and market signals. Learn more

The approval process for generic drugs should be made vastly faster and cheaper.  The abusive regulatory tactics used by pharmaceutical companies to expand patent protection and prevent generics should be stopped. Learn more

We can move to a system where health insurance, like virtually every other form of insurance, is no longer linked to employment but is completely “portable.” Learn more

For other drugs, and especially the opioid crisis, we need to shift our focus to harm reduction.  We also need to allow doctors to be doctors, and move away from the false narrative that pain treatment with opioids is a major cause of the crisis. Learn more

We can move, for example, to a system of payment for outcomes and not for procedures. Learn more

These expenditures often do little to increase the quantity or, more importantly, the quality of life.  Yet we have created a system where no one is incentivized or empowered to make judgments about these costs.  In a free market for health insurance, policies would be offered with different levels of coverage for these expenditures, rewarding people who sign “living wills,” for example, with lower premiums. Learn more

We need to make better use of pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physiotherapists for minor medical problems.  Pharmacists undergo seven years of training and then are reduced to counting pills and monitoring the War on Drugs. In other countries, pharmacists successfully handle a large number of minor complaints.  We also need to make more drugs and medical tests available without a doctor’s prescription, starting with contraceptive pills. Learn more

The government artificially restricts the number of medical schools, which reduces the supply of doctors.  This must stop. Learn more

We have to make medical licenses more portable between states.  Among other things, this would make it easier to provide “tele-medicine,” where minor issues can be handled with a phone call. Learn more

The FDA approval process for new drugs needs to be streamlined (or possibly eliminated in favor of a private sector alternative that has better incentives).  As the very least, “efficacy” should be left to the market to determine and the FDA should only be concerned with “safety.”  Drugs which are approved for use in other advanced countries – such as Europe and Japan – should be automatically approved in America. Learn more

The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) is a fatally flawed system that is now in a death spiral.  It should be repealed.  But this is only the beginning of the changes that need to be made. Learn more

We also have to make it easier for mass-market retailers – such as Walmart and Amazon – to bring the benefits of their economies of scale and logistical expertise into the healthcare market. Learn more

We need to eliminate “certificates of need,” whereby existing providers of medical services – such as a MRI machines – can restrict the entry of new competitors and inflate prices. Learn more

Medical insurance should always be “catastrophic,” just like every other insurance, with the definition of “catastrophic” varying with the financial position of each person. Routine expenditures should be paid by the consumer, just like the consumer pays for every other routine expenditure (like food, clothing, utilities, transportation, etc.). Learn more

We need to eliminate restrictions on the type of services that doctors can provide and their ownership and management of clinics and hospitals. Learn more

On the insurance side, we need to allow insurance companies to offer policies across state lines, thereby increasing competition. Learn more

We can move to a system of longer-term health insurance, or insurance that is automatically renewable, eliminating the problem with pre-existing conditions –  an innovation that the market was beginning to implement before it was killed by Obamacare. Learn more

Housing

However, as your Representative, I would use the “bully pulpit” to press for better local policies.  I would also resist Federal policies, such as housing and mortgage subsidies, that only paper over the problem. Learn more

Immigration

For unskilled workers, we need to have a generous “guest worker” program.  Many sectors of our economy, such as agricultural production and processing, food service, and construction, are dependent on this immigrant labor.  These workers do not displace American workers but complement them.  We need to create a guest worker program which incorporates the needs of businesses and the knowledge of state and local governments.  By allowing these workers into the country as guest workers, we will eliminate the need for illegal immigration and the abuses and exploitation it allows.  There are plenty of examples around the world, and our own history, from which we can learn how best to design this program. Learn more

The proposed wall on the US-Mexico border, it goes without saying, is incredibly stupid. Learn more

We should actively encourage the immigration of skilled and educated workers, just as is done in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  It is madness that our universities train a huge number of highly talented foreign students – including something like 70% of the post-graduate students in computer science – and then our immigration system discourages them from staying in America and sharing the benefits of their knowledge.  We should welcome these highly trained and highly productive individuals, and their immediate families, with open arms, easy work visas and a clear path to citizenship.  We can do this though a greatly expanded and simplified H1B visa program or a “points system” similar to that employed in other countries. Learn more

Infrastructure / Transportation

We have to repeal special interest-legislation, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, which imposes higher costs for infrastructure. Learn more

Finally, we have to stop the nonsense of treating infrastructure as a jobs program. Learn more

We have to get the Federal Government out of the infrastructure business and make the states and local governments responsible. Learn more

Private ownership and user fees are a vastly superior method for building, operating and funding infrastructure.  This creates the right incentives for both the owners and users of the facilities.  It removes infrastructure funding and maintenance from the constraints of the political process and public budgets.  It also replaces public sector wastefulness and cronyism with private sector expertise, discipline and incentives. Learn more

Above all, we have to streamline the regulatory process for approving infrastructure. Learn more

Social Services

For those approaching retirement, we can means-test Social Security benefits for the wealthy and index payments to the cost of living and not wages.  For those with longer to retirement, we can make these changes and progressively increase the retirement age.  For the young, we can reduce Social Security and its taxes, to be replaced by personal savings. Learn more

However, no attempt to control government expenditures can be serious unless it addresses entitlement spending.  Entitlements – primarily Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but also including the Veterans Administration, pensions and other social programs – are bankrupting the country. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

However, no attempt to control government expenditures can be serious unless it addresses entitlement spending.  Entitlements – primarily Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but also including the Veterans Administration, pensions and other social programs – are bankrupting the country. Learn more

We must drastically cut expenditures if we are to get our debt under control.  We can start with the military, the cost of which can be sharply reduced once we decide to vigorously defend the United States but not police the world [include cross reference].  We can also eliminate agricultural subsidies over a period of time.  Housing subsidies should also stop – among other things, these go heavily to areas where government restrictions on supply artificially raise prices, in a classic example of one bad government policy creating the need for another one.  The Department of Education should be also be eliminated, saving billions.  Federal programs for energy, science and the arts are all unnecessary. Learn more

Tax cuts without expenditure cuts are merely tax deferrals! Learn more