Interview: Mike Ruff (L) for the 1st U.S. House District for the State of North Carolina

By: Ky Starr 

I am the only candidate who REALLY plans to reduce government, end taxes, and require the TOTAL compliance of ALL government agencies with the US Constitution.

2.   What is the greatest challenge of public service?

The greatest challenge seems to be sticking to the oath of office—most politicians seem to feel honoring their word is unnecessary. The oath says that the office holder will support, defend, and protect the US Constitution, abiding by the highest law of the land. I will honor my oath—unlike either of my opponents.


3.   What is the most important issue facing the 1st District?

Obviously the most important issue is the economy. The ongoing discussions of foreign affairs, education, etc. are all very well and good. But what people really care about is: “will I have a job? Will I be able to support my family? Will we be able to make our house and car payments? What’s our grocery bill going to look like?” The only way to ensure a strong economy for Eastern NC is to get the government out of folk’s pockets, and get rid of the taxes and regulations that currently handicap industries and cause them to send their jobs overseas. We need to make North Carolina into an economic powerhouse—and the way to do this is to vote for Libertarians.

4.   What advice would you give someone thinking of running for public office?  

Examine your motives. If you really want the job, chances are you’re wrong for it. Why do you want to run? If you want to be a public office holder so that you can force others to live their lives as you think they should, you’re wrong—and more importantly, a danger to Liberty. If you want to run because you trust people to run their own lives, and see Government as a danger to the Liberty of the People, and you want to work to minimize or eliminate that danger, then welcome to the club!  

5.   What is your favorite political book?

L. Neil Smith’s Lever Action.

6.   What was your favorite political TV program? 

I don’t have one. I watch the History Channel, TLC, Discovery, the Comedy Channel, and an occasional show here and there elsewhere. I don’t like politics, I find it annoying, and I definitely don’t want to spend time being annoyed when I can be entertained.   
   
7.   How did you become involved in the (L) Party?

I got sick and tired of having to kowtow to fifty government mandarins and fill out seventy-five forms in triplicate before I could beg for permission to do things like open an electronics repair business in my back shed or go to work as a private investigator or set up any other sort of business, or build a house, or operate a car on PUBLIC highways, or to do anything else I wanted to that didn’t harm anyone else. I spent several years trying to convince the Republicans that this was the way it should be. Then one day a buddy from the Army called me and said “There’s a third party convention on CSPAN that sounds just like the stuff you say all the time.” I checked it out, and it was the 1996 Libertarian National Convention—and after watching the convention, I requested the free information packet, read a few books, talked to a few Libertarians, and decided that at long last there was a party I could belong to in good conscience.     


8.   Who are your political mentors?  What are some of your favorite political quotes?
The Founding Fathers, of course. They were a bunch of really weird guys—they didn’t agree on religion, economics, or politics, but they managed to generate a document that (when followed) establishes a government which answers to the people, rather than the other way around.  Read up on the Founding Fathers sometime—they were REALLY a weird crew. John Stuart Mill. Robert Heinlein. Several others.

Ronald Reagan said: “Government doesn’t solve problems—it subsidizes them.”

Thomas Jefferson said: “It is widely believed that men cannot be trusted to govern   themselves. How then can they be trusted to govern others?”

Daniel Webster said: “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."

Barry Goldwater said: “The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."

George Mason said: "To disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them."

9a.  Will the U.S. invade Iraq by December 2002? 

Will they invade? They already have. Everything going on in Washington and being reported in the press is just window dressing, wag the dog for the public opinion. The full-scale invasion may occur before December, but we already have troops in the region, and some even inside Iraq—I guarantee it.

9b.  Should they invade?

Should we? No. The purpose of our military is to defend the US—not to go around invading other countries, keeping enemies stirred up against us. And more importantly, when you hear the term “collateral damage” remember that is just a euphemism for “We killed a bunch of innocent civilians and destroyed their property.” These folks didn’t do anything to us. Saddam Hussein may have, but killing Iraqi civilians doesn’t do anything but make them mad enough to back Saddam Hussein and al-Quaeda and make us the bad guys.
   

10.  If you were in Congress today, what would be your first bill to sponsor?

I’d put some teeth in the Bill of Rights. Any public official who violates the Bill of Rights should be stripped of their office, and not allowed to hold office afterwards for a period to be determined by a jury, based on the severity of the offense. Additionally, they should be subject to civil damage claims by those their actions harmed.

11. Why should the citizens of the State of NC elect you on Nov. 5th, 2002?

Because I am the ONLY candidate who stands for Bill of Rights Enforcement.  I am the ONLY candidate who opposes secret arrests and secret trials, secret imprisonment and secret evidence. I am the ONLY candidate who will not only refuse to increase existing taxes or generate new ones, but will work to utterly ELIMINATE existing taxes. I am the ONLY candidate who will work to reduce government in size and scope, and get the government out of all of our pockets and bedrooms.

12. What are three legislative bills in the U.S. House that you support and why?

I wouldn’t support any bill currently—because they all are anti-liberty, and generally violate the US Constitution. If I were in Congress right now, I would be competing with Ron Paul for the nickname “Dr. No.”

13. What is your view on the recent Enron debacle? Will the new federal law be effective?

The Enron Debacle occurred BECAUSE of government regulations—more government regulations will just ensure that more similar debacles occur in the future. People make bad investment decisions because they expect the government to protect them and bail them out—and that is not what our government exists for. In investing, the watchword must be “Let the Buyer Beware.”  Some people make bad investment choices—does that obligate the rest of us to bail them out? I think not. If Enron personnel committed theft or fraud, they should be punished, just like anyone else. If they did not, then let the free-market take care of it.

14. Do you support the current Tax cuts passed by the House?

What tax cuts? How many legs does a dog have, if you call the tail a leg? The answer is still four—calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it so. Playing card tricks with the budget and the tax system doesn’t make it a tax cut, no matter how much the politicians would like us to believe it does. I’ll believe it’s a tax cut when I see folks’ paychecks buying more groceries.

15. How do you improve education in NC and around the US?

By fighting for the separation of School and State. “Public Schools” are just a euphemism for “Government Indoctrination Centers.” Read the writings of the founding fathers of the American “Education” System, especially Horace Mann and the Philosopher God-King of the System, John Dewey, and you will see that the purpose of the system was never to educate, but rather to “Socialize and Indoctrinate.” The system is based on the Prussian Model (thus “Kindergarten”), intended to produce cannon-fodder and mindless industrial assembly-line workers. John Dewey actually said: “The wonderful thing about the American Education System is that it ensures that no one will be over-educated.” He thought that was a good thing!

16. What type of Health care reform will you be a proponent for in D.C.?

I will fight to get the government our of our health care system. Since when is a politician the most qualified to determine what is best for our health? How does a Washington Lawyer know which drugs are good and which are bad? Do our bodies belong to us or to the government? If we own ourselves, then shouldn’t we be allowed to determine our own health care methods? If I think a witch doctor is best for my health problems, why does some politician get the authority to force me to go to a government approved doctor? It’s my money and my body, right?