Interview: Michael Cloud (L) for U.S. Senate for the State of Massachusetts

By: Joe Urban 

1. What distinguishes you from your opponents? 

"Declare a Drug Peace," says Michael Cloud, Libertarian for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. "End Drug Prohibition. End the Drug War. Pardon and free all 1,000,000 peaceful drug offenders in Federal Prison. End arrests of Drug Users. Especially Marijuana Users. End Asset Forfeiture on drug offenses. End all Drug War-related military aid. Amnesty, pardon, and peace in the Drug War."

2.   How long have you been involved in politics? Do you remember the first time you voted?

I've been involved in politics 27 years.
Yes.

3.   What is the greatest challenge of public service? 

Making government small. Shrinking government authority and power. Restoring personal responsibility, individual liberty, and small government.

4.   What is the most important issue facing the State of Massachusetts?

Ending Drug Prohibition. Ending the Drug War. Declaring a Drug Peace.

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

Actions have consequences. If you do not fully comprehend the immediate and secondary consequences of your votes and actions in the government sphere, stay in private life. You will only make things worse.

6.   What was your first car?

A 1965 Volkswagen Beetle.

7.   What was your favorite subject in High School?  

I hated high school. I didn't develop an interest in reading and the world at large until I left the cookie-cutter conformity factories we call public schools.

8.   How did you become involved in the (L) Party?  

I read Ayn Rand, Ludwig von Mises, and 2 terrific Science Fiction writers: Robert Heinlein and Eric Frank Russell. The Libertarian Party represented the values that I found in these books.

9.   What is your favorite snack?  

Granny Smith apples

10.  Will the U.S. invade Iraq by December 2002?    Should they invade?

I hope not. But I really don't know.

Absolutely not. Violence begets violence. When we sow the wind, we reap the whirlwind. I choose Peace.

11.  If you were in the U.S. Senate today, what would be your first bill to sponsor?

I would introduce a bill that would immediately pardon, give full amnesty to, and release all 1,000,000 peaceful, drug offenders in Federal Prisons. I would help them reunite with their families and communities. And encourage them to become contributing members of society.  We must End Drug Prohibition. End the Drug War. I will declare a Drug Peace.

 

12. Why should the citizens of the State of Massachusetts Elect you on Nov. 5th, 2002?  

Big Government programs don't work. Big Government programs make things worse, often hurting the very people they are intended to help. Big Government programs create new problems. Big Government programs are obscenely expensive and wasteful. Big Government programs divert money and energy from positive and productive private uses. I represent small government and personal responsibility. Big Government is the past. Small government is the future. Massachusetts should vote for the future. It should vote Michael Cloud for U.S. Senate.

13.  As Co-Founder of the Committee for Small Government, elaborate how you came about starting the Committee and give us an update of the progress thus far:

You don't have to drink the whole ocean to know it's salty. You don't have to look at every line of the $23 Billion Massachusetts state budget to know that it has more pork than a Jimmy Dean sausage. Governor Michael Dukakis' last proposed budget in 1991 was $10 Billion. Today's Massachusetts state budget is $23 Billion. DOUBLE. That convinced us that we must act now to make government small.

"Carla Howell's Ballot Question 1 to End the Income Tax in Massachusetts is already at 40% in the polls. (Boston Globe 8/29/02) We already have 15,000 Bumper Stickers. We've already run 3 full-page ads in the Boston Globe making our case for Ending the Income Tax. Working class and middle class people are joining us in droves. Volunteering, donating, supporting, and asking their friends to vote Yes on 1. This will be the biggest Tax Revolt in Massachusetts since the Boston Tea Party.

14. How do you improve education in Massachusetts and throughout the United States?

Government central planning devastated the Soviet economy. Government central planning almost destroyed Soviet industry and agriculture. Government central planning is decimating Education in Massachusetts. We must get the Federal Government out of Education. Get Massachusetts state government out of Education -- and return responsibility, authority, and control to parents, teachers, and local communities. This way we will have a mosaic of different school systems with different choices and strengths.

15.       What are three current legislative bills in the Senate that you support and why?

None. Here are 3 bills I propose:

1. I would introduce a U.S. Senate bill to immediately pardon, grant full amnesty to, and release 1,000,000 non-violent drug offenders in Federal Prisons.

2. I would introduce a U.S. Senate bill to immediately repeal the Brady Bill, repeal the Assault Weapons Ban, and repeal the 1968 Firearms Control Act. This bill would seek to immediately restore each individual's right of self-defense. Guns save lives.

". I would introduce a U.S. Senate bill to immediately abolish the Federal Department of Education. To End all Federal authority, responsibility, control, regulation, and funding of Education. Education must be a family matter, not a Federal matter. I trust families, not career politicians.

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

Enron executives and accountants appear to have engaged in a systematic effort to defraud investors. They should be held 100% personally liable for the consequences of their behavior. Criminally and civilly liable. But we must go further. We must apply these same rules and principles to all government officials and employees. Total personal liability.

No. Because it is too weak and it exempts government officials and employees.

17.       As a speech writer can you write the voters of the State of Massachusetts a script for what will happen on Nov. 5th, 2002 in Massachusetts, with the Libertarian Party?

Many years ago, I attended a speech given by Rosa Parks. After the speech, I asked her how she knew that African-Americans would succeed in the Civil Rights battle. She laughed. Here's what she told me: "Child, you never know. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward." Mahatma Gandhi didn't know. William Lloyd Garrison didn't know. Susan B. Anthony didn't know. Thomas Paine didn't know. They just put one foot in front of the other and marched into history. And that's the choice I make.