I am not a member of the Libertarian, Democratic, Republican, Green or Progressive political parties, or any other political organization.

I am socially liberal, but fiscally conservative. I am not particularly religious, but I repect that every religion has valuable messages. I am an environmentalist, and a businessman. My family is my most important value, but I know that my family needs a strong and diverse community. I believe that Vermonters usually help a neighbor when in need, and that Vermont's communities are better at taking care of ourselves than any centralized government.

So I will act and vote based on my interpretation of the issues, and I will work for what is best for the greater Vermont.

I believe that government decentralization, business sustainability and personal responsibility should be the three guiding principles of Vermont’s 21st century.

Here is a summary of the principles I support.

Political Independence. Bring the idea of political independence for Vermont to the table for serious discussion.

Human Scale. I believe that life is best lived on a human scale, in face-to-face contacts with neighbors and friends, in communities that are decentralized in nature. Small is still beautiful.

Financial Independence. I support the creation and use of a publicly-owned Bank of Vermont that would issue low-interest loans and foster a peer-to-peer mutual credit system, similar to the Bank of North Dakota.

Food Sovereignty. We support family-owned farms and small businesses that produce innovative, premium-quality, healthy locally manufactured products.

Election Integrity. Replace all corporately-owned electronic voting machines with the time-honored traditional hand counting procedure used by each Vermont town's board of civil authority, encouraging a process that is open, public, and transparent.

Energy Independence. Move away from our reliance on imported fossil fuels and centralized electrical generation, and toward policies that encourage a  more local and diversified energy portfolio.

Homestead Security. Encourage the diversification of our 21st century Vermont's working landscape, and the creation of more opportunities for Vermonters to produce their own food, energy, and value-added products.

Education for Democracy. Drawing on the "Vermont Design for Education," I advocate the replacement of federally-mandated standardized testing and rigid rote learning with "hands on" community-centered education, and the creation of a "communiversity" in every Vermont town's public school.

Economic Solidarity. Encourage Vermonters to buy locally produced products from local merchants, rather than purchase from giant, out-of-state mega-stores. I support fair and open trade with nearby states and provinces.

Decentralized Power Sharing. We favor devolution of political power from the state back to local communities, making the governing structure for towns, schools, hospitals, and social services much like that of small decentralized states like Switzerland.

Equal Opportunity. We support equal access for all Vermont citizens to high quality education, preventative and routine health care, housing, and employment.

And End To War Vermont state legislature and governor should call for the return of Vermont National Guard troops from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the other 700 plus U.S. military bases in more than 130 countries around the world. I support a voluntary citizens' brigade to reduce tension and restore order in the event of civil unrest, and to provide emergency assistance when natural disasters occur. I am opposed to any form of military conscription.

As a candidate for public office, I make the following affirmations related to Constitutional Law, so we can attempt to live up to the practical ideals that this great nation once stood for.

1. All just political authority is derived from the People, and government may only be established and maintained with their consent.
2. The People of each State have the sole and exclusive right and power to govern themselves in all areas not delegated to their government.
3. A government without limits is a tyranny.
4. The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government in the Constitution, and also that which is necessary and proper to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or by the people themselves, as they determine.
5. In order for a federally-exercised power to be “necessary and proper” it must be a) something that, without which, would make the enumerated power impossible to exercise, and b) a lesser power than that which has been enumerated
6. The “Interstate Commerce Clause” in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, does not permit Congress to regulate matters that merely affect commerce among the States. It only permits Congress to regulate trade among the States.
7. The phrase, “general Welfare,” in Article I, Section 8 does not authorize Congress to enact any laws it claims are in the “general Welfare” of the United States. The phrase sets forth the requirement that all laws passed by Congress in Pursuance of the enumerated powers of the Constitution shall also be in the general Welfare of the United States. This was affirmed by James Madison when he wrote: “With respect to the words “general welfare,” I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.”
8. The federal government is not authorized to tax the People to raise monies for unconstitutional purposes. Likewise, the federal government is not authorized to condition funding to State or local governments on compliance with mandates which require them to do what the federal government is not authorized to do directly.
9. When Congress enacts laws and regulations that are not made in Pursuance of the powers enumerated in the Constitution, the People are not bound to obey them.
10. When the federal government exceeds its Constitutional authority, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy. Without that remedy, the People would be living in a tyranny, under the unlawful and excessive control of one or more branches of the federal government.