Ken Krawchuk, Libertarian Candidate for Governor Speaks to the Club

Mr. Krawchuk,

a local resident, inventor (3 patents so far), novelist, and IT database specialist/entrepreneur, is running for Governor on behalf of the Libertarian Party.  As he deftly explained, the Libertarian party supports your rights to manage your essential freedoms, as long as you respect the rights of others. It is the 3rd largest party in the United States and growing rapidly.

If elected, he plans to do the following:

1. “Veto all tax increases, period. “

2. “Aggressively use line item veto power to slash unnecessary expenses” such as the $400 million we pay casinos each year

3. Campaign for a total overhaul of how campaigns are funded. Parties should pay for all of their expenses. No expenses for political activities/support should come from the govt.

4. Address the opiate crisis by following the innovative plan implemented by Portugal since 2001.” Currently, the U.S. pays about $10,000 a year PER FAMILY on drug related costs. In Portugal, it’s now $10 a year per family. Why and how was this savings achieved?” They pardoned all prisoners who were in prison on nonviolent drug charges, and no longer put individuals in jail for such offenses. By treating drug addiction like any other chronic, serious illness, expenses plummeted over time.

5. Get government out of the “charitable business”. 60% of the federal and 80% of the PA budget are “giveaways”. Instead, form a structure of citizen groups/councils to make these decisions and fund worthy programs.

6. Have parents decide where their children should attend school. Do not fund religious schools. By taking these steps, good schools would increase in size and the overall student performance would increase. More opportunities for “trade” schools should be offered.

A likely Q&A session ensued, with members asking numerous questions about how some of Mr. Krawchuk’s ideas would be implemented. In response to questions about unions, he supports them. However, he does not support mandatory union membership. He believes employees should have the right to choose.

Mr. Krawchuk also is deeply concerned about the “wildly expensive” higher education costs/student loans. He noted he has personally been impacted, as his daughter suffered from leukemia and he has assumed her loans. He believes we should have many more apprentice options available to families, and that public higher education costs will be subjected to the same lose scrutiny he plans to apply to all PA line items.

He closed by asking us to make our voices heard and vote. He encouraged us to think differently and ask ourselves if the “old two parties” really have or will address our challenges.