3RD PARTY CANDIDATE VISITS AREA

The war on terrorism and the war in Iraq are stripping Americans of their
freedoms as big government gets bigger, the Libertarian Party's
presidential candidate said Tuesday.

"Libertarians believe that the Constitution allows us to do national
defense. It does not allow us to do international offense," presidential
candidate Michael Badnarik said in Charlottesville.

Badnarik, a 50-year-old computer consultant currently on the Nov. 2
presidential ballot in 46 states, said troops should be brought home from Iraq.

"The Sept. 11 tragedy was an international crime. It was a mass murder," he
said. "We need to focus our aggression toward the people who perpetrated
that atrocity, that is Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Just because they are
difficult to find does not justify sending 150,000 troops to Iraq. "

The Austin, Texas, resident who grew up in Indiana gave a talk at the
University of Virginia as well as interviews with reporters. He is
scheduled to speak to a government class today at Piedmont Virginia
Community College.

Badnarik said there is no direct tie to Iraq from the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks and that most Americans do not favor the war there.

American voters do not have to settle for "the lesser of two evils" for
president, he said. Badnarik said his party stands for greatly reducing the
size and scope of the federal government.

"One of the things Americans should be very concerned about is the dramatic
loss of liberties we have experienced in recent years, especially since
Sept. 11," he said.

"Democrats and Republicans both support the Patriot Act. They both support
20,000 gun laws," he said. The anti-terrorism law may be said to apply only
to people the government labels terrorists, but "if we allow the government
to ignore the Constitution for one label, it is so much easier to ignore
due process for other labels."

A self-described "constitutional fundamentalist," Badnarik said the federal
government "ought to eliminate the Department of Education simply because
it's inefficient."

Not only should more governmental authority go back to the states, its
usurpation by the federal government tends to hurt student achievement, he
said.

"Students are getting dumber rather than smarter," said the former
chemistry major at Indiana University. "President Bush has 'No Child Left
Behind.' We equate that with 'No child allowed to advance.'"

Libertarians would like to privatize education, the party's presidential
nominee said. If education were private "the cost of education would
decline precipitously and the quality of education would go up," he said.

"We are overwhelmingly in favor of you making your own decisions," he said.
"What we want to do is start moving dramatically back in that direction -
to the states" and the individual.

Badnarik would like to be included in the presidential debates and believes
that Ralph Nader, who, unlike himself, did not make the Virginia ballot,
should be included as well, along with Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.

"We should be on at least 48 state ballots whereas Ralph Nader is only on
the ballot in 34 states," he said. "A large number of people would like to
open the debates to other ideas." The first presidential debate on Oct. 8
includes only Bush and Kerry.

America should declare defeat in its war on drugs and get out, Badnarik said.

"The war on drugs is a dismal failure," he said. "We have more drugs on the
street than 50 years ago, and the war on drugs is more dangerous than the
drugs themselves."

Police and anti-drug agencies often get to keep cash and vehicles they
seize from drug suspects, which corrupts police more than it stops the flow
of drugs, he said.

"It is estimated that 50 percent of our drug-enforcement agencies are
corrupt," he said.

Labeling any Libertarian as "pro-drug" is dead wrong, Badnarik said. "We
love our children at least as much as the Democrats and Republicans" love
theirs.

"If we decriminalize the drugs, people would be more likely to seek
treatment," he said.

Another federal agency he would abolish is the Food and Drug
Administration, Badnarik said. He said the FDA's position that buying
prescription drugs is dangerous is a laughable attempt to safeguard the
profits of big drug companies.

"We need to get the government out to make health care affordable for
everyone," the Libertarian said.

He also favors gay rights, the presidential nominee said. "I was the only
presidential candidate to participate in the Gay Pride Parade in San
Francisco."

And, if he were taking amendments off the Constitution, two he would remove
would be the 16th and the 17th, he said. The former authorized the federal
income tax. The latter shifted the election of the U.S. Senate from state
legislatures to the voters of each state.

The direct election of senators "removes one of the checks and balances
that the Founding Fathers very cleverly put in the Constitution" allowing
the states to check federal power, Badnarik said.

With direct election of senators, "We have a large House of Representatives
and a small House of Representatives," he said.