Immediately following President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, 2016 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson issued a response praising Obama's optimism but raising questions about the effectiveness of his policies.
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore.
After U.S. President Barack Obama gave the final State of the Union address of his presidency on Tuesday, 2016 Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson issued a response on his official Tumblr page.
Johnson opened his response by praising Obama’s optimistic tone, but cautioned that he takes issue with “basing that optimism on what government has done over the past 7 years and what President Obama wants it to do in the future.”
The former two-term Republican governor, who now identifies as a member of the Libertarian Party, challenged Obama’s claim that the U.S. economy’s health is beyond question, noting that the national debt, which Johnson says is bankrupting the country, has “doubled on his watch, aided and abetted by Congress.”
Johnson then criticized President Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, and said that his “promise of better care and lower cost simply isn’t happening.”
“To be fair, there have been steps in the right direction. Meaningful criminal justice reform is taking hold across the nation. More and more governments at all levels are finally seeing the failure of the War on Drugs. But far too many Americans are still being victimized by militarized police and heavy-handed laws,” said Johnson, who also in the same response called Obama “a President whose Administration continues at every turn to dismantle the 4th Amendment, spy on American citizens and plant the government in every aspect of society.”
Johnson summarized his appraisal of the health of the Republic and said, “My assessment of the State of the Union is quite different than President Obama’s, and much simpler. I see a national debt that will hit $20 trillion by the time he leaves office. I see a government that was too big and too overreaching when he took office, and has gotten more so under his watch. And I challenge anyone to show that we are today safer after years of war, failed nation-building abroad and foreign policy chaos.”
The Libertarian Party presidential hopeful concluded by saying that he shares Obama’s optimism, but not because he believes government policies will deliver the nation from its problems, but because he feels “it is clear America is tired of too much government and too little freedom, and appears poised to demand change – a different kind of change than we have gotten over the past 7 years.”
Poster Comment:
As a Libertarian he doesn't have to follow the Trump/Sanders mantra of Big D&R Government, O'RomneyCare socialized medicine, Kindergarten to Masters free communist indoctrination, borrow and bomb nation-building, and the global police state.
#1: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
I would prefer to give the babies a gun so they could shoot Gary POS Johnson.
What a loser you are Hondo.
You just hate Trump because he isn't for abortion.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-01-14 09:59:20 Reply Private Reply
#2: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#0)
Hmmmm. Let's apply the Trump standard:
He's not a real Libertarian! He's a phony! Why, he used to be a Republican! Once he's elected he'll go back to being a Republican! Don't trust him!
misterwhite posted on 2016-01-14 10:05:48 Reply Private Reply
#3: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone (#1)
He must have Planned Parenthood on speed dial.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-01-14 10:06:21 Reply Private Reply
#4: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#3)
You also make up stuff a lot. You know lie.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-01-14 10:07:49 Reply Private Reply
#5: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone (#4)
A flip-flopping baby killer, like Mitt.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-01-14 10:20:54 Reply Private Reply
#6: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#5)
You are a hypocrite if you criticize Trump on this when your candidate still takes the barbaric murderer position.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-01-14 10:23:57 Reply Private Reply
#7: Tooconservative To: A K A Stone (#1)
You've really outdone yourself this time. Nice work. : )
Tooconservative posted on 2016-01-14 11:45:34 Reply Private Reply
#8: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
A K A Stone posted on 2016-07-03 17:31:37 Reply Private Reply
#9: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
A K A Stone posted on 2016-12-14 14:34:53 Reply Private Reply
#10: A K A Stone To: tooconservative (#7)
Where the hell are you anyway?
A K A Stone posted on 2016-12-14 14:35:38 Reply Private Reply
#11: Deckard To: A K A Stone, hondo68 (#6)
He only "flipped" so he could run as a Republican.
The Trump administration will not do anything to end abortion.
Deckard posted on 2016-12-14 15:07:57 Reply Private Reply
#12: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone, *The Two Parties ARE the Same* (#9)
Not present in this thread, or any other. Just because he's better than most Republicans & Democrats, doesn't mean he's better than Satan.
Problem is, you don't realize how easy it is to be better than the D&R party. A cockroach is better than most of them.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-12-14 15:10:01 Reply Private Reply
#13: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone (#10)
You took the capital letters out of his handle, reducing him to the status of an illegal alien making taco bowls in the basement of Trump Towers.
No wonder he's ticked off!
Hondo68 posted on 2016-12-14 15:42:25 Reply Private Reply
#14: A K A Stone To: Deckard (#11)
Perhaps. We will see who he puts on the court. That is what counts.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-12-14 17:37:17 Reply Private Reply
#15: calcon To: hondo68 (#13)
calcon posted on 2016-12-14 18:04:38 Reply Private Reply
#16: nolu chan To: hondo68 (#0)
As a Libertarian, he does not have, and has never had, the power to effect change at the federal or state level.
nolu chan posted on 2016-12-14 22:28:01 Reply Private Reply
#17: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
Yeah right hondopehead.
A K A Stone posted on 2017-03-17 14:01:57 Reply Private Reply
#18: A K A Stone To: Deckard (#11)
Reminding you how wrong you are.
His ending of some through executive order.
Then the solid pick of Gorsuch.
You were wrong be a big boy and admit it.
A K A Stone posted on 2017-03-17 14:03:28 Reply Private Reply
#19: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
Just thought I would remind you of what a childish idiot you are.
A K A Stone posted on 2017-12-27 09:53:54 Reply Private Reply
#20: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone (#19)
You love all that, huh?
MAGA 'til ya puke!
Hondo68 posted on 2017-12-27 10:05:14 Reply Private Reply