Meet the Candidate: Susan Gaztañaga for Governor

In a recent visit to TheBAYNET.com and on Baynet Radio, Libertarian Candidate for Maryland Governor, Susan Gaztañaga explained the issues for her campaign and why she was running for Maryland’s top position.

“I’m not very happy with Gov. O’Malley,” said Gaztañaga. “I’ve known him as a City Council member, Mayor of Baltimore and now Governor and he does not respect our civil liberties at all.” She went on to explain that in her opinion, O’Malley will just grab people off the street for little or no reason.

Gaztañaga explained further that the Gaztañaga/McNeil administration would work to reduce the size of Maryland’s government until it reflects the intent of the founders of the Republic, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.

“For as long as many of us have been alive, our government has been progressively making more and more of the decisions that our ancestors took for granted were up to them to make,” said Gaztañaga. “Having the government take over all these functions comes at a high cost.”

She explained that the real cost is reduced accountability and a dependence on government that hurts individuals and communities. “Collectively, we paid $8.2 billion in state income taxes last year, and $4.5 billion in sales and use taxes. As these involuntary contributions filter down through layers of administrators, accountants, contractors, etc., how much do we ultimately see in the form of the services they are supposed to provide?”

When asked what the first thing she would do when elected, Gaztañaga stated that she intended to install a State Superintendent of Police that would allow greater access to carry permits for law abiding citizens. “Right now, it is very difficult to get a carry permit and I’ve known of people who were killed waiting for a permit to carry so they could protect themselves.” Gaztañaga went on to state that she feels the crime rate would drop if more people carried protection.

The second thing she wants to do, if elected, is to recall the Maryland National Guard. “The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are undeclared and therefore illegal and the men and women dying over there should be brought home.” She stated that she was not sure the Federal response to such an action, but that she intended to recall the National Guard. “We’ll see what the Federal response will be.”

The third thing she wants to accomplish is a repeal of state sales tax. “This will take two terms as governor, but if we bring the budget back into line and reduce the size of government and stop spending we can gradually reduce the sales tax to zero.” Gaztañaga stated that a repeal of the sales tax would be a boon to working individuals and businesses and help stimulate the economy.

“By the last day of my two-term administration the 6 percent sales tax will be zero percent. The sales tax hurts the working poor more than any other group, as they are unable to travel to Delaware to purchase their necessities tax free. My approach is to cut state spending to make it possible to eliminate the sales tax.”

She also feels that state regulations that limit businesses and personal freedoms need to be eliminated. “For years, candidates running for everything from Town or County Council to Governor have promised to make Maryland or their town or county more ‘business friendly.’ Their