President Bush got his start in politics as Governor of Texas. He often said that Federal government should stay out of business of fifty states. He often said that local and state governments can spend tax payer’s money better then distant Federal government. On this point, President Bush and I agree. So what has President Bush done to remove power from Federal government and pass it back to fifty states as our Constitution intended?

During last four years Federal government has taken even more power from fifty states. President Bush has done exact opposite of what he promised. “No Child left Behind” is a perfect example of going in wrong direction. “No Child left Behind” mandates rules to fifty states instead of giving them more power to handle things locally.

The Federal government is extorting fifty states for all kinds of reasons. In last three years Federal government has withheld over thirty million dollars of Indiana’s highway funds because they feel that we do not comply with Federal “open container laws.” How did “open container laws” become a Federal issue in first place, it is absurd. President Bush must yet again receive a grade of “F” on restoring power to fifty states and that is a shame. I feel that one of his best ideas was restoring power to fifty states.

The Libertarian Party of Allen County stands for fiscal responsibility, rights of fifty states, personal responsibility and accountability, and less government regulation in our lives. If you would like to learn more please contact me at 260-338-0833 or see us online at AllenCountyLP.org.

While Democrats had no chance of snatching Miller’s followers, they did have a wide-open opportunity to send them to Libertarian. It would have taken only 8 percent of Miller’s supporters to tilt election in favor of Democrat Joe Kernan. But Democrats did nothing. Snore.

The Republicans, meanwhile, did plenty.

For starters, a here-to-fore unknown PAC dumped a ton of cold cash into a direct mail campaign. The target was Joe Kernan. The benefactor was Libertarian challenger. The result? Kernan lost votes. Those were votes Republicans would never have captured. Nice play.

What’s more, Republicans kept close tabs on their Libertarian opponent. Stuffing his Web site with e-mail addresses, GOP received Libertarian’s weekly updates. Any appeal to Miller supporters was noted and challenged. The risk of losing Miller votes was a chance they would not take. Another nice play.

The Democrats, meanwhile, were sound asleep. One Miller supporter went so far as to personally appeal to Democrats for support. A win by Daniels, he knew, would keep Miller from running in next election. The election returns proved Republicans right and Democrats to be snoozing.

Another case in point was defeat of Democratic Congressman Baron Hill by Republican Mike Sodrel. The margin of victory was less than 2,000 votes. The Libertarian challenged garnered 4,698 votes. Had Democrats offered Libertarian candidate even a modest amount of support, election would have likely tilted toward Democrat.

The groggy-eyed Democrats, meanwhile, are outside looking in, clueless as to what happened. But who knows? Maybe between now and 2006 they’ll wake up.