YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections→Government

Ard advocates smaller government

November 03, 2006|Randall Patrick

Paul Ard has no political experience whatsoever, and he's hoping most people in the 6th Congressional District find that appealing.The 34-year-old automotive manufacturing engineer is challenging incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler for the district's seat as the nominee of the Libertarian Party. He has raised little money and has run a low-profile campaign, but he's counting on voter dissatisfaction with the status quo to send him to Washington.

During a recent visit to Winchester, Ard said that Chandler is "typical of the big government politics in Congress."

"I think he'll always vote to spend money and not cut back," he explained.

Smaller government is the cornerstone of Ard's libertarian philosophy. The emphasis is on more personal freedom and personal responsibility, and less social responsibility, shrinking the federal role, the budget and the tax burden.

Ard thinks programs such as Medicare and Social Security should be privatized, although he admits there's little chance that will happen soon, and he doesn't think the United States should be involved militarily in Iraq. He does believe in strong national security, but not in an interventionist foreign policy.

"I think a lot of people still believe in the principles the country was founded on, which are liberty and freedom," he said. "Lots of people are fed up with the way the government has expanded for decades."

The one piece of legislation he most wants to introduce if he is elected, Ard said, is something he calls the Read the Bills Act. This would cut down on legislation by requiring that members of Congress be required to read bills before voting on them - which might mean reading thousands of pages a year.

He explained that most bills are drafted by congressional staff members or lobbyists.

"It would slow the growth of government, and it would require more efficient spending habits," he said.

Ard is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, and the University of Kentucky, where he received his master's in manufacturing systems. He lives with his wife and two children in Nicholasville, where he works for Trim Masters.

He has never worked in government, and this is his first campaign for public office.

|

|

|