Mike ter Maat
Candidate Office: President
Email: mike@miketermaat.com
Phone: 19545478996
goldnewdeal.org
miketermaat.com
Austrian-School Economist
Pro-Reform Police Officer
Mike is a candidate for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination. In 2021-22, he campaigned as the LP candidate in the January special Congressional election in Florida’s District 20. Mike served as a police officer in Broward County from 2010 through 2021, including as a field training officer for several years, all as a registered Libertarian.
Mike’s prior career in finance and economics included work with commercial banks, the White House Office of Management and Budget and international & federal agencies. He advocated for free markets on behalf of the American Bankers Association for nine years before starting a professional education and consulting business for bank executives in 2002, which he ran until 2009.
Mike has traveled in thirty-five countries, taught economics at three universities and substituted at dozens of Broward public schools. He has one wife, two kids and two stepdaughters, two dogs and one truck, a BS in Aeronautical Engineering and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and MS and PhD degrees in Economics from The George Washington University.
Answers to the forum registration questions
Question Principle 11
We believe that each state is sovereign in performing those functions reserved to it by the Constitution and it is destructive of our federal system and the right of self-government guaranteed under the Constitution for the Federal Government to regulate or control the States in performing their functions or to engage in performing such functions itself.
In your opinion has this principle been violated by our federal government?
What would help correct this violation?
What state functions are reserved to it through the Constitution?
Answer: The Constitution reserves ALL executive functions other than national defense and the regulation of interstate commerce to the states or to the people. Yes, of course this has been violated and to a grotesque extent. I believe we need a constitutional amendment guarantying to states the right to opt-out of federal supremacy and to opt-in to unilateral nullification where federal law conflicts with state law.
Question Principle 9
We maintain that every person who enjoys the protection of his life, liberty, and property should bear his fair share of the cost of government in providing that protection; that the elementary principles of justice set forth in the Constitution demand that all taxes imposed be uniform throughout the nation and that any tax imposed on persons within our borders be at the same impartial rate.
Has this principle been violated?
In what way?
Do you think our current tax laws are justified and equal?
Answer: Unfortunately, the Constitution does not define fairness in such a context. I believe the direct financial relationship between the federal government and individuals is inappropriate and counter to the basis for the Constitution. I believe we need to replace the income tax with a requirement that the federal government must go to state legislatures to ask for money rather than to individuals.
Question Principle 8
We are unalterably opposed to Socialism, either in whole or in part, and regard it as an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a denial of the right of private property for government to own or operate the means of producing and distributing goods and services in competition with private enterprise, or to regiment owners in the legitimate use of private property, especially through the use of public taxes.
What social programs do we have that indicate socialism in the United States of America?
What are some signs of socialism in today’s society?
What is the long-term effect of socialism on the people?
What steps can be taken to stop socialism in the United States? Question #3
Answer: Every social program represents some form of socialism. The most damaging is the system of government-financed and government-managed schools. These have thwarted private-sector competition and have therefore led to horrible educational outcomes for Americans. At the federal level, the most damaging are the healthcare programs. These have allowed healthcare costs to balloon industry-wide, pricing many Americans who are not supported by these programs out of the market altogether.
Question National Monument to the Forefathers
The National Monument to the Forefathers is a towering representation of the founding values of our Republic and is said to be the worlds largest solid granite monument.
In your opinion, what is the greatest value that Americans can learn from this monument and why is it relevant today?
Answer: Americans need to learn that the Constitution – representing a doctrine of limited government power – is the only viable path forward for democracy. Though our society’s understanding of these principles has become attenuated from the Founders’ vision, these unmovable principles remain to be found, just as ready to provide the foundation of a successful society today as they were at the end of the 18th Century.
It’s time for a Gold New Deal, a fundamentally different relationship between Americans and the government we will tolerate. As the philosophical descendants of those libertarians who founded this nation for the sole purpose of protecting our rights, we recognize that our political structure has drifted away from this singular legitimacy. We, therefore, recommit to the decentralization of authority inherent in our Constitution and to limit the power of our government, as required by the Bill of Rights.
- Empower Decentralization of Authority.
Every state shall have the right to exit from its present Constitutional subjugation to future federal regulation, executive order and court oversight, and to remain subject to taxation only for the purpose of supporting defense. Every state shall have the right to nullify any federal legislation that is not directly supported by a power granted to the Federal government explicitly by the Constitution. As supported by Jefferson and Madison in the construction of our nation and enshrined in our Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, our federal government is merely the agent of the states and intended to be used as a unifying bond.
- Preserve Individual Autonomy.
No government authority shall exist to regulate individual activity. No government shall have the authority to impose a penalty of death, bail out corporations, criminalize the use of drugs or other substances, grant protection from court ordered liability for libel, inhibit access to abortion prior to viability, regulate employment practices, draft into military service, tax individual entities, coerce vaccination or medical treatment, or coerce censorship of any privately controlled mode of communication.
- Eliminate the IRS.
Federal government revenue shall be received only from state governments. The federal government shall have no direct taxation authority over any individual person or entity.
- Limit Federal Expenditure.
No government authority shall exist for combined federal, state and local government spending, including both discretionary and legislatively mandated, to exceed a Constitutionally prescribed proportion of national income. The Federal government shall only fund federal initiatives at the federal level.
- End Mandatory Investment.
No person shall be obligated to enter into any financial arrangement, savings program, social program or insurance scheme. Individuals subject to prior compulsory Federal programs shall be offered an equitable voluntary exit.
- End the Federal Reserve System.
The balance sheet of the Fed shall be transferred to the Treasury which shall have no discretionary authority to bailout banks or other corporations. Financial institution regulations shall be made optional and competitive among government agencies. Discretionary monetary policy shall be replaced by a constant growth rate rule for money supply.
- Allow Phase-Out of Public Education.
Public funding of primary and secondary education shall be attached to each child, in full measure per pupil equal to the funding of public schools. Public schools will be allowed to phase-out under competitive pressures. Public funding of higher education, including student loans shall be eliminated.
- Reform Police Accountability.
The Federal doctrine of qualified immunity shall be eliminated, and no other restriction shall be placed on the people’s right to seek redress in court or through a duly appointed private oversight board. Law enforcement officers shall be personally bonded by private-sector insurance. Federal law enforcement shall be eliminated. No warrant shall have the authority to breach a private residence. No private asset shall be seized without a court order upon due process for showing debt.
- End Discretionary Military Interventionism.
No government authority shall exist to impose force on persons inside or outside the nation without court order, declaration of war or urgent national defense. No authority shall exist for the government to declare war or to enter into any military alliance, mutual defense agreement or treaty obligating the use of force without Federal legislative approval, Federal executive approval and assent by two-thirds of the states. No such approval or assent shall be valid for longer than one year.
- Impose Term Limits.
No Federal elected representative or government official appointed by a representative shall remain in any office longer than twelve years. Civil servants in agency leadership shall be subject to re-appointment by elected officials.
It’s time for a Gold New Deal, a fundamentally different relationship between Americans and the government we will tolerate. As the philosophical descendants of those libertarians who founded this nation for the sole purpose of protecting our rights, we recognize that our political structure has drifted away from this singular legitimacy. We, therefore, recommit to the decentralization of authority inherent in our Constitution and to limit the power of our government, as required by the Bill of Rights.
- Empower Decentralization of Authority.
Every state shall have the right to exit from its present Constitutional subjugation to future federal regulation, executive order and court oversight, and to remain subject to taxation only for the purpose of supporting defense. Every state shall have the right to nullify any federal legislation that is not directly supported by a power granted to the Federal government explicitly by the Constitution. As supported by Jefferson and Madison in the construction of our nation and enshrined in our Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, our federal government is merely the agent of the states and intended to be used as a unifying bond.
- Preserve Individual Autonomy.
No government authority shall exist to regulate individual activity. No government shall have the authority to impose a penalty of death, bail out corporations, criminalize the use of drugs or other substances, grant protection from court ordered liability for libel, inhibit access to abortion prior to viability, regulate employment practices, draft into military service, tax individual entities, coerce vaccination or medical treatment, or coerce censorship of any privately controlled mode of communication.
- Eliminate the IRS.
Federal government revenue shall be received only from state governments. The federal government shall have no direct taxation authority over any individual person or entity.
- Limit Federal Expenditure.
No government authority shall exist for combined federal, state and local government spending, including both discretionary and legislatively mandated, to exceed a Constitutionally prescribed proportion of national income. The Federal government shall only fund federal initiatives at the federal level.
- End Mandatory Investment.
No person shall be obligated to enter into any financial arrangement, savings program, social program or insurance scheme. Individuals subject to prior compulsory Federal programs shall be offered an equitable voluntary exit.
- End the Federal Reserve System.
The balance sheet of the Fed shall be transferred to the Treasury which shall have no discretionary authority to bailout banks or other corporations. Financial institution regulations shall be made optional and competitive among government agencies. Discretionary monetary policy shall be replaced by a constant growth rate rule for money supply.
- Allow Phase-Out of Public Education.
Public funding of primary and secondary education shall be attached to each child, in full measure per pupil equal to the funding of public schools. Public schools will be allowed to phase-out under competitive pressures. Public funding of higher education, including student loans shall be eliminated.
- Reform Police Accountability.
The Federal doctrine of qualified immunity shall be eliminated, and no other restriction shall be placed on the people’s right to seek redress in court or through a duly appointed private oversight board. Law enforcement officers shall be personally bonded by private-sector insurance. Federal law enforcement shall be eliminated. No warrant shall have the authority to breach a private residence. No private asset shall be seized without a court order upon due process for showing debt.
- End Discretionary Military Interventionism.
No government authority shall exist to impose force on persons inside or outside the nation without court order, declaration of war or urgent national defense. No authority shall exist for the government to declare war or to enter into any military alliance, mutual defense agreement or treaty obligating the use of force without Federal legislative approval, Federal executive approval and assent by two-thirds of the states. No such approval or assent shall be valid for longer than one year.
Impose Term Limits.
No Federal elected representative or government official appointed by a representative shall remain in any office longer than twelve years. Civil servants in agency leadership shall be subject to re-appointment by elected officials.
