Hello everyone! I'm Norm Olsen, Libertarian candidate for Representative to Congress for the Sixth District of Colorado. I'm not a politician. Therefore, I do not make promises which I cannot keep. I supply the information below so that you know who I am, how I think, and how I would vote as your Congressman.

A native of NY, I have lived in Colorado for 48 years. Read more…

The two party system is destroying itself. Read more…

The path to tryanny is being paved. Read more…

We must endure the Corona virus affliction. Read more…

Climate Change: Valid science or political hoax? Read more…

Abortion: Not the government's decision. Read more…

The right to bear arms is inalienable. Read more…

If you are unfamiliar with the Libertarian Party, please check out our national party platform at www.lp.org/platform. Unlike the major party platforms, it's a concise and direct document, a quick 10 minute read.

Who Is Norm Olsen?

I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, earned Bachelor of Science degree (Physics) at Union College (NY) in 1967, and then started a 45 year career as a software developer. In 1972, after five years of traveling worldwide professionally as a product support engineer, I settled down in the place I liked the best: Colorado. I am fortunate in that even after 45 years of working as a software developer, I still enjoy doing it part time. This is in between skiing, golfing, hiking, camping, visiting two children, and being grandpa to seven grandchildren.

I have always been a libertarian. That is, I hold that the primary purpose of government is to protect our God given right to "Be all that we can be" provided that we do not infringe upon the right or ability of others to do likewise. I joined the Libertarian Party in 1993 upon realizing that the two party system was badly broken. My political aspiration is to achieve a simple goal: "That neither major party is ever a majority party."

I was fortunate to be born an American in a stable family with strong moral values and work ethic. After two failures, I started a business which thrived in a competitive market place for 25 years. I have lived the American dream. I very much want each of my seven grandchildren to have the same opportunity to "Be all that they can be" and I want your children and grandchildren to have the same opportunity also. Government, as directed by the broken two party system, is now more of an obstacle to that opportunity than a guarantor of it.

The Two Party System is Broken

It is clear to me that the Two Party System is essentially destroying our republic. The evidence is obvious, the results disastrous, and the corrective action very clear.

The Evidence

Evidence abounds if you consult the appropriate sources.

• Billions of dollars are spent each election cycle on political ads, most all of which are negative.
• Virtually every vote of import at the body level or the committee level is cleanly, exactly, a party line vote.
• Congressional hearings no longer serve a legitimate legislative purpose, only a political purpose.
• What used to be known as the "world's greatest deliberative body", the United States Senate is now more like a modern day Hatfield/McCoy feud.
• Legislation is often designed to primarily further the interest of the political parties as opposed to the national interest.
• Major issues, immigration reform for example, are completely ignored because doing so in in the best interest of one or the other major parties.
• Policies are often formulated simply to insure that the opposite party does not get credit for accomplishing something good.
• Despite Congress's dismal approval rating (rarely exceeding 20% ), incumbents win re-election 95% of the time.
• 59 current Congressional Representatives have been there for 20 or more years.

Congress is more concerned with the interests of their political party than that of the nation as a whole.

The Results

As a result we have:

• Deadlock and intentional inaction on important issues such as immigration reform.
• $26+ trillion dollars in federal debt, now 125% of the gross national product and rapidly increasing.
• Annual deficits which are now larger than what the total national debt was less than a generation ago.
• A currency teetering on collapse.
• Racial tensions at an all time high.
• Obscene wealth distribution while the poverty rate remains stubbornly at 15%.
• Elections which are constantly in dispute.
• Major political parties which take positions on major issues simply to be contrary to the opposition party.
• Virtually all major media outlets taking one side or the other in an almost exclusive manner ignoring all objectivity.
• A citizenry which is deceived by both media and politicians as to the what, why, how, and when actions are being taken in their name.
• Frivolous investigations, trumped up charges, and blatant lies to cover up the lack of cooperative effort to benefit the nation.

The Remedy

To obtain different results,we're going to have to do something different. A major prerequisite to obtaining the fiscally responsible, competent, efficient government we all desire is making sure that neither major party is ever a majority party. Here are some suggestions:

• Support alternative voting systems as a replacement for plurality voting.
• Vote for third party candidates even though they are not likely to win.
• Register as a member of a minor political party such as the Libertarian Party.
• Do not participate in polls that do not include minor party candidates.
• When polled, indicate your preference for a minor party candidate.
• Demand media coverage of minor party campaigns.
• Contribute to the campaigns of minor party candidates.
• Vote for Norm Olsen on November 3^rd.

Our gerrymandered, plurality voting based, two party political system is badly broken and seriously corrupted. Only you, the citizen voter, can fix it. We need to fix it now.

The Road to Tyranny is being Paved

An ever expanding federal government is paving a road to tyranny; a road which is is wide, smooth, and much like a three lane Interstate highway. Failure to curtail and then reverse this expansion will enable the eradication of the basic principles which have made the United State the beacon of freedom and liberty throughout the world.

In the "slow" lane of the highway, we have the continuing consolidation of Government Control creeping into the crucial aspects of our lives. From the 15 distinct federal government departments, backed by the 51 titles of the United States Code, implemented in the 72,564 pages of the Federal Register - few aspects of our lives escape the regulations and dictates of the federal government. Prospective tyrants are drooling, it's a dream come true. The truly hard work of establishing tyrannical control has already been done. Government Control of everything important is already consolidated in one place.

In the "passing" lane, prospective tyrants are implementing the tactics of their strategy. Borders are to be opened to maximize the number of sympathetic voters. Sanctuary cities are established to provide a safe domicile. Driver's licenses, and hence, voter registrations are enabled. Voter ID is banned to insure the voting rights of departees and the deceased. Senate minorities will be debilitated by doing away with the filibuster and a packed Supreme Court will uphold infringements of Second Amendment rights as constitutional. Doing away with the Electoral College will enable fraudulent voting in just a handful of densely populated counties to elect a tyrant's choice for president.

In the "HOV" lane the main-stream media outlets are doing their part by producing the content their audiences want to see hear, avoiding objectivity at all costs. By omission and selectively interviewing known pundits and prevaricators, the media keeps the public blissfully unaware of the subjugation process. Media employees who do not go along with the propaganda effort are fired and disgraced; a sure sign of the growing influence of potential tyrants.

It took less than 15 years for a similar set of events to convert Venezuela from the most prosperous and free nation in South America to the most despotic and decrepit nation in South America. To preclude this from happening here we must first halt and reverse the continual expansion of the federal government. An important tactic in this effort is to ensure that neither major party is ever a majority party.

We must endure the Corona virus affliction

Like the evils in Pandora's box, the corona virus is out, and it's not going back in. It is reasonable to expect that, in time, a huge majority of us will become immune either due to a vaccine inoculation or having recovered from the associated disease. Until then, many of us will experience illness, and some of us will die. It is what it is.

We mourn each and every life that we loose. Fortunately, deaths among children and young adults are exceedingly rare and older adults can take precautionary measures to minimize their risk. As a parent and grandparent, I consider it my duty to persevere this pandemic, accepting the risks much like I accept the risks associated with driving an automobile, in order to leave for my progeny an environment in which they can prosper and enjoy the many opportunities I have enjoyed.

Until a vaccine is available and a large portion of the population is deemed to be immune to the virus, the best policy is to:

• Keep the public informed of all facts related to the virus as they become known.
• Enable individuals to make choices based on their own situation and vulnerabilities.
• Limit governmental dictates to the local (city/county) level so that such dictates are appropriate to geography, demographics, and political accountability of the local area.
• Keep businesses, schools, and organizations open and their employees employed; open those that have been closed; and encourage them all to implement commonsense precautions. Rely on individuals to choose if such precautions are sufficient for their individual requirements.
• Eliminate tort liability of businesses, schools, and organizations with regard to the virus provided that they do not deceive the public with regard to the arrangements made to reduce virus exposure (if any).

In summary, allow individual citizens to decide what activities are appropriate, what precautions are advisable, and what level of risk is acceptable for any public activity being considered. Implementing policies which shut down significant portions of our economy instigating innumerable bankruptcies, causing widespread unemployment, and requiring the generation of trillions in freshly printed money is totally irresponsible. Don't we all want to leave to our children a world that is as good, if not better, as what we inherited?

Climate Change - Valid science or political hoax

Climate Change is a combination of a scientific reality and a political hoax.

The Science

Greenhouse gases are an absolute necessity to keep the earth from becoming a ball of ice. Water vapor, generated by solar energy hitting the 71% of the earth's surface which is water, functions as the primary greenhouse gas keeping the earth inhabitable. For this and other reasons, solar activity is the primary natural cause of fluctuations of the earth's ambient temperature.

Carbon dioxide is also a greenhouse gas. While playing second fiddle to water vapor and solar activity, it does have a non-trivial impact on the temperature of the earth.

Given the earth's history of warm and cool periods, the warming trend that has been in place since the mid 19th century is not abnormal. Climate change concerns are driven by the coincident 40% increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. How much of the observed warming is due to carbon dioxide and how much is part of the earth's normal warming/cooling cycles is the issue which fuels the great debate.

Waiting for a clear resolution of the on-going climate change debate is probably not a good idea, especially since much of the debate is politically driven rather than scientific in nature. Thus, the oxidation of carbon as a source of energy and the contingent pumping of billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is probably not a good idea in the long term. While not the dire emergency as many insist, emphasizing the development of energy sources which do not require oxidation of carbon is a prudent course of action which should be implemented. In so doing, nuclear energy needs to be a significant part of the solution.

The Political Hoax

That much of the climate change hysteria is political in nature becomes clear when one considers several indisputable facts:

• The national legislative bodies are split on this issue, and the split is cleanly and clearly along partisan lines.
• Politicians are using statements such as “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change” to frighten voters into voting for them.
• Politicians who profess complete faith in the dire change predictions for several years have yet to propose even the simplest meager mitigation measure.
• Despite the implied urgency, not a single mitigation measure has been cost estimated. Nothing that might suggest the pain and or cost of mitigation has been presented so as to minimize any negative political affect.
• The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions while preserving the reliability of the electric power grid, nuclear energy, is not given the slightest consideration.
• Individuals who question the impact of carbon dioxide or the efficacy of the "Green New Deal" are derided with the "denier" label.
• This politicization of climate change is prevalent throughout the world.

For many politicians, the issue of climate change is not so much a looming environmental issue of global importance, but more a means to insure re-election.

Abortion: Not the government's decision.

Government should play no role in abortion. It should not fund or support it. Neither should it prohibit it or discourage it. Those who oppose abortion should vote with their dollars and contribute to organizations which provide alternatives. Those who support abortion should also vote with their dollars and support Planned Parenthood or others who provide abortion. The abortion decision is that of the woman and those who the woman seeks out as counsel. The government should have no role in the decision.

I personally contribute to organizations which provide alternatives to abortion. I cannot, will not, condemn women to back alley, coat hanger, abortions or other drastic measures.

Get used to it. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, prostitution, guns, or abortion: PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK!

The Right to Bear Arms is Inalienable

"A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Parsing the second clause of this simple statement, one thing becomes very clear to me. That is, the phrase "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" refers to a right which already exists.

This member of the Bill of Rights is not granting or establishing a right; it refers to a pre–existing right. That right is one of the many "inalienable" rights that we are endowed with by our Creator. This amendment simply says that Congress is hereby denied the power or authority to infringe upon this pre–existing right. Those who suggest that the effect of this amendment is otherwise are just playing semantic games with the English language to get their way.

Article V of the Constitution prescribes the two manners in which the Constitution may be changed. Politicians who desire to infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms should reread Article V. Note that they have never proposed a constitutional amendment, most likely because they know it would never succeed.

Representatives and Senators take an oath to "protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution of the United States". Clearly, any attempt to infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms by a means other than those specified in Article V is a violation of their oath, and those attempting to do so should be removed from office for violating same.