Issue Position: Economic Freedom

Issue Position

Government laws and policies can either hinder or foster economic freedom. As legislation is introduced into various Senate committees for consideration, this web page will highlight some of these bills along with a discussion of their advantages or disadvantages.

An individual's liberty to pursue economic opportunity, as long as those pursuits do not undermine the rights of one's fellowman, should be encouraged by government without government itself becoming an interested party. This means that as much as possible, government should allow healthy free-market competition, reduce regulations, ease tax burdens, eliminate unnecessary licensing requirements, reduce paperwork, and reduce fines and fees.

In addition, government should do everything possible to protect the property rights of individuals and businesses while ensuring that the uses of property are not harmful to one's neighbors or to the overall quality of the environment. As much as possible, government policies should avoid regulations, tax structures, and fees that prevent or discourage an owner from utilizing private property according to his own purposes.

The Founders of this nation understood that the right to own and use property was a natural right. Some stated that it was a sacred right because the right to own property was understood as the very means by which people had the capacity to sustain their very lives and the lives of their families.

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