Water -- mofb #10

3. What are your views relative to changes in the management of the Missouri River?

This is admittedly a difficult question for someone who wants to follow the Constitution as it was originally intended to be followed, as well as following a principle of liberty and Free Markets.

I do not believe that the mating requirements of the pallid sturgeon outweigh the economic interests of human beings. I appreciate the interests of the MoFB in opposing any shift in the primary purpose of the upstream dams and reservoirs towards recreational and environmental goals at the expense of flood control, navigation and water availability for community public water supply and power generation.

In the long run, political management of resources is a failure. Market-driven management is best. But as with highways, a return to the Constitution and Free Markets is not yet being discussed. When the discussion begins, answers will come forward. Until then, Congress will continue to ignore Free Market solutions.

4. Do you support maintaining the network of federal, state, and private levees along our nation's inland waterway system?

Yes _________ No ___X______

Please explain:

The question is not whether the levees should be maintained, but by whom. Who should decide and who should fund?

It is not a federal responsibility.

I recognize the importance of well-maintained levees to prevent flood damage and enhance productivity. I oppose needless federal regulations which obstruct the maintenance of levees. My commitment is to develop long-term solutions. Necessity is the mother of invention. The drafters of the Constitution mistakenly called for a government postal system, unable to imagine how the Free Market might have someday show itself capable of delivering the nation’s mail more efficiently than the government. No one can map out exactly how the Free Market would deal with water management, but we should move in that direction by eliminating all unconstitutional federal intervention, as well as federal powers which might be constitutional but are inconsistent with the principles of laissez-faire capitalism (such as the Post Office.

5. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 authorized the construction of small and large scale improvements on the Upper Mississippi River, including the construction of seven new 1,200-foot locks on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway.

Do you support this authorization, and if elected, would you support full-funding each fiscal year?

______ Yes ____X_____ No

If no, please explain:

I recognize that utilization of the inland waterway system is critical to the long-term success of American agriculture. But there are two considerations that must take center stage. First, the federal government is bankrupt, according to the Federal Reserve. Second, federal funding of these projects is contrary to the Free Market principles of the Constitution. Both of these factors demand that we begin a radical re-thinking of this infrastructure. Private think-tanks have done much study, but politicians refuse to consider the necessity of returning to America’s “Experiment in Liberty.” In every area of life where it has been tried, property rights and a Free Market have produced the most efficient management of natural resources.


This is one in a series of blog posts answering questions posed to candidates in the 7th District by the Missouri Farm Bureau. Here is the list of mofb blog posts in this series.